Monthly Randoms

Back in 2009 I took a picture a day for an entire year and wrote about it. It was hard and fun all at the same time. It taught me how to look for the everyday moments, cherish them, and document them. To be honest, I never really finished putting it in a book. With the family blog book to do it became overwhelming. Since then I haven't been good at taking very many everyday moments. That all stops now. I love this idea I got from my good friend Mary to use the everyday moment and sometimes random yet equally important photos from the month and put them in one post. This has already helped me to look for those things I don't want to forget. This month there are only a few but they center around some dear friends.

April 5, 2011

Emma, Abby, and I went to eat lunch at Sweetwater Tavern with our friend Gina. It was so good to be there eating delicious food with Gina. She just adored the girls of whom she had never officially met and the girls just adored her. When it was time for desert we ordered the flourless chocolate waffle which is my absolute favorite dessert of all time. Before dessert arrived I had to take the girls to the bathroom and when I returned the dessert was there with the words written in chocolate lettering, "Welcome Back." Gina had told them I had been waiting to eat there for the last 6 years. It was really sweet.

April 14, 2011

The girls and I were able to go to Maryland to visit one of my college roommates. I had never met any of her kids in person so this was a real treat for me. Both Emma and her daughter Ava are the same age. It was fun to get those girls together. I realized it had been way too long since we had seen each other. I think we figured out that the last time we saw each other was when Mike and I went up to New York to visit while she was Cosette in Les Miserable on Broadway. I was pregnant with Andrew so it was almost 10 years ago. Oh how time flies. Over the years we have kept up with each other through our blogs and occasional phone calls. I was once again impressed by my friend's awesome musical talents. She had just gotten back from the start of recording her own album. I love how even though so much time had passed it was like no time passed at all with our friendship. Sandra truly feels like a sister to me. Thank you friend for the awesome visit.

Easter Sunday

Easter morning we woke up to our traditional Easter baskets full of goodies, bubbles, and a DVD.  The kids love this tradition and although it is not really Christ centered they know why we celebrate Easter.  For our Christ centered activity this year we choose to take Andrew, Peter, and Emma with us to the cemetery where Mike's mother is burried.  It was a peaceful experience.  It was a time of reflection for the gift of life and health that we are all blessed with and the appreciation of forever families.  We had the opportunity to talk to the kids about Christ's resurrection and how we will all be resurrected, even Grandma Candace.  We talked a lot about her and how wonderful she was and how we can't wait to be reunited with her.  Emma and Peter had fun picking all of the yellow dandelions to put on her gravestone.  They knew how much she loved flowers. I know it must have been difficult for Mike to be there as this was only the second time we had been there since the funeral almost 9 years ago.  The sun was shining and the grounds were just beautiful.  We could have sat there all day I think.  There was a nice bench right next to the gravestone and Mike and I just sat there for a while while the kids quietly picked the flowers.  The cemetery wasn't a dreary place today.  It was peaceful, beautiful, and wonderful and full of lots of visitors.  I couldn't imagine a better way to spend our Easter morning.

Family Reunion . Days 2 and 3

The following day the weather turned kind of nasty and it rained almost the entire day. We had planned on taking family pictures outside but had to change plans and take them inside. It required a little rearranging of the furniture to get us all in the picture. We were lucky to get one shot out of several taken where everyone was looking at the camera. For fun we did some silly shots too.

Our adventure for the day was a tour at Fallingwater. Since children under the age of 5 aren't allowed on the tour Mike volunteered to stay behind with Abby since he had already taken the tour when he was a kid. Sweet guy. The younger kids got to have a children's tour with two of the adults and the rest of us took the regular tour. The house was fascinating. It was interesting to hear why Frank Lloyd Wright did certain things with the house. The house was literally built on the top of this gigantic waterfall. He built the house for the Kaufmann family and wanted them to not only see the waterfall and its surroundings but to feel and hear it as well. It was definitely a tour that everyone enjoyed.

Back at the cabin the kids enjoyed playing Dance, Dance, Revolution on the Wii that we brought and had fun decorating Easter cupcakes and cookies. We ended our evening with a family testimony meeting. The next day we played capture the flag (adults and small kids vs older kids).  The older kids ended up winning only because they CHEATED but it was fun nevertheless.  Before we left Mike wrote all over his sisters car with washable car markers.  Everyone thought it was hilarous.  It was the perfect way to end our reunion.

Family Reunion . Day 1

We spent 2 nights and 3 days up at a cabin in Colesville, PA for our first ever Wilhelm/Holtom family reunion. I say this was the first ever because it was the first time the entire family was there including our family. We weren't able to make it out to the last reunion a couple of years ago. The drive into Colesville was beautiful and the first day was gorgeous. The inside of the cabin was spacious and nice with lots of places for the kids to roam around and play. There was even a pool table and foosball table in the basement and a porch swing outside the walk out basement. Every one of the adult couples had their own rooms and the 6 oldest boys got to share the room with two sets of bunkbeds and a loft. They had a blast. Emma and Annabelle got to have their own room together which was so much fun for them. The outside was even better with lots of places to go and explore. I can imagine how much more beautiful this place was with leaves on the trees.

After exploring the inside of the cabin we all went on a short hike. The older kids had fun speeding up the trail. We eventually made it back to the main road and took that back to the cabin. Back at the cabin Grandpa brought out little rubberband airplanes for the boys to launch and a huge styrafoam airplane for the adults. We had contests to see who could get their planes to go the farthest. We roasted marshmallows and had smores in the firepit that was situated right outside the cabin. It was a fabulous first day.