Backyard picnic..Sunday style

So the girls wanted to eat outside after church yesterday. It was nice. I love being outside together. In Italy we had a TINY yard, so picnics and fun times outside were limited. Now...we have soo much space, and lovely trees. Maryland, you are growing on me...

Easter Dresses

I love these girls.

Trees

Are SO beautiful right now. Our dogwood in the backyard is pretty amazing. Spring has truly taken over my heart. I LOVE Spring on the East Coast. Everywhere I look there is something beautiful to see. The flowers popped up first, and as they fade into the background the TREES are busting out in all colors. The soft green hue of their leaves is so fresh and inspiring. Our whole neighborhood is covered in petals.

Brookside Gardens

This place is Heaven! I invited a couple of friends to go too, also photography nuts who love to take outside natural light photos of their kids. It was crazy for me! All the kids wanted to do was play. I finally had to give up and realize that I wasn't going to get any 'dream' shots and just take some candids.I will definitely go back, with others and with just my kids to explore more and shoot more!

Easter & EGGStravaganza

So much fun! Egg hunts at two homes, good food and friends. Spring weather that was perfect. On Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday we enjoyed General Conference and a wonderful Easter meal of lamb, mashed potatoes, asparagus with parmesean cheese and a perfect triple layer lemon pie. The Easter bunny was very generous to the girls this year. They were very happy with their treats and goodies. All in all a great Easter weekend.

Easter

I am so tired tonight! But overall pleased with a wonderful Easter weekend. Yesterday was spent busily running from one wonderful egg hunt to the next enjoying our new friends here in MD. When we first got here I felt like people didn't accept me or were reluctant to know me. I have found that that is not true. I think folks here are just cautious. They want to get to know you, learn about you, see what you are made of, and then slowly, slowly, you become part of their worlds. I felt this way today as I mused on how much fun my girls had collecting eggs and playing with new friends. We are still slowly making friends, but I hope that soon we will find ourselves comfortably acquainted here with people we love.

Something that I LOVE here in the East Coast has been the definite transition of seasons. Winter was BRUTAL, and spring has entered triumphant, all knowing, warm and sweet. I feel a new sense of purpose, the ability to accomplish so much more, the desire to be creative again, after a long hiatus and hibernation under the blankets of snow we had this winter. Winter just seems to sap my strength, it didn't help that I was in my first trimester, struggling to feel good and not be weary. Now I am back to my old self, I am sewing and taking TONS of photos. I am working on projects with the girls, and learning new things all the time. I am inspired by women around me who are artsy and accomplished and constantly creating life for themselves. I am watching my little 5 year old Ellie grow into an amazingly sweet and aware person, conscious of others, deeply sensitive and kind. My heart is aching as we near summer, which means soon she will be going off to school...what will I do with myself? How will Sophia cope? Oh well we will handle it, and in the mean time enjoying our time together.

I am grateful in particular today for our semi annual general conference. Every six months, I sit back and listen to the important messages from our prophets and leaders. Each conference is unique and each conference I always feel like the messages have been written for me. Things I took away from the wonderful messages this time are these: do not procrastinate becoming who you need to be, watch and teach your children, love each other and selflessly serve each other. Get to know the Savior more, he is our greatest advocate and wants us to realize our individual potential. It wasn't easy dealing with two small kids during the broadcasts, but Ellie and I filled the Sunday morning session with drawings and letters and word practice. I am deeply touched right now as some important things are happening in my life. I feel overwhelmed (yet again) by the call to serve in the church and work with the children of our primary. I wonder now why me, (again) what do I have to offer, what more do I need to learn? It has also been a really hard week, I have been stressed and tired and have felt like my anxieties and worries about life in general have been near the surface. I have not been my best self. I realized that this is the adversary working on me distracting me from what is most important. I must do better at not allowing him to work on me, and focus more on the positive things of life, and search the scriptures for the answers to my questions. TRUST. PRAY. BELIEVE. WORK. SEARCH. It's amazing how no matter where I am in my life, these things are so vital to me. I hope I am learning some of life's lessons. I hope I am becoming who I need to be. I hope that after this weekend of beauty and life, new beginnings and hope, I will go forward remembering them and use these thoughts to propel me forward, to the me yet to be.

Cherry Blossoms in DC

Took a whirlwind trip into DC today to see the Cherry Blossoms in all their glory. It was a beautiful spring day, perfect weather. People were out in droves, everywhere enjoying the day. We didn't have a lot of time today to leisurely stroll up and down the mall, but we had a good two hours to enjoy ourselves. DC is really a place that deserves DAYS to fully experience it and appreciate it, so we are doing it in little chunks with the time that we have. Luckily we have at least 3 more years here, so we should be able to make it down again soon.

We went down with our friends the Madsens, took the Metro (which the kids really loved) and braved the crowds. We ate our picnic lunch on the mall which was enjoyable. We hiked up to the Lincoln Memorial but didn't have the time to hike all the stairs to see the 16th President's impressive statue. We did take some fun pictures in the trees and all in all we are looking forward to our next trip into the city. The girls did really well, were nicely behaved and obedient as we navigated the many people, and were careful on the Metro. I am grateful (again) that we live in such an amazing area with so much to offer our kids. Like Italy, we have culture and history at our feet and I hope to make the most of it by showing the girls our American Heritage, one adventure at a time.