Back to "normal"...whatever that is

The house seems quiet now that Mom & Dad have returned to the cold, snowy north country. We sure enjoyed spending the past 3 weeks with them!! I think it was hard for them to leave the warm, sunny spring weather we are having and return to the ice and snow of Ohio. Here, our azaleas are beginning to bloom and the Bradford pear trees are ablaze with white flowers. During their stay we didn't do a lot of running around, but we did manage to have a few special things to attend each week. Aside from enjoying several nice meals at our favorite restaurants, I think we had a few outings worth mentioning. Friday night auctions were a big hit for our group of 8. The second week Mom, Dad, Erin, Micah, and Brad & I all purchased items at such savings we are still in awe. Another fun outing was a BBQ dinner we attended at our church. The entertainment for the evening was Dr. Gene Howard, a John Wayne "impersonator". He looked like John, talked like John and did a great job of giving a patriotic and inspirational presentation after dinner. Since my Dad is an avid John Wayne fan... it was especially fun to attend this event with him. I took my camera and had fun capturing a few pictures during the evening:

The rest of our time together was spent visiting, eating, enjoying the family hanging out together, eating, watching movies (especially enjoyed the 2005 BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel; Bleak House), eating, I did a pumpernickel bread bake off trying 3 recipes to vote on...more eating, Dad made his famous apple pie...more eating, we worked on odd house projects-actually finished up the fireplace!!, Mom, Erin & I went to lunch (eating ;-) and shopping , Dad and I made some progress on family history stories; I asked him questions and he shared memories as we recorded the whole process. Oh yeah, can't forget our 102 trips to Lowe's. :-) Anyways, it was wonderful to have them here and we're trying to talk them into "wintering" in Texas when the cold winds blow up north. Brad and I both feel very priviledged because of the Christian heritage we have been blessed with and cherish each time we have the opportunity to spend time with family.