The Rest of Easter

Last Thursday, Gramma and Papa Thompson, along with Ernie, Jeff and Celia arrived for an Easter visit! The kids were so excited to see them. We had Friday and Monday off from school so it was a perfect time to come.

Friday we got down to business while the guys went and golfed. They were pretty excited about hitting the course for the first time in '09. First order of business was making a special ice cream dessert for Uncle Jeff's birthday. CC kept a protective hand on Tony. She spontaneously hugs the kids all the time, such a sweet thing.

Celia tried her hand at WHACKING the oreos for the crust.

Next order of business was to dye eggs. It was so much having her here this year. Last year they came for Easter as well, but she was too little to participate. If I remember right, we did all this while she napped. This year she was right in there with the big kids!

Showing off their beautiful eggs...no major spills or disasters either!

Good job guys....I could look at this picture all day! I hate to part with them, but they are starting to smell.

We weren't done yet! Next project was to decorate cookies. We just cleaned off the table and kept right on working. Ernie's favorite cookies are sugar cookies not rolled out (we call them "snowballs" at xmas and "cottontails" at Easter) and frosted with homemade buttercream frosting. I made the dough ahead of time and we baked them in the morning.

Again, all three did a fab job and CC enjoyed testing out the finished product.

Beautiful, Spring yumminess!!!

Saturday morning I awoke to see this out my kitchen window...a beautiful hot air balloon flying above Dana College. What a neat sight to see on a beautiful spring day! Saturday the girls went shopping all day in Omaha. Tony and CC stayed back with the big boys and met us downtown Omaha for dinner and a stroll through the Old Market area.

Celia has proudly mastered the "big girl cup" and was just so cute enjoying a glass of milk and cookie before bed Saturday night.

I title this picture "SELF CONTROL." Poor Tony was up WAY before anyone else (besides me) and managed to keep his hands out of the baskets until the rest of the crew got out of bed.

Livie was thrilled to find the giant, glitter superball she wanted so badly in her basket. I guess they are all the rage at her school this year! Thanks Easter Bunny!

Celia had fun hunting for eggs....she kept the candy but was not interested in the quarters inside each egg.

The Easter Bunny, much to the surprise of her mom and dad, left little chocolate bunnies in her basket. Don't you love how daintily she savored the treat????

The weekend found the guys glued to the TV as much as possible to watch the Masters. Chris equated it to "watching paint dry" but he sucked it up and pretended to be interested. At one point, Nelson crawled behind the armoire to retrieve a ball and unplugged the cable...you should've seen Jeff scramble to run downstairs to watch on our other TV!!!! Darn dog.

Celia enjoyed Livie's clarinet practices...dancing right along!

It was a long, crazy, fun weekend....as you can see by Jeff's headband and glass of wine.

One last snuggle on Monday morning before everyone left for home. We enjoyed having everyone here, especially Celia. Our home doesn't "sparkle" quite as much when she's not here!

Believe it or not we are winding down the school year here....our last day is May 19th! Until then we will be busy with field trips, band concerts, choir concerts, dance recitals, etc....all leading up to our big family adventure starting May 23, to the East Coast where we will visit Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. We can hardly wait!!!!