Ressurection Rolls

I pinned these last Fall and I was excited to make them with the girls this Easter Season.
Usually, I make Empty Tomb Easter Cookies during Holy Week, but I thought I would make these this year instead.
They were a big hit!
(The Empty Tomb Easter Cookies are fun, but you don't eat them, so the Resurrection Rolls are more fun!)

Here is what you do:
Turn your oven to 350.
While your oven is preheating, read John 19

These are your ingredients that you need:
Crescent Rolls
8 large marshmallows
Melted Butter
Cinnamon Sugar
Roll out the crescent rolls (each container has 8)
Tell your kids that the crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.
Read Matthew 27:57-60
⁵⁷ As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
Have them dip the marshmallow in butter.
This represents the oils of embalming.
Dip the buttered marshmallow in cinnamon sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.

Make sure it is nice & coated.
Then wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll.
Seal the marshmallow inside.
This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
Place the rolls on a baking sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.
The oven represents the tomb!
Let the rolls cool slightly. Then, the kids can open their rolls (the cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there.....HE IS RISEN!
The marshmallow melts & the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.
Now read Matthew 28:5-8
⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ 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.” ⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples."

These were so fun to make with the girls & they are yummy!
They did each step, all I did was read the Bible verses & put them in the oven!
It was a great Easter Activity to do this week during Holy Week as we reflect & give thanks for what Jesus did for us!

It was a Pinterest Success, for sure!
We will now make these every year during the Easter Season.
Linking up with Jess:

Our Love Story: 10 Years in the Making

Our Love Story: 10 Years in the Making

Kevin and I will be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary this August (just 10 days after Baby #3 is supposed to make its debut!).

I thought it would be fun to take a little walk down memory lane and reminisce about the early days of our relationship. Kevin and I started officially dating in September 2001.
We had been hanging out all summer. (I had graduated from college in May 2001.)
We both grew up in the same town, but he was a few years older.
We went to the same high school & same youth group, but because he was older we didn't know each other. He actually was friends with my older sister & they went to the same college.

When I was in high school Kevin was a camp counselor at the houseboating camp our youth group went to every summer. (He was never my camp counselor.) One of my best friends (Sue) and I would always pull pranks on Kevin's best friend, Brian. During the summer of 1995, I developed a crush on Kevin & told Sue that I was going to marry Kevin one day.
Little did I know that would actually happen!

But from the summer of 1995 until the summer of 2001, Kevin and my paths didn't cross.
He was at college & then I went off to college in Colorado.
I saw him briefly one night during Christmas break of 1998, when my older sister had a game night at my parents' house.
I always thought Kevin didn't like me because, let's face it, I'm loud, have a lot of energy & I talk a lot. And the fact that I pulled a bunch of pranks on his best friend didn't help my cause.

Fast-forward to July of 2001. I had just broken up with a guy I dated my last few months of college. Kevin & his girlfriend had also recently broken up.
I graduated from college in May & was home for the summer.
I had plans to move back to Colorado in the fall & do an internship with a youth group at a church in Boulder that I had volunteered with.
That summer of 2001 was life-changing to say the least.
Our friends Reid & Kelly were getting married & Kevin was the best man. None of my friends were home that summer; they were either traveling or still at college. So, I just started hanging out with Reid, Kelly, Kevin & Elyse.
Kevin & I developed a great friendship that summer. We had SO much in common, we just clicked. I had NO intention of dating him because he was, and I quote, "damaged goods."
We started going on runs after work that summer. We would run for 1.5-2 hours and just talk.
I started getting feelings for him but was wary because I was moving back to Colorado...or so I thought. The assistant youth director job at our church opened up & I decided to apply. I had to let the church in Colorado know that they might need to find another intern & if it was okay with them if I applied for this full-time job. With their blessing, I applied. And I got it. (I worked there for 2 years (and got my California teaching credential simultaneously and then started teaching middle school math in 2004).
So, now that I was staying in California, Kevin and I had a DTR (define the relationship) on 9.9.01.
The talk needed to happen since we hung out ALL the time. The DTR went well and we were dating. Our relationship progressed quickly & by December we were talking marriage. I was 22 & he was 26, but we both just "knew."

