March 31, 2016

Happy belated Easter! He is risen!

We had a tough time getting to Easter camping this year (my mother affectionately called us the Donner party as we had so many trials along the way), but the trip was more than worth it. It was Hannah's first Easter, first time camping and the first time in our new tent. All were a success. Our new tent is HUGE! We call it the Tent-ma-hal. It had more than enough space for our air mattresses, camp potty, pack n' play, and ample area to walk around. Best part? It was set up when we arrived thanks to my parents and others from our group. Yay! We went up Thursday evening arriving around 10pm and left Sunday. Friday the kids got to spend the entire day out doors. We went on a nature walk, played by the lake, set up the boys' play tent (for them to play with their toys), had delcious food, spent time with family, got to play with my niece and nephew when Christian and Chad arrived, ate Steak, had a Good Friday service and then roasted marshmallows by the fire. The boys were so excited about the service, they brought their chairs down to sit in front of the three crosses before anyone else and just sat and waited. It was so cute. We had 69 people in our service this year. Most all of them are families we have grown up with and been camping with over 20 years. Some of them have kids now too, so three generations of people are around to celebrate God's goodness. The service was great, but the best part is I can see William (and Robert to some extent) really beginning to understand the Easter message of Christ and his sacrifice. It is a joy to see the Holy Spirit tug at his little heart.

Saturday the boys got to go fishing with Papa and Aunt Dani. I went along to take pictures. It was cool because you could see the fish below the water as they nibbled at the hook. They stole the bait once, but we never actually caught anything. The kids did the Easter egg for the campground.The boys ran to the far end of the field and picked up as many as they could. Hannah had help from sweetie, but only got a couple since she can't eat the candy anyway. The boys cleaned up! Each had about 3/4 of their large basket full. They also got to high-five the Easter bunny so that was cool too. My mom then rented a canoe and the boys went our on the water with my mom and Francis while Danielle and I hid the eggs. Christian and Chad got a taste of what it will be like next year when the twins can walk. The boys counted out their eggs and cheered each other on (we made them count so they'd get the same amount). Hannah had her own eggs separate of the boys and she was more than a little confused why she had to put something down that she just picked up. It was pretty cute. We had dinner at Mercado's that night. Yum! After we got the kids to bed the adults (who had played a rousing game of Apples to Apples the night before) sat around the fire laughing and reminiscing. Night like those are rare and precious, let me tell you.

Sunday we packed up, had a beautiful "sunrise" service and then the Noble Clan headed and had Easter lunch at Long John Silvers/KFC. We all bid each other a fond adieu, and went our separate ways. Hannah looked cute in her bunny dress on Saturday and her little dress on Sunday. I think she liked being outside, but she was determined to eat dirt of dog food every chance she got. Cheap thrills, and lots of them!

ok, in closing I will relay three funny stories from the past week.

1. Hannah has been getting really good at pulling up and moving around in addition to her crawling. She is good enough that she can reach just about every knee high area in the house. She loves her brothers and laughs at/with them all the time. She wants to play whatever they are playing. Well, Robert was none too happy that Hannah kept crawling up and pulling apart his Spider-man playset. He kept telling her no and moving to a new area where she would follow him. He finally settled on the kitchen table where Hannah pulled up on the chair he was sitting on and said "bruder, bruder" (brother) over and over again. She finally gave up and went off. Not 30 seconds later, Robert was playing with Hannah and the new toy she had chosen. I guess he was just pretending not to enjoy his sister's attention!
2. William has been enjoying the story of Peter Rabbit this past week. He learned about a hoe, what it is and how to use it. Well, for some reason this concept intrigues him because he keeps bringing it up. He then tried to elaborate on the concept of one who uses hoes. He started saying "Hannah is a hoe-er" (you can guess what that sounds like, especially since he turned it into a single syllable). After I got over my shocked face, we talked about one who uses hoes being a farmer or a gardener. While I appreciate his creative use of the English language, but goodness he does make me laugh sometimes!
3. I was putting down Hannah for a nap on Thursday when I heard an angry yell from the other room. It was Robert. "What happened?" I asked. "William took my lego and he threw it and it broke," Robert said as clear as day. "William?" I asked with a slightly angry tone. William's eyes became as big as saucers. With gaping jaw he exclaimed, "I didn't know he could tell on me that good!" Go Robert!

That's all for now.