Spring Break Whirlwind

We enjoyed a busy week before Easter. We celebrated our 15th Wedding Anniversary. A funny comic from the Reader's Digest showed an elderly couple reading the newspaper. The husband said to his wife, "Says here that married people live longer." Her reply was, "No, it just SEEMS longer!"

I am grateful for my sweetheart. He is a good man with lots of patience. AND he shares his chocolate with me! What more can I ask?

He was even willing to be a bachelor for a week while I took the kids to visit family in Ontario/Boise. Before our trip, we had a very nice Easter weekend. The day before Easter we went to Corvallis to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We took our plastic candy-filled eggs to hide and hunt in their big backyard. Grandpa was the Easter Bunny. The kids loved that. I'm not sure how much candy made it back home. I think they ate most of it at Grandma's. Later in the day Terry took me out to dinner for our anniversary at The Gables, our favorite special occasion restaurant in Corvallis. The food was so divine.


Easter Sunday Terry stayed home with two sick kids while I took the other two kids to church. Everett had a sore throat and nearly lost his voice. Claire had been battling a fever for a couple of days and was just so unhappy. I think she was cutting a tooth--her second tooth. Sacrament meeting was excellent. Our Stake Patriarch spoke to/about the youth regarding the fact that they were sent to Earth at this time for a reason and it's up to us as parents to help them to realize their potential and guide them to the Savior. I wish that I'd taken notes. Later, I substituted in the Sunbeams class. Sunbeam teachers are saints! That's all I will say about that.

Easter dinner was shredded pork and homemade rolls. Uncle Henry came to celebrate with us and brought the kids some fun Easter baskets. We had a great day!
Later in the evening we were busy preparing and packing for our trip.
PJs--check
toothbrushes--check
diapers--check
snacks--check
portable DVD player so we don't drive mom nuts--double check!

We had been checking the road cameras in the Santiam Pass all week long, watching as the snow came and went. We hoped that we'd get through on bare pavement and fortunately we did! We met my parents in Bend to caravan with them to their house (four hours away!) which really helped me. I had Mom with me and Dad took the older two in his car. Now, that's the way to travel! Thanks Mom & Dad!
<

We enjoyed our visit very much in spite of having some raspy voices and a bit of fever. By the middle of the week everyone was feeling better. We were able to see family and friends. We got a little shopping in too, of course.

The highlights of our trip:
~ I got my hair cut. Yay! I had about 3 inches taken off.
~ Eating delicious Mom-made food and a trip to Burger West. We missed Belly Buster this time around.
~ Getting together with my sisters and eating more delicious food. (They are amazing cooks!)
~ Playing Wii with my friend and our kids. So much fun! I don't think I've laughed so hard in ages!
~ Lazy mornings visiting with my Mom. Ahh!
~ Pan Dulce
~ Seeing my friends and getting these from Jody:


Now it's back to school for the kids and time for MY vacation to begin. Ha-ha! I did take a much needed nap today. Claire has forgotten what it means to sleep through the night, it seems. It's rough getting up after a month or two of full nights of sleep. Crazy what sleep/lack of sleep can do, right Shannon? Good thing babies are so cute!

Happy Spring!