March Madness of our very own.

Poor Henrry!
Last week was rough. I think by Friday night we all felt like falling asleep, even while eating ice cream!

We loved having Kristen and Rocky come to visit. They are so fun and it is wonderful for our kids to have time with a cousin. I'll forever be in love with how cousins are so different from random friends. The connection is instant and they love each other! Rocky is kind and gentle, he offered to help me every time I turned around. He is cheerful with the little kids and has a fun sense of humor. Kristen is awesome. What an amazing person! On Monday we went to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. I was really excited, how cool is a mint?

Lily's face totally tells the story!

It wasn't very cool. In fact, it was really boring. In theory, all the cool parts were there, but it was self guided and you loose a lot doing a self guided-read plaques tour with 6 kids... They were making shiny new pennies. It had the potential to be so interesting!!! Bummer. KK and Rocky went into NYC on St. Patricks Day and had a wonderful time! I'm so glad they went! I think we need to plan a little family excursion to the Big Apple! Anybody want to come with us? (The more hands to hold the better!!)

Lily stepped on a nail Monday night after FHE and I think it would be safe to say the week went steadily down hill from there.... By Friday we had dealt with 2 root canals (me, oh the pain! oh the relief!), a tetanus shot, x-rays, I.V. antibiotics, 26 hours in an Emergency Room with Lily, Dave dealing with 4 kids and conference calls, and water in the basement...

I was trying to document her lovely walking cast, she wasn't thrilled can you tell?

Oh well. It is a new week. We have high hopes for sunshiny spring days and smooth sailing. I have daffodils blooming in the yard and bouquets of them all over the house. The forsythia is starting to bloom and we worked in the yard this weekend and I bet we have green grass soon.

It's a Work Party, I mean a Visit from Family!

Nana and Papa came to see us! Hooray! We were so excited because we love them and (I think) they love to help us! :)

In past visits they have built this:

The worlds best deck and amazing swingset!

They have also helped us plant flowers, put in all new appliances, made us Thanksgiving dinner, decorated for Christmas, and many other helpful things! We love it when they come to see us! :)

This time we kept them busy as usual! On the second trip to Home Depot I decided we should start documenting... I lost count how many trips there were. (aren't they terrific sports to take photos at Home Depot!?) I think Home Depot is Dads Happy Place. I have the worlds most awesome new toilet seat (only wish it came with a trainer for Hank), and shiny new faucet with a soap dispenser, and new face plates on outlets all over the house! Also, they put up wainscoting in my kitchen where my chairs have been ruining the wall. Nice! I'm excited to do some painting.

We made time to play though. For Idahoans a trip to the chip factory was a must! I love Herr's! I'm brand-loyal. Our tour guide was sweet and the tour was interesting. I always learn something new. Plus, nothing beats potato chips hot off the line--- they are wonderful! In this picture of Michael and my Dad, Dad just told him to get an education or he might end up becoming a pretzel packer... Michael said, "You don't have to worry about me Papa, I'm going all the way." However, the next day during their Home Depot run, he told Papa that the 2 languages he wants to learn are Yiddish and Dutch. This makes me laugh again just typing it. LOL!


Saturday Michael was involved in his schools Destination Imagination Tournament. We decided to make a day of it and drive a little further to Mount Vernon. It was VERY COOL. I'm so glad we went. The weather was perfect and we learned a lot. As we walked in Lily saw a huge statue of G. W. and said, "Henry, that looks like the dude on the coins." (She is all about using the word "dude" lately...) She was fascinated by the mansion though and pointed it out on her map, her stamp, and the smooshed penny they gave her as we left--- but when I asked her who lived there she told me Jesus! I think we got it straightened out. Maybe...


There is a great museum at Mount Vernon. Walking through it and reading all about George Washington left me feeling so grateful. He was a remarkable man. I feel so thankful to live in a country with such amazing Founding Fathers. I didn't realized many facts about George's life-- his father died when he was young, he wasn't well educated, he had to grow up fast and worked hard all his life. He was a red head! His teeth started falling out at the young age of 22. How painful! I'm thankful for tylenol and root canals. He was a "techy", always interested in the newest technology.

We had a great visit with Nana and Papa. We miss them already!