Happy Easter 2008!

Easter this year was just wonderful! We took the grans to church where Clay sang in the childrens choir for the first time. She was the best one in her row!

That's her in the bright dress. The music for the service featured a string section stolen from the Richmond Symphony and, together with the adult choir and the usual band, it knocked your socks off.

Then, of course, we had the requisite egg hunt in our front yard featuring Clay, Tanner, Cammie and Rylan. Well, see for yourself.

Mema & Papa Go to the Big Apple

We visited New York in March in order to take in a few plays. We weren't disappointed. We saw Phantom of the Opera, Gypsy, and Curtains. Three plays in three days kind of wore us old folks out but it was very nice. We even were treated to the Naked Cowboy who hangs out in Times Square even in very chilly weather. Well, see for yourself. Ya gotta have a gimmick to make it in New York and this dude has a gimmick!

It was too cold to do a lot of sight-seeing but we did see a lot of Times Square, the Rockefeller Plaza and a Seinfeld type cafe where we did most of our eating.

The above Lego display was in the largest Toys R Us I've ever seen. Three floors and an indoor Ferris wheel.

We are just in awe of the talent in the theaters. Each production seemed better than the last. David Hyde-Pierce starred in Curtains and was just hilarious.

The Sisters Visit Us

In late February, sisters Sue and Sally, accompanied by niece Kelsey and grand neice Charis, came for a visit. I don't see my sisters nearly enough so this was a special occasion. Daughter Ashley also help host the affair and was glad for the opportunity to get to know these distant relatives better.

We had a grand party the Saturday night that they were here and were regaled with belly dancing, acrobatics and other "hey, watch this" stunts from the grand kids.

We also took the time to visit Jamestown that included a very nice lunch of oysters and clams at a cafe along the York River.

The Girls go Rock, Climbing

These are some pictures that Ann passed on to us where they took Olivia, Sophie and Nora rock climbing with their home school bunch. From the looks of it, they had a real exciting time.

Here Olivia starts up the dangerous ice-covered north face of the Eiger.

Nora carefully traverses during a fierce snow storm

Sophie scrambles to rescue a fellow climber injured in the avalanche.

Ann supervises safely from the ground.

A Day at the Great Big Greenhouse

The Great Big Greenhouse is a local nursery and once a year they hold a hands-on actvity fest for kids. Mema took Clay, Tanner and Camden this year and they had a ball!

They made and painted birdhouses.

They made masks (or maybe they are hats).

We stood in line a long time wating for the balloon guy to blow.

Like this.

But all in all everyone had an absolute great time!

Aunt Janet Leaves Us

Aunt Janet from Seattle came to visit us back in October and was able to observe Thanksgiving with us. Finally, she had enough and decided it was time to return to Seattle. But first, she decided to stop in Gibbon, NE to visit her niece and nephew for a few days. We certainly enjoyed Janet's visit and the kids, especially, became close to her. She will be missed.

We decided to have a little going-away party so the kids and grandkids could say their good-byes. These are just a few of the pictures taken.

Indian Campfire Cookout

We had the little indians over for a "cookout" in the fireplace. Mema found some indian headbands, we built a fire in the hearth and the little savages cooked some 'dogs -- with a little adult supervision. Our tribe for the evening consisted of Clay, Cammie, Tanner and Rylan.

Oh wait! Not those indians!

THESE INDIANS!!!

It was a fun evening and, thankfully, none of the little indians were hurt in the fire.