~Happy Easter~

Happy Easter to all of you. It was another blessed day in Alaska and we hope for all of you as well.

Scott and I were roused from sleep to many cries of glee and grinning eyes pleading to come hunt some Easter eggs
and rummage through Easter prizes. Cori explained that she and Cassi only found 1 or 2 eggs already but were ready to find more. Then she explained that she was sure there were more than the 8 in her basket. Apparently they had been up early and figured out there were easy eggs for Cali, which they did leave in place and harder hidden eggs for them. They got a jump on things before waking us up. They saved finding a few knowing Mom and Dad would want photos.























After a somewhat slow morning, we headed out to Grandpa's house. And it was off again for another hunt. The Easter Bunny hides the Easter baskets at Grandpa's house so the girls had to work for them. Cori found hers in the TRASH can, ewww! Cali really checked hers out and had a great time pouring tea
water) for everyone all day. I think Denali liked the tea the best. Cassi loved the new pants in her Easter basket and quickly
put them on.













AJ wrapped all the silver eggs in preparation for the big hunt later in the afternoon.

















Amber surprised everyone by having her hair cut off the other day also so we took the opportunity to take a photo of the lack of hair in the family.















Around 3:00 in the afternoon we headed for Holly's house for the annual easter egg hunt. I don't know exactly how many we hid but considering it took me at least an hour to fill eggs, I am pretty sure I filled nearly 200 hundred, possibly more. Holly did a huge amount of them too. All of the kids had more than they needed and plenty to fill an afternoon with fun.








































































Like usual, we hid silver eggs. Growing up Grandpa hid 1 silver egg with a large amount of cash in it; we have since changed it to hiding many silver eggs with an assortment of prizes and cash. These are the coveted eggs and trust me when I tell WE fight for them. I never hide the silver eggs. This is mostly because I like to antagonize the kids and find them before they do. I listen for the clues just like they do and then push them down in the snow to get one step ahead.





































The day is great fun for me and it takes me back to memories of my youth. I enjoy sharing those memories with my children and making new ones that they will look back on in years to come. As you might notice from the photos, no place is sacred and physical strength can come in handy. In the end the hardest eggs fall into to the hands of the oldest kids simply because the youngest are content to relax and watch the frenzy.


































































To some of us the fun is in the winning and then to some, well there is the cash!













And then to others, it's all about those beautiful colors and fancy Easter baskets.





















Since Scott and Grandpa hide the hardest eggs worth the best prizes, they don't get to hunt for them. However, speaking from experience, they take the least falls and go home with the fewest injuries. And they comfort the fallen.





















Once all the eggs have been found, everyone heads inside to see what they've found. Some of us use the opportunity to take more photos and eat...again.










Then we all go home realizing that, of course, it's worth it and gee, I'm glad we decided to do it one more year. And me, I am just wondering how many years I'll be digging out my 39 year old Easter basket to go find some silver eggs.





Happy Easter to All of You from All of Us!

Alaska in Spring

Here are a few of those scenery shots I was telling you about.

These first two were on the 1st of March. We were on our way home from Anchorage and it was about 4:30-5:00 in the afternoon. The moon is visible but there was still plenty of light out.




A few days later on the 7th, while my Mom was visiting, we took a trip to Anchorage. Neither Scott or I thought to check the weather report the night before. When we woke up to a little snow, we didn't think much of it as if is often snowing a little here in Kenai and means nothing as to the weather in Anchorage. That day, it meant a lot! My Mom took these through the front window. She rode home in the backseat!




I think I heard 12-14 inches of snow had fallen that day, while we were away. This is our driveway.




Here are few of the girls and Scott the next day.







The day we drove to Seward was a much nicer day and we captured several great pictures. These were ones my Mom took.





This last one is at our house, looking into the woods at the end of the road.



We also saw a coyote on the way home. It was a little hard to catch on film but Scott managed to get these off before the little guy ran off.




The last day my mom was in town, we took a trip to the beach. There was still too much snow to walk around but looking out over it, the view was amazing. It was so clear that day you could actually see some of the platforms in complete view. I told my mom, it was so clear we could see guys waving at us! I don't think she believed me but it was so clear it wasn't hard to imagine.





It is days like those that make my heart swell. I feel closest to heaven those days I am at the beach looking across the at the mountains; my heart fills with joy. You may not feel it looking at these photos but maybe knowing it's what I feel will help you see it.

Grandma's Visit

Grandma made it to visit this year. She was here for Cori's second weekend of the play and for Cassi's birthday. I sent you all a link to view the photos of the Beauty and the Beast play. If you didn't receive that link, be sure to let me know. They are worth viewing, even if you only opt to view the ones we took.

While Grandma visited we were very busy as is common with the Holmes family. Amidst all the chaos of schedules and performances we did manage to go visit the Seward Sea Life Center which is always a favorite trip for the girls. Cali was a tad bit under the weather while Grandma visited which made things interesting at times but all in all, it was a really fun visit with a lot of cool animals.

I took a boatload of photos while we were there. Digital has sure made things easier in that regard. Here is one that was fun. Right when we walked in there was this tank and Cali noticed Grandma on the other side. It made a fun photo.



There is also a cute little boat for the kids to climb on. We could hardly keep Cali away from it. We went back to it several times.



There is an outside deck at the SLC where you can be amongst the birds. When they are calm it can be a nice place to be. Scott decided to get Grandma to try and touch this bird; look at his face. I'm not sure he was thrilled with the challenge.



There are a couple touch tanks and we stayed at those a while too. The water is so cold in them that is a hard to really reach in. There was a really neat black starfish there. I had never seen one before so I was quite fascinated. I understand they are primarily in colder waters.





Scott had fun taking a lot of pictures. He was trying to get cool photos of all the animals. It isn't an easy task being that they are mostly behind thick glass walls. He and Cori spent a lot of time with 4 harbor seals testing which things would attract them to the glass. He also had fun with the jelly fish. Here are some he managed to get that were pretty cool.







There was one tank that was being serviced and cleaned. It usually contains a large seal lion named Woody. I think Cassi and I had just as much fun with the gal cleaning the tank as we might have had with the sea lion.





There a lot of interactive things that can be done. One idea there which I thought was really cool was a poster cut up like a puzzle with a magnetic back to it and a magnetic wall to stick them to. The girls liked it.



Scott had some interactive fun of is own. I caught him in action.



On the way home we stopped to take this photo of Grandma. It was gorgeous day and clear. We have had some fantastic scenery photo opportunities lately. This is just the beginning.



We really miss Grandma and I especially love having more family around. So do the girls so if anyone is bored, we can always make some room.