Playing Catch-up: Easter 2015!

We had a fun Easter this year. My girls dyed eggs...even the teenagers!

Don't they look like they're having fun?

My mom and brothers and their families came on Saturday and that's when the real fun began! We all went together and filled eggs with candy and some money (!) and had our egg hunt that night, since it was supposed to rain the next day.

After the egg hunt, the girls looked to see who got the big bucks, then blew bubbles.

While they were blowing bubbles, we all sat around telling stories and laughing--we had such a good time! I walked in the room where the girls were and they all yelled for me to go away--I didn't know what they were up to! They were actually putting together an egg hunt for the grown-ups!!! They filled eggs with the following: all the candy they didn't like, the change from their purses, wadded up napkins and other trash, half a hot dog, and a spoonful of baked beans! It was hilarious.
After that, they painted the eggs that my sister-in-law Ronda had brought. They really put some effort into it and they turned out so cute!

She still sticks that tongue out!

Then they worked on an impossible jelly bean puzzle and we all went to bed! There were people sleeping everywhere. :)

The next day we all went to church. Our choir did an Easter musical that day, and I surprised them all by singing a solo. It was fun. After church two of our BCM students, Zane and Chelsea, and two college students from Russia, Kate and Anna, joined us for a big lunch. We discovered that they and Ronda had a similar Easter tradition of "bonking" two eggs together with someone and whoever's didn't crack wins. It made Kate and Anna's day!

Sweet pretty girls!

"Kid table"

And Jessica made the Easter cake!

That was a lot of pictures, but we made a lot of memories. :)

Throwback Thursday: Rebecca turns 11!

We celebrated Rebecca's birthday in two parts this year. The Sunday after we got home from Brenham, we had her favorite meal after church (BBQ ribs!) and cake with ice cream.

Then she opened cards and presents from family. I felt bad about how thrown together some of them were, because of our trip. She got money, a promise of a trip to Build-a-Bear, shoes, and certificates from Jessica for manicures, sleepovers, and movie nights.

 I think we were all still recovering from the trip--the girls were loopy and Mike was sleepy!

Thursday--our last day--at Miracle Farm

Our last day at Miracle Farm was a beautiful, windy day. The students worked hard all morning and rested or let off some steam at lunch!

 In a way I had been dreading Thursday all week, because it was on a Thursday last year that we got the news of Shelby's death. (I wrote about that here.) I knew the girls and I wouldn't be able to avoid thinking about it, but didn't want us to dwell on it the entire day, either. I thought if I planned a special time of remembrance, it would help us all get through it. Originally I wanted to release balloons, but I couldn't find a place in Brenham that sold them at a price we could afford. I went in to Brenham anyway, looking for other things, and found some painted garden stones that said "hope" and "peace" . They were just perfect! So after lunch I invited anyone who wanted to to join us on the porch of our cabin, where there were some flower pots, for a time of prayer. I tried to focus on the joy Shelby has right now, but of course there were tears as well. Jessica put her stone by the cross where she had gone to cry last year, along with a letter she wrote to Shelby and one Rebecca wrote as well.

After giving the girls some time to grieve, everyone got back to work until we all met at the arena to watch some live calf roping. It was fun.

This is the little one who got stung the day before--she recovered just fine!

After that, we all got cleaned up and had some time to rest before the boys and their host families came over for a cook-out and games.

Mulch!

Mike taught them to play "Wind in the Willows"

 

We ate with them and played Frisbee, Red Rover and tag. I think they wanted to play Red Rover so they had an excuse to hold our girls’ hands!

 Some of them showed off their rope skills, which were quite impressive!

After the boys and their families left we had a debriefing time with Cheri, and concluded another great Miracle Farm trip!