Sunny Saturday!

It hasn't rained all day! What unexpected joy! 

Stacia attended a tea party with her cousin Harmony. I enjoyed visiting Will and Sherri. Meanwhile, the boys and Michael put a bunch of stuff in the folks' attic for them, mowed their lawn, and cleaned their garage. This allowed us to put Mom G's in their garage. It can't be driven or sold until after probate is completed. They were still working when Stacia and I got to the house. 

Lorri came to help me shop for Easter's meal components. 😊We finally realized on Saturday, we should consider something a bit more elaborate than Denny's after church this Sunday.  

The effect of the drug mom is taking for cancer and the radiation is cumulative. Mom has been feeling pretty poorly the last couple of days. I knew she'd want to have dinner at her house - she's the queen of big, holiday meals.  I asked her if she'd like me to take over dinner.....this we plan to do. 

With the day's work finished, we ran to the RV for Saturday's traditional Breakfast for Dinner. This is a plan we adopted a year ago when Nolan mentioned how much they love breakfast but hate mornings. 😀

 Michael scouted out a fire ring in Dad's arsenal of garage things earlier in the day,  and the night screamed for a fire, s'mores and a chapter of Patrick McManus. It was a great day.  

Dad, Alex, Mom, Stacia, Michael, Nolan, Lorri

Have you ever used SQUARE marshmallows? Lorri purchased some for us to use a bit ago and had been saving them until the time arose to use them. Once we figured out the best way to skewer them, they worked well.

What are your Resurrection Sunday traditions?

Second 2017 Penny

Bre was the first to find a 2017 penny and exchange it for a bigger and better coin. She got $5. The rest will get a dollar coin - IF they find a 2017 penny.

Stacia found the second 2017 penny.

She put it in her pocket and kept forgetting to exchange it.

I commented on the shiny coin I found in the laundry last Monday and she quickly claimed it. Michael was out of town. She put it in her pocket to show him when he got home.

Josiah surprised us with a visit, the next day was busy for her (and all of us) and culminated with Bella's birthday bash.

She put her jeans back into the laundry.

She lost the penny again.....a close search and she found it.  She exchanged it quickly - before it got lost again.

Michael enjoyed the story

Love Stacia's expression 

Cody has Culture Shock and #WYFF

Jared with Cody and Lassie (foreground)

"Move to Alaska," Cy said. 

"It'll be fun," Cy said. 

Cody - the Horgi (husky/corgi)

Jared writes, "But really. We had so much fun today climbing Mt Baldy!! Can't wait for the rest of the family to make it up here!"

The feeling is mutual. 

 It's #WYFF and I didn't do one thing worthy of a "foot" picture. Today, we took care of admin stuff here at the RV. 

• Talked with a banker about some things we need to do with the estate
• Applied for pre-approval for a housing loan
• Continued to search for a spot with land with  a house on it
• Checked out leads our realtor sent
• Finished two more weeks of school - TGIF
• Said goodbye one last time to Nadia and Casper before they left the area
• Pizza and a movie tonight at the RV - we're tired. 

*Note Cody is Cy's dog. Cody hopped a plane and arrived in Alaska this week. Jared and Larissa are dog-sitting until Cy arrives in May.  Josiah listed his car today. This thing is going down! 

#WYFF is a hashtag sponsored by Fulltime Families. For more of our #WYFF entries - click the links under the blog header. 

Friday Traditions

Friday!!! Woot. WooHoo.

Friday means the end of a school week. 

This Friday we completed the paperwork for pre-authorization on a home loan. 

Friday means pizza and a movie or game night. 

We tossed around options, we were all tired; we voted to get pizza locally rather than driving into town and to watch a movie (Forbidden Planet) here at Uchi.

Coburg Pizza - I'm going to miss this place. THIS is a perfectly wonderful vegetarian, no-cheese, calzone. 

Honors!

Cory made sure we knew today was the Honors Assembly at New Hope Christian College. We planned to be there by 10:15.

We were sitting with Josiah, looking at  a piece of real estate which seems to meet our needs and desires, when he said, "Aren't you going to the Honor's Assembly?" It was 10:15.  I put on makeup and off we raced across town.  We arrived in PLENTY of time to hear the pretty speeches and watch the academic honors and scholarships be awarded.

Mom's oncology physical therapist (now there's a mouthful) has been telling me we have "poppy kids." It's a term I've not heard before, she assures me it's good and means they are bright. She's convinced I'm brilliant - though I always share how the kids have far surpassed my educational achievement. I taught them to learn independently, provided materials, and they learned far more than I ever learned (i.e. I never had Chemistry or Calculus).

