Back From Vacation!

Charlie has summarized the trip quite well so I will refer you to his blog for most of the details. However, he did not mention the towel animals. These are some incredibly cute creations by the housekeeping staff that appear in your cabin when you come back from dinner at night.

I believe I am missing one of the towel animals but if I remember right we couldn't identify it. Of course at the end of the trip you could take a class to learn how to make one of these at home and better yet if you have always felt a need to turn your towel collection into a zoo, you could take home the book. I think I will let them make the towel animals for me.

Once we came home we were just in time to attend the last day picnic the girls have for vacation bible school. And there was a wedding we attended a couple of days later of one of our friends where we ended up with this cute picture of the girls together.



Laura transformed during our trip from taking a few tentative steps to walking everywhere during our trip so now she is everywhere! Its amazing how fast they can change at this age!

Busy Bees

What a busy few weeks! As I write this we are experiencing a spring downpour. The last couple of days the fields had finally dried out from the last rain shower and everyone was in a hurry to get seed planted before it rained again. A few days ago the local crop duster came nearby the farm spraying one of our neighbor's fields so I thought you might like a picture.

The last few weeks we've had dance recitals, first communion, Knights of Columbus convention and we are now beginning ball practice. The first game is actually on the last day of school. Both Megan & Malissa are on the same team this year. Due to a shortage of players the kindergarteners are asked to play.

Today Malissa took birthday treats to school. Class gets out the day before her birthday so we decided today would be a good day to celebrate! Oh yes, And the picture on top is one of Laura's 9 month pictures. I had been unable to get Charlie's email resizer program to work but when Charlie came to visit it worked on the first try. I think he must have scared it.

Progress on new garage

The new garage is finally being built. Work started on it on Monday. The last few weeks were spent tearing down the old garage. The plan is to attach this one to the house. I managed to get my sequence out of order somehow but the picture with the bulldozer was taken Tuesday and he was digging the footings. The picture with the cement truck was actually taken Thursday and was the second pouring of cement. Now we are just waiting for the forms to come off. The contractor who is building our garage is actually John's uncle Mark with help from a couple of Mark's sons. Also helping is one of our neighbors, who is also Mark's next door neighbor. Just to make the relationships more confusing the neighbor is related by way of the neighbor's sister and John's Uncle being married.

Deters Reunion

I realize this is rather late but finding the time to keep people up to date is not as easy as I thought it would be. The Deters Reunion was March 15th this year, set to coincide with with what would have been Rachael Deters' 100th birthday if she were alive today. Rachael and Lawrence Deters were John's paternal grandparents. There was quite a large crowd who made it . This is a picture of all the great-grandchildren. Megan & Malissa are on the upper right of the picture. The are standing on a ledge so they seem quite high compared to the others. Laura is being held by her cousin Ves. He is in the back row in the gray t-shirt and baseball cap. I believe he is the oldest great-grandchild. While Laura is the youngest in the picture I don't believe she is the youngest. If you will look in the bottom middle of the picure you will see a little boy in a green sweatshirt standing in the middle of the picture. This is the only picture I took with him standing with the crowd. He kept wanting to run off. He had everyone laughing.

Good Friday

The focus today is attending Good Friday Services at church. The kids have Friday off and Monday of next week allowing for an extended holy week. Today at church is much longer than usual in addition to being much more quiet with no processional music, no greeting or blessing. Last night the focus was the last supper with the washing of the feet. Today we read the passion, this year it is from John, followed by the veneration of the cross. The congregation always takes the part of the crowd. (The priest is Jesus, lectors take the part of a voice and narrator.) I always find it disturbing that we are the ones to vilify Him. "Crucify Him!"

Would you have had the courage to defy the crowd? Looking back you always believe that you would have behaved differently. But not even Peter stood next to him by denying him even as Jesus foretold. It is difficult to remember that we are not supposed to be sad. Today is the best day of our lives. Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. We should be joyous.

Laura's photogenic side

Yesterday was picture day for Laura. In a few days she will be 9 months old (how the time has flown.) My sister-in-law, Jean, took some awesome pictures. I am having trouble posting them so you may not get to see them yet. It helps that Laura was very cooperative. She thought she was playing. Jean has normally done weddings and family pictures but she is beginning to expand into portraits as well.

Also today I officially began to put up safety gates. Laura is now mobile and nowhere is safe. She is also pulling herself up to standing. Might not be long before she is walking.

Eight Years Old

Can you believe Megan turns 8 today? How is she growing up so fast? She was excited all day for her birthday party. This evening we had grandma & grandpa Deters over for birthday cake and opening her presents. Unfortunately this is a busy night for most of the other family members. There is religion class and one cousin is a participant in the living stations of the cross so grandparents are the only ones who could come.