Quotation of the Week

When you reduce life to black and white, you never see rainbows.

~Rachel Houston

Royal Fun!

Since our invititations must have been lost in the mail, we had our own royal wedding party! My mom has a great post HERE about our royal fun and frivolity last night in honor of the marriage of Prince William to Catherine Middleton. Best wishes, Will and Kate!

Hoppy Easter and a Happy Birthday!

The Easter festivities began with dying eggs (with help from friend/neighbor Morgan) on Saturday.

Later that evening, Macey and I made "birds nests" for Easter, complete with (M&Ms) eggs and (Peeps) chicks.

She woke me up to the tune of "Happy Birthday to Me" at 6:25 (Ugh!), but we did get to see this beautiful sunrise on the water.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures at church (which would have probably been frowned on anyway). Both girls were torchbearers, and it was a beautiful service!

The traditional Easter Hunt prior to St. Clare's Easter Feast

Look Mom, no shoes! (Better traction maybe?)

The "family" birthday party for our birthday girl! Can you believe that she is 10 today?!?

Whee!

Yesterday, the girls and I went to my parents' house to visit with long-time family friends and their children/grandchildren who are visiting this week. Because it was so nice out, we decided to try the zip line- that goes across the lake- and ends on the other side.

Our little dare devil was happy to go after Uncle Brian and our 15-year-old guest. Ms. Cautious was a little hesitant, but since her little sister did it, she did too- and loved it! They would both have ridden time and time again if we hadn't had company!

Here's a view from where we were standing looking to our right, across the lake, to the landing pad. (Grammie and I learned the hard way that the landing pad needs a bit of work!)

Even though he is supposed to be horizontal babying a torn muscle in his knee/calf, Grumps could not resist getting in on the action! He *says* he dragged across the water to slow himself down...

Finally, I couldn't be outdone by my girls, so off I went too.

Click HERE if you need a laugh or want to watch my Dad and me!

Zippidee doo dah, zippidee yay!

Memory Lane

Today was such a walk down memory lane for us! Ansley had her first chorus festival, and it was held in Cumming, where we lived when we were first married. First, both of our middle school choruses (6th/7th and 8th grade) did a great job! (We have no idea what they scored though because we left before we found out.) It turn out Logan was in chorus through middle and high school (How did I not know this?!?), so the performance brought back some great memories for him.

We drove by our first home, which has been changed somewhat since we lived there, and we admired the Bradford Pear that we planted. It is huge now and was in full bloom! We also ended up driving through Dahlonega, past NGC&SU where I got my Master's, and then by both the Kindergarten Building and the elementary school (LCES) where I taught for six years. Such wonderful memories!

The girls probably felt like my brother, sister, and I did as kids driving through Atlanta, going by Tech, the V, and 1st Atlanta Bank, when my parents drove us down their memory lane. Hoepfully the girls will have fond memorie of our old stomping grounds too.

Saying Goodbye

Today, Logan's Uncle Gordon will be laid to rest. He passed away Wednesday after being really sick. Our sympathies go out to Greg and Brian, who have now lost both their parents. Now Uncle Joe is the only brother (of the five) left, and everyone really feels this loss. We love you, Uncle Gordon, and will miss you!

4-H DPA

Ansley will be heading out soon on the 4-H bus to go to Rock Eagle for the weekend for 4-H DPA (District Project Achievement). In 6th and 5th grades (at right) DPA was held at our local middle school, but now as a Junior 4-Her, she's away for the weekend with the other Jr. & Sr. DPA participants. Her project this year is about hypnotherapy.

She was pretty nervous about DPA and being gone for the weekend, but at the same time super-excited to be going away for DPA! One of her girlfriends painted matching shirts for them to wear Friday, and she had to pack certain things so that they would all match over the weekend. Ahh, I remember the days when my cousin Beth and I would plan to wear matching outfits! I know there are several photos of us in my parents' photo drawers/boxes of us in our matching ensembles.

But I digress... The sweetest thing was that as I was helping Ansley pack, she asked if I was going to write some notes and tuck them into her suitcase. Of course I am! How could I not continue a tradition that she obviously loves?

We love you, Ansley, and wish you the best at DPA! You've prepared a great speech and practiced it well, so go show the judges your knowledge, poise, and confidence! We're cheering you on from home. We love you!

EDIT: Ansley came in 3rd place in her category! Way to go!