Random April TIdbits 2026

 I am working hard to capture April's memories. I still have some specific posts to work on but here is the big wrap up I try to do each month. Glimpses of Gherkins near and far - 3 countries, 2 states and numerous households in this post. Enjoy. 

Imagine our surprise when Luke sent photos from the PHILIPPINES! He had a friend visit, and they decided to jaunt over for a week. 

Luke in tricycle built on motorcycle

Bre and Kids

There is certainly no danger of any of us thinking WE are living in the tropics. LOL Break-up, spring for the rest of the world, means lots of melting ice and snow. It's the busiest season of the year for Carrie. It tends to pool at the bottom of her driveway and overflow....Her Dad has promised a forever fix when he gets up here this summer.  This time of year, I begin to entertain the snowbird lifestyle....just a bit. I think I'd miss the rhythm of the seasons. 

Score for Bachan! Bella's new clothes fit perfectly, and she loves the stitch backpack. 

Trudy has a big girl bed in the girls' room - April 6th. 

Krista continues to recover from knee surgery 

Spring flowers are seen on April 10th - this year the moose didn't eat them. 

Jared and Noah took a trip to Seward. Noah took some good photos! 

LOVE his personality! 

There is a group called Atlas that sends doctors into assisted living and nursing homes. We have been using them, but have been less than pleased. In under a year Dad has had 4 providers. They are great providers, but they don't stay long. Also, I never knew when the appointments were taking place, Dad doesn't remember what they say, and I found him on a new med I didn't know about. When Atlas lost their last provider and Dad's care renewal was needed to be evaluated, we found a local doc. We have settled into a routine of me making his appointments just before or after a meal and combining it with a meal out. 

We appreciate the work Victims For Justice does for our community. Josiah had a ribbon at the remembrance ceremony. We didn't drive in this time. We just weren't up to facing another remembrance ceremony this month. 

Krista @ American Day - I think - in Okinawa.

This is Melia's mugshot  passport photo. I include it to show we have dreams to travel!!!! and this is her morning resting face. This is the face that greets me every morning when she has to begin school at 11:00 a.m. ::snort:: I sure miss the days when you could smile in official photos! 

Krista relaxing on a beach in Okinawa! She was working on a paint kit we gave her. 

A boy and his cat. 

Benny has started a much-needed business - clearing yards of animal poop. As the snow melts...

Ellie, taking care of business. 

Allie - living her best life. Actually, she's been HARD at work this month on a feature film project, which is like a giant month-long final exam. 

Ashton & Allie

I've become my mom....I have a computer that does random things requiring trips to the local Geek Repair shop. I know to save a bit locker key now.  Having to take my laptop in to get help in making it work has made me feel older than anything else that has happened to date. ::snort:: 

Bella had a friend party - here are a couple of glimpses. 

Well - Amazon has gotten quicker and their customer service is much easier to reach.  I contacted them about the way the tea arrives...I told them I still had tea, but that the bags split or get pokes in shipping and there's at least two kinds of tea in the bottom of the box. They refunded me the entire order AND told me not to send the tea back.  I was impressed. I asked for them to refund one bag, as there IS drinkable tea here.  

Another fun photo from Luke's underwater adventures in Okinawa. 

This one may deserve a separate post - but there aren't a lot of words to share. Carrie got this tribute tattoo. It's perfect. 

Annie celebrates spring! 

Cory is starting a new adventure that will culminate in a Master of Divinity! 

Hmmm....I don't have photos from Jamin but I have seen videos and viewed his videos. He's enjoying the beaches, exploring paddle boarding in FL and working hard. 

We're planning a summer trip to visit dear friends!!!! Tickets are booked and a BnB reserved.  

AND ALLIES TICKET HOME FOR SUMMER IS BOOKED!!!!!

Still, some snow...but oh, so pretty. 

Meeting Baby Sister

 When Melia moved in, we knew that she had a little baby half-sister she had not met. At that point Melia wasn't sure she wanted us to pursue visitation with sweet baby sister.  

Life settled into a routine and in March Melia asked if we could try to find her baby sister in the system. We were fortunate to be given the name of baby's foster mom. I had a name, an email address and a place of business. I began to try to arrange a visit.  We left messages at OCS and got no response. We emailed the foster mom 3 weeks in a row, with no response.  I struck out trying to get the number. {Editors note: OCS did call with a name and number mid-May.}

It had been a month since Melia was promised she could contact her baby sister (per discussions with an OCS employee).  I decided to google the place of business. I called and asked for the foster mom. I was told she'd be in in two hours. 

We headed over to the clinic. I told Melia to bring her gifts for baby sister.  I called again after the appointment, talked to the foster mom, explained who I was and asked if we could introduce the girls. She was happy to have us come right over. My emails had gone to her spam folder. 

This moment was worth the phone tag, lost emails and persistence at badgering everyone I could think of for contact info.  After 5 long months, they met. 

