It's beginning to feel a lot like Easter!

Holy week is in full swing and we're enjoying the traditions of Easter. Palm Sunday at Celebration Lutheran not only includes parading around with palms (ferns & tree branches really) but also with homemade protest signs to signify the revolutionary aspects of Jesus' ministry. 

Holden proudly paraded with her protest sign before placing it prominently at the alter. 

(say that 10 times fast)

Iona bonded with her Godmother during the service. In the background, her Godfather leads worship.

In addition to church, we have also spent some time preparing for Easter with family this week. Holden, Iona and I went to my dad and step-mom's for lunch and to make Easter cookies with my step-sister Deny. Holden was ecstatic! And I'm pretty sure she consumed more sugar in that one cookie decorating session than she's had in her whole life! She did pretty well though and kept it together until we got in the car to leave. And of course she passed out 5 minutes down the road and took a much needed nap.

Iona has Grandpa's blue eyes.

Matching aprons. Matching smiles.

Ready to make cookies!  Soooo ready!

Grandpa entertaining Iona. Or maybe Iona is entertaining Grandpa.

Mixin' it up!

Easter eggs, crosses, bunnies, chicks...the cookie cutting begins!

Grandma and Holden play with her new puzzle toy while waiting for the cookies to bake.

Me wondering how many more sprinkles my girl can eat before meltdown occurs.

Eating, uh, I mean decorating the cookies.

They turned out beautifully! And yummy too.  :)

Thank you Aunt Deny!

The many faces of food...

Over the years my pancake-shape making skills have improved. Recently I've expanded to funny face lunches. Who knows what's next!

Yes, this pancake is shaped like a chair. That's what she wanted!

Speaking of food, look who's starting to eat! Iona had her first spoonfuls of rice cereal mixed with breast milk today and she did great! 

She is one happy baby and quite proud of herself after her first meal!

Gotta love these girls!  :)

What's in a name....

Iona Pyxis VanQuickenborne

Now that's a name! And we think it suits her perfectly!

Giving a child a name is such a huge responsibility. We spent many sleepless nights talking about possibilities and coming up with reasons for or against every contender. To make matters worse, we had to come up with a boy's name too since we chose not to find out the gender ahead of time. And because I know you're curious, the boy's name we picked, with the help of a dear friend and Iona's Godmother, was Kyler Flynn. Now, back to Iona. It was especially hard to name her since we really wanted a name with personal significance to us; something with meaning like her sister's name. I'm assuming most, if not all, of you know that Holden is named after Holden Village, an otherworldly retreat center where Michael and I first met, and a place we both have a deep connection with. Well, there is another such retreat center, considered the sister village to Holden, located in Scotland named, yes, you guessed it, Iona. 

Now, unfortunately, neither of us have been to this beautiful place but we did apply to volunteer there one summer but circumstances led us to Argentina instead.  One day we hope to show her this retreat island (the name Iona also means island), a place almost as beautiful as her.

Pyxis. 

A bit uncommon perhaps but we liked the idea of giving her an unusual middle name but again, one with some meaning behind it. (Holden's middle name is Adeline, named after my Nana who I still miss every day.) We found the name Pyxis when browsing through a guide to the constellations. Both of us enjoy star gazing, and have spent many summer nights sleeping outside looking for the stories pictured in the night sky. 

Pyxis means compass and the constellation is a straight line of three stars. We hope Iona can be a compass for others and also easily follow her desired direction in life. In addition, Michael especially liked the name Pyxis because it brought us four letters closer to having all the letters of the alphabet present in her full name. You should have heard some of the other options that allotted us the elusive "z".

VanQuickenborne

It's a mouthful but it isn't as hard to spell as one may think upon first hearing it. I admit to spending a good portion of a week trying to figure out how to sign my new last name though. It just goes on and on. I finally gave up and now do what Michael does, a short scribble with a dot placed neatly above it.  VanQuickenborne is Belgian, as Michael's dad is from there. We hope to take the girls over to meet their extended family when they are a bit older and can appreciate the experience on a deeper level. 

So, there you have it. One long name for one little girl. We think she's growing into it wonderfully!

Sand, sun and sleep!

 Here's our Mini-Explorer looking for amphipods--otherwise known as sand-hoppers!  

We're lucky to have the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center not far from where we live and they have this great program for 3-5 year olds called Mini-Explorers. 

She found some!  

Yay, sunshine! It seems like forever ago already but we did have some beautiful weather last week. So we took this show on the road--to the beach! And what better place for a picnic than a sandy beach? Well...actually, sandy beaches are quite a challenge for sand-free food consumption but you can't beat the view.

Iona joined us but since we forgot her warm hat she had to borrow Daddy's. 

Daddy could've really used his hat.

This is where Holden threw caution to the wind, which is another way of saying she ignored us completely, and jumped right in! 

Holden had a treat of warm cocoa and a chocolate chip cookie after her plunge. Pure bliss I assure you.

Do notice her change of attire. We're prepared to be ignored. Well, truth is, we've given up along time ago on trying to keep her from diving right in and now we simply expect it and we all have more fun.

I know it looks like Holden took this picture but nope, this is one of my masterpieces! 

Iona took her nap in the sand and sun, with the ocean waves to lull her to sleep.

Apparently sand, sun and ocean waves lull everyone to sleep!

But don't be fooled, Holden seldom naps!  :)

She's a master builder though!

Sand castles need residents, what can we say?

Hope the sun found you all too!