Easter Time in Illinois

I have a lot of catching up to do and so many things to blog about. We have half way moved into an apartment in Peoria but are still staying at my parents as we have had things to do late in the evenings or early mornings in Morton. They say we can stay as long as we need to, but I'm sure they are ready for a break!

Going back to our home leave in April... After a week in Nebraska, we headed to IL to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa N and look for a new house.

Arriving in Peoria and running to see Grandpa! Max and Blake LOVE Grandma and Grandpa's basement. It is full of toys! Grandpa had the Jeep and CAT tractor all charged up!

A little bit of shopping on Monday and a stop for a quick play at the CAT playground.

Max and Blake LOVE playing UNO and had to get Grandpa in the routine of playing quite early in the mornings! Thanks Grandpa! Blake having a very delicious breakfast of powdered sugar donuts! Not a great idea before a day of Dr and Dentist appointments! The first stop on Tuesday morning was the dentist! Max has 4 wobbly teeth, but no cavities! (As of today they are still wobbly!) Blake checked out just fine too! Up next, the horrible Dr visit! They look all happy now, but both were crying as we walked out the door. Max had to get 3 shots and I have never heard him scream so loud...every time...right in my ear! Blake was crying just thinking about having to get them when he turns 5! Daddy will be there next time! On Thursday, this little girl (adorable!) showed up...along with her brother and mom and dad of course! My sister and her family came from Arizona to spend the Easter weekend with us. It was great to see them...thanks for coming Pam, Greg, Derek and Erin! Hope to see you again soon! Max had to teach Derek the game of UNO and get everyone involved! The kid would play cards all day! On Friday, it was time to color eggs and luckily Kara and Austin were there to help! Everyone joined in on the fun! Hard boiled eggs are much more fun to decorate than to find. In fact, the Easter Bunny didn't even bother hiding them this year! The finished product...and the only halfway decent picture of all 4 of them! Saturday was picture day with Austin, David and Kara (and Pierce too!). We haven't had one done since before leaving for England. Everyone did a great job and I can't wait to hang them in our new house! Kara made us some fantastic desserts for the weekend...including these yummy cupcakes! We had our "Easter dinner" on Saturday as Austin needed to drive back to Kentucky on Sunday for work on Monday.

Erin had a little bit of a head start on Sunday morning looking for her eggs. It was a good thing, because once the boys got up, it was crazy! The Easter Bunny did an excellent job hiding lots and lots of eggs!

Checking out the loot!

Before going to church for an amazing Easter service at Northwoods!

Blake, Derek and Max had several more egg hunts throughout the day.

Since we had our Easter dinner on Saturday, we were able to enjoy a bonfire with brats, hotdogs and ...

s'mores! YUMMY!

Everyone had to get back to business on Monday. Dan and I spent the day looking for houses. In fact, we spent several days looking for houses! We finally decided to put an offer on this house...

It is located in a newer subdivision in Morton and if everything goes as planned, it will be ours on May 12th.

Lucky for me, I was in the Peoria area when my friend Tina had a beautiful baby girl, Jade Caroline. Tina, Stacey, Amy and I were all friends while in England and have all moved back to the Peoria area. It was great to see them and catch up a bit. Stacey, Amy and I were able to leave Tina with her hubby and son in the hospital and enjoy a wonderful steak dinner! Sorry Tina, but you can join us next time!

Tina and Jade - How great does Tina look the day after having a C-section!?

We headed back to England on the 18th of April and had 12 days to let the boys enjoy a couple weeks of school, pack up our house, say good-bye to our wonderful friends and move back to the states. It was a very quick...and emotional time. More to come....