31 March 2013- Running and Easter

On Saturday Joanne and I went to run the Yough River Trail Race.  The race is run along a nice 'rails-to-trails' path that borders the Youghigheny (yaw-kih-gay-nee) River.  Although it was a bright sunny morning, it was very cold.

Joanne and I ran the 5k distance, finishing together in 29:27.

Jerry and Danae came to see us for Easter this weekend.  The girls were so excited they decided to make Dax some toys.  Madeline made him a stuffed bunny and Emily crocheted a carrot for the bunny, but Dax ate it.

The long drive across Pennsylvania wiped Eden out, and while she was sleeping, she was attacked by a unicorn.

Jessica was a good babysitter and helped Dax get his nap.

When the day warmed up we went outside for an Easter egg hunt.

The girls loved having trampoline time.

The girls had so much fun, we had to hide the eggs twice for them.

Dax played in the grass, but didn't seem to like it too much.

I thought this picture was a nice metaphor for the change we're seeing in the seasons.

It wouldn't be Easter without dyeing Easter eggs.

Saturday evening, the girls had the Young Women's General Broadcast.  Joanne had the girls help her make bunny cupcakes to take to the church.

Easter morning means Easter dresses (and clothes for Dax).

I decided I shouldn't miss out, so I decorated my own cupcake.

I saved this little tidbit for folks who read to the bottom of the blog post: We announced today in church that Bishop North will be released on April 14th.

Hope you had an excellent Easter.

24 March 2013 - Spring Snow

Joanne and I were invited to run a 5k race this week.  We run a lot on the exercise equipment, but not much on the road or trail, so I decided I'd better see if I could even do it.  Since it was a nice sunny day (quite cold, but sunny), I took the girls to Washington Park with their bikes, and I ran five kilometers while they biked.

On Sunday, the day after the sunny day you see above, we got one of the heaviest snow storms we've had all season.

The girls thought the late season storm was brilliant.  The heavy, wet snow was excellent for building...

A snow bed!

 Jessica even got into the action.

17 March 2013 - More Preparations

Several years ago, Joanne went to Seattle to see her friend Maren for spring break, and while she was gone, I surprised her by putting tile in the master bathroom.  Unfortunately, I did a poor job, and the floor in the master bath has not really looked very good since.  Several of the tiles cracked and the grout never looked nice.  After looking at ways to fix it, Joanne helped me understand that we needed to tear it up and redo it.  Then she helped me do the work.

Madeline brought home an excellent painting of a horse from school this week.

Joanne's art is of a different sort.  She's been working hard on this 'biscuit quilt'.  She just finished and it looks awesome.

Last week I started feeling like we shouldn't put off our house hunting trip to Idaho.  I had planned to go in May, but I just knew we shouldn't wait.  I could bore you with the details, but I'll just say that everything came together very quickly for us to be able to go this weekend.We originally made an offer on a different house but due to a mistake, we changed and have made an offer on this house.  We have not heard back as to whether or not our offer is accepted.  We will know by the end of the week.  If it is, we close in mid-May and I'll be moving our stuff out to Idaho before we leave for Argentina.

10 March 2013 - Fingerprints and Basketball

I played in the annual W&J vs. Steelers Charity basketball game again this year.  We lost again, but at least I looked good running the floor right?

For our youth activity on Wednesday, the leaders invited a state police detective in our ward to teach them about investigations.  The girls did a little fingerprinting.

The kids also dusted for fingerprints on various surfaces.

3 March 2013 - Move Preparations

We told the girls that we needed to get the house ready to sell.  We had an appointment for an agent to come over so we told them to get their room cleaned up.  They did, but Madeline made sure Mahonri was available to greet the agent when she came.

This is Gingerpuss, the newest addition to the collection.  

Since the girls decided they were getting a little too old for the puppet collection, they wanted to have one last puppet show before they pass them on to a new generation of kids to play with.

This week I went to Washington D.C. to  advise on a grant panel at the National Science Foundation.  It was the first time I'd done this type of thing, but it was a good learning experience and I had some fun.

24 February 2013- Madeline's Birthday

This week was our ward's annual cake auction fund raiser for scout camp and girl's camp.  I've made no secret about my own personal feelings on this event over the years, but thus far I've failed to effectively change it.  Despite my reservations, the event was successful, well-attended, and apparently enjoyed by those who came.  The girls made posters to promote it.

Here is a sampling of the cakes that ward members donated for the auction.

The youth leaders selected a Mexican theme with a taco bar and pinata decorations.

Our girls made trays of cupcakes as our donation to the cause.

On Sunday, we had Madeline's birthday.  The monster theme carried over from the cake auction cupcakes to Madeline's birthday cake.

The girls made even more monster cupcakes for Madeline's slumber party with a few friends from the ward.

Peachy-O's with Dum-dums make excellent monster eyes.

Joanne made Madeline a monster poster for her party.

Joanne planned lots of fun for the girls.  Here they're wearing plastic garbage sacks.  Read on...

Blindfolded partner pudding feeding it apparently now a party game.

Perhaps equally messy, but less dangerous, Joanne had the girls decorate their own pillow cases.

Madeline loves being the center of attention every year when her birthday rolls around.

Here's the princess opening presents.  Thank you to all who send cards or gifts.

Opening gifts with friends.

On President's Day, Joanne took the girls to history walk around Washington, PA.  It was cold, but at least the sun came out.