Arizona Golf Trip

Men's idea of a fun vacation:

• 108 holes of golf in four days
• 6 different golf courses
• Eight men and "Nuvi" in a van giving directions
• Competition on every hole

Steve just returned from a men's golf trip to Phoenix and he had a fantastic time. The men were on a mission to do just one thing - play golf - and they were exceedingly successful. The trip began early on Thursday traveling to Houston, flying on to Phoenix and heading directly out for 18 holes of golf. Friday, two more courses and 36 holes and ditto for Saturday. Sunday, a quick 18 holes and off to the airport for the return flight. Bonus outcomes of the trip for Steve were meeting new friends, deepening long-time friendships and actually finding the golf relaxing. And what is relaxing when I enjoy "girl time"?....the slow moving pace of the beach life at Destin....

Papa's Pancakes

For some reason the Hodge boys think Papa's pancakes are the best. When they spent the night recently, Papa made his famous pancakes and we had some happy boys. Hey don't tell anyone, but that is coffee Austin is drinking. We let him have a little when he visits with lots of creamer. And sprinkles on the pancakes seem a little over the top but for the boys we oblige. Actually, both Kylie and Austin prefer Papa's "awesome" omelets. We'll fix those next time the Alexander kids are here. Making memories, one breakfast at a time.

Spring Wildflowers & Digital SLR

Steve planted some new wildflowers in our lawn by the road. It has produced fairly well, although we are about at the end of the season. Now just waiting for them to go to seed before we mow them off. I took this chance to practice with my new camera, a Canon Digital SLR. I took some closeups with my 50mm prime lens. I love the way it shows off the flower and fades the rest into the background. I have a very long way to go to learn how to use this camera and lenses but I'm enjoying the process.
Flowers are good practice subjects because they don't move or complain about being photographed. I will be practicing on the grandkids asap, but will need to use the features and lenses that capture fast movement!

It's All About the Cake

At the Alexander kids birthday parties, the centerpiece of the event is the cake. Shauna has made and decorated cakes for nearly every birthday. She started out pretty simple (I could never even make the all over "stars" on my cakes look good) and her decorating has evolved to fondant characters and bows. Above are some of the cakes over the years. Kylie's cakes varied from beach to bubble gum to princess to rock star. Andrew loved his train, Blue's Clues, Cars and most recently posted Mario cakes. I think she could go into business with her talent, although I may be a little biased as her mother. Most importantly, she has created many special memories for her kids and this is one of the ways she shows her love for them. Now that I wrote this....sorry girls I really did love you, I just had no talent for cake decorating!

Easter Faces

Just wanted to share a few special photos from Easter. We always try to get a three sister photo when they get together and of course pics of the grandkids. Kevin came a little late to our Easter celebration and missed out on a couples photo. We will have to try to catch he and Heather together next time!

Easter

Our Easter was wonderful! We were blessed to have everyone together, even if it was for just a couple of days. We had our family celebration on Good Friday. I had made cupcakes and the kids decorated with frosting, candies and all kinds of sprinkles. They had a great time decorating and eating their creations.

This year I put together a scavenger hunt and wove the Easter story into the hunt. I used colors to write about Christ's death and resurrection and added color-coded clues. It took them a bit to really catch on, but once they did we had a hard time keeping up with them to photo their progress! At their final destination (Steve's shed) they found some small gifts for each of them.

Before dinner we took turns reading Isaiah 53 in a version that most of the kids could understand. It was pretty quiet during and after the reading...we were all so humbled by the scripture. We then prayed and feasted.