Easter at Grammy & Gramps

He has Risen! Easter Sunday Service

The pictures below were taken after the church service (except for the one of the service). Luke has more pictures posted, as this is his first Easter. I really love them all the same!!!

On Easter Sunday, we attended a wonderful outdoor church service. I was determined that this year we would arrive early, but we were just on time. Okay, I admit it - I wanted a good parking spot and a good place to sit. Can you already sense my frustration?? I am really humbling myself to continue this story. As we walked in, I found what I thought was a perfect spot. Evan (understandably) was not agreeable, as he wanted a better view of the stage. We continued to seek out a perfect place to sit, passing on several spots (I have to have an aisle and a place to accommodate a stroller, etc). Near the back of the seating area was a round table, which would have been perfect. A lone women was seating at this huge table, so I asked if we could join her (mind you it is already service time at this point). Apparently ,the lady was saving the entire table! I wanted to scream!!! Evan could probably see the steam coming from my ears. In my head and my heart, I knew we had so much to celebrate. After all, He had Risen!!! What was I thinking. Could I really be getting upset over this pettiness on Easter?? Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead!! After a few deep breaths and a prayer, I was able to get into the right frame of mind. It made me think about how wonderful our God is. He shows us grace and gives us unconditional love, even when we are grouchy. What a wonderful world this would be if we good show grace and patience to those who mistreat or disappoint us. I have along ways to go!

After the church service, we went to Grammy and Grandpa's for lunch and an egg hunt. Luke had fun on his 1st Easter. He hunted eggs! He loved banging two of the plastic eggs together. We also had two separate egg hunts, one for the big kids and one for Faith & Lorelei. Everyone had a good time. Noah got a little frustrated that Samantha found more eggs. Isn't sibling rivalry grand? Parenting is a huge responsibility!

San Francisco

Luke's 1st Plane ride!

Dressed up for Wicked!

China Town

Pier 39

Bubba Gump's for dinner

Sam being silly

Cable Cars

For Samantha's birthday (in July) we gave her a certificate to go see Wicked. Due to a variety of circumstances (mostly Luke needing mommy and youth sports), we were unable to see the show in Los Angeles. We did make an attempt at the lottery, but did not win and the only availabe tickets were $250. We decided that since Evan had a conference in San Francisco during spring break, we would see the show there. The trip was initially scheduled for Wednesday thru Sunday. It wasn't long after the plans were set in motion that we realized Samantha had a Track meet and Noah had a baseball game on Satuday. Our trip was now down to 3 days including 12 plus hours of travel. Soon the three days dwindled to two, as Evan's Thursday class got cancelled. To make along story a tad bit shorter, after weighing our options we decided to fly (Great rate - $95 roundtrip). We left Faith and Noah with Gram and Gramps and took the other two kids with us. We were in the city for less than 30 hours!

On Thursday night, Evan walked us out to the cab and jokingly said that our tickets were actually for Wednesday. He thought he was being funny, but upon further investigating the tickets were actually for the prior evening. He was crushed, I was frustrated and Samantha was actually calm about the whole thing. Evan is notorious for double checking and is very unlikely to make such a mistake. I am still wondering if Ticketmaster is at fault (ha,ha). I am the scattered, unorganized, fly by the seat of my pants, and forgetful one.

With yesterdays tickets in hand, we jumped out of the taxi and lined up at the box office. Hoping and praying things would work out, we stepped up to the window. The gentleman searched for tickets and tauted about how lucky we were to have the opportunity to purchase two more tickets, as most nights are sell outs. Feeling a little frustrated, I handed over the MasterCard. Turns out we got awesome tickets - 10th row center aisle. God is good!! Evan had been praying and I think God gave me an aisle, so I would clearly see his presence in the situation. If you know me at all, I have to have an aisle or I feel claustrophobic. The show was great! Sam and I had fun and shared some laughs over the ticketing situation.

Samantha, Luke and I spent Friday in China Town, Pier 39 and walking around the Embarcadero. We got off the bart at Pier 1 - oops!

Day Out With Thomas

Thomas the Tank Engine was visiting the Fillmore Western Railway, so we headed over for a "Day Out with Thomas". The kids (Faith, Luke, Lorelei & Wyatt) had a great time. The ride was great! We had the seat right behind Thomas. As much as we enjoyed the ride, I must admit the highlight for me was watching the boys play at the train table. They had a blast!! It was definitely a day to remember.

Good Friday with SCC & Smitty!

On Good Friday, Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith were in Visalia for their United tour. Evan bought tickets for the whole family (and was given passes for the meet & greet)! As much as I would have enjoyed the concert, I did not feel that it was a good idea to take a 10.5 month old. I opted to stay at home, so Sam was able to take a friend.

I am a huge fan of Steven Curtis Chapman, as evident by my 6 CD changer. To me, Steven is so much more than a musician, singer, songwriter, etc. He is changing lives! It is evident that God is working through him. God used Steven to open Evan's heart to adoption, which opened the door to our personal adoption journey. We have seen Steven in concert a few times before and have met him twice (3 times for Evan).

Last May 21st Steven's youngest daughter, Maria Sue Chapman died as a result of a tragic accident. Since that day, I have thought about and prayed for the Chapman family on a regular basis. Maria entered into heaven the same week our precious Luke was born.