Happy Easter! And Other Fun Stuff....

HAPPY EASTER!!!

(quite a few days late!)

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter! We had a very nice day, ourselves. We went to church, followed by lunch at The DoubleTree, which has become a "tradition" of sorts on Easter Sunday for us.

Whenever we leave Sunday School, Brad and I ask Alli what they talked about in her class. Usually, she answers something like, "Jesus and fish," or something of the sort.

Well, on Easter, I asked the usual question, "Alli, what did you talk about in Sunday School today?" Her prompt reply, "Um, my dress." I tried again, "You did? Well, your dress is certainly beautiful. What did your teachers talk about today?" Again, she replied, "Um, my dress." Okay, one more try. "Alli, what else did you talk about today? Did your teachers talk about Jesus?" Exasperated, she said, "No, Mommy. I said we talked about my dress!"

I gave up.

The dress Boots wore for Easter was Alli's dress for my cousin, Amanda's wedding in May, 2005. This just reminds me how much our 2 girls look alike! Alli was younger when she wore the dress, and she had more hair, but the same little face looks back at us from photos.
Our Easter "season" began with the Annual Auxiliary Easter Egg Hunt at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Rahn. They have a beautiful home with lovely grounds, and it is always a perfect setting for the hunt. This year, it was quite cold ~ it even sleeted for a little while! But the kids ~ and the parents ~ had a blast!
Our next hunt was the one at Alli's school. A few of us moms hid eggs, and it didn't take the kids long to find them! Once again, they all had a great time. Alli's class has about 16 kids in it. I was amused to see that when they were 'released' outside, all of the kids hurried to the close part of the grass area where the eggs were, and promptly began to fuss about whose eggs they were ~ except for Alli. She walked past all of the other kids to the other side of the grass and quickly began to pick up eggs, ending up with a bucket (the teachers gave all of the kids personalized buckets) so full that she began to have me hold eggs for her. While some kids had about 3 or 4 eggs, Alli had about 40! Needless to say, we divied up the eggs into equal amounts while the kids played outside.
One more hunt on the schedule ~ First Baptist's Easter Eggstravaganza! Over 14,000 eggs were hidden at the church. The Easter Bunny was there, and there was face painting, arts and crafts, and several inflatables for the kids. My, oh, my! What fun!!
Alli hunted eggs at home on Easter Sunday, after church, as well....

Now, for some other 'fun' pictures!
Ms. Linda, our neighbor across the street, gave the girls matching "Big/Little Sister" t-shirts. Alli is very proud of her big sister shirt.

If you know Alli, you know she loves tea parties, and she loves to dress up! She even invited Elizabeth to this party.


Left to her own devices, Alli can create some "unique" outfits. Here are 3 of my latest favorites, the last of which was just this morning, when she was "gardening" in the front yard.


I hope this post finds you all doing well!
Much love from the Bucklers!!

Elizabeth's Dedication

The Parental Dedication at First Baptist Church of Augusta was March 9. Elizabeth was one of three babies being dedicated that day.

In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.
~ Proverbs 3:6

Elizabeth was very good during the dedication! And she was exhausted by the time it was all over....

Alli had fun dancing on the "stage" at the front of the sanctuary.
Like a good little Baptist girl, the first song she ever 'danced' to as a baby was "Jesus Loves Me." :)

When Alli was dedicated as a baby, we used another sweet, powerful verse during the ceremony:

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
~ Isaiah 40:8

Even without much time to plan, Elizabeth's grandparents were able to attend her dedication. PapaDoc, Gigi, and Dede all drove down from Atlanta for the special day!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ALLI, Our Precious Angel!

Happy Happy Birthday, our sweet girl!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2005....
I had preeclampsia and was on hospital bedrest. I was 36 weeks pregnant, and due to complications, we induced labor at 6:00am, following a long night preparing for the induction. At 5:23pm, our little angel came into the world to greet us. We were blessed, and she was as healthy as she could be. At 5 pounds 14 ounces, she was a little peanut of a baby...
McAllister Lane Buckler.

The picture below shows how much she has grown and changed in the past 3 years. Our easy, quiet baby has grown into a sweet, friendly, vivacious, and busy little girl! Where did the time go???

I remember thinking, as I looked into my newborn's beautiful blue eyes, "This is as close to looking into the eyes of God as I will ever get! How do people not believe in Him when He gives us such precious angels to love?"

This past week, we had Alli's birthday party at Monkey Joe's ~ a fun party place for kids that is basically a large warehouse full of inflatables for jumping, climbing, and sliding. She and all of her little friends had a blast! And for the adults, it was a terrific opportunity to act like a child again.
This is Alli on the way to Monkey Joe's...

...and this is Alli tapping her foot, dying to go inside!

This picture doesn't even begin to show all of the fun stuff to do, but it is a start. After playtime was over, Alli sat on the Monkey Joe's throne, wearing a crown (that she had requested). Her cupcake cake was a bouncehouse with jungle animals inside, to go along with our jungle theme.

Nothing stops Alli! She has no fear!!

She even got a special visit and hug from Monkey Joe, himself!

Baby Elizabeth enjoyed the party, too! She is right at home at Monkey Joe's. After all, MJ is a purple monkey, just like "Boots," Dora's monkey-friend after whom Alli nicknamed her!

Several of Alli's little friends came to the party:
Jackson, Aidan, MacKenzie, Maddox, Addie Dayne, Lauren, Katie, Lauren, Fripp, Peyton, Kate, Caden, Canon, and Bailey all celebrated with us ~ and of course Alli and Elizabeth!

Pizza and cupcakes!

Dede came to the party...

...and Gigi did, too!

It's hard to hold up three fingers, but we've been practicing!!

Happy Birthday, sweet Alli B! We love you more than we can even begin to tell you!! Thank you for being our sweet little angel. We never could have imagined how much you would bless and enrich our lives.
Our cup runneth over....

Thank you, God, for letting us have her ~ what an amazing gift!!!