Rest of the Day

Shortly after the egg hunt and breakfast, Kyle took Papa to the airport to catch his flight back to Arizona and  upon his return we all headed to church and were able to worship our Savior on a sacred day dedicated to Him and His gift of resurrection.

Easter dinner, much to Papa's chagrin, consisted of an Austrian delicacy entitled Suerbraten.  It is a cut of pork that literally marinates in a brine for two whole weeks.  Finding meat that had that much time before expiring was quite the feat for Kyle, but thankfully he found some at Tom Thumb and we were all the beneficiaries of his kitchen skillz once again.

Egg Hunt

The kids all had a hard time waiting for the Easter Egg Hunt to begin, but amazingly, Ben was the only contestant who began collecting eggs before the official start.

In the end, with the help of all the adults, Ben had a whopping 24 mini chocolate eggs.

Norah was close to him with roughly 32 eggs.

Ava was a good sport and shared so many finds with her younger siblings and only found 48 eggs in the end.

Jack was less of a good sport with the little kids and found 62 eggs total.  He won the egg hunt for sure, but ended up trading a bunch to Ava that contained his nemesis, peanut butter.

Easter

Who knew back in February when we started planning Ava's baptism, that it would land on Easter weekend and we would have some grandparents around for the holiday?  What a unique and very awesome thing!  The kids were thrilled for so many reasons this morning.

Cheesecake Factory

We wanted to continue a tradition started when Kyle was in his youth, where the parents take the newly baptized child out to a restaurant of their choice for dinner. 

Apparently the trip we had made with Ava a few weeks back to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert left an  indelible impression on her, because that's where she chose.

She got the Macaroni Bites and ate almost two before calling it quits and saving room for a slice of cheesecake.

It was so fun to be with her, celebrating such an important event in her life.

Afterwards

Homeade Frosted Texas Sheet Cake, by Nana and other treats by friends of our family concluded the baptism and we all headed home for Ben's nap and then made it to Ava's volleyball game to close off a wonderful day.

Ben played with Papa while Jack and Norah scarfed down a ton of jelly beans.  Everyone seemed to be having a great day.

Turnout

Ava is such a sweetie and had many great friends in attendance.  Two of her babysitters, Caitlyn and Megan, showed their support.

Ava's 16 year old piano teacher, Miss Ginger, not only came, but played all the piano for the music and interludes perfectly.

And Ava's first primary teacher came and even said the closing prayer at Ava's request.  We love Sister Van  Boerum and were so glad Ava got to see her again now that we have moved out of the ward.

One of the coolest people who came was Ava's second grade teacher, Mrs. Norris.  We wanted to invite the person Ava spent the most time with outside the family and were so pleased when she arrived, although, she needed to leave early and we sadly didn't get a picture with her.

Entertianment

Throughout the journey of planning the baptism, we felt really impressed to have as much family in attendance possible.  At first it was going to just be Nana, which was awesome, but sneaking Papa over was so great.  

The kids had no idea he was coming.  We kept it a secret the whole time and the morning after his arrival, he was able to sneak up on each one and surprise them.  It was so sweet to see how excited they were he had made it.

Ava was grateful to these guys for making the trip and I know she loved the attention and felt even more special and loved on her special day!

Proud Daddy

Kyle was the one baptizing Ava and he couldn't have looked anymore awesome in his matching jumpsuit.  It was so special to see him in the water with her, holding her hand and talking her though it all.  I love our family!

Sweet Ava

I wasn't sure how it would feel to have a baptized child, but the actual program and dunking were so special, I can't wait to do it all over again with the other three!

Family Photos

This morning, after 8 years and 5 days of waiting, we gathered at the stake center for sweet Ava's baptism.  We were able to take some pictures beforehand.  Thankfully, Nana and Papa came so there was more family in the photos!

It was an exciting and rushed morning that ended with us at the church with plenty of time before the bapstism started.  I'm so glad we worked hard and were able to have the baptism at the stake center instead of the ward building we are currently assigned to attend.

Invitation and Program

I wanted to send out invitations for Ava's big day since most of the people we wanted to come wouldn't be able to.  I whipped this up in a few hours while watching my friend's kid.  I wasn't sure if it would be what I wanted, but Ava loved it, ergo I loved it!

