Johnson Visit for Easter

This past weekend we got to celebrate Easter with my sister and her family as well as spend a couple of days together. The last time we had seen them had been last July and we hadn't even expected to see them this soon. A couple of months ago Allen decided he wanted to drive across country and stop in multiple cities along the way for his business. Heidi and Nara decided to come along if the could make an extended stop in Evansville to see family. Except for the constant rain, we had a great visit.

They arrived late Thursday night, but we didn't get to see them until Friday. Some of the girls decided to go get pedicures while Jonathan watched the kids. Thanks Jon. After that, Nara came over to our house to play for the afternoon. They had fun because I was watching Isabelle so it gave her another girl to play with. Friday night after dinner we hung out at Jonathan's house and played games.

Saturday we had pictures scheduled at JC Penneys for the grandkids. They looked really cute together, but inevitably we could not get all of the grandkids to cooperate at once. We ended up with a very true to life picture :) That evening we through an early birthday party for Nara because she is never here on her birthday. She was very excited because she didn't know we were doing that. Gretchen's boyfriend came with his daughter Maggie and the kids had a blast together. After everyone left, Nara spent the night with the boys. We thought we may have to hear Kenan and Nara talking all night, but they went to bed really well.

On Sunday the kids woke up to have breakfast and then go through their Easter baskets. We picked my sister up for church and met some more of my family there. We were hoping to get in an outside Easter egg hunt, but by time we got together that afternoon it was raining again. Kenan came out and said,"Why did God have to ruin Easter with rain." He wasn't happy about the fact it had been raining so long. We helped raise his spirits a bit by having an indoor egg hunt with the cousins. My cousin's wife Alicia and her kids, my aunt Tina and Uncle Matt, and my Uncle Kenny and Aunt Caroline joined us for dinner. It was a nice celebration.

The last day together was pretty relaxing. Kenan got to stay home from preschool so he would have more time to play with his cousin. Emily my cousin came over for lunch with her son Owen. She had missed Easter even though she had planned to attend so she brought the Greek salad she had already made. My aunt Lynne stopped by as well to visit. Some of the guys went to a movie together while Heidi cut hair(something she always gets roped into doing while she is here). Later that evening about 20 of us got together at Zuki to celebrate Jonathan's birthday. It was a lot of fun. We sat at the Hibachi tables so that those who didn't want sushi could do the Hibachi. Jonathan of course got a big boat of sushi. The kids loved the food and were entertained by the chefs as well. Finally we finished up at Stephen's and Angie's house for coffee and brownies.

Even though we were sad that their stay was so short, we had a great time with the Johnson family. Hopefully we can get out to California to visit them again after Langston is born.

Last Leader Day of Preschool

So, Wednesday was Kenan's last leader day of preschool. I can't believe he is already going to be in kindergarten next year. I have enjoyed going and helping out on leader day, as well as seeing how much he has grown over the last two years. This year since Easton was older he got to come along to all of the leader days. He really enjoyed it. Usually he thinks it is his school as well. I think he is going to be more of the show off though because he already is more outgoing than Kenan when we are there. Kenan is doing so well though, and I can't wait to see him excel next year. (tear for the end of a season)

2011 Garden

As I said in my earlier update, we decided to do a garden again this year but this time in our backyard. I hope this is a family tradition we keep up because I love doing it for multiple reasons. Instead of doing a garden directly in the ground like last year we are doing raised beds because our soil is not very good. Right now we have two done, but we plan on adding a third. They are 12 inches tall and 3 feet by 6 feet in size. In the pictures you will see that only one is filled and planted in, and that is because I wanted to get out some spring plants this year. I will finish the second one and add the third in a couple of weeks when we transplant my indoor plants and direct sow some others. The seeds I started outside so far are two kinds of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, and carrots. Inside I have started peppers, tomatoes, multiple herbs, and some different varieties of flowers. The pictures show a progression of how things are growing so far. Kenan even started a few peppers and herbs to put in the windowsill, and they are coming up good as well. He is excited to see something he started from seed grow and flourish.

The Farm

At the end of spring break we went to visit my great aunt and uncle with my brother and his wife and daughter. My aunt and uncle live on a farm in Charleston, which is on the Indiana side close to Louisville. We hadn't seen them in awhile since my aunt has had some health issues. It was a nice visit and it was the first time they had seen Navy, my brother's daughter.