Spring Break and Easter

The past three weeks have been eventful to say the least.   Eventful and also full of the kind of paradox that only a great loss can provide.   After seven long months of fighting for life after her heart transplant, we lost Peter's mom, our beloved Shoo Shoo, on March 14.    She was a beautiful and gracious genius of a woman and we are all still processing what life looks like without her.    The overwhelming sadness of our loss however, was offset by some of the deepest joy and gratitude that this life has to offer.   Joy like the kind we experienced when all the cousins put on a ballet show in the backyard or when we held our baby niece, Presley for the very first time.   Or when we witnessed love in action, as aunts and cousins and neighbors surrounded us with food and errands and everything else that we needed before we even had time to realize we needed it.   Or when some of our oldest friends drove for hours just to be present with us during the memorial service.    The support and compassion that we felt from all of you was so appreciated and we will always remember it with great gratitude.

After the funeral, we spent another five days in LaGrange settling affairs and spending time with Mimi and Poppy.    Then we headed to our original spring break destination, Sandestin, FL.   We spent five sunny days there and had so much fun watching the girls swim their little hearts out in the beachfront pool.   On Good Friday, we returned to Alexandria and spent Saturday unpacking and dying Easter eggs.    I had been suffering from a week long migraine so Sunday morning the girls and I skipped church while Peter went to serve my nursery duty for me.    We did manage to get out for a Easter Egg hunt and brunch hosted by one of our dear friends and neighbors. 

This past week we have enjoyed settling back into our routines.   Susannah is playing in her first soccer game today and Sarah Avery has restarted her swim lessons.   Time is doing what it always does, marching onward.   I have a few pictures from SA's first week back at school.    We will start with the pictures from our time in LaGrange though......

The girls loved seeing their cousins CK and Jack and meeting Presley.  

And of course, baby Presley was a favorite!

Cousin Emma is a real ballerina and she gave Susannah and CK lessons.  

They even put on a little sunset show for us one evening.  

Mimi and Poppy graciously hosted us which made SA so very happy.   She is Poppy's girl.  

Before the Memorial Service, we visited Shoo Shoo's childhood home.  

Her parents lived still lived there when Peter was young so he has lots of memories on this porch.   

Almost all the cousins.   

As always, the girls loved playing dress up at Shoo Shoo's house. 

And Poppy bought them their very first fried ice-cream.    They were all too busy chowing down to smile for the camera.   

We went to lunch with Mimi and Aunt Nancy to the famous Charlie Joseph's for hot dogs.   SA had to get the traditional kids plate with her name in ketchup.  

One of our favorite memories from our time in LaGrange was the afternoon we spent at Cousin Hannah's farm.

We rode horses.   This is me on Benny and Peter on Cowboy Henry.

We had a delicious dinner complete with Resurrection Rolls for dessert.  

Peter took a nervous Susannah on her first four wheeler ride.  ;)

The girls even tried bare-back!

Sarah Avery rode Hollis.   

We took some family pics playing in the barn. 

Susannah on Benny.   

We swung on the great big tree swing.   

Possibly our favorite part of the day though, was meeting Lena, the pot belly pig.   

The girls also got a little lesson in all the work that goes into farm life.   They loved every minute of it!

When we arrived to our hotel, our room was ready and we went straight out to the balcony to this view.  

After a little while at the beach and pool, we changed back into dry clothes for a beach-side dinner.  

The girls played while we waited for our food to arrive.

It was beautiful.  

After dinner we walked on the beach for awhile and enjoyed the soft sand in between our toes. 

Day 2 was more beach and pool time followed by another beach front dinner. 

And another walk on the beach.   

The joy of the beach.

The water was cold and rougher than usual, but that didn't stop these two.  

Our third day was mostly cloudy so we did some shopping in the morning and headed over to Baytown Wharf for the afternoon and evening.  The girls loved all the activities like this carousel.

And this super long pier that goes out into the bay.   We saw lots of fish jumping and watched the fishermen for a little bit. 

We spent another morning playing putt putt and riding go-karts. 

It was the girl's first putt putt experience.

Susannah got frustrated at first but she was loving it by the end.

Then it was time for go-karts!   Susannah was just a little shy of being tall enough to drive alone, so she rode with me.

And SA with Daddy.

Susannah did try out the kid karts though and she loved it.

SA enjoyed her little van ride too.  

Then they used their last tickets for this plane ride.  

Our last afternoon was sunny and warm, but a little windy so we did more sand castle building than wave surfing. 

The girls "baked" these gum balls that they were very proud of.  

Everybody loved the beach, but the heated pool was the clear winner in the girls' hearts.

Partially because there was an ice cream parlor right next to the pool.

Before we knew it, departure day was upon us.   We took the obligatory last family photo on the balcony.

Susannah snapped this one for us.   It was a great hotel for families and the girls are already asking when we will return. 

We flew home in time to spend an afternoon dying some Easter Eggs. 

The girls were into it. 

So was Peter.

Then Sunday morning arrived and the Easter Bunny had visited!

A fun Easter morning.

After Peter returned from church, we walked down the street to a friend's house for egg hunting and lunch.

SA was so into the egg hunt!

Susannah may have won the most enthusiastic award though.  

She was sweet and shared tips with her little sister though. 

Another successful Easter egg hunter

When we got home, we checked out our loot and got organized for back to school and work the next day.  

I had a doctor's appointment so SA rode to school with her bestie, Jusdon.   His mom sent me this pic.    They love each other so much.

Our church has a tradition of this flower cross every Easter.   SA's class took their picture in front of it on Monday at school.   

SA's class has started a unit on farm animals and they started by making mud pudding and searching for gummy worms.  This is what I found when I came to pickup.

And that is the story of our last three weeks.   I hope that all of you had a happy and healthy Easter weekend.   Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us over these last few months.   We are so incredibly grateful for all of the love and support we have felt from all of you.   We send all of our hugs and love from Alexandria.