Easter 2024- dyeing eggs, Easter baskets, bunny ears, and egg hunt.

We did some Easter festivities at home before Easter because we will be gone over actual Easter. Love holiday traditions, and celebrating the best news- Jesus died for our sins and rose again!

Egg hunt.

 

Easter baskets.

Our three cute bunnies. :)

Dyeing eggs.

Happy Easter!

Princess party, state game, and cousin/friend time.

What a fun few days! Thankful all of us are feeling better after the five of us having influenza- glad we could get out and do a few fun activities and see people we love! We got to spend the night at the Ragsdale's house in Garner. We went out for ice cream and enjoyed catching up!

We were in Des Moines for a quick night because our local high school team made it to state and we came for the game! Kley's team WON state when he was a junior in high school and came so close again his senior year but lost in the championship game. We got to have a couple hours with cousins and go out for lunch with them- the best!

State game! Unfortunately they lost in the semi-finals, but it was super fun to be there!

A few women in our town got together and put on the cutest princess party. It was adorable and so well done, and neat that we could have an opportunity like this in our own town. (Normally for an event like this, we'd have to drive to a bigger town.) They had dressed up princesses, dance party, the cutest snacks, mirror decorating, nail painting, hair tinsel/curling, and gave them a ring, necklace, tiara, and a fun little gift bag at the end. I was amazed- they had so many cool details! So fun to be able to do this with some friends right in our town. Thankful for some special days!

Lucy and Ellory's 7th birthday- friend/Schut celebration.

Happy birthday to our sweet 7 year olds! It's so fun to remember their birth every year and look back on old pictures and videos. Sometimes it's still hard to believe they were both inside me at once! Lucy and Ellory, celebrating you is a joy because you bring so much joy to our family! We are SO thankful you are our daughters and we love you very much! 

Lucy and Ellory had a friend party at Kinderzone (a local indoor play place) with crafts, play time, DQ ice cream cake, and Pizza Ranch pizza. What fun! We pray you have good friends and are good friends!

Lucy had a superhero theme and Ellory had a rainbow theme. So fun to see what they want to choose each year!

Unfortunately, their birthday didn't turn out as exciting as we had hoped because of sickness. All the family on my side was supposed to come stay with us for the weekend, but Kley and I both got influenza. It was terribly sad- all the cousins were super disappointed to not be able to be together. I felt it coming the day before but tried to act fine, but by Friday morning (their actual birthday) I felt terrible. My parents had come up the night before, so they were there and stayed to help with the party so they could at least still have that, which I'm so thankful for! Kley felt it coming a little bit too, but didn't get it bad until after the party that night. So, I missed their birthday party and had to stay home alone- so sad! I'm so sad they couldn't have the original weekend of fun that was planned, but I'm so glad they still got to have their party, and they also got to sleepover at their grandparents' that live close to us Saturday night, so they still got to do something fun over the weekend too! (All three of the girls ended up getting it at the end of the weekend too, so at least we all got it at once!)

Happy birthday, our sweet Ellory!

I'm sad Kley and I both got sick when my parents were here, but it was so nice that they could help with the party and that they could still see the girls for a little bit! (They went home that night after the party, understandably so since we were sick, but so nice they stayed to help!)

Happy birthday, our sweet Lucy!

Lucy and Ellory's 7th birthday- De Jong celebration.

We celebrated Lucy and Ellory's 7th birthday with the De Jong side at the bowling alley! It was a fun night and special to do something different. We've never bowled with his family before and it was the cousin's first time bowling. We are not regular bowlers, so it was nice to give it another whirl. We also ate supper there. I didn't even know the bowling alley served food, but they do! As the girls were sipping on a slushie, picking out their bowling ball, I said isn't this peak childhood right here? Family, bowling, and a slushie- a great birthday!

My four forever favorites. :)

I think this picture is cute with the three girls together and me trying to convince Gerrit to not carry a bowling ball by himself in the background. Such a sweetie. :)

Giving it our best shot!

Kley was the highest scoring adult by far. I got two strikes but also a fair amount of gutter balls, so you never knew what was coming, ha. 

Sometimes it's still crazy to me that I carried and birthed TWO babies! How are they seven already?

Fun to bowl with Will for his first time!

Kley's parents, grandma, and sister were there too- so great! Our group shots weren't top of the line, but we tried! Thankful for family and especially for Lucy and Ellory, two of the sweetest girls around. Happy 7th birthday, our babies. You are so loved! :)