Yasent's Ninth Birthday

Yasent had his big party with classmates last weekend. His mother created a fabulous party for him with 'ology books as the theme. Activities included a treasure hunt with the prize being each child getting his own 'ology book. Today was the real day and we had a family affair here at his grandparents' house. One item he really wanted was a blender. He dreams of making his own fruit smoothies in the mornings and after school. So we got him a blender, a folder full of recipe suggestions, and a carrier full of his own ingredients such as vanilla, peanut butter, cocoa, canned and frozen fruit, bananas, etc. He was thrilled and immediately made smoothies for his little cousins.

Busy Weekend

With Amelia and Rostam visiting, the activity level around here is greatly increased. We have daughters and grandchildren every day and visits are made to the museum, to the bike path, to school activities and to the auditorium for performances. First photos are of the Saturday performance star, Maya, who "danced" as a sea anemone in the local ballet recital. We were treated to several pre-performance personal shows and even a couple of post performance poses. In quieter times Amelia introduces Rostam to one of our favorite children's books. And in the final photo I got a close-up of Lucas, one that shows his incredible eyelashes. Click on his photo to enlarge it so you can see how long and lush those lashes are.

Visitors

The 15th of April is behind us so Amelia and Jason have passed the busiest time of year for accouting firms. That is good news for us because it means that the newest grandchild can come visit us and his cousins. Rostam and his mom arrived on Friday morning for a much-anticipated five day visit.

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like ...

We woke up on Easter morning to a snow storm, not a blizzard but big soft flakes that slowly piled up on the existing mounds of snow. So once again we did the egg hunting inside the house. But in the afternoon between brunch and dinner the kids slid down the hill in the backyard and tromped on the frozen lake. Maya had arrived dressed for Easter in her best fluffy tutu and pink leotard. Later in the afternoon she changed into a new Hannah playdress and tights which I had been keeping for a special occasion. I guess Easter was it. Auntie Anne pulled back her bangs and gave Maya a new hairdo which she modeled from a kitchen chair. Anne's friend Melissa and her son Fisher joined us. That is Fisher in the lower right of the first photo.

Home again

We are back home in Kodiak having arrived yesterday, April 2. The enclosed photos show better than any lengthy lamenting what awaited us: snow everywhere and more coming down. Bill's truck may not be uncovered for another week or two. What I cannot show in photos is what else awaited us: the aftermath of the starvation of a deer in one of the downstairs bedrooms. We can only guess that the deer was being chased by dogs and crashed into the window much as a bird does when seeing the reflection in the glass. The window was a double-paned one in the laundry room. The poor animal fell to the carpet floor with some injury but not enough to kill it. It then proceeded to wander through the three downstairs bedrooms even sleeping on two of the beds at various times and drinking out of the toilet. Alas, there was nary a houseplant for it to munch and it eventually died. The smell is what alerted daughters Anne and Katie when they came to check on things. Anne called the state troopers to haul the poor thing away. It must have been an extremely nasty chore but one of the troopers at least was pretty taken with the novelty of the event. I'm getting a bit of mirth from the insurance adjusters also. Katie's blog at www.oliverkodiak.blogspot.com has photos of the broken window and the carpeting layered with deer droppings. She opted not to show photos of the poor deer.