So! April was certainly a busy month!
We welcomed our niece Emily Anne Hollopeter to the family on 21 April 2009. She's a little beauty and we're looking forward to visiting her and her family again tomorrow. This is Scott's picture, taken when Emily was just a few hours old.
We also welcomed our grandniece Chloe Marie Mosso Dawson to the family on 8 April 2009. We were able to meet her at her great-grandma's house on 17 April, and she's a little sweetie. This is the picture that was taken by the hospital photographers.
I had the great pleasure of taking 22 April "off" to visit with my brand-new niece Emily at the hospital with her mom and dad. Here she is, sound asleep in her dad's hands.
On Easter, Grandma Margie, Uncle Eddie and Mariah joined us at our house for an Easter luncheon and egg hunt. Here Aidan's trying to find as many eggs as possible in the least amount of time possible.
Esme looks in the tough places first!
It was fun to have cousin Mariah with us for Easter, too.
We think they found all the eggs, but time (and the lawn mower) will tell!
Here I am holding my grandniece Chloe for the first time.
Here Jim is holding his grandniece Chloe for the first time.
I think maybe Esme has watched a little too much Clone Wars; she's trying to emulate Asoka.
Eight going on eighty, looking at me over the top of his glasses. :)
Esme and cousin Samantha, playing on the deck at Grandma's house.
We had to post this picture. We just can't help it. When we downloaded these pictures from the camera, we discovered this picture and haven't stopped giggling about it since.
But this is the real one that is actually MEANT for public consumption. Nice, huh? Four generations: Jenilee Willmer at left, Margie (Peckham) Buche Lowry at center holding Chloe Marie Mosso Dawson, Joy (Buche) Willmer Knight at right.
Here Mariah is opening her birthday gift from us -
The Tale of Despereaux and
Kenny and the Dragon, two of our favorites. I cannot believe Mariah is nine already. It seems like yesterday I was holding
her, a newborn in the hospital. *Sigh*
Wednesday night was AWANA awards night. Esme is proudly wearing her vest and holding her Sparks First Book Ribbon. We're really proud of her - she sure knows a lot of scripture!
Here Aidan is receiving his award for finishing the first year of Truth and Training curriculum. He has learned so many verses by heart...and he really holds them in his heart, too. Good job, buddy.
Jim had his thirty-seventh birthday on 1 April, and we had a chocolate-chip birthday cookie to celebrate. His mom took us all out to dinner on 4 April, also to celebrate his birthday, and that was a terrific time, too! I love my April Fool! :)
We also had a great time at Craig's Cruisers with the Dennies on 4 April, in celebration of Jordan's fourteenth birthday. Everybody's getting older!
We enjoyed our spring break, even though we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We met the Fortunas one morning for breakfast at Marge's Donut Den, which was fun, and the kids and I spent a day with Mom and Dad in Mason...just hanging out, indoors and outdoors. It was a nice, relaxing time.
Esme and I spent an afternoon with Esme's friend Rachel and her mom Deb at their house a couple of weeks ago...and it turned out to be just the time that Emily was born! So Scott talked to Jim first, who called Ryan, since Melissa was in the field working and couldn't be reached, either. So Uncles Jim and Ryan knew about Emily joining us before Aunts Wendy and Melissa!
Esme's teacher, Mrs. Morrell, had her baby last Friday! His name is Grant William Morrell, and he was about two weeks earlier than his due date, but still quite a big healthy guy all the same. We're very happy for the Morrell family and Esme's class has transitioned really well for Mrs. Chaya, their new teacher, who was waiting in the wings for Grant to arrive.
Last Saturday Jim and I had the privilege to actually go
out for once! Grandma Margie came to stay with the kids, whom she reported behaved themselves. We went to Founders, a restaurant/brewery in downtown Grand Rapids, with John and Francine Grysen, friends of ours from church. I had the best chicken salad I have ever tasted...with Craisins in it! After it got kinda crowded at Founders, we went over to Mojo's and were well-entertained by the dueling pianos for a while.
Gosh, we're old. The average age of the crowd at Mojo's was probably mid-thirties, but the
median age was probably quite a bit younger than that. There were a couple of ladies there who were wearing plastic rain bonnets over their stark white tresses - clearly in the 80 and up area - they brought up the average. Anyway, the younger bunch - women anyway - was practically unclothed. People should know better than to wear dresses that show butt cheeks
and chest cleavage, they really should.
On a completely unrelated note (I promise!), my brother and his wife celebrated nine years of marriage on Wednesday 29 April 2009.
My sister and her husband are celebrating ten years of marriage today, Friday 1 May 2009. Lis has a couple of good pictures from their wedding up on her Facebook page. That doesn't seem a whole decade ago, but it really has been!
We are facing some difficult issues regarding our church at the moment, and are praying a lot, trying to discern God's will for us in these matters. We have received and are receiving a lot of support from our church family and are grateful for their prayers, as well.
My granduncle James Curtis "Jack" Smith, died 23 April 2009 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the husband of my grandma's sister Mary Dolores (Glander) Smith, who passed away on the same day in 2003. Our deepest condolences are offered to his family, in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Mom was able to visit with the family during the visitation at the funeral home on Saturday.
I have sold three more of my Glander book, and am working with my cousin Geraldine Thornton on her application to the Mayflower Society. Records are slowly coming in and we're hoping for a breakthrough in the research on the early days.
I've stepped up the research on the Byers family, and I am receiving lots of responses to my letters. I sent out about 130 letters in the last three or four weeks, and most days I hear from at least one person - in a few cases, to tell me I've reached the wrong person, but in most cases, I've found the right folks and they are excited to help me and to learn more about their family history.
May promises to be busy, but not extraordinarily so! We are planning a visit to Scott and Cathy's tomorrow, and next weekend at some point we are going out to see the new
Star Trek movie. Yes, indeedy, we are insufferable geeks. :)
Has anyone noticed that there is essentially nothing on TV right now? Mythbusters has started a new season (we really enjoyed this week's 1,000,000 matchheads and 1,000,000-Lego ball), but as far as good fiction, it's a desert on the airwaves. We have been watching old episodes of
The Closer and
Star Trek: The Next Generation.
