Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its way! Come and celebrate- it's Sydney's Second Birthday

Please excuse the long post tonight! Since I am exactly a year behind on my scrape book, I am putting all my eggs in one basket (pun intended :) ) that my blog will keep my memory in tact!!! Sydney's 2nd birthday party was yesterday morning, and we had an Easter Egg themed party. The invitations are pictured above. They were boxes with an egg inside with the party information inside the egg. Good thing we had planned on having it inside because we woke up to a rainy 40 degree day! We are so blessed to have a brand new Children's Wing at our church (The Summit Church) and also so blessed to have been able to use it!! The kids arrived to the Easter Bunny waving at the door, and they had the chance to play in the indoor playground, enjoy the craft table, and get their picture made with the Bunny.

Sweet Addie Bricker

Dalton was very brave and got in a high-five

(Greer Napier's picture just got deleted!!! Sorry sweet girl- I will add it back later!)
Addyson

Busy at the craft table painting eggs and pictures.

Scout and Stevie

OK, so Karoline liked the Bunny maybe just a little more than Santa!

The Johnson Family

Samantha and Sybil. This is sweet- Samantha called after the party and told me that when Sybil got in the car she said "I had fun there!". Mission accomplished!

Emma was so brave! We missed you Elli- feel better soon!!!!

I hardly got a picture of Sydney because she was so busy! This is one Erin captured on the slide.

Greer is working hard on her picture!

Cool man Dalton painting a wooden egg

Brent's parents Nan and Poppa and my beautiful sister in law Jamie

Jackson about it dig into his "Easter basket" cupcake

Happy Birthday to you Sydney!!!! Blow out the candles!

This is my favorite memory from the party- I was across the table while she was eating all the icing off her cupcake and we made eye contact. She grinned SO HUGE at me and it made my heart melt to see her so happy.

Waiting for the countdown to start the egg hunt!

The first ones down the hallway- Patterson and Sybil :). Sydney was trampled in the process but don't worry, she died laughing and jumped up.

The egg hunt was in the preschool worship room.

Stevie got it down quickly- get as many eggs as my basket can hold!

So Karoline really did have fun at the party and wasn't too scarred from the whole Bunny thing.

Emmy Smith got in on the action too!

Sybil's basket is maxed out!

Yay Syd! You found some! She got smart and let Emma do all the work. Ashley looked over and Emma would pick up 2 eggs, one for her and one for Sydney. What a sweetheart!!!

Here is Aunt Whitney holding my adorable nephew Jonathan, with Jamie and Nan watching the craziness, I mean egg hunt.

Poppa Gene and Nanny D had fun watching all the kids (and sliding in the slide :) )

While everyone was looking through their eggs to see what treasures they found, Sydney opened presents. This my nephew Drake, who was a HUGE helper with presents and hiding eggs!

OK, so every girl needs to take a little M&M break during presents!

And I didn't really get a good picture of the party favors, but they were rubber duckies dressed like bunnies, eggs or lambs sitting in grass with a note that said "Thanks for coming! Love Sydney". Hopefully our friends will enjoy them as a small thank you for helping celebrate Sydney's birthday.

As much as I love planning parties and celebrating with all the bells and whistles, I have thought a lot about what I am hoping to teach Sydney about her birthday. Of course, it is her one special day and I want her to enjoy every minute of it. But SO MUCH MORE than the parties, cakes, gifts, clothing, etc. I keep remembering the verse that Brent and I choose for her at birth and had read for her at her baby dedication.
Ephesians 3:17-19
"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God"
Baby girl, God's love is total, says Paul. It reaches every corner of our experience in this life. It is wide- it covers the breadth of our own experiences, and it reaches out to the whole world. God's love is long- it continues the length of our lives. It is high- it rises to the heights of our celebration and elation. His love is deep- it reaches to the depths of discouragement, despair, and even death. When you feel sad or lost or isolated, remember that you can never be lost to God's love. As much as I would give my life to shield you from pain, I know that is not my purpose here. All I can do is pray for you, love you, and try to teach you my humble understanding of how much God loves you. Happy 2nd Birthday my darling Sydney!!!!