Saturday, March 29, 2008

Spring Break



Horray for Spring Break! We all have very much been looking forward to it! It has been a trying week, with a very difficult, although inspiring funeral on Thursday. Madeline had been asked to sing her friend's favorite Primary song, "Give Said the Little Stream". Madeline accepted, but the night before the funeral she came into our room just sobbing and we wondered if she'd be able to do it. She'd never been to a funeral and she said her first funeral would have been alot easier if it was for an elderly great uncle, twice removed! Madeline was really holding back the tears during the service and was doing these little hiccups. Again, I worried that there would be no way she could sing. When the time came though, she walked up to the stand looking very composed and got through the whole song. She said she just tried not to look at anyone because she could hear crying and knew if she looked at a crying person, she'd start sobbing herself.

Once again, I have to say that our friends are simply an amazing family and their strength and faith through all of this has been an inspiration to so many. I was over at Children's Hospital just a couple of days after this sweet girl had passed away and was asked by my friend to give the nurses a picture of their daughter and also let them know the date and time of the funeral. I was so impressed (but not surprised) at the effect this family had had on the staff there at the hospital. They truly loved them and were mourning with them. Two of the nurses made the long drive from Seattle to be here at the funeral. One of the nurses said, "The babies we've lost needed a babysitter."

Early Friday morning Lyle took Adam and Madeline to D.C. where he and his sister, Laurel planned to run the D.C. marathon. Poor Lyle missed his connecting flight and didn't get into DC until 11 PM, with an early-morning start time for the marathon the next day. I was thrilled to get the phone call from Madeline the next morning that Lyle had just crossed the finish line with a time of 3:25! He was hoping to be under 3 and a half hours and I'm thrilled for him that he met his goal. Laurel also did spectacularly well, finishing her very first marathon in 3:58! They are amazing!


Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Abby has been keeping us on a very busy schedule. She expects fun vacation-time activites pretty much around the clock! Here the girls are making a serious mess during craft time! Easter crafts were 75% off at the store, so Abby picked out the deluxe Easter cottage kit!



Maya loves anything that involves glue. She made some very gluey, sparkly Easter eggs.



Abby has been planning a trip to the zoo for a very long time. Obviously the girls were excited as we set off. Unfortunately, just before the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, it started to hail. It was getting close to lunchtime, so we stopped in at Panera Bread to get a bite to eat.



The girls ordered hot chocolates and were VERY pleased when these massive cups were brought to the table.


That should take the chill out of your bones, Abby!



Maya's cup is a big as her head!


Finally we made it to the zoo. Thankfully the weather did improve and we had a sunny day. The tiger was very active and went right up to the glass to get a look at Abby. We heard him roar several times. Even though glass was separating us from him, it gave us chills!







"Wait up, peacock! We just want to say hi!"
The peacock was smart to high-tail it (or low-tail it evidently) away from these two!

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