Ingram the Conqueror: Saturday and Sunday March 30th and 31st, Easter!

We headed to the farm for lunch and an Easter Egg hunt with the family even though it was cold and raining. It didn't seem to phase the kids though and they were all out running around in the rain and driving through the mud puddles on the four wheelers. Even Daddy, Pops, and Uncle Len got in on the messy action while us gals stayed warm and dry. After the rain slowed to a mere drizzle, the kids all ran out to find their eggs and then they all proceeded to dump out their candy and trade for their favorites. This was Ingram's second egg hunt and he seemed to be getting the hang of it, but his eggs kept falling out of his Thomas the Train basket! Once we made it back home and showered, we had a family movie night and watched The Rise Of The Guardians while we ate dinner. I have to admit my favorite part of the day was when Ingram crawled under the blanket with me and snuggled while we watched the movie; there's just something great about snuggling! At this point last year, he was still throwing up from all the pain medicines and his surgery and we had to keep him in his hospital crib/bed. It wasn't possible to snuggle up with him due to all the iv's and the thought that we would make him hurt even more if we held him the wrong way.

Easter Sunday, the five of us went out to lunch by ourselves after church to celebrate Easter at Carrabba's and really missed the Rowland Family. I guess you could say that Carrabba's was our restaurant before they left for the Dominican Republic and right now we're really missing them. After lunch (and a quick stop to make sure the Florida game was recording), we headed to our secret spot to take some pictures with everyone dressed up for once! The crazy thing about the kids is that even though they're dressed up, the girls in their dresses and Ingram in his suit, they keep running around and jumping over the mud and playing tag in all the mess. After several goofy pictures, we finally got some smiley ones and we all think they're an improvement over last year's Easter picture! Once we all rested and watched basketball games, we made our first trip on bikes to TCBY for the season. I guess this now means that the weekly bike rides to El Mezcal and TCBY have started a bit early, so if you're ever in the neighborhood stop on by because I'm sure we'll be there!

On Easter Sunday long ago, Jesus rose from his grave after being crucified on the cross for our sins. On Easter Sunday last year, Ingram got out of his bed and walked for the first time after his brain surgery. On Easter Sunday this year, Ingram ran down the stairs and hopped in our bed to say "Good Morning!" All three of these Easter Sunday's are a miracle and we can't thank God enough for getting us to this point. This past year has been an emotional roller coaster and it's not anywhere near over yet; Ingram has his next MRI on April 29th and we are also approaching the one year mark for his original CAT scan that showed the tumor on April 3rd, his brain surgery on April 6th, and our first day at St. Jude as an official cancer family on April 12th. Please keep our family, especially our girls, in your prayers and also continue to pray for all of our friends at St. Jude that have lost their children to cancer. Cancer is hard enough to deal with on any given day, but when it comes to holidays, especially "first holidays," it's even more difficult than most of us can imagine.