He is Risen...

He is Risen Indeed!

We had a wonderful Easter this year celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" -John 11:25,26

This is one of the two verses we had put on Smith's headstone. It is a verse we cling to. Isn't it powerful?Jesus is the resurrection. He is life. And if we trust and believe in Him, we will live even in death. I'm so thankful Jesus died for me and rose again. Yes...I BELIEVE! And I pray we will always teach Gray why we celebrate Easter and how we can live like Jesus here and now.

Now onto our day. It was hard to believe that last Easter we were visiting Gray in the NICU. We put a little festive outfit on him, prayed with him and told him all about Jesus and the amazing power of his resurrection. Fast forward one year and here we are with our precious baby boy...at home...healthy...about to celebrate his first birthday! I've said it once and I'll say it again (over and over again)...God is good, all the time!

Here's Gray's Easter basket and goodies and a BIG shout out to my mother-in-law, Nancy or as we like to call her...Handy-Nan. She made this basket liner for me. I bought the basket and the fabric and she worked her magic. I think it turned out so cute and love that he will always use the same basket made by his Mimi. Thanks again Nancy!

Loving his stuffed ducky

"Reading" one of his many books. One of my favorites is "What is Easter?" He has the "What is Christmas" book too and they both explain that all the things we do surrounding the holidays are fun, but Jesus is the true reason why we celebrate.

One cute bunny!

After going through Gray's basket, we got ready and went to church. From church, we ran home to grab the puppies and made our first stop at my parents for lunch. Some family pics:

Gogo, Gramps and the grandkids

Look at this amazing lounge chair my parents bought Gray and Campbell. Can you even stand it?!? They are so stinkin cute and I can't wait to see the kiddos kicking back in their swim suits when they need a break from the pool this summer.

Cole LOVES Wolf!

Wolf fit perfectly in one of the giant eggs!

Gray also got his very own step stool with his name on it!!!! Thanks Gogo and Gramps!!!!

Checking out the eggs

We had a yummy Easter lunch, delicious desserts and some "friendly" games of Monopoly Deal before hitting the road for our next stop. (I'm pretty sure I dominated everyone at the game, but it's important to stay humble on Easter so I didn't want to make anyone feel bad......)

Next stop...Shannon and Jared's to celebrate with the Bailey's! Again, more delicious food, fellowship and family. We had fun taking pictures of these sweet cousins.

I LOVE this picture

Going through their loot! Thanks Mimi and PaPa!!!!!

I couldn't get enough of this face! He looked like such a handsome, big boy and I just wanted to squeeze him all day! Happy (late) Easter...and watch out...the birthday posts are on their way!!!