Easter

We had a wonderful Easter celebration at Grammy's house.  Because we would be spending most of Easter Sunday in the car, our celebrations took place on "Easter Eve," as Mary called it.  Tio Dave and Tia Ale drove up from San Antonio that day to join us!  (Ale is an RN, and she had worked a 12 hour shift the night before.  Plus, she is pregnant, people! She is such a trooper!  But we are so so so grateful we got to see them! And we are grateful to Greg's parents for not hesitating for one second about opening their home to Dave and Ale.)

There was egg-dying, of course.

And Easter baskets filled with goodies and the exciting requisite Easter egg hunt!

There was also playing in the kayak.

Don't you kayak in your swimming pool on Easter too?

 Easter morning we had a delicious breakfast, talked about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and attended sacrament meeting before heading back north.  We also tried (tried) to take some "official" Easter pictures.

It was a very happy Easter.

Gone to the grandparents ...

We listed our house right before spring break.  A recipe for disaster:  All the kids home from school that week plus multiple showings nearly every day.  Ugh!  So we decided to make our house perfect.  PERFECT.  Then abandon ship and take our mess to Texas.  We figured it would be better to trash the grandparents' houses than our own.  Plus, it would be nice to experience a little spring, seeing as how it was still the dead of winter here.

Going to Texas was a great decision!  It was so wonderful to feel a little sunshine and have some extra helping hands.

First we made a mess at my mom's house.  It was great fun.

Little Sara on her first walk ever!   She was like, "Air? Wind? Sun? What is all this?" Surprisingly, it was only in the 50's and 60's when we first got there.  But that was probably a good thing because when it finally reached 75 we Wisconsinite folks were MELTING, baby included. 

Mary wore her Easter dress to church at my mom's house.

Sara wore hers too!  First time in a dress.  (Besides her blessing gown.)

I love this picture of Mary and my mom.  Grandma Evie took us all to the Barnes and Noble  in Highland Village so the kids could pick out books.  Then we went outside to enjoy the books in the sunshine.  Here is Mary reading Amelia Bedilia to my mom.  My favorite detail is the Sea Life Aquarium medal around Mary's neck.  One morning my mom took David and Mary to the aquarium while Greg and I went to the temple together.  Greg's mom met us at the temple to take care of Sara while Greg and I were inside.  (Thank  you, Moms, for making it possible for Greg and me to attend the temple!)  Mary worked hard for her medal at the aquarium, and she was quite proud of it!  (By the way, David was running around reading his new book outside Barnes and Noble too.)

Grandpa Mike was prepared for chess matches with David, which he got.  But somebody else wanted to learn!

So now Grandpa Mike has a new opponent.

She's a tough one!

As usual, the kids loved playing with dogs and helping to take care of them.

We enjoyed being in Flower Mound.  David and Mary were so happy to be outside a lot.  And I appreciated the extra help.  (And I think we all liked my dad's really big new TV Greg helped pick out and set up.  New TVs don't happen often in my family.)  It was great to see my parents!  I loved visiting with them, and I am so grateful for their love and support.  (Hey, Mom and Dad, because I love you so much I will not write about the Great Water Heater Debacle of 2013.)

Soon it was time to take our mess up the road to Greg's parents' house.  We had a great time there, too.

Mary helped Grammy clean and arrange her fairy gardens.  Mary loves working with Grammy on projects.

Our big outing was to the Dallas Arboretum (which I love!).  It was the perfect day to go--so perfect, in fact, that everyone else in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex decided to go too!  As a result, we had to park in the overflow lot a mile or two away and ride a big huge bus to the arboretum entrance.  The bus was a big hit with David and Mary!  After enjoying the flowers, we all met Greg (who had stayed home to work) for some amazing pizza at Grimaldi's.  It made for a lovely day.

David on the bus!

David and Mary were excited that it was Sara's first time ever on a bus.

Beautiful blooms; beautiful girl.

A big grassy area just begs to be cartwheeled on.

David and Mary.  There were lots of flowers...and lots of people.

The Texas Pioneer Adventure area is always a big hit.

David and the plow.  I have so many pictures of him doing this--it's always his favorite thing.

David relaxing on the porch of his favorite pioneer house.

Sara took a little nap in her grammy's arms.

It was such a pleasure to visit with Greg's parents.  It is always a blessing to be in their home.

When Greg and I got married my parents lived in California.  It was a year or so later that they happened to move to Dallas, where Greg's parents were.  It has been such a blessing for us in so many ways to have them close together.  Like being able to take our mess to Texas to spring break!

Goodbyes

Tuesday we said our goodbyes at the airport.

(Sorry, Mom.  But your expression was too good not to post.)

Mary officially decided Uncle Daniel is awesome--and she couldn't get enough of him.  So they had an extra special goodbye moment.

And then we left.

Does anyone want to see the pictures I took two years ago of my kids saying goodbye to Uncle Daniel?  (I do!  I do!)  Click "read more" to see them.

With Tio and Tia then and now

When we lived in Texas, my brother Dave and his wife Alejandra were my heroes.  They rescued the year for my kids, making what could have been a miserable time into a magical one.  They filled in for a physically absent father and an often mentally absent mother, and they made up for my kids' rather lackluster social calendars.

Here are David and Mary with Tio and Tia on one of the first Sunday afternoons they spent together.

Here is a picture of David and Mary on their most recent Sunday afternoon spent with Tio and Tia.

Ale and Dave live in San Antonio right now.  Dave is in law school, and Ale is beginning a new job as an RN at a big hospital down there.  They are definitely busy.  So I'm so grateful they came up!  Of course, it was to see Daniel and hear him speak in church, which was awesome by the way, but whatever the reason it was so great to see them!

Fiesta

We were in Dallas to celebrate two things: Uncle Daniel's return from Chile (see pictures of his mission at the end of my previous post) and Tio Dave's birthday (our little leapling--his 7th birthday in 28 years).

This called for one of my mom's super stuffed blizzard pies.  (All of my brothers ADORE this creation of my mom's--which she concocted years ago just for them.  I usually pass...)

We, of course, also went out for some super delicious Mexican food.  If you're ever anywhere near Lake Dallas, I highly recommend this little place.  (At Mechicano's they even sell Mexican street tacos--made in the same way they are on the streets of Mexico.)  And the salsa is perfect.

Celebrations include games.  Those of us who were brave enough played this game--

And, trust me, you have to be brave...very brave...

You spin the wheel.

And hope you're lucky when you choose the jelly bean.

There is always a thoughtful, tense moment or two while you're waiting for your taste buds to weigh in.

And then you know if you won--

Or not--

(I think was the biggest loser--I got a nasty flavor every time.  You cannot imagine how gross a baby wipe flavored jelly bean is.)

Finally, every celebration needs a pinata, right?

Good times.