The one-sided program had the run down of activities on the front and the lyrics to the songs Ava selected on the back.  It ended up being a very timeless design, but with time constraints and Kyle working like a dog-all of the planning fell to me and I really needed to simplify.  

I love how it turned out and can't wait to print it again with some other names up top.

Nana's Here

While everyone was fishing, I picked up Nana from the airport and walked her over to the lake.  The kids had been wondering when she would arrive after Papa's surprise appearance last night while they were sleeping.

Little Guy

Ben was napping during most of the action, but he sure woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to tackle anything!

Like Father Like Son

Kyle stayed home and fished and seemed to be really enjoying his first round of fishing since Alaska.

Reel Deal

These kids didn't catch anything but a hunger for more fishing.  They spent over 2.5 hours out here.

Norah couldn't have looked sweeter with her little Barbie fishing pole.

Prepartion

While Papa repeatedly fixed fishing poles and fielded questions from me about live bait, the kids and Kyle practiced their casting skills in the backyard.

Fishing in Front

There is small lake outside that we have the pleasure of looking out into from anywhere in the front of our house.  We heard there were still some lingering Bass in existence since the country club was replaced with our subdivision, but never found out for ourselves.

Until today, we had only seen people fishing, but thanks to Papa's arrival last night and a trip to Cabela's and Target for some fishing gear-the kids and Kyle were able to spend some time finding out for themselves.

Before heading to lake, though, Papa needed to go over some things.

Entry Rugs

I bought these two identical 5x8 rugs to put in our foyer and am having a hard time falling in love with the look.  Having just one is way too sparce for me, so I might just have to go with this positioning above the three others I tried. 

How can I be disappointed in two non-symmetric chevron rugs as the first thing you see when you come over?

Haircut TIme

This guy just woke up and was shoved in the car only to land on my lap at the hair salon with a gown around his neck!  What a trooper he was, and what a great haircut (first one he's had since Aunt Melanie's in AZ!).

Last Good-bye

I feel like I have been saying good-bye to this amazing girl and her cute kids for a few days now, but I am having a hard time letting go.  I will totally miss these fabulous friends.

Rest of the Day

After heading to school late, I brought Ava some McDonald's breakfast for lunch (she eats at 10:45 am), she shared her marshmallow brownies with all her classmates and then she practiced with her creative writing team after school.


We picked her up and then she was able to play her new IPet game on the PS3 with Kyle until it was time for her to eat her requested dinner-Raclette.

Afterwards we celebrated with her cupcake of choice-chocolate cake filled with cookie dough and topped with a chocolate fudge butter-cream frosting and some candles!

She didn't get them all blown our at once, but eventually we were able to enjoy this delicious dessert together!

Loot

This girl is so loved and all those people thought it might be nice to send her some presents!  Cookies, Jenga, pj's, a dress, new shoes, bug collection tools, butterfly habitat, cards, books, friendship bracelet makings!  She deserved it all (and then some)!

Buddies

It is so cute to see these guys interacting, especially when it is done nicely!

Helpers in Red

These guys sure love presents!

Late for a Reason

With all this fun after grabbing some donuts with Daddy, Ava needed to be late to school.

Birthday Girl

Ava awoke to this and quickly put on her birthday clothes and started the balloon fun while Kyle and I dragged ourselves out of bed after another late night.

Cool Kids

Some of the coolest people around are moving to California next week and in an attempt to help us forget about our loss, some friends threw them a party and invited all these folks.  Good times, we will miss you guys so much!

RFC

We promised the kids a brownie volcano, and delivered while sitting at the bar in some pretty crazy stools.  I was in the duck one while Kyle kicked on the frog legs.

Ready To Laugh

I love watching anything funny with Kyle by my side-the guy busts a gut ergo-I bust a gut.  Love his laugh, teary eyed-ness, shortness of breath and knee slapping!

The Majestic Theatre

I love how old school theatres just have people at the door taking your ticket, no scanners to reduce lines here!

Gaffigan Tickets

We bought some tickets to a comedian that we hadn't seen live yet, but loved watching on TV.  This evening has been planned for so many months now, it's hard to believe we are actually going!