Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! Easter is like another Christmas for Miss Hailey Grace at her Grandparents house. In Irving, she was got toys, shoes, bows, books and money and Texarkana was clothes, bows and candy! Even though it seemed like she enjoyed the tissue paper a lot more than the gifts, I assure you she didnt! :) Funny story...Lynn gave her this baby Enstien handheld music "thingy". Hailey's little friend had it at our egg hunt and picnic on Friday and it was a hit among all the children. WELL, it lights up red and blue while playing music. I was driving from my moms to my dads tonight and she was playing with it and I thought I would getting pulled over. I PULLED OVER. Then I was totally confused as to where the red and blue lights went. Wow, that is worse than a jessica Simpson moment huh? I promise it really was funny, probably more so if you were in the car with me.
Back to Easter weekend..
Saturday we had Easter in Irving and had a great day. Lynn and Jim cooked lunch for us and we played all afternoon until it was time for the Easter Vigil. For those who don't know, I am recently finished my second trip through RCIA to join the Catholic Church. This was a decision that Chris and I made but it is a very important one not only to us but his family as well. We believe that a family that can worship together will remain together and stay very close. Here are a few reasons that helped me make my decision:
Protect our Children
Provide an environment where our children can learn and appreciate their Catholic faith and be strong in their convictions, thus allowing them to mature and effectively participate in our society. We must do everything possible to make certain that no harm is done to the young mind of a child. (Mark 9:42)

Lead Others to Christ:
Our mission is to bring our own Catholic brethren back to the Church so that we may all participate in the body of Christ. Our neighbor comes to Christ only through another person. By serving others, we will be able to bring Christ-centered values back into our society.

Grow Together as God’s Family (Education)
The only way to grow in the faith is to continually pursue the Good News, by learning the Bible with others and coming to better understand the Word of God and our Catholic tradition. Education is the start but we can only accomplish growth in faith through prayer and service to others, following Christ’s example.

Networking (Communication)
We need to be able to communicate so that we can KNOW and UNDERSTAND the truth about the teachings of the Catholic faith and no longer be confused by those with other agendas.

Chris and I also recently had our marriage blessed in the Catholic Church. We didn't have another cermony but since it took place outside the Catholic Church, they did not recognize it. We chose the paper work route instead of having antoher cermony and a new date. Don't get us wrong, our wedding was PERFECT in ours eyes. We couldn't have asked for a better day. BUT, we worked on the paper work before I even started RCIA so that Chris would be allowed to fully participate in Mass.

I'm sure to some, this all seems petty but to us it is a HUGE step in the right direction. I grew up in the Episcoal Church (ST. James which is AMAZING) and our beliefs were very similar to that of the Catholic Church. We were married in the Episcopal Church but have attended the Catholic Church for 5 + years. Lots of obstacles, moves and tears later here we are. It feels great!

Sunday morning rolled around and I hit my alarm one to many times. I have a hard time climbing out of bed with it's storming and my sleeping Angels (Hailey and Chris) are keeping me warm in bed. But UP I went (eventually) rushing around, packing, loading, unloading, doing C's laundry, etc. I put a disposible diaper on Hailey and kept her in her pj's, put her in the car and made it to Sulphur Springs before she even woke. After that, I bought time with toys and finger foods. The last 45 minutes, she cried off and on. I thought she wanted out and wantd to eat but poor baby has a diaper! Another bad mom of the year award.
Mom (MIA) came out to my dad's house while Hailey and I were getting ready for a yummy lunch at Timothy's. We played and then it was time to get in our Easter dress. lunch was fantastic as always out at Timothy's. AFter that we went and visited with Whit and Hailey crawled all around. We had a lazy afternoon and then french bread pizza, salad and cake for Collins Birthday. It was a yummy chocolate cake!
i'll post pictures from the wonderful weekend when I have them all. Lynn took a lot with her camera and it will be a week or so before I am back in DFW. i'll try and take a lot while I am on the road and post out trip. Sorry for the rambling, I am going on very few hours of sleep.

I do have a prayer request. TWO actually. One is for our sweet friends who is job searching and trying ot make difficult decisions about the correct job. Please pray that God is with them during this exciting, difficult and scary time.
The second one is for Judge Jimmy Hudson. He recently found out he had cancer, went in to remove it and things went down hill. He has coded a couple times, bled internally and was rushed back to surgery. Please pray for a miracle. His family needs support, guidance and love during this difficult time. For those who don't know him, he is an amazing man with a love for children. He loved the children when their own parents didn't. www.caringbridge.org/visit/jimshealth