The Christensens

We said good-bye to our dear friends the Christensens yesterday. We have been close for the past six years and have lived just across the fairgrounds from each other. Now they are on their way to live out in Idaho to be closer to their families. I can't say I blame them, it's great to have so many family members close. But I hate change, and they have filled a spot in our hearts that can never be replaced. Thank goodness for technology. They have truly enriched our lives and taught us so much.

We had a going away party for them on Thurs. night-one last time to get together. The cake said "York PA won't be the same without you."

Jamie and I and several other friends put together a scrapbook for them to remember their friends and special memories in PA. They loved it-Josi cried. I was waiting to see the tears from Dave when he saw the scouting pages, but he held back. I bet he let lose later at home!

Men and their babies!

The girls at the party- (L to R)-Jamie, Josi, Amelia Phillips, Nancy Robinson, me and Jess.

Serena is a chip girl-I guess you know she's from York county! We had Utz chips because that's their favorite.

Some one had a cute idea to put all the kids on the steps for a picture. I thought I would include 3 of the many pictures taken of our 16 combined kids from just 5 families! You can kind of see kids starting to fall apart, and it was VERY noisy!

Quarto Maggio-Italian style! (Instead of Cinco de Mayo)

Stasera il pranzo includerà i funghi farciti, parmigiano dello zucchini, spaghetti, grissini, insalata, pizza per i capretti e gelato e tiramisu per il dessert. Stasera l'intrattenimento sarà fornito dai capretti Brandt, Christensen, e Coy. Translation: Tonight’s dinner will include stuffed mushrooms, zucchini parmesan, spaghetti, breadsticks, salad, pizza for kids, and ice cream and tiramisu for dessert. Tonight’s entertainment will be provided by the Brandt, Christensen and Coy kids.

Actually, the kids did a pretty good job of playing upstairs so that the adults could talk in peace. We had a great time. This was probably the last ethnic dinner night with the Christensens. Boo hoo.

The kids made their own home-made ice cream thanks to Jamie's recipe. It's really easy and yummy.

Easter Activities 2009

This was a busy Easter season this year. We started out the holiday weekend by camping on Thurs. night with the Coys and Christensens. This was a miraculous trip based on the fact that we finally got our three families together on the same weekend, noone was sick, and the weather was pretty good. It was probably our only camping trip together, but we made the most of it (as much as you can with 10 little kids!). Thurs. night the kids slowly dropped off to sleep till the adults finally had about an hour to sit around and talk. On Good Friday we set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids around the old ghost town.

It was a pretty relaxing trip except for a bad night's sleep (Serena!). Kids and adults had a blast. I wish we could do it again.

Fri. night we went over to my parents for Chinese food and painting eggs. This was Serena's first attempt at an egg. Actually the first time she grabbed the Q-tip it went into her mouth, which turned blue.Mike made some cool eggs. Saturday was the annual Easter egg hunt over at our park, and the McGladie's.

Sunday morning the boys woke up to find a jelly bean trail left by the Easter bunny. They ventured all through the house and outside to find their treasures at the end. Serena helped eat the jelly beans.

The boys got roller blades this year.

After church we went over to Wanda and Bob's house for dinner and I got some cute pics.

Brothers...

brothers.

Serena and Aunt Wanda.

Of course we had to go over to my parents house Sun. night for one last egg hunt and little baskets from the bunny. My mom has done a good job of scaling back since we have 3 kids!

April Fool's dinner

Yeah, it's been a long time again. I can't even say I know what I've spent my time doing except try to keep up with housework and take care of sick kids (I hope this season is over!). After reading this one, watch the video I just added of Serena taking her first steps! But I decided to make a fun dinner for April Fool's yesterday. Hayden and I really enjoy celebrating all special occasions. I made carrot cake for dinner!

It's actually meatloaf, with a frosting of mashed potatoes! Connor made an awful face when he bit into it, especially because he doesn't like potatoes!

Serena takes her first steps...finally!

Pay It Forward

It's kind of like the movie...but better because you get to ACTUALLY be involved!!The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice--for you! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations: 1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (I can only hope) 2. What I create will be just for you. 3. It WILL be done this year. 4. You have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a bookmark, something delicious or a complete surprise to you (and me!) … who knows? 5. Most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog get something made by YOU!

I'm still alive!

Wow, I knew I had taken a vacation from the computer and my blog, but I had no idea it was that long! I just dowloaded pictures from my camera from the last month! I never do that! So I resolve to do better and try and post, and check others' blogs once a week. We've dealt with a lot of illness going around and around again in the family. Bring on Spring! I've been preoccupied lately trying to finish all our home projects that have been waiting for 6 years. I've also started to declutter the house. You don't realize how you've "settled" into a home until you start to think about packing everything! When Mike gets a job as an assistant principal (hopefully within the next year), we would like to sell this house and move shortly after that. We will still be in the York area, but we would like to be near Mike's work and live in a more developed neighborhood. We also want a garage! I've had lots of fun checking out all the homes for sale and dreaming. This is Serena taking charge of the attic wall project. The stairway going up to the boys' bedroom had a damaged wall, so Mike finally tore into it a few Saturdays ago. This is our front porch as of today! It has been in bad shape for over 2 years now and I have bugged Mike and my dad to get it done. Well finally yesterday I started tearing up the stone and that's all Mike needed to take off. Demo work can be really fun! It's the fixing it part that can be tricky. (Especially with an old house where nothing is straight or matching. We found some pretty damaged wood underneath and I can't believe noone ever fell through it. Anyway, I want to keep my blog posts true to the date they happened, so you'll have to scroll down and catch up (if you want to).