Arkansas, Arkansas, I Just Love Ole Arkansas....

**2 Things to Note**

1. This post is really long.

2. Only my Dad and Brother will appreciate the title to this post. We collectively love the musical Big River, which holds the title of this post as one of its songs.

Okay, now on to the post...

A little background...last fall my first cousin Eleanor called me to let me know that she and her brother, Jason, were going to organize a surprise birthday party for their dad (my uncle), Jesse. Jason, also my first cousin and his wife, Hesi, and their girls, Lucy and Matilda, live in Austria, and my uncle had no idea they were making plans to visit the States. Somehow, everyone in our family and the whole town of Yellville, AR, kept it a secret for months, and my uncle was completely overwhelmed at the weekend! Needless to say, we have been anxiously awaiting this weekend for quite some time, and we had a such a wonderful time!!!

Myla was very glad to finally be out of the car after six hours! Friday night my dad cooked and everyone came over to his house for dinner. The kids had a blast playing outside.
Jayce (Eleanor's), Myla and Matilda playing.

Maggie, my sister, and her boyfriend, Jimmy.

Jason and Peyton.

We haven't seen Jason in years!! Peyton has seen him since I had, but I had never met his girls. Peyton and Jason are only a couple of weeks apart in age and have always been really close! So glad to have everyone together!

Aunt Maggie stealing all of Myla's kisses. Myla likes to give kisses "on the lips"!

Jayce showing off her dirty feet! She is one of the funniest kids I have ever been around!

Maggie and Matilda.

Matilda is such a ham for the camera. She loves to pose for pictures! She is the sweetest little girl. She speaks German, but she aslo understands everything in English. Multi-lingual kids amaze me!

Uncle Jesse and Matilda. He had not seen Jason or his family in several years! What a shock when he walked into Eleanor's house Thursday night for dinner and they were all sitting on the couch!!!

Lucy, Hesi (Jason's wife) and Matilda. Poor Lucy had chicken pox! She didn't feel well all weekend.

Uncle Jesse coming into the surprise party!

Jason, Hesi, and Eleanor

I love this picture!

Friday night, Uncle Jesse said he just needed a shirt that said "Clueless" because his whole weekend had been full of surprises. Well, my dad made him this shirt Friday night so he could wear it when he got to the party. He got the biggest kick out of it!

Henry thoroughly enjoyed Uncle Jesse's birthday cake....

as did Myla!

I was so glad that we were there this weekend, because it was Maggie's Junior Prom! She and Jimmy let us take plenty of pictures before they left.

This is Maggie's normal picture pose. I give her a hard time because in all of her pictures with her friends, she is always making the silliest faces. She did this just to humor me!

BEAUTIFUL!

Maggie has done something to her neck/shoulder/back so she had to wear this sling. She was a really good sport! She works at the flower shop, so they special made a corsage for her sling!

First cousins...

3rd Generation

Matilda, Lucy, Jayce, Peyton, Henry & Myla

Sunday we had lunch at a local pizza restaurant. Can you tell the game room was a little hectic?

2nd Generation...

Maggie, Me, Hesi, Jason, Eleanor, Jason and Peyton

2nd and 3rd Generations together!

Can you tell my family is crazy?

Myla telling Papaw bye before we left to come home.

Smiling for Macy!

It was so great to be with my family this weekend!

Prayer Hands...

Each night before we put Myla to bed, we read a Bible story and say prayers. This sight blesses my heart every night as Myla always clasps her little hands around Michael's. She usually leaves them there until we finish praying. When we say "Amen" she repeats it in her sweet little voice and says, "AH-MEEN"! Thank you, Lord, for these precious memories! I know new memories will come, but I never want to forget these...

The Easter Bunny Comes to Visit...

Sorry for the tardiness of this post!

Yes, the Easter Bunny gave Myla a visit last Sunday! She was so excited to get all of her goodies...especially the candy, which was no surprise!

We had a great Easter day! Our church service was wonderful as we celebrated the RESURRECTION of JESUS, OUR SAVIOR!!!

Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice!! May we always remember that is what Easter is about!

All of Myla's goodies waiting for her!
First glance...I don't think she knew quite what was going on!

"Thank Goodness! They have something in there!!!!"

"Daddy, forget those golf clubs and open this egg for me, please!"

Success!!!

I think she was really excited about the Slinky!

But, she was more excited about the candy!

This is the only picture I have of us at Easter Sunday. I am going to have to stage some pictures of Myla in her Easter dress since we didn't take any that day!

Final Easter Egg Hunt....

Last Saturday we took Myla to the Easter egg hunt put on by the Oxford Park Commission. They had it at the new sports complex, and it was really nice! They had each age group divided up, which was really nice since I didn't want Myla to be trampled by older kids! They basically had just thrown eggs onto soccer fields and turned the kids loose. Myla had a good time and was again very excited that the eggs had something in them!

Ready to hunt...
"I'm gonna fill this bucket up!"

Patiently waiting with Daddy.

And she's off...she has certainly figured out how to do this!

"Look at all my eggs, Mommy!"

" Holy Moly!!!! There is something in there!"

Getting some help from Daddy...

Stickers and Suckers...

Stickers and Suckers...Myla loves them both!!!

First Easter Egg Hunt...

Today, Myla experienced her first Easter egg hunt! She had a blast, and really caught on fast! I am glad that she liked it because I had planned on going to one this weekend in town, so now I think she will really enjoy it!

Myla and Grace

Two Peas in a Pod!
Fueling up for the hunt!!!

Sweet Girls!

"Okay, I'm ready to find out what all this "hunting" business is about!"

"Me too, don't forget me!" -Grace

Found one right off the bat! She put it in her bucket and kept right on going!

Another one and another one! "This isn't so hard!"

"Hold up...I think this one has something in it!!"

"Opit (open it), Mommy!!"

"Sweet! Jelly Beans! Time for a hunting break!"

"It's mine!!" Running for the egg...

"What do you mean all the eggs have been found?"She found one more on the way inside!

Time to open and see what she got!!

"Look, Mom! I like the ones that have something in them the best!"

Funny how she has been perfectly content with empty eggs for the past couple of weeks...now she is going to expect for them all to have something in them!!!

When we were cleaning up, Myla found the garbage bag full of eggs and thought she had really hit the jackpot!!! She was so excited!

So excited that she thought she would take them all home!!! I convinced her to leave them at Mrs. Paula's house!

Tired little camper on the way home!

Thanks, Paula, for a FUN EGG HUNT!!!

Busted...

One morning last week while I was loading some laundry, I heard the back door open. When I came out of the laundry room, I saw Myla just like this. She has taken off her diaper and gone outside to throw it away (that is where we put her diapers). Smart little sucker! I quickly tried to find my camera before we had an accident, and I love the look on her face in the picture! Luckily she hasn't done this again...YET!

"What, Mom, you don't like me running around the house in my birthday suit?"