Life with the WTs

As seems to be the case every year around this time, I am waaaay behind in my blog updates. I try to update every other week or at least once a month and I'm a whole two months behind. How did that happen?! Well... I'll tell you!

Since I last updated, I traveled with a group of 33 students and 1 other staff person to Franklin, WV to build with Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity. We had a great week and made a lot of progress on the home of a woman named Sondra. The group worked really hard and took the house from a slab to putting up trusses for the roof before we left. It was awesome! Also exciting was the thrill/ terror of driving in the mountains of rural West Virginia with a group of people in a 12 passenger van! That's one for the resume.

A day or two after I got home, Joe, Jules, and I went to the zoo with my Mom, Randy, Cade, and Dyl. The kids all seemed to enjoy the day and playing together. Caden is such a good big brother and cousin, so he played mother hen for much of the time. Everybody liked the monkeys and the playground was an even bigger hit for Jules, who didn't want to stop playing. It was a great way to spend the day outside with everybody - especially after being gone!

A week or two later, we celebrated Easter, along with Papa's 63rd birthday. This year, Easter was much more of an event at our house, as Julia really got into things a lot more. The weekend was jam-packed with fun! On Good Friday, we colored eggs as a family. On Saturday, we attended an Easter egg hunt with our friends Jeannette and Cassidy and got to see the Easter bunny. Then, on Sunday, we spent the morning at Nana and Papa's house and the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa. We were tired out afterward! Here are a few photos from our celebration:

Proudly posing with our lovely eggs

Hanging out with the (slightly creepy looking) Easter bunny

Showing off her cool new apron and hat with a bunny

Celebrating Papa's birthday

We wrapped up April with another big event - a baby shower for my cousin Emily and her little guy, Garrett. We had SO many family weddings and showers in the fall and early winter that we could never schedule anything for Emily before Garrett arrived in early December. So, instead, we hosted a welcome baby party for Garrett a few weeks ago. This worked out well because we all had a chance to actually hold him at his shower, rather than patting Emily's belly. In fact, I'm pretty sure Emily didn't see him for more than about 5 minutes the entire time they were there, as the aunts, grandmas, and cousins took over all baby duty. The picture to the left is of Emily, her mom, Mary, our Grandma, and baby Garrett. They're a good looking bunch!