We decided to take a much needed vacation and travel to Seattle to spend Easter with Clints family. Being a planner, I had marked out every minute of our vacation as to where we would go, what we would do, who we would see, and who we'd surprise. My plans included taking the kids to the zoo, with some of our friends. Going to the ocean with family. Sneaking in on a movie get together at our old church. Celebrating my nieces first birthday. Attending my father-in-laws church for Easter. Then one last family-fun-filled-day, in Seattle, with some other good friends before heading home again. Sounds like fun huh?
Well, unfortunately that was not the case. Right before we left for vacation I got the flu! I was miserable. Fever, chills, "praying to the porcelain god", the works. But, Clint had already arranged for the time off, so we went. The trip out went smoothly, and the next morning I felt somewhat better. Abby was still a bit under the weather, but we decided to try for the zoo. But, for fear of cross-contaminating the kids, we opted not to go with our friends. Bummer.
So here's some pics of the zoo. We didn't see much because the weather was crummy. We did get to see a peacock, showing off. A giraffe. Zebra butts, lion butts, elephant butt, a peak at a tiger, and a very large hippopotamus butt! The kids really found it funny that the animals weren't showing off their better halves.
The next day we were scheduled to go to the ocean, but the night before the flu hit again. This time, Gracie was sick. Abby and I had a relapse, and Clints mom was hit too. So, instead of the ocean, we laid around and took in the view from the couch. And the bathroom. Then the couch again. Then the bathroom. You get the picture I'm painting right?
Well, this meant no movie night surprise either. Sorry, Over the Edge Youth we really wanted to surprise you.
The next day was Alivia's birthday. The ladies in the family were now feeling better, but now Gabe was puking! So after talking with auntie Alecia we pulled ourselves together and decided to try for the party. Gabe laid on the couch the whole time. But Grace enjoyed playing with her cousins. And Alivia was hilarious with her cake. Something tells me she wasn't fond of the buttery frosting!
The kids played pin the tail on the donkey. It was fun to watch them, but even more fun
to watch Clint take his turn.
Easter Sunday we all managed to get dressed up and make it to church. Since we had the whole family there and lookin "purty", we tried for a family picture. It's pretty hard however to get six kids, and eight adults to all look at the camera at the same time, without any of them blinking, and everyone smiling! Almost impossible, but here's our best shot. This is Lynn and Alita (Clints parents) at the top. Jason and Alecia with Alivia (brother-in-law, sister, and niece) down and to the right. Tony and Susan (brother and sister-in-law) at the bottom far right. Andrew and Grace (nephew belonging to Jason and Alecia, and our daughter) in front right. Kira and Gabe (niece belonging to Tony and Susan, and our son) in the front left. Clint with Abby (our daughter) and me(Jennifer -his wife) on the far-upper left. Yes, I do realize this is the fist photo of me on our blog. It may be the only one ever, so get a good look! Hee-Hee
We did manage so see our friends Anne and Christian on the trip. We left the sick kids with Granny and Papa, after putting them to bed and snuck out for a quick bite to eat with our friends. Which allowed us to see in person their newest addition Elijah. He is so sweet. Honestly he's pretty enough to be a girl, but they are overjoyed to have a son!
That wraps up the vacation. We threw the towel in early and came home a day sooner than planned. Planned.....funny word. Yeah, I had it all PLANNED. Then God looked down and said "Silly Jen, when will you learn. Plan all you want, but only I know the plans.....(see Jeremiah 29:11)"
Even though it didn't go according to umm...schedule shall we say, it was nice to see family, and a few friends, oh and the animal butts! And just be together. But we're praying next year will be better. Hey, we didn't set the bar all that high with this one!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter holiday, and took a moment to thank our Lord for the sacrifice He made for us! Happy Easter!
