All Over April

April fooled us all month with its jaunty jokes, wacky weather and sweet successes. 
Here are the top ten teasers for the month. 

1.  90 degree days preceeded and followed by 30's. 
2.  Hot nights necessitating opening windows.  Never happens in April
3.  Pea plants growing six inches in five days.  Barely pushing out of the soil.

4.  Bean seeds germinating and emerging.   Did we really plant them this early?

5.  Our first marathon family member, Dave.   He ran it in Pennsylvania.

6.  Figuring out how to and be able to Skype w/family.

7.  Purse falling in the toilet, wetting pants laughing while wiping off the water splashed all over in order to use and not quite making it.

8.  Gretchen having nine baby bunnies, all surviving and growing.

9.  Making three delicious and quickly devoured cheesecakes.

10. Date night in a limo with a prime-rib dinner & staying away in the play afterward.

2012 is one third complete.  Here's to May being just as terrific!:)

Birthdays, Balloons and Baptisms

Before time gets away from us here are a few photos of Sarah's baptism standing with dad, David just before the blessed event on March 11th.  What a great decision to be baptized and bring more joy into her life.    'Being eight is great' so after much coaxing from Sarah, mom Alicia, agreed to a birthday party.  Intent on decorating Grandma Vawdrey's famous sugar cookies, the children frost, taste and sprinkle to their hearts content.  Streamers of circles and beaded yarn criss crossed the room with a big banner, too.

Blow out them thar candles, said Grandpa Vawdrey just after lighting all eight of them and standing back to see Sarah arrayed in blue, blow for all she was worth at the giant cupcake lounging loftily before her. 

Having grown some Sarah, was excited to get these fancy white heels and tried them on with anticipation.  They look great, but I may need a larger size, please.  Blown up balloons beckoned for her to boot, bounce or burst to find what treasures were inside. 

See His Snore Silencer

While trying to find ways to spend the final $120 in my flex spending for 2011, I read about a snore guard. Just ask your dentist, the article said. I called on the spot and made an appointment for our king of night noise makers.

It works!! He is now the 'last man snoring' and I get to sleep without all the clatter, like an out of control freight train, going on in the room. Did I say, silence is golden? It sits on his pillow like a Hilton bedtime truffle waiting for him to retire. Yeah, we did it! Problem: The Flex account ended on March 15th and the appointment was March 19th. All $120 was lost, but the $200 snore silencer is a God send. Next time, PAY ATTENTION TO THE EXPIRATION DATE GIRL!!

Delaware, The First State

Being the first official state of the Union and one of the smallest in size, Delaware welcomed us with open arms. With no parking meters or garages in site, we found a greasy Chinese Take-out then looked for a park to eat. "Just drive down this road and you can't miss it," said the cook giving directions. With only three counties and almost arriving at the state border, we could not find one of the 14 parks. A picnic table at a business center became the last ditch effort. How do you get lost in a state that is a total of 1954 square miles, up to 30 wide and 65 long?

Delaware named after Sir Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, its state bird is a blue hen chicken, insect - Lady bug and flower is the peach blossom. We loved the blossoming trees and friendly welcome mat that was set out for us. Next time we 'will' find the park.

Feelin' Not So Good In Philadelphia

We like to visit new places when we are in New Jersey visiting Alicia's family. Philadelphia, the nations first capital and birthplace of the Constitution was our destination. The Delaware River is the border dividing these two states. Coming over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and seeing this famous spot for the first time, it looks like the Emerald City of Oz with so many tall shimmery buildings. Street signs guided us to the historic sites and a smarty pants guide nixed almost everyone's guess on who was in attendance in signing the Declaration of Independence, including my suggestion of Thomas Jefferson. He was in Europe. We all learned something about these brilliant and great men that day. Parking in the garage was $10 per hour, so we found a spot on the street for only $2 per hour. After getting tickets to see Independence Hall we checked out the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, Olde Town, the cobble stone streets and Constitution Hall, all of which were amazingly old and awesome.

After refilling our parking meter, I thought it ran out at 2:32, but met the parking cop at 2:29 pm who handed us a $36 parking ticket.  Apparently it expired at 2:23 pm instead.  Our parking expenses came to $41, much more than if we had parked for $10 per hour at 2.5 hours total spent touring. The Emerald City had a nasty sting for us and who wants to stay where you don't feel so good. Even though the officer said, "Sorry!" we left town anyway. I don't think he really was sorry, but I know that I was. On our way to another new experience, we snapped a picture of the Phillies baseball stadium.

Curtains With Class

Breann bought more material to match the pillows she made so I

could make curtains to go with the pillows. They look great although this picture doesn't do justice to how nice it is that everything is coordinating. Next are the chair pads.

Sunny St. George

We spent the weekend in St. George and stopped to visit the Temple grounds.  How beautiful it is.  Brayle was in a tournament for softball, with her team taking fourth place.