Easter Adventures

So Travis is in Guam. He arrived safely, is suffering only slightly from jetlag and has already located a few dive shops nearby the apartment. They've even started work so he's got less time to kill.

This week has been pretty crazy. Wednesday we got up at 0'dark-thirty so we could take him to the airport. I drove him to Salt Lake, then turned around and drove straight back. On Friday Gideon and I drove back to Salt Lake for a mission reunion.

Speaking of my mission, Gideon had his first stroopwaffle this week. My daddy and brother got back from Romania and their flight plan just happened to take them through Schipol, so because he loves me, he brought back stroopwaffles! Heerlijk!

Sidebar: Can I just say that having a family that travels so much has it's perks. Check out the awesome vest they brought back for Gideon. And I got a gorgeous gypsy scarf!

For whatever reason I failed to get any pictures of the reunion or the people there. But I am very glad I went. I was apprehensive because I wasn't sure if anyone would even remember me or care that I was there. I stayed with James and JeNae, which was really my safety net, because I knew that even if I didn't know anyone else at the reunion, at least I'd get to visit with them.

But I was pleasantly surprised. There weren't a lot of people there, which was a bummer because there were tons of people I'd have loved to have seen. But there were some people who showed up that I was thrilled to get to visit with. It was awesome to visit with Juli and Melissa and Spencer and Jill and a few others I hadn't seen in a while. I have only a few observations to make. Fred (aka Jill) looks better than I've ever seen her. I was shocked to learn that she had 4 kids. Then I found out that she's been training because she's running the Salt Lake City Marathon next week. Girl, I love you, but I also kind of hate you right now, because you're totally making me look like a slacker. Here I was feeling pretty good that I had decided to run a 5K in July and you're running a marathon!?!?!?! Well keep up the good work and just know that you've inspired me. Maybe next year I'll run the marathon with you. Or...maybe not. Maybe just a half marathon. If this running thing doesn't kill me by then.

The other thing that shocked me, how are three of the coolest guys I've ever known still single? Petey, Hundleytje & Jubie, you guys totally rock. You don't know how badly I wish I still had some single sisters. Seriously I don't know how you've all managed to stay single this long, especially when you all live in Utah. Still I'm so glad I got to see all of you. I'd completely lost track of you guys. No falling off the face of the earth again. You definitely need to keep in touch.

All in all, I'm glad I went and I think we should do it again. I only wish more of you out there would come. I won't start on listing the dozens and dozens of names that came up between all of us wondering what's become of some people. And why the ones we know are around didn't show up. Anyway it was fun. It made me miss my friends and realize that we definitely need to do this again.

Because I was too exhausted to consider turning around and driving back to Idaho, we stayed the night with James & his family. Gideon absolutely loved playing with their boys, Jordan and Jaxson. And on Saturday morning we went with them to an Easter egg hunt. I'm not really sure the munchkin understood what was going on, or caught on to what he was supposed to do. He was much more interested in taking the grass out of his basket, than putting eggs into it. All things considered though, I think he had fun.

Thank you so much James, JeNae, Jordan and Jaxson for letting us come and play with you! We will have to do it again soon.

And James, I had no idea how talented you were getting with your chainsaw art. Thanks for the bear, he looks so great on our front step (see below.) Several of the neighbors have already commented on it and asked where I got it.

We drove home Saturday afternoon (fortunately all the running around hunting for eggs tired him out and he slept almost the entire way home.) Once we got home, we went to Nana's where the Easter Bunny had left a bucket of treats for Gideon. He stayed with Nana for a while since I had to run a few errands around town.

Then we packed up again, stopped at our house to feed the cat and grab clean clothes and we headed up to my parents' house. My dad and brother got back from Romania on Thursday and they're leaving tomorrow morning for Georgia. They won't be back until July, so in that four day span, Cody had to get everything done so he could submit his mission papers. Which included visiting two doctors and the dentist, getting his wisdom teeth out, having an interview with the bishop and one with the stake president and today he was ordained an elder after church. So last night we went up to their house to spend the night, so that we could celebrate Easter and attend church with them this morning.

We colored Easter eggs with Ryan, Skye, Cody and Ryan's sister, Jaimie (who also stayed with us last night.) Unfortunately, Gideon was not at all interested in the eggs. He didn't seem to find it very fun. He was having much more fun throwing stuff into my dad's fish pond. He ruined one calculator and I'm pretty sure there's still some "egg" shaped gum from an Easter Bunny that's at the bottom of the pond.

(You don't need to tell me how tired I look in this picture I already know. More than one person has commented on how fried I've looked the last few days. I promise it's only because I've been really crazy trying to get Travis out of town and stressed that he's gone. I'm sure once we get settled into a routine things will get a lot better.)

After we decorated eggs and most everyone was in bed, Skye, Ryan and I played Easter Bunny. Skye and I set up baskets, while Ryan hid eggs.

Nice Bunny Ears, Ryan.

This morning we got into baskets, and then did the annual family Easter Egg Hunt.

Jaimie might have thought we were crazy, but at least she still played along with us.

I honestly don't know what Cody's going to do next year. In 18 years he's never had a year when he hasn't had an Easter basket or hunted for eggs. Oh well, I guess he'll have to hide them for himself.

The munchkin was a little terror this morning. He pulled the table cloth completely off the table, sending everything that had been on the table crashing down. (Sorry mom, he broke your Easter Tree.) And then at church he was really fussy. He did have a little nap this afternoon, but by the time we were eating our Easter dinner with the family he was pretty cranky.

Unfortunately, after we left my family dinner, we had to stop in at Travis's Aunt Phyllis's house. There were some cousins and relatives in from out of town that wanted to see Gideon, so we at least had to stop in and say hi. Fortunately, munchkin slept most of the way down, so he wasn't too bad while we were there. We didn't stay long, but long enough for Gideon and Braxton to play in the sandbox and get filthy. I guess that's all that matters anyway.

And that was our weekend. Munchkin was so tired that he went to bed as soon as he was out of his bath tonight, about a half an hour before his usual bedtime. And that gave me a chance to get us unpacked and update this blog.

Now I think I'm going to go pop some popcorn, and hibernate downstairs in front of an old movie or two for the rest of the night. Hope your Easter was as fabulous as ours! (And slightly more restful!)

Happy Easter!

PS - See my mom's blog for a cool spiritual Easter message! I was just too tired to post one.