Easter-ific

This year for Easter we had an impromptu celebration down at the Robison's house. With this little group of kids we still hid all of the eggs that I kept in the bucket from last year - something like 250! Boy was there an explosion of candy. I was shocked that the weather was so good - but I as glad that I didn't plan the party this year. Plus, we had spread manure on our lawn recently and it still reeked to high heaven. Nobody would have wanted to be there!


The Wednesday after Easter, Tyler and Mike took off for Boston to look at colleges - MIT, Harvard, NorthEastern and Boston College, I believe. They really didn't take any pictures - except for Tyler with his sunburnt nose from a day of skiing, so here is a picture of the adorable chocolate penguins they bought me - just before I bit the heads off and ate them!

ZOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM

For Mike's birthday - and for Christmas - I bought him a Mustang experience at Larry Miller Sportspark. He got to drive a mustang on the offiial track for twelve laps, playing follow the leader with a professional driver. He said he was taking some corners at like 80 mph. Then he rode along with a driver for three really fast laps - at pro-racing speeds. I think his happy expression was worth the 5 month wait!

Indonesian exports

So - way back when, I finally went over to Jospehne's house and met her and Elder Subandriyo's wife Stefie (probably not spelling that right). I ate yummy kroepoek and nasi and fried bananas.

News Scraps

Here are Krista and her friend Mariah at the ballet when we went to see Cinderella with the Relief Society. It was probably the most successful Enrichment activity of the year. I took the girls out to lunch before the ballet. And then later that night our family went to Temple Square where we heard Tyler's friend Alexander play with the Utah Youth Symphony. Dad would have really enjoyed the concert - they are excellent!
Here is Mike lounging on the couch with his broken finger. He hasn't said much about it lately, but I don't think that the little piece of bone will ever actually reattach. I have no idea, however, and Mike's not talking. By the way - he and Tyler gave talks in church on Sunday. Neither of them toldus girls that they had been asked, so Tyler wasn't prepared and I was just surprised to see Mike on the stand. I thought he was preparing for aPriesthood lesson.
Here is a picture of an eyeball-shaped bag the I found on the Internet. After I made my own, complete with blood vessels, Mike took it to work to show off. I will probably give it away at the office White Elephant exchange next year. I am working on a blue-eyed version now - slightly larger, with a sturdier rim and longer blood vessel ties.
ANd here is our goofy kitten. In the evening she will let my lay her on her back and scratch her belly. Then she will fall asleep in this position for a bit. Sometimes she will even let someone else scratch her, but she's a momma's kitty. Heks and Spelen are getting along very well now. They like to groom each other.

Pier Family on Deck

Bob, Lisa and all of the kids came over the next Sunday night. We got to eat Belgian waffles again - since we're using a real Belgian recipe, they are extra yummy! Both families get out of church at 2 and the Pier kids showed up pretty soon after that. It was nice just to hang out and not feel like we had to entertain each other. I don't think Bob and Lisa read much of their books, however they did try.

The kids have decided that if I am going to amke them sit for pictures that they are going to be as goofy as possible.

The Elders come calling

Craig came to town a day early so that he could go to Tyler's school and talk to his calculus class. Craig's sister Marilyn was also coming through on her way to Hawaii (flight attendant for Delta), so we all went to dinner at Settebello. Yumm! The rest of the crew arrived the next day.





We took the sleds to Sugar House Park and the kids, Craig and Mike had a great time sliding down the hill by the pond. Colin tried using some cardboard, but the sleds were definitely much better.



Krista, Corrina and I stayed home on Sunday while the rest of the group went skiing. The elders also received their yearly eye exam.
Sunday night we had Belgian waffles for dinner - our waffle iron died at the last second, but we rushed to Sur La Table and snatched a new one qickly, so dinner wasn't ruined.

Winter Blooming

These paperwhites are a Christmas gift from Virginia. They survived being shipped back to Utah and being neglected for awhile. They were happy to bloom and have a nice spicy scent. It was so easy, I may try forcing me own bulbs again.

This arrangement is a Christmas gift from Margie Batson. It's a miture of tulips and daffodils and muscari.

Other than watching flowers bloom, there has been much newsworthy going on around here. I spent much of January getting ready for my conference in March. That took up huge amounts of my time at work and home. We got the binder off to press, so I have a little breathing room. Now I just need to make my lists and hope that none of my presenters back out at the last minute.

School is actually incredibly busy. Besides the conference oming up March 6th, I have a book fair at the end of February and an author visit the day after the conference. The SBOs have a major service project at the end of March and I have to crack the whip to get all of those details done. Plus, In April start elections - and since I am going to be in Paris, I have to get everything ready for someone else to execute.

So I guess when I say nothing is going on, i really just mean at home. Because work is certainly very busy and the future is no less full.

The cousins are arriving this weekend. Craig comes in Friday so that he can talk to Tyler's calculus class about engineering and his moon mission. The rest arrive Saturday for some skiing and socializing. The next weekend we have Bob and his crew arriving for dinner. I will take lost of pictures and finally have something interesting to post!