Easter

Here are some shots from Easter. 

To celebrate our risen Lord, we went to church, ate hockey pucks, hunted eggs and dined with some new friends in town (where there was also more egg hunting). 

Luckily, Rolin had been trained the week before, by his grandparents, to be an egg-hunting master so he had a handle on what to do when it came time for an egg hunt. 

Rolly really liked that the little chick would cheep when he held it in his palm. 

I don't have a clue where this poor little chick is now, come to think of it. 

"A whole chocolate bunny just for me? Don't mind if I do!"

"Um, do you have another chocolate bunny I can eat?"

Scouting out eggs to make a plan of attack.

Find an egg, open it. Find an egg, open it. 

"I'd look at the camera, but I think I just spotted another egg. Gotta go!"

More egg hunting at our friends' house. 

Justin was so excited about being a hunting helper, he couldn't keep his eyes open!

"Dad! I demand you open this!" 

"Mom! Enough with the pictures already!"

Visitors

Whew! We had a busy end to January, which flowed over into February.

One of the hardest things for me when we moved the first time was knowing all my family was together celebrating at most holidays, birthdays, nice weekends, Cougar games or simply just because, and I wasn't there. That was how I grew up -- we always got together with family. I was shocked to learn that what we did wasn't really the norm when little country mouse (me) went to the "big" city (Pullman) and met lots of different people. I couldn't understand why their mom didn't make spicy cheese dip for tortilla chips when an aunt, uncle or cousin would come by, or why they didn't sit out on the patio for hours after the sun went down, eating that dip and chatting. I thought everyone did that??!! You don't play nerts with everyone at Christmas until it's almost the day after Christmas??! You don't you all live about a mile away from family??!!

When we moved to California, we didn't know anyone. Well, save for a couple people in San Francisco, but that was like a two hour drive away, even though it was only about 25 miles away. Our first New Years was spent in a cheap hotel with cheaper pizza and the cheapest champagne. Our first California Easter was just the two of us and too much ham (again). Same for 4th of July, Halloween, birthdays, Christmas...I can't even remember what we did that first Christmas. It must not have been very exciting because, according to this blog, I just made Elf Yourself videos and never even blogged about Christmas.

This repeated itself over a few more holidays, but then we found the Bracketts and our lives changed forever. It still feels weird not to celebrate a holiday with the Bracketts. But I digress.

What I'm trying to tell you is we had a lot of family come visit this January and February. More than ever came to visit us when we LIVED IN WASHINGTON. Go figure ;)

The best part? They all came at once!

The worst part? I really failed at taking many pictures.

Plus, most of the pics were taken in the early-morning time frame when no one should be photoed.Also, the weather wasn't as warm as it had been or as it is right now, but those visiting from Chicago thought anything was better than -6F and the "polar vortex!"

Drew was the first to arrive, though it was just for dinner. He was in town for a business trip, so he came by to say hi and treat me to Jimmy Johns :) WOOT!

The Olmsteads were also here in their RV, but on the other side of Phoenix. Rolly and I made a trip over for an afternoon outing where he went swimming with Rah Rah for almost an hour. He loved being in the water, especially after we took off that dumb rash-guard shirt that made him freeze.

Rahrah and Rolly swimming.

Next came some of the Rabes and the rest the Chyterboks, sans Drew this time. Maggie brought her two little bugs, James and Owen (who was just 2 months old at the time). Mags and the boys stayed here while the Rabes stayed at a hotel a few miles away. I was excited to see Rolin and James together, especially because James is a year and two days older than Rolin. They got along pretty well for the most part, especially considering Rolin kept swiping James' toys, which more or less forced James to share his goods without being asked. He was good about sharing his trains, the most prized possessions of them all. In short, we've since purchased a couple Thomas the Train trains for Rolin as they've been the latest requirement for nap time (wheee).

Pajama pals cleaning up after breakfast.

What Rolin is really saying here is, "James, take this awesome duster..." So I can go play with your train by myself.

Dinner time!

Hugs!

Rolin was also really interested in baby Owen. He kept a close eye on him and made sure we remembered he is, in fact, a baby. "Baby! Baby! Baby!"

 Rolin making sure Owen knew he had a nose. "Nose!"


Making sure Owen's swing was swinging and playing music...

Cousin Laura joined us Friday night, after driving about seven hours to get here (wowza!) and stayed at our house. Maggie's friend Maggie, her husband and baby girl came down from north Phoenix for an afternoon at the park -- we were going to hit up the train museum and farm-themed park, but opted for the park in our neighborhood for logistic and food reasons, ha! Kids have a way of derailing (no pun intended) the best laid plans from time to time, right?!

Daddy and Rolly at the park.

Laura had to leave early Sunday to get back home, but we're so glad she made the trip to see everyone! The kiddos were glad to have a non-parent adult around to play with them, that's for sure!

One of the early-morning shots before Laura hit the road. 

Sunday afternoon was the Super Bowl, and Team Thompson hosted a viewing party. Everyone brought snacks, we enjoyed a chili bar with all the fixin's, and finished with football cookies and these cute "Seahawk Nests" Maggie and I made.

Seahawks nests for the Big Game. 

It was a great game, and having everyone here made Seattle's victory that much sweeter.

Thanks to Aunt Kathy and Uncle Lou, Mags and I were able to sneak away for (desperately needed) pedicures and some time to ourselves. It was a great treat! My parents got in late Monday, then everyone hit up the aquarium Tuesday. James and Rolin loved it, particularly the "water spot" on the floor, made by projectors, smoke and mirrors. We could hardly get them away from it. The underwater tunnel was also a hit.

