Visiting with family

After Blaise's graduation, Grammy and Pappy, and Aunt Jeanne and Grandma came back to Fort Walton Beach to visit us for a few days. Aunt Jeanne and Grandma had never been to our house before, so we got to take them to a few places in the area. Aunt Jeanne finally bonded with the kids before she left, and they enjoyed her animated story readings!

Blaise's graduation

We went to Fort Benning, Georgia, to see my cousin Blaise's graduation from Army basic training on April 24. We left town after the kids got done with school on Thursday, and then we drove through the afternoon and got to the hotel in Columbus in time for dinner. It was great to see Aunt Jeanne again since it had been a few years since I had seen her, and Caleb was too little to remember her. Isabelle had never met her before, and it took a little while for Isabelle to warm up to Aunt Jeanne, but then they were good buddies! We got an early start on Friday morning to make sure we got a seat in the bleachers for the graduation. It was a good thing we did because it was packed out. The ceremony was great and I'm glad we were able to make the trip to support Blaise. After his graduation, the whole family was able to go out to lunch together and visit for a little while before it was time for us to begin heading back home.

Blaise is in the 3rd row, far right:

Easter

The day before Easter I ran in the Resurrection Run 5K out in Destin. Several of my girlfriends participated in it, so it was a lot of fun and I was pleased with my time. While I was running, our friends the Drowns brought Caleb and Isabelle to their church's easter egg hunt, and I met them there after the race. They had a lot of fun collecting as many eggs as they could fit into their baskets, and then eating it afterwards (the best part!).

For Easter Sunday, we went to church and celebrated our Lord's resurrection, and then we went to a new friend's house, Kristi Coil, for an Easter brunch and another egg hunt. I met Kristi through my friend Amy Drown, and Kristi's kids go to Rocky Bayou Christian School, which is where Caleb is going in the fall. It was a nice time of fellowship and good food, and once again the kids had fun gathering those candy-filled plastic eggs. We enjoyed getting to spend the day with our good friends, the Drowns, as well, because we had to say goodbye to them the next day. They moved to Ohio, but we are planning on visiting them in September.

Isabelle with Sarah Kate, Emily, and Anna Drown