Visitors!

My parents and brother came to visit last week. They had been at Marian's for a few days and then drove down here. Dad, David, and Yankee only stayed for a day, before heading back up to Marian's and then home. But Mom stayed for a few more days. We had so much fun, and she got so much done! We miss them!

Grandma and Grandpa were here when the girls woke up Friday morning. They were so excited!

Friday morning, we drove up to the temple and walked around the grounds. The girls love being there, and my parents had never seen this temple.

Yankee was such a good sport to let the girls run with her around and around the fountain.

And Uncle David is so good with his nieces. They love him! (Here's an illustration of personality differences: Mariah is hanging on for dear life, not sure whether she's having fun or just terrified, and David is having to pull her arms away from his head so she doesn't hurt him; Sally can't get enough, and David's having to hold her arms because she's too relaxed!)

Friday afternoon and evening, our visitors got a little taste of Oklahoma spring weather. With golf-ball sized hail coming our way, we pulled Mom's car in as much as possible and covered it with blankets and a tarp. The hail ended up missing us, and we were a little embarrassed when our neighbor started taking pictures, but I'd do it again to be prepared . . . just in case.

Friday night (in between tornadic supercells), a friend came to watch the girls, and the adults (including David) went to eat at my favorite restaurant, Matthew Kenney. Everybody loved it. Dad and David took off from the restaurant to drive back to Marian's.

Our tornado sirens went off at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Mike and I jumped up and turned on the weather. Not sure why the sirens went of; the tornado was 15 miles north of us. We went back to bed and had no more interruptions. (We did learn later that a tornado hit a few miles south of us, but the sirens didn't go off for that one. The satellite at our church was destroyed, and some trees went down. Some homes of members of our ward were affected, but nobody was hurt.)

We spent the day Saturday hunkered down and preparing for a possible evacuation to Mike's school. Oklahoma was hit with several more tornadoes, and we wanted to be prepared to leave if we needed to. There's nowhere really to go in our house, and with the storm watchers saying interior closets or bathtubs weren't going to cut it that day ("Underground or out of town!"), we decided we needed to be prepared to go. Luckily, everything skirted around us, and we were able to stay home.

Dad and David had a pretty scary drive home through Kansas. I was watching the radar for them and telling them when to proceed and when to pull off to let supercells pass in front of them. At one point, the small cell they were passing through suddenly exploded into a huge supercell with a tornado. They had tuned into the radio and learned they were driving right on the edge of the rain-wrapped tornado. The guy on the radio told everyone between mile markers 181 and 177 to get out of their cars and lie down in a ditch. Dad and David looked for the next mile marker; it was 176. Dad said he's never been more scared driving in his life, and he's driven in some pretty hairy storms. We're glad they were protected and made it home safely. (They also hit blizzards in the Colorado mountains.)

Monday we went to the zoo with Grandma. We saw the elephant show, played at the park, and then the splash park area.

Mom and I spent the evenings visiting, and she covered and repaired books for me. Tuesday, I put her to work mending and playing with the kids so I could get a few things checked off my list.

Tuesday night, Mom and I went to my book group. We discussed The Thief (fabulous book and series), and I loved having my mom along.

She watched the girls Wednesday morning and did more mending while I went grocery shopping. Then we rushed off to get her to the airport on time. We were all sad to see her go. Wednesday night as we were sitting up for dinner, Sally got so excited and scooted her chair up to the table, saying, "Mamma! Meeee!" (It's Grandma's turn to sit by me!) Her face fell when I told her Grandma wasn't coming back; she was eating dinner at her house.

Mariah and Elaine have mentioned several times things that Grandma taught them. Mariah's comment at dinner tonight: "Grandma just knows better than you do, Mom." Yes. She does.

Happy Easter!

I learned a couple days ago that the word "easter" only appears once in the New Testament, and a more accurate translation is the word "passover." Christ is the Passover.  He is salvation from destruction, both physical, and spiritual.  I know He lives.  I know he suffered in Gethsemane, was crucified, and was resurrected.  Because of Him, we too will be resurrected, and if we bind ourselves to Him through covenants, we can have Eternal Life, living in the presence of our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, and our families.

To know more, visit mormon.org/easter.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! (February 28)

The girls counted down the days to Mike's birthday for weeks. They were so excited. A few days before his birthday, we went to Dollar General and picked out some presents. The girls were very thoughtful this time and got things that "a boy would want." (In past years, Mike has been a good sport to open jewelry, etc.) They helped me with the wrapping and then hid the presents in their closet, behind the clothes. They were so good to keep the secret: lots of, "Daddy, we got really good presents for you, but we hid them, and we're not going to tell you what they are . . . ."

On Mike's birthday, the girls and I spent the whole day decorating, making cards, and preparing for the big party.

From Mariah:

From Elaine:

From Sally:

Mike was a good sport to endure confetti and lots of pink!

Mariah drew the boquet of flowers and a birthday cake.

We had fun with foam paint (shaving cream, elmer's glue, and food coloring). Our whole house smelled like aftershave.

Elaine wasn't thrilled about the mess at first, but eventually got into it.

Sally chose the wrapping paper and each of the ribbons.

Elaine went for a more simple look, with just a ribbon at each end.

Mariah said she wanted hers "Fancy Nancy style." I think she achieved her goal.

I tried to tell the girls Dad probably didn't need 2 bats, but they had their minds made up and said he would love to have both a pink and a purple bat!

I made this DELICIOUS rasberry cheesecake.

My man being a really good sport. He's catching up to me in years, and even has the gray hairs to prove it. I love it!

Friends

In spite of the emotional stress that goes on around here, my 3 little ladies are sometimes pretty good friends. I have hope for our future.

Doing Starfall together.

As Sal gets older, she and Elaine are becoming better and better playmates. I think that must be one of the reasons Sally came along just as Mariah's situation blew up in our faces. Heavenly Father knew Elaine would need a playmate (and that I would need someone to occupy Elaine's time). Here they are in their boat, staying safe in the shark-infested waters.

When I walked into the bathroom, they were both sitting like Elaine. By the time I got the camera, Sal wouldn't stay up long enough for me to catch a picture.

This picture of peace is still pretty rare, but happens more often than it used to. Happy progress.