Grand Friday

 We desire to know and be active in our adult Gherkins lives and the lives of their kids. We want our grands to remember time with us and to build relationships with us. We discovered life moves fast and we needed to be intentional to spend time with CoRielle's children.  All the kids really, but we don't naturally see their kids weekly at church etc. We all hit on the idea of us watching their kids every Friday afternoon for a couple of hours. This allows Cory and Arielle some down time to connect, hike etc without the extra activity four young kids bring. 

Benny and Danny have been working on memorization pieces in their homeschool. Today, CoRielle wanted them to recite them to us.  I love to see individual personalities emerge. Danny LOVES the stage. He wanted to go first, jumped up and recited a poem about the wind complete with big smiles. 

Benny doesn't like public speaking at all - even when the public is just his parents, grands and Melia. I understand. Cory was so gentle and encouraging to him and he did a great job overcoming his reluctance and sharing with us about trees. 

CoRielle left at this point. Michael and Benny discussed the poem. Michael has a thing about trees having grown up in the Red Woods. He also knows what a great skill it is to get comfortable sharing a message. They were cute together. Mike asked what several lines meant and Benny explained. Mike shared some of his love of trees with Benny. 

I purchased some dye for Easter Eggs, and we never got around to it. I was determined to use this craft kid. The kids paint cute little markers which I will eventually use in the garden - after the snow melts. 

Playing With Josi

It's a JOSI day! 

Melia woke up to drive to Eagle River with me, went back to sleep, woke up for Japanese and WENT BACK TO SLEEP. Willow is not o.k. with this behavior! 

Josi is so fun to play with now! 

How can she sleep when I'm here?????

Meet Milo - Josi's cat.

Easter 2026

We went to ACF Saturday service which allowed us to go to Easter Sunday service with Cory, Arielle, Dad and Stacia.  Arielle and the kids were home sick.  My, how our family is shrinking and growing at the same time. LOL 

Stacia, Me, Melia, Michael

We had a family gathering over here this afternoon for those who could make it: BreZak, Carrie and Girls, Jared and Noah, and Nolan. It was a lot of fun. We celebrated Bella's 10th birthday and zoomed Allie in (Note Jared's phone). We all SWEAR a picture was taken of Allie's phone face up by Bella's as she blew out candles, but the photo hasn't turned up. 

Melia was able to talk with Auntie Cheryl and several of her cousins. We laughed that *I* made the Guava Cake (Melia's Granma's recipe, in photo) and *she* made the Apple Pie for Easter. There's a cultural exchange at its best.  Yes, we still have snow on Easter. 

We did have an egg hunt. Melia set it up with most of them inside, though that didn't stop kids from looking outside. Bachan did help the youngest searchers just a bit. We let Noah and Trudy have a 5 min head start. 

Sweet Cousins. 

Noah and Josi

Bella with gifts

Stacia - a Junior in College!

Noah & Jared

Easter is a Great Time to be Baptized

Melia talked about being baptized the first day she moved into our home. We talked and watched and waited to be sure she wanted to take this step and that she didn't feel a pressure to do it because, you know, we're Christians and a pastor family. In the end Melia knows Jesus said to believe and be baptized and she wanted to obey. 

We signed up with ACF and they called to interview her - that sounds much more antiseptic than the conversation actually was - they called to hear her Jesus story.  They asked if she'd consider some words to describe her life before Jesus and with Jesus to share at the service. 

We set about finding a day she could take this step. The first month we asked her to wait so her sisters and previous guardians could possibly attend. The second month BreZak's kids were getting baptized, and they'd already rescheduled once. The March date we planned on was cancelled due to church Easter Plans which brings us to Easter 2026 - 3 months after Melia joined our family.  Stacia, Bre and kids, Arielle, Jared, Larissa and Noah, Carrie and girls, Akemi, April and Eric and Ingrid and family were in attendance.  We shared the video link with Aunt Cheryl in New York. 

Stacia, Michael, Melia

Mike wouldn't miss the chance to baptize Melia

We cheered loud! 

This is not the beginning of Melia's Jesus story; He has had his eye and hand on her throughout her life.  This is certainly not the END of Melia's Jesus story; He will walk with her the rest of her life. This is a big milestone as she publicly declares who He has become to her and that she has decided to walk with Him. 

This was a great way to begin our Easter weekend. Easter is a GREAT time to be baptized. 

Willy Wonka

 Shew...these weeks FEEL so busy...though I'm not sure they ARE as busy as they feel. 

I was happy to take the girls to the Valley Performing Arts Center final play of the season at the end of this busy week. We were able to buy one extra ticket right beside the tickets I originally purchased at the start of the season. 

I'm glad Stacia and I went ahead and bought season tickets. There were a couple of times Stacia couldn't go, and one of the other girls was happy to go with me, there were many times we were able to purchase extra tickets for those who wanted to join us...all in all it's been positive. Melia enjoys the plays too, so we'll do this again next season. 

Me, Melia and Stacia

The season finished with Willy Wonka @ the Glenn Massey Theater. They did a great job!