We're proud of CoRielle any day of the year - but today others acknowledged their greatness too. In each class two Honor pins are awarded. Silver and Gold pins. I can't remember the gpa required for each - but it's high. At the end of her Sophomore year, Arielle earned the GOLD pin - top GPA in her class.  You KNOW she hated parading to the platform....but we were there to take a picture so she had no out. 😋 We were happy Cory told us about the event, Arielle told us "No big deal, you don't need to come."  Way to go, Baby Girl. It's not easy to maintain your grades, work, volunteer at your church,  AND be a newlywed! You are amazing!

Arielle & Will 

In addition to academic honors, scholarships for next year were awarded. Cory and Arielle were each awarded a scholarship for the fall semester!

There they are - on the left!

We're proud of the man and woman of God you two are. We're proud of your hard work in college and of the way you volunteer at your church.

Mostly, we just love you to the moon!

Bella is One Year Old

Warning - this post features 30 pictures! BUT it's down from 128!

Bella is one year old on the 12th of April. We celebrated early as Bre has AWANA on Wed. nights. The original plan was a family BBQ at BreZaak's apartment, but the weather is fickle around here. We moved to Putters Family Entertainment Center. 

Bella & Aunt Arielle

Bella & 3rd Cousin Lorri 

 I suspect they were discussing something Alaska related. It was fun having Cy down for this event! 

Bre, Cy, Izaak, Michael 

 Mom and I drove over from radiation and a doctor visit. 

Mom, Bre, Izaak 

 Bella is a tease! There's no way around it. If  she KNOWS you'd like to hold her, she plays with you. I kept offering her to Cy and she kept shaking her head no. I moved down the row of her admirers and she kept turning back to hug me and shaking her head, "no."  She cracked us up when she shook her head yes, then no, to Alex. I eventually gave her to Josiah. She thought that was great fun!

Every girl needs an Uncle Cy

 Uncle Alex is poking her ear and she thinks it's Cy

 A girl and her uncles

 

Izaak's dad and Dakota (Bella's brother)

 The K family - minus Will

Baby D 2 was evident as well! 

7 months pregnant

 CoRielle came over after work

This little one is blessed with a family who adores her

 Bre had baked cupcakes - some dairy free. Bella was intrigued by the flame on the cupcake! As with many one year olds, Bella has never had sugar before. If she thinks the fire is amazing - wait till she tries the sugar.

It's hard to see her expression - but Bre had just placed the lit candle on top of the cupcake on her tray. She is giving Izaak a look that says, "WHAT is up with MOM?"

Not sure what it is - but everyone is watching it and I'm near enough to explore it...

Hmmmm.......

Oh, Dad - this is good! 

 She kept watching Izaak and "talking" to him as she tried new bits of it. 

A sticky High Five

Mom, where's the wipes?

She loved her presents. This is a marked change from Christmas. Next year is going to be fun. LOL 

Snow suit from us for Alaska

Great Grandma and Grandpa with Bella

 I told you she was a tease - blowing Raspberries at Emma

Bella and Dakota

Josiah - On the Move

We left Josiah, Michael, Alex and Nolan in Portland at the Spurs game in the last blog post. Bre let slip Monday night she was preparing their guest room for Josiah. WHAAATTT? I knew nothing of this plan.....I wasn't sure if I'd forgotten, or if Michael forgot to tell me, or if he was trying to surprise me. I used my best skills of prying; it became apparent Michael was trying to surprise me.

Sure enough, Josiah walked through Uchi's door Tuesday afternoon. I LOVE visits from Gherkins.  This called for surprising the grandparents and a quick pick up game before radiation.

We love you Josiah! 

This will be Josiah's last trip down before he moves to Alaska. This trip WAS important as it would be the last time he was sure of seeing BreZaak and CoRielle, as well as my folks before moving.....however, it appears many of us have caught the strange "North to AK" bug. It became important as we had a "moving meeting" and he got to touch base with Grandma and Grandpa before heading north.

Cody, meanwhile, has already jumped the divide. Josiah put him on a plane to Alaska last week. He's committed now. 😛 JaRissa are our advance team....they are being such help to all of us as we plan our migration. They will watch Cody until Josiah completes his trip.  Cody is a Husky/Corgi mix.... I bet  he's loving the cooler weather.

Jared with our grand dogs

We celebrated Bella's first birthday tonight. I took 128 photos so it will take some time to sort and edit them.