Easter Egg Hunt

I am expecting some pretty spectacular May flowers, because we have had nothing but April Showers around here lately!  (The girls are more halfway through their spring soccer season and have only played one game---rain out after rain out!  We have a lot of make-up games.)

This year, I organized a little Easter Egg Hunt and brunch for the kids and some friends.  Of course, on the day of the hunt it was pouring rain so we had to reschedule for the following day.  Fortunately, the weather was sunny and dry but with tight Saturday schedules, we just skipped the brunch and socializing aspect and had a simple egg hunt at the park.  I wasn't too disappointed, I think it turned out fine and the kids still had fun.  I might try again next year and just hope for better weather!



Ashley and her friends...they helped hide the eggs

 

The Egg Hunter



Another Egg Hunter



Kids will eat anything...even Marshmallow Peeps!



Enjoying the candy with friends!



 

Goin' Solo

Well, you have to give it to Ashley for being brave.  In her recent Choir Ensemble, she signed up to do a solo.  Every person had to sing in a small group but could also do an optional solo.  Ashley signed up and chose to sing Scarborough Fair.  She had to do a bunch of early morning practices as well as practice in front of the whole 70 person choir during school time.  She was pretty nervous because this was her first time singing solo and it would be in front of a judge, but she did it.  I'm proud of her for being willing to take the risk.

Her small group and solo performance went well and she was able to keep the nerves at bay.  Since then she auditioned for another solo part in the next performance and was one of three selected from over 40+ applicants.  Way to go Ashley---she was so excited!  She will be singing a small piece from Shadowlands from the Lion King musical.

She also sang for the first time at a church function, during an Easter activity.  She sang I'm Learning the Ways of Jesus.  She was accompanied by two of her friends--one on the piano and the other on the flute.  It was a great experience for them to learn to practice their music skills, work together and perform in front of an audience.  Ashley was much less nervous this time, so it looks like she is becoming more comfortable.  Again, she is braver than me and thank goodness much more musically inclined!

HaPpY dAyS!!

Some CONGRATULATIONS!! are in order for some special people in my family.  We are so happy for them and love them soooo much!

Number 1-- My sister, Debby is engaged!!!  Yeah!  We have been hoping and praying for this.  She and Sameer are a wonderful couple, so good to each other and for each other.  They are so generous, loving, fun and kind, we wish them lots of HAPPINESS!  Can't wait for the wedding!

Number two:  My dad officially became a citizen of the United States of America!!  Again, we are so happy for him!  Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to his naturalization ceremony, but he was overjoyed and filled with emotion.  What a wonderful day!

Conference Time

Well, after so many years and no more little babies to contend with, we have finally settled on our General Conference traditions:

1-A family puzzle.  This year we bought one in Philadelphia called the "American Revolution." 

2- Sunday sessions with our friends the Griffins.  This is a bonus because Aaron is a master with the Dutch oven.  Always nice to have someone come over and cook for you!


Cheesy potatoes and spare ribs.
I didn't take a picture until the end, I was too hungry to wait.



Aaron...he cooks AND cleans up!

3-Priceless time spent with the family as we are instructed by the Spirit.  Now that Dave is not doing taxes, he was home with us for all the sessions!

Cleveland Rocks

If you have to drive through Cleveland twice in a week, you should make a stop at it's main claim to fame.....THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.

We spent the night in Cleveland and decided to visit "the Rock Hall" as the locals call it.

It's a pretty cool place.  You are not allowed to take any pictures inside the museum so you will just have to take my word for it when I say, "that 'Fat Elvis' suit actually seemed pretty small."  I don't know many men that could fit into that suit---of course, I don't know many men who would wear a bejeweled jumpsuit, so it's probably a moot point.

Anyway, the Rock Hall is not the best museum I've ever been to, but it is definitely worth your time if you happen to be in Cleveland.  It was pretty cool to see some of the memorabilia and by the far the best feature was the listening stations.  They have these listening kiosks with head phones that basically have the songs of all the inducted artists on them.  You can scroll through the menu and listen to any song you want; you could spend all day doing this if you wanted.  After looking, at a bunch of Jimi Hendrix costumes, pictures, notes, drawings, and even his nasty, old couch, it was nice to be able to take the girls over to the listening kiosk and let them hear for themselves why is he is probaby the best gutiarist of all time.

We also really enjoyed, a video and music montage of all the inductees.  There were great collections from U2, Metallica, the Rolling Stones, the Who and Jimi Hendrix.  Some other highlights were Elvis' "TCB" stationary---taking care of business, baby, Jim Morrison's boy scout uniform, the evolution of the electric guitar, the Sex Pistols letter to the Hall's induction committee, and Michael Jackson's glove.



Outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
the building is right on Lake Erie.





Gettysburg

Our trek across Pennsylvania, wouldn't have been complete without a stop in Gettysburg.  What hallowed ground.  It is really quite moving to be there, look across the battlefields, see the monuments that honor the soldiers, and recognize the significance of the sacrifices that took place on the very ground you are standing on.



Gettysburg Address


After a stop at the Visitor Center and the gift shop.  We headed out to take a driving tour of the battlefields.  We used a cd that included a dramatized tour.  Usually, you buy the cd at the gift shop, but we had friends who did the same tour last year and let us borrow their cd--nice.  The cd was great, it would tell you where to drive and then tell you stop while a dramatized account was given of the events that took place at the particular place you were at.  It really helped to bring the Battle of Gettysburg alive.



Across the battlefields




Across the battlefields

 The following two pictures are of a boulder-strewn area known as the Devil's Den.  The pictures are taken from Little Round Top.  It is on this terrain that some of the fiercest fighting took place.  The Union Army was able to gain the advantageous high ground during this battle but at the end of the fighting many men, wounded and dying, lay across this treacherous landscape.

Dave and Ashley in front of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial

It's quite something to contemplate the significance of the battle that took place in this small town.  The historical materials say that the Governor of the state of Pennsylvania was so distraught over the number of dead that needed to be buried after the fight was over and the troops moved on that he purchased the land to establish a memorial and cemetery.

We learned so much here.
Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.



On a lighter note, we also learned that the number one place in America for paranormal research is...Gettysburg.

Valley Forge

We almost skipped Valley Forge.  The day we planned to go was rainy and Paige had a really horrible chest cold and we didn't want to push her to walk around outside in the cold, so we didn't end up going.  Later, on the day we left Philadelphia and drove out of town, we saw all the signs for Valley Forge.  It was on our way, it was just a matter of time, but hey, it wasn't like we were planning to come back soon, so we stopped.  It definitely put a delay in our day, but it was worth it.

Technically, the end of March is still winter according to the Park Service, so the there were a limited number of rangers available and no summertime programs or guided tours, but we were still awed by it all.  We did a self-guided driving tour.  I personally was just very grateful that this historical site, so close to a major metropolitan city has been preserved.  It really was like stepping back in time as you looked out over the rolling hills and restored huts.



Signing the register at the Valley Forge Visitor Center

 

Photo op in the Visitor Center

(These were so short Ashley had to crouch just to get her face in the right place.)



training grounds



Replicas of the huts built by the soldiers



Inside the huts...drafty and cold.



Monument to the soldiers of the Continental Army

It was wet, muddy and cold, just enough to give us some perspective of the "patience and fidelty" of the soldiers who wintered here.