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| Jade celebrated her first birthday again, this time with Grandpa Jay and Grandma Laura, on Saturday, April 7. As soon as she arrived, the girls whisked her away to put on her First Birthday dress and pom-poms in her hair. So cute! |
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| Pretty in pink: Jade with Mia |
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| Time to unwrap presents! |
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| Papa Tom has a garden full of carrots for the Easter Bunny. And onions are growing wild in the yard. We hope the Easter Bunny will leave a few carrots for us, and lots of chocolate eggs. Did you know bunnies lay chocolate eggs? |
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| River officially started walking alone about a week ago. Here, just before he walked on his own, he used his grocery cart for support. Check out the video of him walking at myasagelewis.blogspot.com |
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| Here's Mya, enjoying a cup of tea on a beautiful Spring day |
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| Spring also brings gardening, and worms! As Daddy dug in the soil, May found the worms. |
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| She kept her worm collection in her skirt |
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| Almost straight from the airport to TeamQuest, where Skyler and Amon study mixed martial arts. Here's Skyler after a very intense workout, including full contact with an opponent. |
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| Amon with Jade and a birthday balloon. Jade especially likes the posable cat on the mantle behind them. |
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| Amon, Jade, Anjanette, and Skyler in their kitchen |
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| Blowing bubbles for Jade |
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| Playing soccer in the backyard. Yes, it rained in Portland, but it was sunny and beautiful too. |
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| Jade on the backyard bench during the soccer game. |
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| Otis and LaWanda |
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| On our way home |
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| While in Portland, Otis' daycare was closed for Spring Break, so we got to spend every day together. Otis showed me Portland through a 3-year-old's eyes: we went swimming at a community center that has a heated (thank goodness!) indoor pool and two-story slide; visited the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI); played at an indoor gym; and checked out books and DVDs from the library. Here, he's enjoying his "Lots and Lots of Trains" DVD from the library. That's exactly what the DVD was all about: lots and lots of trains. At the end of the DVD, "Lots and Lots of Firetrucks" was advertised. We found "Lots and Lots of Airplanes" at the library, but Otis wasn't interested. He's very, very much into trains. In fact, he knows how to find trains on YouTube. I can attest to this because we watched yellow trains on YouTube for about an hour-and-a-half one night, with Otis guiding the way. |
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| Did I mention that Otis likes trains? The OMSI, has many, many exhibits, but we went straight to the Lego train room and spent the entire afternoon there. |
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| Otis assembled and disassembled Lego trains. |
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| Otis and Bananas |
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| Otis at the indoor gym, crawling away in a blur. |
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| Papa Tom continued his enchilada salad revolution. So far, he's requested enchiladas on top of his salad at Chuy's, Hyde Park Bar and Grill, and Guero's. Someday, this will be as popular as the fajita. And Papa Tom is the one who thought it up! This was the Guero's creation. We were there for lunch with Martin, Ramzi, and Evy. |
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| SXSW entrepreneur Elliot home brews and sells sarsaparilla. Has his own label too. He and his siblings and friends hung out at a corner passed by thousands of people. The sarsparilla was very good, a lot like root beer. |
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| A SXSW take on bicycle horns |
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| Papa Tom carried his sarsaparilla around cowboy style |
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| With 2,000 bands in town, and hundreds of band playing at side parties that did not require SXSW badges for entry, Evy and Ramzi spent several hours daily on their four electronic gadgets--iPhones, Mac notebook, and iPad--figuring out which shows to catch. |
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| Evy Andersen wanted a true Texas experience while she was in town. We took her to the Broken Spoke, where everyone from kids to great-grandparents do the Cotton-Eyed Joe and two-step to country music. |
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| Papa Tom and Evy |
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| OK, there's a lot to measure up to! Luckily, about an hour before the band starts, newcomers get two-steppin' lessons from a no nonsense country gal who lets you know what you're doing right and what you need to improve. |
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| This guy's been at the Broken Spoke for a very long time. Looks like he made it to the Broken Spoke by way of Mardi Gras. |
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| Someone parked his/her horse out front, hitched to the grasshopper. |
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| Papa Tom and I had dinner with our friend Sharon Reed on Tuesday, March 13. After dinner, Papa Tom picked spinach from our garden to send home with her. |
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| Sharon's got spinach and carrots from Papa Tom's garden. |
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| River's graduated from climbing on Mya's child-size chair to climbing up and off the grown-up chair. Such a big boy! |
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| So hard to believe River is going to be a year old on March 15th! Papa Tom and me were so lucky to be in Asheville the day he arrived. We wish we could be there for your first birthday, River. We love you and miss you! |
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| Whenever Millie doesn't want to go out, she "hides" under Great-great-Grandma Hogan's buffet, where we can't see her, but she can watch our every move. She'll zip outside if she hears us pouring food in her bowl, though. |
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| Mya traced leprechaun feet for us and wished us a happy holiday as well. Mya, we have no idea how you got that leprechaun to stand still long enough for you to trace his feet! Papa Tom and I decided to go outside and look for a leprechaun in the wild onion patch. Remember eating wild onions from our backyard? We didn't find him though. |
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| I looked for the leprechaun among the fragrant freesia. He must have blended in with all that green! |
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| Niece Sarah's birthday is March 6. We celebrated Sunday, March 4 at Chuy's. Couldn't have been a more beautiful day! Left to right are Jen, Evelyn, Sarah, and Cynthia. Back row: Rhonda and Sarah's step-dad David. In the background are Sarah's husband Kirk (Longhorn orange shirt) and Sarah's nephew Joe in Kirk's brother's Dustin's arms. |
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| For years, Tom and Roy and Greg have celebrated Texas Independence Day with chicken fried steak lunches at Threadgill's. This year, the celebration was at B B Rover's. I'm not sure what Roy is showing Tom on his cell phone. Tom opted for a chipotle chicken salad instead this year, prompting taunts from Roy and Greg. Greg NEVER allows himself to be photographed. Someday. . . . |
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| Mmm! Chicken-fried steak, white gravy, mashed potatoes, lima beans. Not sure what the other item is on the plate, because I too had a chipotle chicken salad. And very good local beer: 512 Pecan Porter. |
