Our Stake Nativity Display

Someone, at some point this year, decided that what our ward/town needs is one of those Nativity/Creche displays. I don't know whose brainchild this was, or where they got the idea, but I was more than willing to go along with it. (Honestly? I've been hoping for an opportunity like this to come along. I just didn't want to be the one who brought it up.) It was this past weekend, and it turned out really quite lovely. I spent a couple hours there Saturday morning, nominally to help out with music, but Russell brought Alison and Kristen by to check out the displays.

Kristen got a picture by the table we set up. (Yes, we got our own table.)

And she told Russell that he needed to take a picture of the Peanuts nativity. So he did.

Alison did crafts in the children's room.

And then he snuck a picture of me playing.

It was a good event.

Cousins!

We had cousins come for Thanksgiving! You have to understand: we so rarely get family to come for holidays, and COUSINS are a special treat. So, we were all very excited that Baden and Mary decided to drive down and spend a couple of days with us.

We played lots.

And inflicted our traditions on them.

And played games with them.

And took them to Friends.

And they took Kristen to the zoo.

And eventually, we wore them out and they had to go home.

It was SO much fun having family around. We must do it again!

Russell Went to Montreal

And this is what he saw:

I don't usually put up Russell posts here, but I thought you all would be interested in his trip to Montreal. It was for a conference, and he had a fantastic time.

Sunday Afternoon at Botanica

As part of Riverfest, Botanica had a reduced admission day and a butterfly festival. We almost didn't make it, but we squeezed in for the last hour of the festival. It was a bit on the warm side, but we had fun wandering the gardens.

Caitlyn, at one point, said that she wished Botanica could be our backyard. So do I.

They had a scavenger hunt we did (well, me mostly. I like that sort of thing.)

but mostly we just went to our favorite gardens and did our favorite things.

There was a new thing in the children's area: a bunch of mice doing science (E=MC2, where e=earth, m=moon, and c=cheese)

So they can build a rocket. Too cute!

I love Botanica. It's such a wonderful place.

Easter Dinner

We were going to eat Easter dinner right after church, but sometimes meetings get busy when one is in the bishopbric (and the other is helping out in Primary), and the ham -- excuse me, Wild Boar (donated by our across the way neighbors) didn't get put in the oven until after church, which meant dinner was at actual dinner time. (The boar was quite yummy, by the way.)

Which gave Alison and Elinor time to put together our dessert (yummy!)

And for us to do our Resurrection eggs, which tell the story of Christ's last week. It's become enough of a tradition that the girls would miss it if we stopped. It's also a good way to remember why we celebrate Easter.

The "grown up" table. Russell found out after church that the elders didn't have a place to go for Easter dinner, and he decided that since we were already feeding a ton of people, two more wouldn't hurt. I agreed. The elders were very happy to come, though my dad said after that he kept grilling them with trivia and they didn't know the answers. (But Caitlyn did! Go Caitlyn!)

And the kid table. It looks like it's just moms and little ones, but Russell actually sat there too. You just can't see him because he was taking the picture.

It was all quite yummy, and (much like Thanksgiving) gone too soon. We were very happy to have extended family to share it with, though!

What Happens While Playing Quelf...

Sometimes people get a little carried away.

T. J.'s Burgerhouse (or We All Ate WAY Too Much)

As per tradition, we let Kristen pick out the place to go eat after her baptism. She picked T. J. Burgerhouse, this hole-in-the-wall burger place in Delano that Russell knew of, and we went to back in December. Obviously, it made an impression on Kristen, because she's been talking for months about going to the "1950s burger place" for her baptism dinner.

We made a complete spectacle of ourselves.

But the food was yummy and we ate a LOT (and many of us entered a food coma) and we had a great time, so it was worth it. And Kristen was happy. That part was definitely worth it.

Random Pictures from Abe's Camera

Russell's brother, Abraham, and his family are stopping through on their way through to St. Louis for a robotics competition. The girls were more than excited to see their cousins. I was planning on taking pictures (honestly), but Abe is a master documenter, and did my work for me. You can check out their blog for the pictures.

Also: Betsy is awesome and wonderful and knows the coolest people. You'll find out why later. (Like, after they get home later.)

Game Night! (Aka St. Patrick's Day)

For St. Patrick's Day, we got together with some friends for corned beef and cabbage, beef stew and soda bread, beignets (yeah, I know, they're not Irish. I just wanted some) and brownie sundaes and a game night. It was TONS of fun.

One of our new favorite games is Tenzi, which is just basically rolling dice. You wouldn't think it'd be fun, but it is.

And we also played a rousing game of Quelf in which much laughter was had, sonnets were made up

and all sorts of antics were done.

It was a great way to celebrate.