Barbecue, a New Park, & an Easter Reminder

Today was perfect.
I spent it with my two favorite boys in the world.
Josh didn't have to work {yay!!}, and so
we had the entire day to be together as a family.

We slept and relaxed around the house until about four,
and then we decided to go eat some good ol' barbecue.
We thought we'd try out a new place, so we went
to Cousin's Barbecue. It was pretty good, but
we weren't blown away by it.
But we still enjoyed our lunch together as a family.



We could not have asked for better weather today.
It was perfect. Absolutely beautiful.

We decided to scope out a new park.
Going to the park is one of our favorite things to do
as a family {if you haven't figured that out by now}.
The great thing about living in a big city is
there are so many different parks to choose from.
We love Castle Park, but we decided
it would be fun to go somewhere different.

Today we went to Oakmont Park,
and wow, we really loved it!
It is completely different than most parks,
in that it has great big open fields
{perfect for throwing a football or flying a kite}.
And the park also had a walking path in
a beautiful wooded area as you can see below.



And off of the main walking path were many different
hiking trails that branched off in various directions.
Noah and Josh were in heaven. I mean, they loved it!
Josh kept saying, "I can't wait to take Noah camping!"
It really will be so much fun when Noah gets to the
age where we can go on family camping trips.

Here is one of the hiking trails we took.
Noah was actually the one who lead us to this one.
It was beautiful.



As I've said before, Noah just loves to run around
when we go to the park. This park was a perfect place
to walk and explore.




As we hiked along the trail, it almost
felt like we were in the mountains.
Everything was so beautiful.
These purple flowers were my favorite.



Noah's feet got tired, so he hoped on Daddy's shoulders for a ride.
I love this picture of my boys.

Sweet, happy little Noah.
That smile brings so much joy to my heart.

While we were hiking we came across a tree
with thorns on it.

In the quietness of our journey along the trail,
our awesome God showed us these thorns as a reminder
of what Jesus did for us.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -- Romans 5:8

But Jesus did not remain in the tomb!

"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him."-- Matthew 28:5-9

Jesus is Alive! And that is why we celebrate.
Happy Easter to you and your family.