Happy Easter!

We had a fun and busy weekend. Dave's sister stayed with us this week, and then his mom came on Saturday. Mabes was thrilled to see Aunt Ber-Rae and Grandma Jackie, and she thoroughly enjoyed their patience as they read dozens of books to her and played with her. On Saturday morning, we went to our ward breakfast/Easter egg hunt. Here's the nursery-aged group shortly after they said, "Go!" Notice how all of the kids are still just kind of standing there, but Mabes is already in a full-fledged sprint. I was going to zoom/crop the picture so you could see the intense look on her face better, but I like the group shot because she's the ONLY one running. She had started by me, on the far right.



Now, we've done tons of mini-egg hunts at home, but since we just hide the empty plastic easter eggs, she was rather startled to pick up an egg and feel something rattling around in there. She opened it, and was most pleased to find candy inside. "Look, mama, there's CANDY in the egg!" I know, kid, you're falling behind! They had told us that each child could get 20 eggs, so even though Mabes opened each and every egg that she picked up, she still managed to get a nice stash.


We went home and continued the Easter festivities with egg coloring. I was rather dismayed to learn that Dave and his sister had never colored eggs before, so it was a first for all of them. First, they're trying to sense what color this egg wants to be:


A yellow one! She was thrilled, so much so that she would clap and do a little cheer/dance in her seat for each egg. It didn't get old.

She watches Daddy carefully taking her pink egg out. She liked the pink one the best.


And then, after her nap, she enjoyed her first Peep, and then another after that. What's not to love about a sugar-coated marshmallow?

And here she is in her Easter dress on Sunday morning. Her dress (and the shirt she wore the day before, and another shirt, bows, and bubbles) are thanks to a gift certificate from Aunt Nancy. Yay, Aunt Nancy! She was so excited to have a new dress, but she kept calling it her "Easter egg dress." And these are the best pictures I was able to get. Despite the excitement of a new dress, she was rather crabby yesterday. (Not only did I have to take her out of Sacrament meeting for the first time in a long time, it was during the announcements--we hadn't even made it to the Sacrament hymn!)

It's pretty bright, so it's hard to see the color of the dress, but it's a gorgeous apple green. I love it. And here she is picking a flower:
After church, we came home and had dinner with some friends, including Mabes' BFF Henry (though she calls him "Hengry"). The kids were tired by the end of the evening, but it was a lot of fun. It was a busy, tiring weekend, but we had a great time!


And just because it's cute and I love her pigtails, here's the other shirt from Aunt Nancy. With matching curly ribbons, which Mabes LOVES.