And Finally...

Our photo recap has finally made it to Easter Sunday. Aaron was singing on the worship team for church, so Mom and Dad joined the kids and me at the 9am service. Then we got to our hotel buffet early enough so that we didn't have to wait for an hour to get in - Aaron got to walk right in when he was able to join us.

Can I brag for a minute about my kids? (Like you're going to stop me now!) They both sat in the service with us, and they were so good I couldn't believe it. Leah mostly messed around with her princess stickers, and Ben ate his craisins snack and then took turns sitting in everyone's lap - I would say he spent about 75% of the time cuddling. And he's not sick. Weird.

At the hotel, they were equally good. Of course, it helped that we had a table at the edge of the room, so there was space for Ben to run, and I also didn't bother stopping him from going under the table. Our table was miraculously right next to a door to the restrooms out in the hallway - really, let's not underestimate this godsend at this point in my pregnancy. I'm to the point where I take a mental note of where the bathrooms are everytime I go somewhere.

While we were waiting to pay for our buffets, we happened to run into my aunt & uncle (Mom's sister) and my grandpa - we hadn't known they were in town, but made plans to get together at our house after we'd all eaten.

My dad took this family photo for us, which demonstrates that the weather cooperated to the degree that we didn't have to wear our coats, helpful since the only coat I have now that will actually close is my parka's outer shell - oh so classy over my dress.


The angle of this photo may make it appear that "I don't even LOOK pregnant!" but it's all smoke and mirrors, folks. In other shots, it is very obvious.

Great-Grandpa Henry - I love how even though my kids only see him a few times a year, they seem very comfortable with him, even snuggly. Ben didn't hesitate at all when we asked him to give Grandpa a hug.

Leah poses in her full Easter outfit. The sweater was mine, but I don't ever remember wearing it. In any case, it's completely adorable, and after I happened to find $3 dress shoes to match it, I requested that Mom make a dress to match.

Easier said than done. We visited every fabric store (well, 3 of them) in town to find the right shade of pink. And we found it on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

Leah is obsessed lately with being a ballerina when she grows up. I'm not terribly concerned about it, though, since every pirouette has about a 50% chance of landing her on the floor. Exceptionally coordinated, she is not.

In this pose, you can better see the adorable applique that her grandma Claudia added to the bottom. Even more impressive? Grandma whipped this dress out in ONE DAY.

We ended the day with a visit to IHOP to meet Josh & Erica and baby niece MVJ. She is getting dumpling cheeks! The kids loved her up real well, and Aaron commented that she'll have a cold in 2 days. Oh well!

In other news: Tonight is the first show of the dinner theater I've been directing for the youth at our church. It's a great play, and I'm really trying not to think about it too much this afternoon. Official performances are Friday and Saturday nights, as part of the youth's major fundraising of the year.

More about all this later.

Now go enjoy your weather - whatever it is! Unless you're flooding. There's really no way to enjoy THAT.