Godparents are Grand!

On Sunday April 19, C and E.'s godparents and cousins, Cody and Stephanie, came to visit to celebrate Elena's birthday. They arrived for lunch shortly after we came home from Chinese class. We then went to the historic Michigan Theatre for a special showing of the Wizard of Oz, followed by yummy ice cream at Jackson's famed Parlour. When we returned home, the kids were treated to an egg hunt, presents and a few games of cards. It was great visiting with Stephie and Cody. They live two hours away, so we don't get to see them as often as we would like.

Guaranteed laughs:


C.'s eggs all had Matchbox cars inside!


Huggin' cousins:


Boys and their toys:


Blackjack is fun!

Earth Day Observation

On Saturday April 18, the Kalamazoo Nature Center offered several activities in honor of Earth Day. The bonus was free admission. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and by the afternoon, temps near seventy.

Here is one of the many animals that were available for up-close learning:


Lots of activity happening in the Kalamazoo River on this Spring morning:


Wild flowers and bugs look different up-close: That's Isabela in the photo, daughter of friends Angie and Jim.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday has always been a favorite day of mine. I love the story of the Resurrection and the optimism of Spring. The older I get, the more I marvel at the Easter memories of my Mom - coloring a couple dozen eggs with us, putting together six Easter baskets, getting six kids and herself ready for church (my Dad was "warming up" the car waiting!) and assembling a holdiay feast for all, which usually included company (my two bachelor uncles). She also worked full-time outside the home! Geeesh- I pale by comparison. All I had to do this year was get a couple of baskets ready, boil six eggs, get two kids to Mass and roasted a chicken for dinner.

Coloring eggs Saturday morning:

Will it EVER end??!!

We only had a trace of the white stuff the last month or so. Then on April 6, we woke up to this scene outside our window. Seven inches of the heavy, wet stuff, which caused down trees and power lines. And the kids' ten day Spring (!?) Break turned into eleven.

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 4 was the annual egg hunt sponsored by the city recreation department. A cold, but sunny day brought out the hunters.


No baskets, but we did bring bags! Each child was limited to finding 4 eggs, which was then turned in for prizes.

Happy 6th Birthday Elena!

April 1, 2009: Mom remembered the candles for the GuateCake!!

Kalanazoo Nature Center

Spring Break was the week of March 30, so we visited the Kalamazoo Nature Center on March 31. We had the place-inside and outside-all to ourselves. It was a cool, but sunny and dry day. We enjoyed the Interpretive Center and a few of the 1000+ acres of land to explore.

My, my, now who can guess what country Papi is pointing to?


Enjoying a few momemts in the tropical rainforest:


Lots of worker bees in there:



Miles of trails and a the roots of a big tree kept us entertained for a while:

Elena's 6th Birthday Celebration

Friends! Food Fun! That summed up E.'s big day March 28 at Kids N Stuff Museum in Albion. Sharing her day with her was brother Carlos and friends Yensi, Natalie, Elly, Nicolas, Alex, Daniel, Lauren, Sammy and Noelle.

The moms:


Lots of fun things to try:


Kids + cake + juice


Get ready!


E. loves butterflies...

Carlos' 7th Birthday

was February 22. Yep, I'm a bit behind in this blog. Sorry! I'll try to do better. I promise!

The birthday boy with his ever-present Panda: (He's in pjs because we had his cake after a day out - and Momma here forgot the candles...)


Woo-hoo! Lots of gifts to open. This one is a scooter he had his eye on.


With his cousins and godparents Cody and Stephanie:


The gang celebrating at Chuck E. Cheese: