Easter Surprise!

You will have to wait until the end to find out what the surprise is. I know, if you are like me, you will immediately scroll to the end :)

We had the family for the evening meal on Easter. Since moving last Fall, Steve has been doing a lot of work on our yard. The grass is seeded but since it hasn't come up yet, it is pretty much just a yard of dirt. The grandchildren were worried about where we would hide the eggs. 

We decided to hide the eggs in the store and it couldn't have worked out any better. Steve did all the hiding and he very cleverly put the colored eggs beside items that matched their color. They were very tricky to see. The children had a wonderful time finding their eggs. I even heard the comment that it was so much fun we should hide them in the store next year too! Then the grandchildren hid eggs for the adults and they were harder to find then the children's eggs. In fact, two were never found because the grandchild couldn't remember where they had hid them. I eventually found one several days later hiding behind the flax seed, but as of this writing the final egg has yet to be found. (Edit: I have been holding this post for awhile because of the surprise and just this last week, I found the final egg sitting among the green beans.)

I didn't have my camera out much, but I did take a picture of each grandchild with their eggs. Janae and Jake weren't included in the hunt but Bryce enjoyed finding his spotted eggs (with help from Melissa). Here they are from oldest to youngest. 

Alexis

Lydia

Mark

Awstin

Hannah

Clara

Bryce

Everyone opening their eggs

These two didn't participate in the egg hunt, but I have to post pictures of them because they are both so cute.

Such a sweetheart!

This little guy loves to smile!

And now for the surprise! As we were eating our meal, Josh casually slipped something beside my plate. At first I didn't notice it, but all of a sudden I realized it was an ultrasound picture!  I was overcome with emotion because we have been praying and hoping for this miracle for a long time. Josh and Julissa have been so gracious as they waited patiently and watched many friends and family welcome new babies into their homes. It is finally their turn and our family couldn't be more thrilled for them. I can't wait to welcome grandchild number 10 into our lives!

Third Generation Quizzers

People who know me well, are aware that I love Bible quizzing. I quizzed as a teenager, my children quizzed and I coached for many years as well. Josh & Julissa and Megan stayed involved in it for many years after they could no longer quiz, as quizmaster, scorekeeper and judge. So I was obviously delighted to find out last year that Alexis and Lydia were quizzing on their church team and looked forward to attending their one-day tournament the end of April. Unfortunately, COVID changed all that and the tournament last year was cancelled. Happily, this year's tournament was not cancelled and on Saturday I got to see my granddaughters participate in their  Bible quizzing tournament. The material they quizzed on was the last three chapters of Matthew. 

This was actually taken at the end of the day, but I thought it was a good picture to put at the beginning. All quizzers were given a participation medal and Lydia is wearing hers.

Here is the team before their first quiz. Their team name is "Bible Blazers."

l-r Lydia, Genessa, Gineta, Alexis

Attentively looking at the quizmaster and getting ready to jump.

I was surprised to see my niece Rachel there and found out that her daughter, Clara (2nd from the right), was also quizzing. They were the first team that the girls' quizzed against. My sister, Lois, also came to watch her granddaughter for some of the day.

This was one of the last quizzes. Jay and Kristen are watching intently and sitting beside Kristen is her sister-in-law Amanda who came to watch the girls as well.

It was a fun day and the girls seemed to enjoy themselves. It was new to them so they were a little shy about jumping but they each did jump and answer several questions and got bonuses as well. It was obvious that they really knew the material. It did my heart good to attend a quiz again and I am so happy that quizzing has come down through the generations and my granddaughters can participate in this wonderful program.