April Happenings!

Anthony is on a school trip in Washington DC and New York. So far his phone calls home and text messages have let us know that he's having a great time. Anthony loves history, he's always watching the Discovery Channel. When I talked to him last night he was like an encyclopedia giving me all the information on everything they'd seen. Today he text Erika that they'd seen Obama through a window as he passed by in his car. I may not like Obama but that's really cool.

The morning Anthony left: (which btw was 1:45am)
April 4 was Erika's birthday. We went to dinner on the 2nd so Anthony could be there before leaving on his trip.
Erika was happy to be with family:
Erika was happier with her gifts from Anthony & Launa. Launa picked out a bag with sandals on it because Erika wears sandals even in cold weather. Anthony made Erika a container in woodshop for placing things inside. He did a really great job making it.

And, of course, Easter. This year Easter and Erika's actual birthday fell on the same day. We've always had the family here for Easter but this year our nephew, Ron, wanted to host Easter in his new house in Simi Valley. It was so different for me to just show up with a dish and not be in charge. Very relaxing and nice. (Just wish Glenn hadn't had to work) Ron and his girlfriend Susan did a wonderful job.

Every year Aunt Vicki gives the kids BIG Easter boxes full of candy and toys. Actually more toys/books etc than candy. The kids have a blast opening them. They spent the rest of the day playing with everything.

Ron has a huge backyard. The kids had 2 Easter egg hunts. Viviana, Launa and Ben Jr.

The kids played lots of games. One of them was basketball.

Greatma and BJ concentrating on finding fossils.

Grandma and Karina

Launa decorated Erika's birthday cake

Erika getting ready to blow out the candles. Viviana is ready to help
Ron & Susan....our hosts:

Easter

The younger kids at our house hunt for plastic Easter eggs filled with lots of goodies. The older kids go on a treasure hunt using clues. The magic age is 10 so this was Anthony's 2nd year to go on a treasure hunt. Anthony loves old coins so for his treasure both years greatma (my mom) gave him coins she had that belonged to my grandpa.

After church we started the family get together with our traditional ham meal. Mom brought her famous potato casserole. yum yum Next was the egg/treasure hunt. My niece, Vicki, brought an animated version of the Easter story. We watched the first half up to the crucifixion, had dessert and then watched the last half about the resurrection. It was a really good DVD.

Launa is so used to having her picture taken that most of the time as soon as she sees the camera she poses. Papa was watching her pose and decided he needed to pose too.

A cake decorator I'm NOT. Really didn't get my Aunt Dorothy's decorating gene. I made cakes for our Sunday school class and one for our grandkids. First of all the frosting had to be chocolate so it couldn't look like the picture. But even using that excuse for my end result won't work here. I was truly afraid that my cake would send the kids screaming because it looks more like a Halloween mask. Luckily the taste outweighed the looks. Ha!