Gorgeous Weather!

We have been loving our Spring weather! The grass here is so green - almost like what Jen and I saw in Ireland - because of how wet our winters are. Flowers are blooming, birds have finally decided that it's ok to move back to their homes, and I found a bee in our bedroom (!). All good signs that spring has {finally!} hit Moscow. Yesterday was the most beautiful day we've had yet. It was sunny and clear, and in the high 60s all day. Today is supposed to be even nicer, going up into the 70s!

Bran and I have been ready for it to be spring since we were knee-deep in snow this March. Isn't it wonderful how God gives us the seasons too keep us from getting bored with them? I mean, I could deal with spring-like weather year-round, but as soon as you get bored with the hot summer, it changes to fall, and right when fall is getting old, we get snow and cold for winter, and just as we think we will never see sunlight again, God resurrects the earth with spring.

I don't know much about why holidays fall when they do, but I don't think it's ironic that we celebrate Christ's resurrection in Spring. Because our winter was so harsh here, the physical comparison of the dead winter with a living spring was such a cool reminder of what life is for us because of the resurrection. It's the contrast between sin and grace, and it is beautiful!

I don't usually write this flowery(?).. i think it is partly that it's early, partly that it's spring, and partly that I've been dying to post and finally found the time to. :)

A sick house before Easter

Evangeline has had a head cold for the past few days, and this morning Bran and I both woke up with sore throats and runny noses. Then, we went downstairs to find Jen and Rachel both sniffling and sneezing, too. I haven't actually seen Tyler today, so I don't know how he's doing, but hopefully he missed it! We're hoping that everyone is well by tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! We're going to have dinner with just the house. I'm making an appetizer and dessert (deviled eggs and rum cake!), the girls are going to make some potatoes, and Ty's making the ham. It should be great!

Pictures on my Facebook page!

I posted a bunch of pictures on my facebook, and some on Bran's, just so people know he's still alive. Check them out!

This "Latte Art" Stuff is way cool.

I would love to learn how to do that!

Birthday and Spokane

I had a fabulous birthday! It feels like my birthday started on Saturday and ended on Monday - we had a bunch of people over Saturday night for a "stock the bar" party. Everyone must have had Bran in mind, because we got 8 bottles of whiskey! I was very excited to see that the Stevenson's got me an awesome set of highball glasses, and the Points' brought an awesome girly mojito mix - I needed some stuff I could handle! And Bran got me some beautiful flowers for my dining room table :) At the end of the night, there was very little alcohol left, and everyone had a great time. I made sausage pinwheels, velveeta dip, chocolate covered strawberries, and Jen made my cake. The food turned out great, and was super easy, and Jen decorated the cake so it looked like the chocolate covered strawberries - so cute!


Because I'm horrible at being a hostess and taking pictures of the goings-on at the same time, I don't have any pictures from my party. I know that Jen took some, so I'll get those from her soon!

Sunday was my actual birthday, and we just had a small get-together with our house (Me, Bran, Ty, Jen, and Rachel) and Kenny Trovato and his roommate Sampson. It was so much fun - we did burgers and hot dogs, and I made a yummy rum cake which I was excited to buy the rum for. Just before I made the cake, I realized that it called for instant pudding, which I didn't have. So because the weather was so nice (60's!) we all walked downtown to Roseauers and Bran and I ended up getting pudding, a no-bake cheesecake, and a small container of eel sushi. The sushi is at the top of my favorite birthday things list! We love it, and havent' gotten to have any in a long time. One of Bran's friends works at Roseauers, and he told us that their sushi is really good, and made fresh by this Japanese lady every day. We can testify that he's right - it was awesome!

On Monday, bran took me to Spokane to do some shopping with the money I got (thanks, Karen, Aunt Leanne, Granny, and Aunt Laura!!). We also went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner, which was awesome as always. I ordered my first drink at a restauruant (their Strawberry Kiwi Vodka Lemonade thing...) which Bran said didn't even taste like alcohol. I didn't mind - I thought it was great :)





We had so much fun!

ok so not as many pictures as I thought I had, but I'll keep digging and see if I can find some more.