What a busy four weeks!
Let's see... (if I can remember the order of events)
Week 1.
- We spent time with Lisi and her five kids here in San Jose for their Spring recess.
- We celebrated Grandpa T's birthday by going out to dinner and eating Carvel Ice cream cake.
- We rode Grandpa's bus to the Russell's house in Granite Bay on Conference Saturday and stayed the night.
- Sunday we watched the first session of conference with the Neffs and Russells.
- The Neffs went home just after the first session and we left shortly after.
- the day before Easter, we went to the mall to see some model trains with the Cox's, who treated everyone to Carvel's Ice Cream sundaes.
- We spent Easter with my in-laws. We had a lovely ham dinner in which I did nothing to help prepare. {score!} Aaron and Jacob hid eggs for the younger three to hunt. Our hunts are not like other hunts. Ever since our first egg hunt, we have had the kids bring all of their eggs to a common basket and we re-distribute the eggs throughout the lawn, making a never ending hunt for the plastic eggs.
- This was spring break for the kids and we mostly stayed home and played ball and worked different projects around the house.
- The kids and I went to a local "TEA" party
- This week also included my 34th Birthday in which we celebrated by going to Taco Bell. (We even ate cookies and had juice...we go all out, here!) Mom and Dad sent some lovely flowers.
- We completed two Science fair projects in two days!!! (I consider this a mighty miracle)
- We handed in the projects and attended the Science Fair
- Thursday, we went to the cub scout Blue and Gold Banquet where they served dino-chicken nuggets, baked potatoes, and Jell-O (I love when they have kid-friendly meals at church!!!)
- A friend treated me to a movie The Soloist, and some food at the Cheesecake Factory. (A late birthday present which was unexpected but fun!) When we were leaving the theater, we went out the wrong door and ended up on the roof of the building. To get out, we had to climb from one set of stairs to another, with a drop-off below us. We had a hard time crossing because we couldn't stop laughing. I wish I had taken a camera.
This is Sarah with Pops
The gang eating lunch at the Russell's
Breakfast for fourteen children is quite a sight
Some of the gang after Paul's b-ball game
In the back of Z-bus
waiting for the Chocolate-covered strawberries to be done
That brings us up to date! Except for one little story. Last night, while I was at the movies, William took care of the kids and got them ready for bed. Before putting them in their beds, he showed them a few Youtube videos of things like Britain's Got Talent and Charlotte Church singing, and The Sleeping Beauty(this was not a Disney cartoon BTW!). Now, you might think that's no biggy! BUT he also showed them some videos of dead people that have been embalmed. (What in TAR-nation?) He showed them Eva Peron, a pope, a 40,000 year old wooly mammoth (naturally preserved in ice and found recently), and a little two year old named Rosalia Lombardo, a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty. This last one is so amazingly well preserved that she actually looks like a little girl fast asleep. So here is the conversation that was recounted to me:
William to Sarah: Look, Sarah there is a baby. What is she doing?
Sarah: She's sleeping.
W: Is she going to wake up?
S: No!
W: Why won't she wake up? (he didn't tell her that she had died)
S: She is asleep!
W: But won't she wake up?
S: No! She died! She is stuck in a box.
W: What does it mean to die?
S: When Jesus was put on the cross, he got holes in his hands and feet and died.
W: Did Jesus wake up?
S: Yes, after three days.
W: Will the baby wake up?
S: Jesus will come and pick her up and she will wake up again.
This floored him, and it really amazed me too, that a 2.5 year old could understand the concepts of death and resurrection. I guess she listened to the lesson I gave in Nursery. It is proof that they do listen and do understand all that they are bombarded with. Makes me want to teach her the multiplication tables (just kidding!! but wouldn't it be nice if we could up-load all the information they are to acquire in the next 18 years in the first 2-4 years?)
