April 12-22

I figured I'd just write the dates, since we seem to only be able to do posts every few weeks....sorry.......

Going back to Easter - we had Great-Grandma and Grandpa Frank out. We had a very nice time. Great-Grandma was just sure Zach was going to break her back, but it didn't stop her from cuddling just as much as Zach would allow (which isn't much these days). Alex loved having a buddy around, and he and Grandpa spent many-an-hour at the train table downstairs. I think that Grandpa now knows more about Percy, Salty, Thomas, Neville, Emily, Whiff, Sir Handel, Gordon, James, and Harold then he ever imagined he'd know. :) They had a great time, and we loved having them here.

Here's a shot of Zach in his Easter outfit - -


I thought about buying one for Alex - but as it turns out, his "Easter outfit" was a battle anyways. He's 2 - and he is beginning to assert his independence by choosing the outfits that he wears. I was lucky - he did agree to wear a "dressy" shirt and pants to church - but I am afraid that if I would've bought an Easter outfit that it would have been unworn. So, here's Alex's "Easter outfit" as he hunted for eggs (this was after he IMMEDIATELY changed once we got home from church)......


This is the new chill spot for Zach - a few weeks ago it was the towels, this week it's the hallway.


This past weekend we had Kyle, Amy, and their son Micah out so the guys could try to deplete the turkey population in Central Nebraska. Here's a shot of the guys before they took off Saturday (sorry, Kyle, this was the best shot we had of everyone else.....) Kyle's about to sneeze.


Alex liked having a playmate for a while - and Andy, Amy, and Kyle enjoyed playing on the Wii. Amy is quite the camera fanatic, so every time she got out her camera to take a picture of the boys playing, Alex would stop playing and go and grab his camera, therefore completely defeating Amy's intention of taking any kind of picture. She got creative, though.....


We were able to sneak in a shot of the boys playing.

Andy, Kyle, and Alex playing on the Wii.

Micah and Alex also got out the HUGE Thomas that Alex got from Aunt Elly, Uncle Neil, and Noah. It was quite the entertainment!!

After Kyle, Amy, and Micah left, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon at home. After baths, Alex decided to play doctor with his brother.....or maybe Zach was the doctor......

So Daddy came over to help Zach with the diagnosis. (Notice the camera - Alex noticed that I had mine out...)

Dr. Bowin chews on his stethoscope.

And now on to today! (This is the most recent I think that we've EVER posted! These pictures are less than 2 hours old!

About 2 months ago, we (Grandpa Dave) noticed a small crack in our basement wall. Upon further inspection, our front stairs were sinking and leaning against the foundation of the house - therefore causing the crack. To make matters worse, the driveway slope was also sinking, therefore causing all of the rainwater to run down under the stairs. Today they got started on pulling out all of the concrete....

Where the stairs used to be.....(they are going to repair and tar this, fill it in with dirt, and then we'll build a wood deck to go up to the door)

Looking from the side of the house....

And guess who L-O-V-E-D the "bucket" and dirt?!??!? (The "bucket" is really a bobcat.)
Daddy and Zach inspect the work...(can you read the temp on the bank sign in the background? It says 83 degrees!!!) WHOO-HOO!!

Our beautiful plant out back....I don't know what kind it is, but it is breathtaking in the spring.

The bumblebee thinks so, too. :)

And here I am channeling my inner Sarah (my sister - she's amazing with photography!)....

That's it!! Hope all is well with all of you - we'll be posting for sure in another week when Zach's 6 months old! (Already??? Where has my baby gone???)