Note: I cannot keep track of who took which picture. If I took them the Hashtag will be on them. You can assume the staged ones were taken by the respective families....other than that....I just am not sure.
This month our Family Gathering fell the day before Easter. We planned to do both until the logistics began to give me anxiety and I called uncle on Thursday. I suggested we combine both family gathering and Easter as it appeared the same people were coming both days. This allowed us a down day after Stacia got home from Japan, gave us a relaxed household birthday celebration for Allie...and we hit strong on Easter.
This was Cory's first Easter as a lead pastor and so the Valley contingent chose to attend Wasilla Community Church. It was good to be able to hug and cuddle with grands - freeing a bit of Arielle's mental energy to deal with logistics of a big Sunday. It was a full house and a great service.
This was not Kaelyn and Rylan's weekend with Luke and Krista, but everyone else was able to make it. It was great. We continue to try to get four or five tables in the room...next month we'll try them all down the center aisle....because this makes it hard to move once everyone is at the tables.
We weren't 100% sure if it would be a nice day and so we waited on pulling out all the yard toys and such. It turned out to be a beautiful day. The guys (mostly) were gracious to help Michael unload yard toys, the house, chairs etc. We enjoyed some time just playing outside before everyone arrived and we were ready to eat.
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| Ellie and Cory |
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| Bella and Jamin |
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| Noah, Larissa and Mike and some big bubbles |
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| Charles and Danny |
You KNOW it's really spring when the house, the car and all the other fun toys begin to reappear. The trampoline is still down.
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| Josi and Carrie |
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| Carrie and Livie |
Noah tries to move the house from inside...
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| Noah and Jared |
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| Izaak, Ellie and Cory |
We do not always have an egg hunt. This year we did. While everyone came in to start through the food line, the big guys ducked out and hid eggs. Lots of eggs. The best and worst of our personalities come out during an egg hunt. We gave the littles 5 min alone to pick-up eggs and then all the kids joined in. Some eggs were simply lying on the ground; others were harder to find. The guys did a good job.
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| Benny, Liv, Jojo |
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| Bella hunts, Bre supervises |
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| Josi isn't 100% sure what to do with the egg |
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| Arielle & Krista |
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| Ellie - hmm - not sure why there's so much excitement |
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| Jojo |
This interaction warmed my heart. Jojo saw an egg up in the tree. He couldn't reach it. Benny came over to help get it. I watched to see if he would take it when he got it. He couldn't get it to shake loose. Livie came over and helped them and they gave the egg to Jojo. It was so kind and just the sort of thing Josiah would have done at Liv's age. I had a "moment" - Josiah's absence and presence are both so close when we gather. I later told Livie she reminded me of Josiah at her age and how proud he would be of her and how proud Papa and I are her.
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| Liv, Benny, Jojo |
In November Michael and I came up with the idea of a family game every month. Random prizes, something everyone could participate in...Our idea was to pull everyone together as it had become a bit disjointed. Krista and Luke took over the game this month. Luke manned the gift table, and Krista oversaw the balloon popping. They filled ballons with numbers. They bought prizes and labeled them with numbers. These were laid on a picnic table. Each person pulled a balloon, popped it and got a number. They took the number to Luke at the prize table and were awarded the prize which corresponded to the number. We went alphabetically this month. I think pure randomness or alphabetical is a good way to line up.
OH! This would be a good time to clear up a question some have asked - because I'm at the keyboard and thinking of it. LOL In the military one learns not to count assignments as "for sure" until boots are on the ground in the new location and in-processing is complete. There is nothing horribly alarming or unusual about their assignment switching. Krista does not have an illness we haven't disclosed, the military is not disciplining her... during our military career we have known many who had orders changed last minute or even enroute....this is one reason the term "short orders" came about. LOL Bottom line is the assignment officers' main goal is the needs of the military and so for a variety of reasons assignments do change...even after orders are cut. It's a giant Tetris game and until everyone is settled at the end of a pcs season things are subject to change. Once one assignment moves, another often moves until it all settles down. Your concern is sweet. Wherever they end up moving this summer; they will be missed in Alaska.  |
| Luke & Krista |
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| Stacia discovers her "number" |
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| It takes a village to burst some balloons |
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| Carrie one a decal and a Twix bar. |
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| I think Charles got a yoyo? |
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| Love Danny's technique |
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| Luke with prizes. |
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| Crumble gift card and a candy bar for Stacia. |
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| Larissa helps Noah unwrap his prize. |
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| Arielle & Ellie explore Ellie's prize. |
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| Benny is happy. |
Cory won the "big" prize this month - gift certificates to the Escape Room in town.
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| Josi's tired |
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| Noah, Jared & Josi |
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| Jared, Noah and Michael |
Krista bought a pinata for Jared after his lost run for state senator. The idea was to take out some frustration in a fun way. The weather was never nice enough to pull it out until today.
The kids wholeheartedly approved of extra candy. It was a sugar rich Easter.
We moved inside to celebrate our April Birthdays. We missed Rylan and was glad we were able to send his gift through other avenues. Bella and Allie were here - so we sang and ate. Bella is 9. Unbelievable.
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| Bella took one for the team and wore the pig hat. |
We didn't get an ice cream cake made. I sent Allie and Stacia to go buy some dessert. They found an ice cream cake....and a cheese cake.
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| Bella (9) and Allie (21) |
The last thing we had to celebrate this month is Jared's win to the Anchorage Assembly. Michael and I worked together, scoured the internet and crated a Political Survival kit to give Jared.
And then we mingled outside until the evening arrived, and we needed to go home and think about the upcoming week.
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| Larissa and a BIG bubble. |
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Bre & Trudy
I was happy to catch this moment. Bella was tickling Josi and then jumping to the other side when Josi turned to find her. It was cute. |
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| Josi & Bella |
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| Cory, Ellie and Jamin |
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| Noah |
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| Jojo |
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| Alex |
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| Jojo |
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| Gideon |
I have so many more photos I could include but this is plenty. I will conclude with the cute family photos each family posted to their Facebook accounts.
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| Josi and Noah at ACF nursery |
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| Josi and Noah |
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| Noah |
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| Noah |
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| Danny, Charles, Arielle, Ellie & Danny |
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| Jojo, Annie, Bre, Bella, Gideon, Trudy in front |
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| Josi, Carrie and Livie |
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| Olivia and Josi |
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| Carrie and Josi |
It was a great day. At the end of the day (this was about 9:45 p.m.) the girls and I talked Japan, jetlag, grief, family, Easter in the hot tub.
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