Spring?

Dear Old Man Winter,

I love your beautiful snow, your shiny icicles, warm fires in the fireplace, your holidays like Christmas and New Year, the relief from yard work, but it's time for you to go away!  I've had enough of freezing fingers and winter coats, pale skin, white and brown.  I'm ready for the smell of new mown grass and bright pink blossoms.

I've got a load of mulch sitting in B's old truck out front with a tarp over the top to keep the freezing rain out.  The tarp is held down by long bar clamps hubby T found in the garage and the two flats of blue and yellow pansies I bought on that sunny Wednesday last week.  While it's about 48 degrees now, the wind and snow are supposed to blown in with fury about 5 PM today.  I WANT A WHOLE DAY OF SUNNY SPRING!  I WILL put some Preen out on the rocks today and I WILL throw at least one shovel full of mulch on my flower bed!  Okay.  I feel much better having vented...

Easter was yesterday and it was a great day.  We saw all the kids and the grandkidlets at our new house for an Easter egg hunt between sessions of General Conference, which by the way, was a fantastic experience.  The talks were uplifting and wonderful.  Getting to hear the Prophet and the Lord's apostles praise the Risen Lord on Easter Sunday was amazing.  Following both sessions of conference and the Easter Egg hunt, we had a pleasant dinner.  Not all the kiddos could attend (in-law commitments you know, but since I am one, I don't complain!), but it was great nevertheless.

Baby M with his Easter Basket

This little guy loves to smile!  He has two teeth now.

Baby S and her cousin who is 6 days younger, Baby Z.  Baby Z started crawling last week and is a Speed Demon already!  I think Baby S looks like an old fashioned doll with her curls sticking out!

Hubby T and I hid 110 plastic eggs filled with candy and coins throughout the new house except in the front room.  We usually hide them outside in our yard, but Old Man Winter decided to make that a little difficult, leaving an inch of snow and plenty of mud overnight.  

Since there isn't much furniture in the house yet, we moved the stools we had into the living room and a couple of chairs I bought for my new office that were there.  This is the only room the kids were allowed to be in.  They were good sports waiting for each other to get together.

Finally the hunt started.  First grandsons N and J ages 3 and 4 got to go and the mommies with babies in arms got to go to their special room where there were eggs just for them.  Then the "big" kids D, I and A were let loose, then everyone else.   The grandkidlets were too fast for my slow, old camera!  Most of the grown-ups acted real cool at first, like they didn't care about finding eggs, but soon the competition set in.  There were plastic coins in some of the eggs good for quarters and dollars, so that added to the drive to find eggs.  The house was big enough to handle it.

The Great Eight!

The Great Eight and their Proud Nana (Easter Bunny's Helper)

Later in the day, just before dinner, I gave Baby M some real baby toys!  These didn't cost much, and are always close by - metal measuring cups.  My daughters might think it's weird for me to give these to the teethers, but the babies love the feel of the cold metal and they are always handy, just a drawer away.

Yum!

It was a very pleasant Easter, but I for some reason I felt the loss of my dad more than usual.  However, I'm sure his Easter was joyous as he shared it with his family in heaven.  Love ya, Dad!