I love April–it’s full of signs of Spring and the weather turns a tiny bit warmer (sometimes). There was a lot to this month–mostly good, some bad and some hard. But we laughed a lot, enjoyed a lot and are so thankful for all God continues to bless us with.
1. Easter. As always, Easter was a great celebration at our house. We started with a fantastic church service, came home to exchange cards and candy, and then the hunt was on for the boys for the Easter eggs–which includes both hard boiled and plastic eggs. I am happy report that we found all 36 eggs–last year we were not so fortunate. A hard boiled one stayed missing for several months.
2.Track Meets. Grayson was very reluctant to participate in track this year. It was unusual because he normally is ready to do any activity as long as it keeps him moving. I think he was just burned out on so much going on. But his football coaches are very much in favor of their athletes doing multiple sports, so when it came down to it–he did it to stay in good condition. He only competed in a couple of meets, but I was so proud of how he did and how hard he worked.
3.Prom. Our high school does a Jr./Sr prom and Grayson went with his girlfriend, Stephani. They both looked so fancy and had a great time at the dance and the after prom event at Main Event (a laser tag/bowling/arcade game place). We played chauffer for the evening–taking them to a restaurant beforehand, to the dance, from the dance to the after-prom place, and then home. I was REALLY grateful when Super Rockstar offered to do the last pick up and drop off at 2:00am. I was d-o-n-e.
 
4. A death, a heartbreak, a birth, and a wedding. Every month always comes with a lot of highs and lows, but this month we covered it all in about 2 weeks’ time.
A death. My dear neighbor and friend, Romella, passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of April. I am so heartbroken as I loved chatting with her these past few years, getting gardening tips, enjoying the abundance she always shared from her own garden, and her interest and care for us. I will miss her greatly and I know her husband Jim and all their children, grandchildren and family are feeling a lot of pain and loss. Prayers for them would be greatly appreciated.
A heartbreak. Being a teenager is excruciating, but nowadays it seems like it’s worse–especially in the dating world. The same night his brother was having the time of his life at prom, Morgan was experiencing a terrible breakup with his girlfriend. I wish I could just press the fast-forward button for him so he can get past the heartache. There is nothing worse in life for me than witnessing my boys hurting.
A birth. I am now the proud great-aunt of my second great nephew. Toren Todd was born on Apri 15th. He is healthy, he is precious and I am so excited for my niece Amy, her husband Zach, and Toren’s big brother Aiden.
A wedding. We got to go to the wedding of a dear friend’s youngest daughter. We have known the Manthei’s since we first moved to town 30 plus years ago. And we knew Carly as a baby. Her wedding was absolutely delightful–as are she and her new husband.
5. Angels Against Alzheimer’s Fundraiser. This is a favorite event that Super Rockstar and I go to every year. In the past, he has sung a song he wrote for the Alzheimer’s Association. But this year we went just to enjoy the folks that host, pretend gamble and help them raise money for this very worthy cause.
6. A 24 Hour EEG. It has been 8 years since Morgan has had an EEG. Long, long ago when he was 5, he had a seizure in the night. Testing showed that it was a mild form of epilepsy that his doctor told us he would outgrow. For the next few years we had to do annual EEG’s–usually in and out of the office in a couple of hours. By age 11, all showed as normal. But right now he’s been in the process of jumping through a lot of hoops to get FAA approval to go to piloting school. Because of his medical history, we have had to chase down every medical record, test result, and document from that time AND get all new testing. A 24 EEG seemed kind of extreme, but it turned out to be much more manageable than we anticipated. We drove up to Denver, he got hooked up, they wrapped his head like a mummy to protect all the wires and gave him a backpack to carry the machine that reads the activity. Other than being uncomfortable for a whole day and night, he did great. But this is definitely not something he wants to do again any time soon.
7. A new hike we tried. Super Rockstar and I have enjoyed going for walks/hikes on various trails nearby. We have our favorites but decided to try out one of the trails in Palmer Park one evening. It was a pretty view at the top with a steep drop-off (the pictures don’t show how far down it was), but it was very, very rocky. It’s not one we will frequent, but I’m glad we tried it out.
8. Books I read. Yes, I’m still working through the Sue Grafton alphabet series. This month is was O is for Outlaw. I liked it a lot–as it was centered around Kinsey Mahlone (the main character) finding out that her first husband has been brutally beaten up and no one knew why. She takes it upon herself to track down what happened and catch the bad guy.
9. Movies and Shows to Watch–Episode 111. Just click the link to read all about what we watched in April.
10. My Favorite Memes.
As always, I would love to hear from you all.