Visiting Dubois

Conference weekend found us in Dubois at last!  We have made several attempts at a visit this winter, all of them foiled by one thing or other.  I'm glad to see family again.  These pictures make me smile, as they are almost exactly like the ones from last year--but we are all a little older.

Some of us even sit in the same places. :)  I love the expression on Ethan's face, he looks like he is not exactly voluntarily participating.  Grandma always boosts participation numbers by lollipop bribes.

Conference bingo + cousins= bliss.  We also helped deliver grandma's Easter baskets.  She loves to treat some of the people in her community with Easter pleasantries, and we have become the delivery squad.  We like it. The cousins all pile in which ever car and take turns playing Easter Bunny all around town.

We did have Easter.  It was a lovely weekend.  We spent Saturday helping Dave and Tiffany's family move into their new home.  I was pleased to watch the kids haul load after load from house to truck, truck to house again and again.  I had questioned in my head if Seth was too young and would be in the way, but he was a serious force of moving power--he couldn't take anything big, but he made trip after trip with anything he could carry, always with an infectious smile on his face.  It was fun. We hope their new home will be a loved blessing in their lives.

Sunday highlight for this mother was singing in the church choir with Nathan, Jacob, Leslie, Camille and Miriam.  We sang one song, then sat for a talk and sang another.  It was an intense few minutes as a mother sitting on the stand watching my younger boys on the bench and hoping like crazy that Ethan, Seth and Caleb wouldn't start world war 3 in my absence, but they were good too.  So we had a peace-filled day, finishing it among our loved McAllister family for a meal and visiting.

I love Easter.  I love to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, to sing his praises, and taste a bit of the joy that we can have surrounded by our loved ones forever thanks to his care and sacrifice for us.