18 March 2011 - New Car / Cora's Baptism / Chambersburg

Among other activities this week, Joanne got a new car.

We got the new car just in time for our weekend jaunt to Washington D.C. for Cora's baptism.  We were able to stay at Jenni and Ed's house on Friday evening and enjoyed some authentic abuelo-style Mexican food (yum!).  On Saturday morning we attended Cora's baptism.  I didn't take any pictures so you'll have to hit Rebecca or Aunt Kathy up for some.  Man, I'm getting bad.  We had a good day with the family, then that evening we drove up to Chambersburg to stay with our friends, the Prines.  Madeline loves their dog Lucy, and wore herself and the dog out playing fetch.

We went to church with the Prines the next morning.  They just moved to Chambersburg from our ward about six weeks ago.  In Sacrament meeting, Kenna was sustained as the new Relief Society president in the ward.  We will certainly miss them, but we know they're already making great contributions in Chambersburg, and will continue to do so.

After three very busy weekends, with two on the road, we were glad to be back home this week.  Madeline got to finish up her leprechaun trap for school.  She was very excited about it.

Spring arrived this week, and I was able to enjoy an 80 mile motorcycle ride with two friends from church on Saturday.  We also got started on some long-deferred yard work, as we all usually do around this time each year.

11 March 2012 - Zachary's Blessing/Steelers Basketball Game

This week we headed out to Delaware to be there for Zachary's baby blessing.  I didn't take any pictures, you'll have to hit Jennifer or Grandma up for some.  Joanne did get a picture of two sisters who love each other.

When we got back, I played in a charity basketball game against some members of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The game benefited the Special Olympics.  We lost (Charlie Batch had 24 points, all on 3-pointers, and he quit playing in the fourth quarter).  I finished with two points and three rebounds in six minutes of playing time.

James Harrison was harassing me about  not challenging him for the rebound on this foul shot (I didn't).

At the end of the game we all got together for a photo op with some kids from Special Olympics.

It was a fun event.

4 March 2012 - Madeline's Baptism

We had a good houseful of people in town for Madeline's baptism. While Grandpa was here, he helped Madeline with her 3-D puzzle.

Not much is funner than having cousins in town to play with.

While everyone was here, we got to meet our newest nephew Zachary.  This is Cora having a turn holding him.

The Springhill Suites, where a few (more than a dozen) of our family members stayed was very tolerant of more than a few (extra) guests in their swimming pool.

But the most important part of the gathering was having our family together for Madeline's baptism.

26 February 2012 - Madeline's Birthday

Joanne got into a quilting mood again this week, and finished another of her signature blankets.

The girls had so much fun when W&J had our annual work party at the bowling alley a couple of weeks ago, that Madeline wanted her 'friend' birthday party there too.  We set up balloons, pizza, presents--the whole bit at the bowling alley.

Joanne even made very crafty bowling cake. The kiddos had a blast knocking down pins.

For breakfast on her birthday, Madeline got pancake cake.

This was Madeline's biggest birthday yet, and she got a new baptism dress.

She also got a new snake book, which as you can see, pleased her.

What 8 year old wouldn't love her own red handcuffs......?

Madeline's inquisitive nature led us to believe that her own microscope might be a good gift for her birthday.  She was pleased with the idea.

19 February 2012 - Parent Appreciation Dinner

This week, the Young Men and Young Women in the ward made dinner and served their parents.  It was an awesome activity and our youth leaders deserve much credit, though the youth do too.  They did a nice job with the activity.  Here are a number some of us having our dinner.

I was pleased with the selections for dessert.

I think most impressive was two of the priests working hard on dish duty.

I didn't get any other pictures this week, but we did have our final swim meet of the season.  All three girls improved at least two event times at the meet, and between the three of them, they won several heats in their various events.

12 February 2012 - Work Party

This week the girls put on a number of puppet shows for us.  This was a Sunday afternoon puppet show featuring Emily on the toucan and lion, and Madeline on the cow and elephant.

On Monday, W&J had their annual faculty and staff party.  We rented out the bowling alley in the basement of our new casino.  Despite being in a casino, it's actually an awesome bowling alley, and is sectioned off from the rest of the building once you get to the basement.  You have to walk through the casino smell to get to it, unfortunately, but it's worth the trip.  The college started this last year, after attendance at the annual Christmas, later Holiday, party on campus dwindled to a small handful of people.  It is a family-friendly work party and the kids had a blast.  Here's Emily showing some good form.

Jessica gets the wicked-est backspin I think I've ever seen.  I didn't take a picture of all the pizza, seven layer dip and chicken wings we gobbled.  It was a fun evening out.

The girls have been experimenting with creative cupcakes.  This week, they did yellow cake with whipped cream and shredded coconut frosting.  Yum!

5 February 2012 - Skiing

This week we had a break.  No swim meets, a couple days off between Intersession and Spring semester, so a friend from W&J and I decided to go skiing.  It was a bit miraculous that we even could go skiing because our winter has been so mild, there hasn't really been much snow.  The resort has been making some though, so it wasn't too bad.

The morning snow wasn't too bad, but as the day wore on, the sun came out and melted it.  You couldn't afford to fall or you'd get soaking wet.  By about 2 pm, the slush was so sloppy we decided to call it a day.

It was a day well spent though, and we had a really good time.  Outside of this outing, things were pretty quiet this week.