Easter Celebrations

Holidays are so fun now with Brooklyn.  She is at such a great age to really enjoy them.  She would get so excited for everything that we did.  The week before Easter we went to an egg hunt sponsored by the Eagle Lions Club on the Greenbelt along the Boise river.  The egg hunt wasn't super great, but she had a lot of fun seeing the Easter Bunny and a random moose that was there.

The next Saturday, the day before Easter, we did an egg hunt with a few of her cousins in Craig's parents backyard.  All of the kids were so excited running around the backyard and the older kids were really good about helping the younger ones find eggs.  She was so excited when we got home from the gym to find that the Easter Bunny had come with the eggs.  After the egg hunt we had a really yummy brunch.

Brooklyn couldn't believe that we got to do more celebrating the next day.  She got to wear her new dress to church on Sunday, well new to her ($7 from the second hand store) and then when we got home from church she was so excited that the Easter Bunny had come again to drop off a few different Easter baskets, thanks Grandma and Grandpa.  That evening we then had a fantastic Easter dinner with Craig's parents and his brothers family.

We had a wonderful time celebrating this amazing holiday.  What a blessing it is to have a Savior that is willing to die for us so that we can live with Him again, the greatest gift ever given. That is a very hard concept to explain to a 3 year old, but Brooklyn did understand that we were celebrating Jesus.  Right now as along as she understands the importance of Christ in our lives, then I feel like we are doing something right.

Gymnastics

Brooklyn started a gymnastics class with her friend Iyla  back in February.  She has been having so much fun learning new things.  She does really well listening to teacher Andrea and doing what she is asked.  She does get a little nervous when asked to try new things, but she always gives it a try and gets so excited when she does something new (she'll look over to me and give me a thumbs up).  She really looks forward to going each week and it is so fun for me to watch her get more confident in her abilities.  She is the cutest little gymnast, especially when she wears her red leotard.

Brooklyn turns 3!!

I can't believe that our sweet little girl is 3 already.  She is such a joy and delight to have in our family.  It was so much fun to be able to celebrate her birthday, she was so into it this year, watching the pure joy in her eyes was just magical.  Brooklyn was able to celebrate her birthday for an entire week.  It started with my parents giving both her and I a birthday dinner on the 14th. She loved being able to blow out the birthday candles.  She was a little confused though because she knew my birthday came first, but yet we were singing happy birthday to her as well.

blowing out candles at my parents house

just taking a rest in my birthday present

Birthday cake after my birthday dinner

 The following Saturday, the 20th, we threw her a Minnie Mouse birthday party at my parents house.  There were a lot of people there to help her celebrate.  We played Minnie Mouse Bingo and then Pin the Bow on Minnie.  We then sang Happy Birthday and she blew out candles.  We all then ate cupcakes and snacks and then she opened presents. The kids then played with balloons and jumped on the tramp until it was time to head home.  Brooklyn had a blast and was totally spoiled by everyone, she was in Minnie Mouse heaven.

She loved the mini cupcakes

I was quite proud of my cupcake frosting skills

Bingo time

Luckily I had help with the spread from my mom and mother-in-law

blowing out candles

so proud of herself

Eating cupcakes with all of her friends: Audrey, Camden, Iyla, LJ, and Hudson

Her actual birthday was on Monday, the 22nd, Luckily Craig had the day off and so we were able to celebrate all day.  In the morning we took her bowling for the first time.  She loved the cool shoes and carrying the bowling ball all by herself.  She used the ramp and did pretty well, she beat me.  She had such a great time.  We will definitely be going bowling again.

After bowling we went to "Old McDonald's" for lunch.  She got a happy meal and played in the play area for a while before we headed home to open up presents.  She got spoiled all over again.  We got her way too much, but she loved everything.

Daddy got her some "baby bans" from work

Nana and Pops gave her tin tea set

She loves her Anna and Else table

I think this was more for me and Craig then it was for Brooklyn, I think she has only used it a few times since her birthday

Nana and Pops gave her a bike

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Trying out her new bike for the first time

She loves having tea parties on her new table

Overall we both had great birthdays.  I was definitely more excited for her birthday then I was for my own.  We are so very blessed to have her in our lives.  She is already asking for things for her next birthday, like a puppy dog.