Christ is risen!

Happy Easter!!

It's winding to an end, but the celebration is unending!

This was my first year in over a decade to not attend the sunrise service at Pierce Chapel with my family, but it's OK because it's time for new traditions. Plus, the message last year was titled "Keep It Simple Stupid", and well I think we got more out of the opening prayer this year. I didn't particularly miss waking up before the crack of dawn to sit wrapped in a blanket in the parking lot, but I did miss the donuts that follow! In all seriousness, it was strange (but SO good) to be singing worship songs rather than hymns (and I definitley missed my family), yet I couldn't help but hum this old favorite first thing this morning:

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives- he liiiiives within my heart.

In it's place though, we sang: "Christ has died and Christ is risen. Christ will come again." We rocked it out and worshipped with great intensity because, well... Christ has RISEN! Christ will come again! There is no greater news to proclaim.

one of these things is not like the other

So, instead of cleaning and doing the things I really needed to do last night to get ready for our Easter company (the Johnsons are coming TONIGHT and the Geyers tomorrow!! We are SO excited!!), I had a little bit of baking fun.

I started out with this...

...and a little bit of this...

...and one helpful [dirty] doggy...

...and some egg[ish] shaped balls of cake+frosting...

...and the result was...

... these!
My inspiration for these "cake balls" came from Pioneer Woman, who got the idea from Bakerella. Unfortunately, mine are ridiculously embarrassing comparatively speaking (and just in general I suppose). Seriously, see what these are supposed to look like??

Apparently I'm not the baker I'd like to be.

And yes, Sarah, obviously I still have your camera. I'm taking notes from the Somalian pirates and holding it hostage, just not in the Indian Ocean.

a little slice of man heaven

David went to the first practice round of the Masters on Monday. Our brother-in-law, Jayme, has been in a raffle to get these tickets for 10 years, and his time finally came. They were like giddy little kids when they left town on Sunday, and the experience was (apparently) well worth the wait. Sarah was generous to let David take her camera with him, and he got some fun pictures that capture the vastness of the greenery and the excitement of the day. I have no idea who the people in the pictures are, so comment if you know (cough... Jayme or David!).

*David was obviously dressed by his wife. Sorry, babe.

suburned much? Souvenier.

I was SO happy to have my boy home. He had a ball in Augusta, but it is good to have our family back together.

the rest of the story

Our weekend in Columbus was FULL. Like I mentioned yesterday, Greg was in a play Friday night. The show was BFG (Big Friendly Giant, the Ronald Dahl book-turned-play) at the Springer. I don't know if I've ever given Greg and his acting abilities a sufficient blog shout-out, so now looks like a good time. Greg= musical theater. He has been attending the Springer Academy for years and years, and last summer he won the award for being the best actor. The best. Out of the whole summer. Out of the whole state. Out of the whole universe of (then) 16 year-olds. Ok, ok, I'm being dramatic. But seriously, he did win best actor out of the entire summer of campers, and I think it was a wise choice! He is in the process of college selection (well, thinking about college selection), and his options are limited to schools with [good] musical theater programs. I just keep reminding him how cold it is in New York in hopes of deterring him from going that far away.

Another purpose in our weekend trip was to go with the rest of my fam to my dear 'cousin' Katie's wedding in Atlanta on Saturday. I say 'cousin' because she's not technically related to me at all. I've mentioned the McKellars in a post before, and they are just awesome. This wedding was particularly fun because my parents got to see many of their college pals.

So, here's the thing. I hate purple. In recent years Ashley and I both have tried to figure out what our issue with the color is and we've finally gotten to the bottom of it. Our mom hates purple. We never owned purple things, we never wore purple clothes, we were deterred in any way from the plummy hue. But you know what? Purple isn't that bad. What could possibly be wrong with the color of grapes, irises and Barney the dinosaur? So apparently we came to this discovery at the same time. We both had new dresses for the wedding... and they were both purple.

And we got the memo just in time to blend in with the bridal party! Isn't Laura beautiful?? She's getting married next October, so we'll all reunite again!

The beautiful Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hall!

My dad and Uncle Greg are BFFs. It warms the cockles of my heart to think about how they have been friends for nearly 30 years and still call each other all of the time. In fact, my dad got xbox live for his birthday in January so he can play with Uncle Greg. Aren't they cute? (and old... when did that happen??)

We LOVE our Uncle Greg! (And yes, our brother Greg is named after this guy right here)

The whole gang! Uncle Greg, Aunt Bev ("Beberly"), Mols and Pop

And while we're at it... here's Bev & Greg back in the NAU days:

And look at them now! You've come a long way, friends :)

Another funny picture from the night... I know we got a serious one, but I must have forgotten to get it off Ashley's camera. These four were all fraternity brothers. Yep, my mom is in there too. They were members of a fraternity that concealed it's social nature under the auspices of being a "business" fraternity. But they were all business majors, so it worked. Greg and Marti remembered most of the words to their little song, but mom and dad were just playing along.

The love of my life and the best date ever!

Congratulations, Katie and Daniel! We were so honored to get to celebrate with you. Welcome to the family, Daniel :)

two peas in a dog crate

We had a fun-filled travel weekend! We barely made it to Columbus for my mom's birthday dinner, but it all worked out and we were able to enjoy my brother's play and some quality family time over cake and presents.

We were so looking forward to getting all of the dogs together, and Harley and Bella had NO problem reuniting... they are the best of friends! Those little white dogs played to their hearts content- and then some! The other two (yes, my parents have 3 inside dogs)- dachshunds Buckley and Rugby- were not amused. They were jealous of all of the attention and annoyed by the puppies all up in their bidness.

PS- David has my memory card with him in Augusta - where he is today to watch a practice round at the Masters - so I'll blog about the rest of the weekend tomorrow!

Just had to share this...

Don't look at this if you don't want nightmares tonight.

Yikes.

(Thanks Melissa for this afternoon laugh.)

all about mom.

So, I've been missing my mom a lot lately. I get to see her this weekend and I can't wait. Friday is her birthday even, so this "all about mom" post is totally time appropriate.

In other mom news, she's having surgery today (well actually, right now). On her finger. It's a funny story, really (minus the pain and the surgery parts). She was having some dental issues and was on some pain meds a couple of months ago. While on the drugs, she slammed her finger in the car door (blame the drugs, of course). Because she was already medicated, she didn't notice the throbbing pain, but as soon as her mouth was fixed, her hand was messed up. By the time she got to the doctor about her finger (weeks after the incident), it was all kinds of crazy. Now, they have to operate on it to put it all back together. She thinks it's a pretty silly way to end up in the operating room, but it's a good story, right?

So, if you think about it, throw up a prayer for my mom's finger today.

And lastly, let me brag for a few minutes (hey, it's my blog, I can do that) about my family. Both of my families, actually. My mom and mother-in-law are friends. That's right, friends. Last week Cathy (MIL) invited my mom to join in on a girls week at the beach. Cathy's best friend Marti flew in from Savannah, and they had a blast (well, my mom had a blast at least).

I didn't think much of the situation at first, but after thinking about it while they were there I realized what a unique and wonderful occurrence that is. I am so thankful for parents and in-laws who are friends- by choice!