Eggcellent Easter

This year Danny really got into the egg hunting. Maybe that's why he couldn't smile for any pictures - he was too focused on finding the eggs. We went to a ward playgroup egg hunt at Mercer Arboretum and then we also went to a huge egg hunt at a Lutheran church near our house.

Danny also had fun dying Easter eggs this year. He shares his Grandma Couch's focus and intensity, trying to create the perfect egg. Sadly, he still has a way to go before being able to dye an egg without dying his hands.





Easter Sunday was a wonderful day. There were no meetings, so we were able to spend the whole day as a family. Danny slept late, we found our Easter baskets, we ate monkey bread, sausage, and smoothies for breakfast, and then we got ready for church. I was glad our FHE lessons had paid off when Danny remembered that we were celebrating Jesus. He's still trying to get the word resurrection down . . . maybe by next Easter. It was fun to have him retell us the Easter story with his paper tomb from nursery. My handsome guys! Gotta love the matching blues and khaki.

After church Billings came over for a tasty feast with ham, funeral potatoes, fresh green beans, rolls, and the traditional deviled egg chicks and coconut cake. Yes, the chicks are a little creepy, but they are one of my FAVORITE traditions from when I was a kid. I loved helping my mom make the deviled egg chicks. We were all stuffed beyond belief.
So even though this isn't the best family photo ever, I like it because we used the timer and Danny did a good job hiding his baby sister. You can hardly tell that I'm ready to hatch (well, in 2 more months). Happy, happy Easter!

Danny Missin' Granny

We always love when Grandmas and Grandpas come to visit. Grandma Hong was able to come down during her spring break. Danny had SO much fun with his granny. He got sick shortly after she left and I'm pretty sure it's because he was missing all the extra love and attention she gave him.

One afternoon they made Texas shaped ice cream sandwiches. Danny is helping out by eating the brownie crumbs while Granny does the more intensive labor.

Delicious and oh so messy! Another morning we took a trip to the mall and Danny got to ride the carousel. And the highlight of Granny's visit was flying kites, something we'd never done before. Danny finished filling in a potty chart, so chose a Buzz Light Year kite as a prize. Matt got a Transformer's kite and Granny got a Barbie kite. Apparently they had a successful potty week too. :) The wind was perfect the day after we bought the kites, and all three flew great. Dad had to make a few kite rescues, and before the evening was through Buzz had flown too powerfully. He got stuck on a neighbor's roof that was too high to retrieve. Amazingly, Buzz continued to fly up there for at least an hour! Thanks again for a fun visit Grandma Hong!

Popcorn Popping

Though I know some of you are still getting blizzards, we've been thoroughly enjoying our few weeks of Spring. It is great to garden and play outside in shorts and t-shirts all through March. We recently had an FHE lesson about seasons. It was a little tricky to explain the four seasons, since we don't really have 4 seasons in Houston (no snow for winter, no fall colors or leaves falling off trees . . . just warm and hot). Perhaps it would have been more accurate to define our seasons as hurricane season and non-hurricane season. :)

We've noticed all the "popcorn blossoms" out on the trees lately, and Danny was a big help planting flowers in front of the house (he watered the flowers and then sprayed himself down with the hose) so we decided to make our own popcorn blossoms. Danny loved using the popcorn maker Grandma Angie and G-Pops sent for Christmas. If you haven't been around Danny for a while, you'll love the Danny giggles as they wait for the popcorn to start popping.

He had a hard time gluing the popcorn pieces on our popcorn tree because they were just so tasty to eat. We'll be using the popper more regularly now that we realize how tasty and fun it is! Thanks for a fun Christmas present!

Fun at the Fair

It's no Eastern Idaho State Fair, but the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is pretty fun. This was the first year we haven't gone to the actual Rodeo and a concert. In the past we've been able to see Bon Jovi, Amy Grant, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, and someone else I can't remember. The concerts are tons of fun, but this year we just headed down for the animals, food, and carnival rides. Danny had a blast!! Here he's learning about the process of farm to market. At the end he traded all his goods in for money at the farmer's market, then purchased some real apple juice and raisins at the store. He enjoyed this display so much that we went through it twice.
I witnessed my first pig races, which were quite exciting, and we also ate some tasty (cowboy burritos, cinnamon rolls, corn on the cob) and not so tasty (chicken fried bacon) food. We did not find anywhere to buy teriyaki chicken, ham fried rice, or egg rolls. Maybe the Good Wok could do a little expansion. :)

After lots of fun looking at longhorns, chickens, and goats we decided to head back over to the carnival. We bought enough tickets for two rides and Danny chose the ferris wheel and super slide. It's always hard to tell who's having more fun - the big guy or little guy. I sure do love my guys!

