Easter Vacation Fun

What a wonderful Easter!!!

Joe and I (Faith took the picture, and i think it really turned out nice! LOL)

Opening suprises from nana and papa

relaxing

This one of my new fav. picutes

checking out what the easter bunny left her

coloring eggs i love her smile

I have to say that we had a Wonderful Easter at the Cain house yesterday! Except for lindsey not being there i would say it was perfect! It was great to be with the family and just have a relaxing day enjoying each other. Faith was spoiled by the easter bunny, nana and papa and her grandmas. It started out a rainy day and ended up being a beautiful sunny day and we played outside in the yard. Faith was working on her swing for T-ball it was sooo cute!!! Here are a few pictures of our great day!!!

Fun times

Here are a few picutres of our busy week......... Faith and her friend Luke after visiting the bunny

Faith and Lily my friend Taras little girl, she is 6 months

Faiths playdate after seeing the Easter bunny on Saturday

Joe and I before seeing Three days grace in GreenBay (its so hard to take a nice picture when you have to take it yourself) lol

In front of Brett Favre's Streak House. Im still a fan of Brett

Joe and I before we went out to dinner for his birthday

Faith and Skippy (Joes dog) Isn't it cute

Faith and the so-called Easter Bunny. He/she was a little skimpy

It's Costly To Fall In Love

Indeed it is costly to fall in love when what you have fallen in love with is this beautiful custom tile that would absolutely, positiviely make your kitchen look smashing.

A visit from Auntie Ellen

Last week Johnny and Rachel brought Ellen to visit Mom after her doctor's appointments in Marquette. She is being treated for a head wound after having cancer surgery on her scalp. We had a good visit and it was nice to see Auntie Ellen in good spirits.

We Love You Grandpa

Thinking about Grandpa today.

I miss his big 'ol hands.

His gentle voice.

The way he would always take the opportunity to teach.

His freckles.

His strength.

His sentimental side.

(this marks our 500th post - how fitting)

Pucker Up

Memories

We had a wonderful vacation to Disney World last month! The boys are at such a fun age and it was magical to spend a week together just hanging out and enjoying each other without having to rush off to work or school! I took hundreds of pictures so it was hard to pick some favorites but wanted to share a few with you!

How cute is this?

Can you tell Adam is a big fan of Stitch?

Main Street USA

The fireworks were breathtaking!

So thankful for family!!!

Sending love to all of you!

Joy

Love visiting the Carlsons!

Faith and I have been having a GREAT time visiting this weekend! Here are a few pictures of the fun we have been having!

Found his way

I am glad to say that Ken found his way to and back from San Jose. He drove from the Minneapolis airport last night and arrived home just after 4 AM this morning. I was on pins and needles worrying about him going through the fog and was extremely thankful when he walked in the door.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Ken is trying to get to San Jose, CA. This morning he was delayed in Green Bay for two hours because of fog. After finally boarding, the pilot announced that because of mechanical problems the flight was cancelled....... and there were no more open seats on the rest of the flights for the day. They booked him on a flight out of Minneapolis for tonight and that is where he is now headed....in the car. I hope he catches his flight out of there.

The Kitchen Files

Yesterday I received a lovely e-mail from my contractor with the 1st run of my cabinets!  Yippee.  It inspired me to put together a little Kitchen Filing System for the remodeling.  It was a lot of fun!

Bon Nuit Ami Mwen

Meet my little friend, Ketsia. She is the 50th child at the Children's home. She didn't have a stable enough family to go home to. Considering that the families that most of the kids' families would not be considered stable by American standards - her situation was quite dire. God, though, placed into the care of the staff at the children's home after they found her wandering the streets.  Bob and Vicki are currently taking great care of her in their home. She is approximately 4 years old. She wears a size 1; as in what a 1 year old would wear. She is malnourished. Her top teeth were so decayed they all had to be removed except the back two molars. This little girl has an unquenchable spirit.   She giggled with glee at her new home environment.  What a new world she was entering.  I spent many hours with her while I was in Haiti. She colored, played with stickers, bounced a ball, and got into all sorts of mischief. She was like a sponge though. I felt privileged to teach her all sorts of little things like how to play hopscotch, how to wipe her bottom, how to sing "waves of mercy", how to say "s'il vous plait", how to run out of the house if she feels it trembling, how to say "eskize mwen" before interrupting, how to eat 4 pieces of meat (chopped up of course) before she could eat a "bon bon", how to wash her hands properly (this became her favorite thing to do), how to brush her chompers with a toothbrush, how to play in a bucket of water for hours . . . I could go on . . . she was a sponge. Ketsia spoke 4 year old creole so it was an adventure trying to communicate. Sometimes she would get really frustrated. Sometimes I would get really frustrated. Ketsia had a widespread infection on her head. We were able to get her some antibiotics and some creams. Each night I would debride her head.  She would cry and Vicki would console her.  She wanted to look at every single gauze pad filled with pus & blood after is came off of her head.  I think somehow and someway it made her think, "at least I know why it hurts so bad."  I would blow up a medical glove and draw a face on it and Ketsia would grin ear to ear.  Vicki and I would offer her a peace offering of a jolly rancher after the whole ordeal and then she would be off to bed.  She would say "Mesi Tracy" in the most precious little voice.  I wish I had recorded it on video.  It warmed my heart.  I would often bring Ketsia to the salvage location and play with her there while I was packing up.  She wouldn't nap and I could see that she was really tired - so I found 3 of Vicki's scarves and decided to do like my Zulu friends - tie her on my back.  She absolutely LOVED it.  I think she liked the human contact.  She didn't feel alone.  The pink scarf in my New Locks post is one of those scarves that I would strap her on with.  Vicki made sure that I brought it home with me to remember.  Ketsia would play and sing and I knew exactly where she was.  She would eventually drift off to sleep and I would have to readjust the scarves to make sure she was secure. When the Haitians saw me they would say - "An African Sister".  That of course, made me grin from ear to ear.

For the record, Ketsia's eyelashes might be the curliest I have ever seen.  She'll never need to curl them or even put and ounce of mascara on those babies! 
Stay tuned for another post about Ketsia's obsession with "la machine"!!

New Locks

Honestly I feel a little bit guilty about getting a new haircut but I already had the appointment scheduled before my trip. I'm starting my transition to my summer hair colors. It was 50 degrees F here in Detroit. I wish I could have gone outside and enjoyed it!