AmericanWoman

Warm weather returns to El Paso in time for a beautiful Easter weekend. To me, Easter is really the beginning of Spring. Now I can look forward to the dreaded summer months. I am definately not a summer person. Not much about summer I actually like, maybe the roses blooming and the longer hours of daylight -  but that’s about it. But back to my original topic – Easter – which is something I really enjoy. Why do I enjoy Easter you ask? Because, Easter always brings a renewed sense of Hope, a new burst of energy, and a reminder of all the wonderful things in our lives. Plus I love Easter egg hunts! I know – I’m way too old to get excited about Easter egg hunts – but I just can’t help it. I love to buy the candy, fill the plastic eggs, and hide them in trees, grass, and any nook and cranny you can find. And then, the best part is watching all the little ones scurry around filling their baskets or buckets with all the treasures.

Granny and Pa sent Emily the cutest Easter basket filled with chocolate goodies and “money” eggs, which Emily loves. She doesn’t eat much of the candy (her parents do that); but she loves counting the dollars and quarters in the Money eggs. She collected enough money eggs to pay for her upcoming field trip and had some spending money left over. What a treat!

The grandsons & their parents (AKA Jeffrey & Chemenn and Jennifer & Mike) spent Easter in KY! That’s the best – Sunday dinner on Granny’s back porch and rides around the farm on the tractor and wagon. Festivities this year even included a night out with the extended Chugg clan at the newest local restaurant and a trip to see real bunnies at Pa’s friends farm. Such fun! Pics below to prove the fun! What can I say – I sure love my family – they are the best and I’m not prejudiced at all! (That’s not a joke – I make that decision based on pure objectivity!)

Look what I just found! It’s an adorable video of Lincoln dancing to tunes from Lighting McQueen (you know, the star character of the movie, Cars). Watch him boogie down!

Life has certainly been busy, busy here lately. I’m so far behind on posting that’s it’s embarrassing! But at last a quiet minute (well, not really so quiet) to get caught up and to brag just a bit. You see, that’s what blogs are for – for bragging about whatever you like. And I definately have some bragging to do today!

First of all, I’m going to start with our oldest – Jeffrey. Not really for any particular reason, but I always seem to have to do things in some sort of order. So I start with Jeffrey and end with Emily. (Maybe that’s a peek at some weird personality trait that I’ve been hiding all these years.)

The Law School Graduate!

We recently traveled to Nashville to attend the Vanderbilt Law School graduation ceremony. Yes, Jeffrey graduated from Law School in May! Yeah – way to go son! Of course we knew when he was about 8 years old that he would accomplish this – so it’s really no surprise. We knew he do it. But we are certainly proud of him. He has worked and studied very hard – now just one more big test to go! One thing is for sure though, that diploma should have Chemenn’s name on it too! He couldn’t have made it without her! Check out the pictures below and see Chemenn’s blog for more photos. It was a great day!

More Adventures in the Big Apple (or somewhere in Jersey!)

This just in…a late Easter picture of Beautiful Jen and WIld Man Ethan. The ever photogenic Jen is smiling, but Wild Man just wasn’t in to the photo shoot. But hey, his little vest is adorable!

Next we have pictures of the ever-adventurous Wild Man and his Dad on their first Father and Sons campout! What a blast! And then the little Dude takes in the circus in New York. See I told you it’s been a busy, busy few months!

The Typhoon Boy!

This takes us to Elder Alex serving in the typhoon season of the Philippines. And unfortunately I have no pictures to share. But it seems the small village where he is serving was pretty much wiped out by storms. They estimated the town would be without power for about 2 months. The storm was pretty stong, but all the members and missionaries were accounted for and safe. There was an accident with his companion, who fell and cut his arm. He’s fine, though. Alex carried him to the hospital through the storm and we assumed got his arm sewed up – but Alex’s note really didn’t say that. All in all – they are fine and are having fun with all the excitement! But here’s a picture of Alex in case you don’t remember what he looks like.

The Science Fair

Now comes Emily…she’s been very busy at school and getting ready for summer. She recently competed in the science fair and won First Place, Blue Ribbon for her class. It was quite exciting. (And a little messy…)

And last but certainly not least – The Mother’s Day Surprise!!!!

We wanted something special for our Mom’s this year. Being so far away now has not been fun. We knew we would be in Nashville for Jeffrey’s graduation and decided to drive on up to KY to surprise the grandmothers. And I must say, I think they were very surprised! It was so nice to have all the kids (except Alex of course) all together and to see the grandparents! We had a blast on the farm and Nana and Aunt Darlene couldn’t believe how the little ones had grown. Check out the pics below: