Spokane Birthday for G'ma Joan

G'ma Joan came up to see US on HER birthday!  She brought Kelly and Millie, too!

We ate birthday muffins and pizza, took naps, visited, tried to take a walk but was thwarted by rain, and...

...held Millie!  Isn't she sweet?!?  Gracie even decided she wanted to try to hold her.  Gracie grinned from ear to ear while Millie was in her arms.

Blind Ralphie: "It was..."

"...SOAP POISONING!"  

(Looks like we'll have to use horseradish or tabasco

if this kid experiments with foul language!)

A Big Day...

A palindrome in the van...

...and a van that is PAID OFF, as of today!  Hooray, Lochheads!

Happy Birthday, Pappy!

Pappy turned another year older this April!  Funny thing, those birthdays!

(81 amazing years, everyone!)

Aunt Perri came for a visit, so we had a couple of evenings to just make fun memories with her.  They involved Barbies, matchbox car ramps, and endless outdoor running trips around the house.

     






Love these two, too!

  Papa was right in there with running laps around the yard.  Josh worked up a thirst.

Buzz and Woody

They're never very far from the boy...

And yes, I cry at the beginning of Toy Story 3 when the movie shows Andy playing with his toys in one frame and then graduating from college in the next...  What mom doesn't?

More from the farm...

Got some of these pics from Mom and couldn't help posting them as well...

Eating with Papa.

Millie and Papa napping.

The cousins coloring Easter eggs.

Why is LE drying off her fingers?  Could it be that she just slipped the raw egg into the green dye--and was caught by the camera?!?  Luckily G'ma Joan didn't put 2+2 together...she didn't steer clear of the green eggs and SPLAT!  One caught her by surprise a week later.  Hee, hee, hee!

Grace loved the stickers!  Her poor egg was all cracked, but she didn't care!

The toothless girl with the babe.

I don't know what inspired this pregnant picture...

Katie, Ben and I gave Dad the best gift we could think of on his birthday:  More room on his desk.  This little flat screen replaced the clunker that was "small" when I was growing up.  And yes, Dad, your office is now on the Internet.  :)  The post-it filing on the cupboards/walls works for you--go with it!  (Maybe we can get a Post-It endorsement?)

Ben loves to tease this girl.  She just got her letterman's jacket, so Ben had to go dig out his...it still fit!  He had to show off all of his pins...

...is that a red spider on the back of your jacket, "Brooke-Brooke-Brooooooke"?!?

19 Years...

Can you still call it a phenomena after 19 years in a row?  G'ma Trudy's yard has been the target of an April Fools Prank for almost 20 years--you'd think they'd catch the culprit by now, wouldn't you?  (I have no idea who photo-shopped my children into this pic, BTW.)

How fitting that on the 19th year, her yard became a golf course and her house became the post-game beverage hole for weary golfers.  It's too bad that the wind took the sign over and broke it in half before April 1st was really up and going.  Maybe someone BIGGER is trying to catch this prankster...

Lochhead Entertainment Presents...

Happy Easter!

"Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."  He is risen, indeed!

Mercy!  They clean up, real good!  :)  We were at the farm for Easter this year and went to G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy's for the annual gathering to celebrate new life.

Josh hiding...

...surprise!

Abby helped Josh find eggs...many times throwing them over her shoulder as they were walking.

Rori and Henry were there, too.  Rori is Gracie's birthday buddy.  Gracie says they're "Birthday Girlfriends," because everyone knows that buddies are BOYS.

Shake the egg.  Listen for the rattle of chocolate.  If there's a rattle, tear the egg open and retrieve.  If no rattle, toss the egg and move on to check the others.  :)

Lots of hanging out with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents...highlights include Bubba winning the Masters that afternoon, Jerry claiming the recliner after knee surgery...

...and the newest member of our family being present:  Millie Caroline.