Who's the bigger kid?

We had some time between disembarking the cruise and getting on our flight back to Houston, so Rex, Alex, Brenna, and our crew ventured over to the Tampa Aquarium - just a short walk from the cruise terminal. I never could get a good picture of the kids with the sharks, but the outdoor play area with surfing and pirate ships provided some good photo ops. Something about bright sunlight vs. dim spooky shark lighting. My favorite is the video of the water play area. I think the big boys had as much fun as the littler ones.

Beach Story

Since returning from our cruise, Danny has been requesting "a beach story" nearly every night. I don't know exactly how it started, but now he chooses to replace any songs with a beach story. His favorite scenarios are scuba diving or playing ping pong with Grandpa, neither of which he actually did at Paradise Beach in Cozumel, Mexico. However, you can see from the pictures that it was a very fun, sunny beach day worth reliving every night during "beach story" time. Water trampolines, giant slides, fresh fruit slushies, parrots (didn't get a picture though), snorkeling, kayaking, sunscreen mustaches, and lots of splashing in the water.

Key West, Florida

This quick afternoon stop on the cruise was beautiful. We just strolled the streets, window shopped, and enjoyed the sunny weather and scenery.
A few treasures we found along the way . . .

Boa Constrictor Man - so named not only because of his snake,
but also the enormity of his biceps.

It's great having a grandma who's a biologist.

The boa was cool, but Danny preferred this cool treat -
frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolate. YUM!

After aimlessy wandering we were happy to make it all the way across the island to the southern most point of the continental USA. Hawaii is farther south, but otherwise this is it. While I consider living in TX living in the south, now I can say I've been to the true "deep south" of the United States.

60th Cruise Highlights

My grandparents will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this June. Last year, when I realized it was also my Grandmother's 80th birthday in January, I knew we had to do something big to celebrate. When we were all younger it was much easier to get together for reunions every couple years. Now there are many more spouses & great grandkids and we are spread even further across the country. However, with early planning and saving, 28/30 of us were able to celebrate my grandparents milestones together. We had cruised on Royal Caribbean for their 50th anniversary with 17 of us and decided it would be great to do again. Everyone flew in to Tampa and then we enjoyed a 4 night sailing aboard Grandeur of the Seas. Here are some favorite pictures, but the real highlight was having almost the entire family together to celebrate and thank Grandmother and Papa for their influence and love to each of us.

Florida Bound! Hooray for Southwest Airlines and no checked baggage fees. Boo for Danny not sleeping on the flight at all despite waking up at 5 AM.



Who knew life jackets could be so much fun! And the mandatory Muster Drill wasn't too bad thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Leah, and Alex being so close.

This was our first cruise with a rock climbing wall and Matt certainly got his climb on. I was a cautious mama and didn't. By the end of the cruise Matt has successfully climbed every route.












We had lots of hangout time in Grandmother and Papa's rooms, on the decks, and throughout the ship.


I love these two shots of Uncle Aaron with Alex and Danny with cousin Ariana. They are all smiles. It amazes me how even when you haven't seen each other in over a year, family is still family. The bonds are reformed so quickly!

One thing that is pretty fun about cruising is that there is really something for everyone.

Ice carving for Stacey

Kisses for Papa

Pirate fun for cousins

Dancing (I only got a photo of Mom and Dad, not the wild cousin dancing)

Karaoke for Chris

Danny really had fun with the towel animals, but they had to be put away before bedtime because they were a little scary. One of the highlights of his cruise was formal dinner night. The waiter politely checked with mom and dad first.
"Would the little gentleman like some ice cream or a cookie?"
"That would be fine," I replied, picturing a child-sized scoop of ice cream and one cookie. Then the waiter showed up with this.

I've never seen such excited eyes. He knew they were all for him too. If Matt tried to take one he was quickly reprimanded, "Swiper, no swiping!" He did share a crumb with Uncle Aaron, but the rest was his. Don't worry . . . he only ate about 1 1/2 cookies total.

Congratulations on 60 years and thanks to everyone for a great time and another memory to add to the collection! We love you all!