Kevin and Alison

 Happy Easter! He has Risen!! The kids have had a short break from school & Kevin took off Friday. We did a bike ride and then enjoyed the beautiful weather by doing egg dying outside.  On Saturday we went to my parents for the annual egg-hunt and brunch. It was windy, but otherwise more gorgeous weather! Because my sisters were in town, we did April's family birthday party on Saturday afternoon. The cousins did a painting party - followed along with an online tutorial for an acrylic painting of cattails and a dragonfly.  On Sunday we had a great church service & then had lunch at our house. More fabulous weather and time with family!

This week has brought some strange weather! On Saturday, it was freezing while we watched Peter's baseball game - it was the "late night, under the lights" 8:00 pm game. and my toes were numb when the game was over. Then, Sunday was beautiful weather to watch soccer! April scored TWO goals in her game! We had a silent-auction at a church lunch on Sunday to raise money for the Youth Group Missions Trip. Peter bid on a cooler full of interesting flavored soda-pop....and he won! The first one he tried? Pickle Pop.  For a few years, our neighborhood has been the area of choice for a few mallard ducks to nest. The momma duck picked my neighbors' driveway this year...it seems like Spring must be coming if there are eggs!

 After a year of not blogging, I'm making this post as an attempt to restart :)  We went on a family vacation back in February that was wonderful. It was a good time of year to travel and the picture above is from the first day. We got to the resort at lunchtime, threw on the swimsuits, and then had a dinner reservation at 6! So it was a jam-packed day but everyone was thrilled! We enjoyed time at the pool, the kids grew more confident in speaking Spanish and ordering drinks, and each night was a great dinner & ice cream at the little coffee shop :) Everyone has said they would go back :)  Maybe some day!

 Kevin and I got to go to Cancun for a friends-trip, and it was a great escape from winter weather at home! It was only possible because my parents & sister (and her family) were willing to help out with Chloe, April, and Peter. Big thank you to all of them!! Here are some pictures from our time away: We got to eat breakfast at the airport club, which was very nice! The wives got their husbands the same swimsuit - with our faces on them! If you click the photo, I think you can zoom in :)  We enjoyed several great dinners and shows. We only had one afternoon of rain, but it wasn't even enough to get us to leave the beach!  Most of the time, it was sunny like this! Kevin got the "catch of the day" for lunch - and it was the whole catch on his plate!! Here is our before and after of tennis: We also tried paddleboarding on a really windy morning. It was a great time with great friends! :) 

Last weekend we went on the hunt for a Christmas tree!  We found a perfect tree & Kevin had help this year cutting it down :) The finished product has the angel touching the ceiling. That means we got the right height ;)  

My brother-in-law raises turkeys, and we had one on Thanksgiving this year! It was a 31 pound turkey and took up a lot of space in my refrigerator for a few days before the holiday. I started the cooking process early so it was done by lunchtime.  Here is the turkey, barely fitting into my oven!  "the farmer and the chef" :)