The Easter Bunny is going to bed, finally.

May this Easter remind your heart of the gift given to us by our Savior's sacrifice and His triumphant return. Oh, would that we all could see his Glorious Appearing on the morrow.

We pray that G-d abundantly blesses you, those whom we dearly love.

A break from the white stuff

It finally stopped snowing. We have over 5". So much for the Farmer's Almanac prediction for this winter so far - dry and very cold. Not that we want it to be right. We really don't want it cold enough for the pipes to freeze.

One of the best things about snow is how it changes the look of everything. The landscape is so much more interesting and prettier than without.

Simple winter pleasures

It's snowing - big, soft, fluffy flakes. Falling snow can be so pretty, especially if you can watch it from a nice warm place. Now, outside won't look so dreary and the girls will be happy as well. If we get enough, they will ask to go outside to play. Then it will be back inside to sip hot cocoa by the heat vent. The only thing missing would be the cosy fireplace. Such simple pleasures of winter.

For Services Rendered:

We would like to say "Thank You" to all of the veterans who have served our country in any capacity, especially Papa.

YOU are appreciated.

So, where is he?

Today was a day of both sorrow and joy.

Buddy is our male dog. He is 14 years old and mostly blind and deaf. Somehow, he got out of the backyard. Hence the source of our sorrow.

Fortunately, Buddy is chipped. Unfortunately, we didn't have the chip number. (We do now!) Mommy tried to reach the vet where he had been chipped and they were having a staff meeting. She contacted the local animal shelter, which, oddly enough, was not listed in the phone book. We asked our next door neighbor and she remembered seeing a black and white dog across the street and heading north. So, off we trekked around the neighborhood to see if we could find our lost boy.

After a half hour of searching, we had no luck. So, at home, we made posters with Buddy's picture and our contact number to put up around the area. When we exited our home, our next door neighbor's son asked if we had found him yet. Caleb is a really good kid and was genuinely interested. He said he would check with his friends around the neighborhood to see if they found him.

We jumped in the van and started placing signs. Just after placing the first poster, we met another neighbor who said she also saw him heading in the same direction. That was our heading for placing signs. We traveled another 1/2 mile through the houses when we spotted Caleb. He had found Buddy. He rode his bike along every side street in order to try to find him. What a blessing it is to have Caleb as our neighbor. Even in the midst of dispair, God's mercy is present.

The ending of the story is that Buddy is home with us again and is none the worse for wear. He was missing for about 2 1/2 hours. We have secured the gate to the yard with some bungie cords so it cannot be pushed open by him, again. His return is the source of our joy.

K's 1st Sleepover

Yesterday evening we picked up Kitty from her first ever sleepover without her sister. Both she and Jules have stayed with these friends before, and Jules has spent the night without Kitty, but never just Kitty. All reports are she did just fine and had a really great time She was very excited to be able to do this alone, but was glad to be home after two nights.

Our baby is growing up.

A Teddybear Picnic

This morning we are having a picnic that included teddybears, a koala, two elephants, a panda bear and a rabbit. There were 10 friends in all. We had stuffed pretend food - sandwiches, watermelon slices and cookies from Mommy's fabric picnic basket. After our meal, we will be treated to a dance recital and stories from our racecar driver, scuba diver, young Bear Scout and World Cup Soccer champion.

What a fun morning!