In January, Kevin started house-hunting & wanted to buy a condo. He would take me along to look at the houses he was looking at to make sure I liked them & that I approved. The first week of February 2002, I was in a college friend's wedding in Colorado and Kevin came with me to meet all my college friends. We went for a week & the last day of our trip, he told me, "Wow. I haven't gotten sick of you yet." I told him I hadn't gotten sick of him either. Haha!

Little did I know, the day after we got back from Colorado, Kevin went ring shopping.
We also looked at a few more condos. The week of Valentine's Day was approaching. On Monday the 11th, Kevin put an offer on a condo. On Wednesday, they counter-offered him & then he counter-offered later that night.
Thursday was Valentine's Day. Both Kevin and I were not big fans of Valentine's Day.
(Side note: I was NOT expecting a ring for Valentine's Day.)
We made simple plans to go to dinner at a local Italian place.
We made it clear that we wouldn't give presents on Valentine's Day. We exchanged cards.
It was simple. Just like us.

The next day, February 15th, was a normal Friday. We had plans to head up to Tahoe for President's Day. We weren't leaving until Friday night after work. Kevin called me that afternoon & said he was getting off work early & that we should go on a run before we headed up to Tahoe. I thought nothing of it because we usually went running 3-4 times a week after work. We went on one of our normal routes, but then Kevin suggested we go "off trail" and run up in the hills.

We got to the top of the hill & it overlooked the entire valley that we live in. It was beautiful; all the hills were green. I told Kevin that we were so lucky to live in such a beautiful area.
At that moment, he got down on his knee. (I thought he was tying his shoe.)
Then he grabbed my hand & looked at me all serious.
I thought he was joking. I pulled my hand away & told him to stop joking around.
He grabbed my hand again & told me he was serious.
I was SHOCKED. He told me a bunch of nice stuff (but I wasn't listening because I was just in shock that he was proposing).
Of course I said yes & was shaking! We ran straight back to my parents' house.
Fifteen minutes after we got back to my parent's house, Kevin's cell phone rang. The offer on the house was accepted. So, not only did we get engaged, but we bought a house!
(I didn't move in until AFTER we were married.)
February 15th is a special day for us!
Since we didn't have a camera to take a picture on our run (and we were both sweaty & in running gear), we went back a week later to take a picture of the spot where we got engaged (in normal clothes):
And, 6 months later, on August 24, 2002, we were married!
It has been a fun 10 (almost) years.
We have bought 3 houses, have a dog, 2 precious girls & another sweet baby on the way. If there is 1 thing I have learned in the past 10 years it is that marriage takes hard work. There have been good times & bad times, but the good far outweighs the bad.
I feel so blessed & lucky to have him in my life.
I am so glad I made that decision over 10 years ago to apply for that job in California and not move back to Colorado. My life wouldn't look the same, that's for sure!

Mark your calendars - The Lucky One opens in theaters April 20! Watch the trailer on The Lucky One website and get updates on The Lucky One Facebook page.

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Guess What?

Someone VERY close to me is also pregnant!
And, she is due just 7 weeks after me.
With her first.....
I am SO, SO, SO excited that my younger sister Rebecca & her husband Jason are expecting and due this Fall! They are going to be wonderful parents!
We had a little photo shoot yesterday in honor of their exciting news!
{Today is also their 1 year wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary...what a year!}

I am so excited to share this pregnancy journey with my baby sister!
She hasn't been feeling well either and I keep telling her that "Misery loves Company". Ha!

I can't explain how excited I am that Baby #3 will have a "Cousin-Sibling"
(I just made up that term...it's a cousin that is like a sibling)
I hope that these 2 will be close friends, just like Becks & I are.
We live less than 5 minutes apart & my mom will be watching both our babies 3 days a week when we are at school (Rebecca teaches middle school math also), so these babies will be spending A LOT of time together!

I secretly hope that we both have the same gender...I think that would be really neat.
They will be finding out what they are having (they aren't crazy like us!)
I already have Baby Shower ideas for her floating around my head!
Congrats Rebecca & Jason! So excited our babies will be a month & a half apart!