Easter 2010

This year Easter was super fun! The kids were way more in to everything than ever before. We did our annual hometeam egg hunt. It is always so cute to see all those kiddos hunting for the eggs, and it's hard to believe our kids are no longer the littlest ones there!

The grandparents all came out to watch and the kids really just loved it. Price gets very into the candy - we finally had to take it away for fear he'd get sick. Charis likes it, of course, but she could walk away from it. Guess it's not for nothin' that we call Price "big-uns".

Easter weekend, we actually went to Church on Friday night. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that, but Fellowship Church did a pretty cool service helping us visualize our sins being laid upon the cross. It was neat to see that and have that focus on Good Friday.

Easter Sunday, late lunch was at our house. It was a great time and all the family was there. I actually served pork tenderloin,

which seemed so untraditional but it was great! It was a very special day and we are thankful for how well all the kids play together and just the great family bond we all share! The kids also got their first Easter baskets, and boy were they excited!

On a final note, the kids are learning the true meaning of Easter. I asked Price specifically what he learned at BSF right at this time and he gave me his standard answer "about Jesus". But what else, I prodded, "and the disciples" he said. Oh, I think, great! What about the disciples?? "That they don't wear any shoes" he summed it up! hmmm. We have a couple good books on this subject and they can identify "the Roman soldiers" and they know that Jesus went in a tomb and then that he was alive again. These are such big concepts. It is really awesome to think of them learning about this and believing it!

We are so blessed by all the Lord did for us and how He continues to bless us daily!

Spring Break 2010!

We had quite a fun and eventful week! It started with a trip to the zoo last Sunday with Amy and Rilee and the kids' first time on the Forest Park Miniature Train.

Monday was a day off but a chance for us to try a family dinner. Our schedule is so hectic this semester that we never get to sit down to dinner as a family. So we did that a couple times this week and it was really special!

Tuesday we went over to our friends' house in Lantana. Charis and Price love getting to play with Chloe, Aidan and Colten. Wednesday we went to the butterfly exhibit at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth with the Bushnell girls, whom Price seems especially fond of. I of course failed to bring my camera! The kids love getting to use their Spanish "mariposa" which they said over and over. We had a fun picnic afterwards too and enjoyed watching the kids just run and play. It is so cute as "hide and seek" morphs into some form of "tag" and then to just running and giggling.

Thursday we went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with Adley and Miss Nicole. This was such a treat for us! It was super crowded but really a cool place to visit! We'll definitely go back to see more of this one!

Friday we went to the park and Chick Fil A and the kids got ice cream cones for the first time. And this morning we did some painting!

The weekend was fun for Mommy and Daddy as I got a girls' night out Friday with Kendra and Ali. Then Saturday we met friends for dinner at Reata. And with that our spring break ends, not with out one last (hopefully) snow though!! We could not believe we woke up to snow again this morning here on the second day of Spring! We are so blessed and grateful for such a fun week!

Conroe!

We decided to take a road trip with the Kaspars - and all the kids! In spite of all that crazy snow we loaded up and headed South. It took us about 3+ hours to get there and the kids did really well on the drive. It's a Kaspar family lake house and we were thankful and excited about the invite. The house accommodated us all so well. The twins even got their own little room with twin beds! This was their first time in real big-kid beds. We brought rails (thankfully) and while they were a beating to put together, I think they were a good idea. The kids liked having their own room and slept really well both nights. Saturday they tooks us out on the boat! Another first for the kiddos. We were all ready with their new life jackets, and despite the cold went for it. Charis LOVED it! She is a little speed junkie. Price on the other hand, mama's boy he is, probably could have done without the cold. It was more than cold. It was freezing. But it was lots of fun! We went out to eat twice while we were there (a rarity for the Andrews) and otherwise just enjoyed spending time in a beautiful place with sweet family and friends!

Snow! In Texas!?

I imagine this being said like the line from Sweet Home Alabama when she says "You have a baby...In a bar?!" We just do not expect it here!!

We woke up to snow Feb. 11, 2010 but never imagined it would just keep on snowing!! That Thursday the kids' school was not cancelled, but UTA was (thank goodness!). So I enjoyed a day off Thursday and the kids were excited about the snow, but not so excited that they wanted to play in it. Charis told me "Mommy, I do not want to go play in the snow. It will get me dirty." But it just kept on snowing! All day and all Thursday night. We woke up Friday morning to more snow than I ever remember seeing in Texas. I have read a few places that there were more than 11 inches of snow! It was really beautiful!

On a different note, Charis woke up that morning and could not put any pressure on her right leg. She would try to walk and just collapse. Naturally we were quite concerned, and supposed to be leaving town that morning, we decided to take her to the ER. They did X-rays and claimed it was nothing - maybe growing pains? Soreness from jumping around? Leg fell asleep? Who knows. We prayed and continue to pray it was/is nothing!

Looky what I made!!

So I wanted to do a craft with the kids the other morning and had bought the stuff to make Fruit Loop necklaces a while back. I think this original idea came from Amy Kaspar and I knew it would be lots of fun for the kiddos! So I got everything all ready and the kids were excited. I thought that Price might lack the dexterity to do it as he was off to a slow start. But he got it all figured out and stayed engaged until his necklace was complete!! He did a great job and you could tell he was proud of the work he did! Charis on the other hand strung about 5 Fruit Loops onto her necklace, ate them off and then was done with the whole activity. On to something else. I am ever-amazed how different the two of these children are!!

The dreaded "c" word...thankfully just a scare (don't look if you have a weak stomach)

So Chris decided he was due for a physical and went in mid-January to get all checked out. He had a spot on his back that he wanted to ask the doc about and the doc agreed it was suspect and referred him to a dermatologist. The dermatologist took a look and said "it's NOT melanoma, but let's check it out anyway." We got the call about a day later that it was "Stage zero melanoma". We praise God that Chris noticed this spot and got it removed while it was stage zero. The doctor even said that if Chris had waited a few months, they'd be having a much different conversation. The pathology report shows they got it all. But being faced with something like this is just so scary. Just reminds us how fragile life can be. I have really gone back and forth about posting a pic, but this is our reality so I will.

High school reunion

January 9, 2010 we had an unofficial high school reunion. With both of us having gone to Nolan and graduated the same year, we have a lot of common friends, many of whom we are still in pretty close contact with, including Terry (Mendiola) Hammond, who is primarily responsible for Chris and me even being together! Of course with Facebook around, we are now in contact with even more people that we would not have been otherwise. So we all got together at Duke's in Bedford. There were people there from class of '91 all the way to '96. It was a really special evening for old friends to reunite and even new friendships to grow! I am so thankful for our school and its network. Though we won't send the kids there, I treasure my memories from there and hope something equally great for Charis and Price's high school experience!