Two quick layouts to share. Click on them to enlarge them.

Easter egg hunts

Okay. Yes. It is really pitiful that I am just now posting the pictures from the girls’ Easter egg hunts. Their first egg hunt was at a birthday party the girls got invited to. I didn’t take my camera. It was COLD. The second hunt was in our back yard with Mercey after the Yoders came over for dinner. It was dark by that time. But the kids had a blast.
The last hunt was at the Maizes’ in their back yard. Here’s everyone hunting (including Ben…his first egg hunt).

There’s a rope the kids swing from in the back yard. Lydia gave it a try first.

Then Spencer showed them how it was done.

Next, Rebekah tried it. After this successful swing, she scraped her ankle on the tree trunk pretty badly. And see the band-aids that are already on her knees? She got those from falling at church and getting rug burns.

Still cute.

Just wanted to FINALLY share!

Happy Thursday…Rebekah’s Wacky Jungle Play is tonight. Can’t wait! She’s gonna be SO cute!

Rebekah's tricks

Rebekah was so anxious to show me her tricks on the playground. Lydia got in on the action too.

We had a picnic in the park on Friday night. As the sun was going down, Lydia said,

"Mommy, why is the sun going down? Is it because he doesn't want all the kids in his personal space?"

How do you answer that?

I feel pretty...oh so pretty...

David and Lydia went around town last week posting information about the church's upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebration for the community. In every store, they would ask permission to hang their sign and invariably, someone would say how pretty Lydia was.

I guess she came to expect it.

On Friday, when they were leaving a store, Lydia protested by saying,

"But Daddy! They didn't say I was pretty!"

Scholarship Dinner

David and I went to a scholarship

dinner at Austin Peay State University last night. It was held to give scholarship recipients the opportunity to meet the donors.

This was our second time there in a week. (Last week we were there for my induction into Phi Kappa Phi...which I thought was a dinner too...but turned out not to be...had to run by Long John Silver's afterward).

Anyway, this time we got to take some pictures of the APSU campus. It was really beautiful. I just wanted to share some photos.

Also, I thought this was funny.

And then, at the dinner, I got to meet the scholarship coordinator for the Catherine Evans Harville scholarship that is given by the Women's Club of APSU. Next semester will be my third semester receiving this scholarship money (which is such a HUGE blessing). And I will continue to receive the scholarship until I graduate (which should be December of this year...yea!).

I finally got to meet Mrs. Inga Filippo. I've spoken on the phone with her many times and emailed quite a few too. She and the APSU Women's Club were responsible for awarding me the scholarship. She was the absolute sweetest lady. And her husband, Joe, was so nice too. She said that she gets at least one scholarship application every day...so I am very blessed to get this scholarship. I just can't thank them enough.

She wanted to make sure we got our picture together before we left.

Easter eggs

Rebekah had an Easter egg hunt last week (yes, after Easter). She came home with two eggs. She was very disappointed that she didn't get more eggs.

David said, "Oh, was everyone supposed to get two eggs?"

Rebekah said, "No, they said we could get as many as we wanted."

And then after a pause, "...but that wasn't as many as I wanted..."

So literal!!

Soccer!

The girls were invited to a soccer birthday party for Isabella. Lydia even brought her HUGE Dora soccer ball. They both started out playing on teams, but Lydia got bored because she didn’t get the ball and she walked off the field to play with her big ball.

Rebekah did pretty well playing soccer.

Here she is hugging Isabella after a good play.

And here she is taking a penalty kick.

And here she is right after getting hit in the chest with the soccer ball.

And here are Rebekah and Isabella about to have soccer ball cupcakes.

And Wilson (Isabella’s little brother) after he had his cupcake.

And Ben, making sure not to leave anything on his plate!

Look how she's grown!

The first picture is from last Easter. The second picture is from this Easter.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Look how much Lydia has grown!!!

Titanic passenger list

For those who like genealogy, the UK has just released images of the passenger list from the Titanic.

They can be found at findmypast.com.

The images will only be available for free for one week, then they will be pulled. If you're interested, you should go check it out. I already checked for my family names.

Bill Bremner obituary

This is the obituary of Bill Bremner, my grandmother's cousin. Grandma, I'm posting this for you. Jo Nell sent it to me:

By Michael KinsmanUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 14, 2007
Friends and family knew George “Bill” Bremner as a soft-spoken man, but there was one aspect of his life he kept so private that even those closest to him knew little about it.
Mr. Bremner, a San Diego dentist, made an unspoken vow that he wouldn't deny treatment to children, whether or not their families could afford it.

In the days after his death, his family learned that children from their church's Sunday school used to show up at his office during the week for help.

“It's that kind of thing that he never talked about,” his daughter Patty Brubaker said. “We had no idea he was doing that.”

Mr. Bremner died March 29 at Granite Hills Convalescent nursing home in El Cajon, where he was moved only a week before his death. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for a decade. He was 81.

“My father was all about helping children,” Brubaker said. “He loved children.”

There were some signs that Mr. Bremner was providing dentistry to needy families at his office in the College Area of San Diego.

On one occasion, he came home with a silver poodle as payment for his work. His family suspected someone wanted to get rid of the dog and found this an inventive way to do that.
Another time, he was paid with a portrait of his son Darrell. The boy sat for hours in an uncomfortable bow tie for the artist. When the portrait was finished, the family agreed that it bore very little likeness to Darrell.

Mr. Bremner was born in St. Louis on Feb. 5, 1926, and grew up in Knob Lick, Mo., a hamlet of 103 residents. He attended a three-room school that put students from first to fourth grades in one group, fifth to eighth grades in a second, and ninth and 10th grades in a third group. For his final two years of high school, he rode a bus 15 miles to Fredericktown.

During World War II, he volunteered for the Navy, where he studied to become a dentist. He completed his studies at the University of Iowa after the war. As a member of the Navy Reserve, he was activated during the Korean War and accompanied the 1st Marine Division at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, famous for its fierce fighting and harsh conditions.

In the early 1980s, Mr. Bremner spent six weeks in Kiryat Malachi, an Israeli settlement for displaced Jews from Arab countries. He spent most of his time providing free dental services to its residents, said Norman Mann, a retired San Diego orthodontist who had invited him to work at the clinic in Israel.

“He really felt a very strong urge to support this program,” Mann said. “He thought it was really a good thing to do.”

After learning that he suffered from Alzheimer's disease, Mr. Bremner volunteered for a clinical study by UC San Diego neurologist Dr. Mark Tuszynski that was said to be the first attempt at using human gene therapy to treat Alzheimer's patients.

“He knew all along that it wouldn't reverse his Alzheimer's,” his daughter said. “He did it anyway, thinking it might help children years later should they ever develop Alzheimer's. He was always thinking about how to help kids.”

In addition to Brubaker, his daughter from Oceanside, Mr. Bremner is survived by his wife, Dee; daughter Jan Hall of Moreno Valley; sons, Darrell Brubaker of La Mesa and Montree Chusanavet of Bangkok, Thailand; sister, Beth Bremner of Des Moines, Iowa; brothers, Bob Bremner of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Barron Bremner of Iowa City, Iowa, and Bruce Bremner of Colorado Springs, Colo.; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned at 1 p.m. April 27 at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene, 3901 Lomaland Drive.

The family suggests donations to Quail Botanical Gardens, P.O. Box 230005, Encinitas, CA 92023; or Vitas Hospice, 9655 Granite Ridge Road, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92123.

Yard sale money

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. This is Lydia opening her yard sale money that GG sent to her.

Just LOOK at the excitement on her face. She's already put it in her piggy bank.

Happy Friday!

Jayna