Swimming in the "water," aka "the spot on the floor."

A little hesitant about stepping out onto the water!

James and Rolin checking out the shark mouth!

"Swimming" in the tunnel

The Rabes and Chyterboks left Wednesday, but mom and dad were still with us for another five days, so we weren't going to be all alone all at once.

Another early-morning shot before the Rabes and Chyterboks left for the airport. 

All the visitors kept our schedules packed, and I loved every minute. Mom and Dad's trip included a weekend getaway to Sedona, by way of Prescott, which we'll save for another post.

Stay tuned for more!

Of Easters long ago

In the spirit of Easter, I thought I'd direct your attention to a hilarious blog post penned a few years ago by my love.

Summary: Early-morning egg hunting was new to Justin when we first met, but he learned quickly that egg hunting happens before church in the Emerson family.

Enjoy: READ JUSTIN'S POST

Bring it, bunny.

Welcome to the jungle

We moved into our new place at the beginning of February, during California's rainy season. The backyard was a mess, but we were told by our landlord (LLD, as we'll call him) that we would soon see major improvements, complete with garden beds, a shed and some new plants.

Sweet, right?

We thought so, too.

We still do, but the excitement turned to slight frustration over the course of the last five months, as it's taken LLD that long to get the show on the road. We're certainly grateful for the shed and garden beds, but every time we saw him over course of the last five months, he'd say, "I'm going to start on that shed soon..." and then another month would go by. On top of that, the yard looked like a jungle. A real one. Justin had to use a machete to cut down some of the thicker weeds that our man-powered lawn mover couldn't cut through. But I digress...

In just the last two weeks, Team Thompson + LLD have accomplished much. It just took a couple nights of Justin announcing that he'd work until the sun went down to get LLD to follow suit (because he generally puts in one hour and calls it a night). So good work, JT!

Now the shed is up. The garden beds are in. There's dirt in the beds. We've filled the shed. There are plants in the beds. It's awesome.

Here's a series of pictures to show the progression.

 

One of the first pics of the backyard. It was still a baby jungle.

  

But the jungle grew. As did the mulberry tree that needed a good trimming.

 In a moment of desperation, in hopes to not be deemed the "scrappiest house on the block," we bought a man-powered lawn mower.

 Weeds mowed, macheted and knocked down.

  

With the jungle mowed/hacked down, Eva came over on Easter to hunt eggs in our yard.

 LLD rototilled the areas for building...

 

Reviewing the plan for the shed and beds.

  

Pavers for the base of the shed.

 

With garden beds in place, we bought some plants.

 

And waited for dirt.

  

A few weeks later, some dirt appeared. But it wasn't enough. 

 

So Justin watered it and more soil grew. 

Just kidding. LLD brought in more compost. 

Then we filled it in with a little extra.

 

Finishing the shed foundation.

Reviewing the building plans.

 Time to open the boxes that have been sitting in the yard for more than a month.

 

Found a window!

 

 

 

The walls go up!

Shed by morning light.

   

It wasn't a tornado. It was two men that made this mess. 

 

Quite the project, and we still have more to do. LLD wants to get some rock to go around the outside of the beds and had plans to replace most of the fence. No matter how long that takes, we're just glad to have the shed up, so we can get the pile of tarp-covered junk off our patio. We wasted no time to fill up that shed, and we couldn't be happier.

Happy Easter!

One year ago today, Christine and I were hunting for eggs, going to church, opening Easter baskets, and having Easter brunch in Grandview, Washington; naive to the changes about to come. If only we had known how much different this Easter would be! Now we are celebrating our first married Easter in Mountain View, California.

When it comes to celebrating Easter, Christine and I certainly have had different experiences. When I was growing up, we went to Vancouver, Washington for Easter every year to see my grandparents. It was usually overcast and raining whenever we hunted eggs, making for a semi-enjoyable experience at best. So it's very strange to look out the window now and see sunny, cloudless skies and to step outside and feel warm weather. Our Easter egg hunts took place after lunch, and while somewhat entertaining, were not exactly the highlight of the day. My idea of hunting eggs was mostly an excuse to get off the couch and could be done at any time of the day; there was never a rush. And then I met my wife...

I remember the first Easter I spent with Christine and her family (long before we were married). I was sleeping happily in the guest room when I was rudely awakened at the crack of dawn by my future wife. She was holding a basket in her hand and commanded me to get out of bed. Confused, I stumbled downstairs, thinking maybe there was a fire or a flood and we were saving important items and putting them in baskets. But I was wrong. I knew how wrong I was when I saw Christine's brother Matt standing outside (a place where I was soon to be). Matt had a look on his face that was somewhere above annoyed and somewhere below contempt. I turned at the sound of Christine's other brother Joe behind me. His expression was not below contempt. Slowly, my awakening mind put things together: the baskets, the holiday, the outdoors, and Matt and Joe's pained expressions. We were hunting eggs.

Since then, I have been on a few egg hunts in the wee hours of the morning. Luckily for me, Christine's early morning egg hunts are completely dependent on the Easter Bunny hiding the eggs at ungodly hours. Since the Easter Bunny is usually Christine's father, this year things were a little different! I hid some eggs in the apartment at a more reasonable time of 9am while Christine was cooking breakfast and she found them all!


We hope you are finding everything you are looking for this Easter and we're sorry we can't be with you. We'll be thinking of you while we go to church, have Easter lunch and probably fall asleep on the couch later tonight.


Happy Hunting!
Justin and Christine