Marci was eager to try out the new swing at the Montrose Bible Conference! No fear in this girl! (videographer: Jared, comments: Daniel Fahringer)

Here's a portion of the video footage.

The youth led service on Sunday included Emily being raised from the dead! 

THE DAIRY FARM

My first volunteer -- way to go, Briella!  She's cleaning before milking.

Jared was a pro right away!

This is how Titus was the entire time we were in the barn!  It was a strong aroma, but --good grief -- not THAT strong!  Okay, I did have to wash all of our attire once we got home.  Dan could tell where we'd been.  He claims pigs smell less than cows?!?

One of the newest little ones!

Jared got to hook the milking machine on.  He was the only one brave enough to give it a try!

Since Titus has been studying farms for science, we decided to make a quick visit to a local dairy farm.  It was loads of hands-on fun for all!  Well, some people didn't like the slobbery kisses from the calf.  And, some people refused to attempt to milk the cow.  A chance of a lifetime!  I tried to convince them, but to no avail.  I love living in rural northeast Pennsylvania!  And, I'm very grateful for awesome "neighbors" who are willing to take the time and show us their work.  Fun memories!

Great time at Game Night - Montrose E Free church! A time to forget reality and chill :) Now, back to my baskets of laundry...

FRIDAY

Ahh - my kind of day.  Sunny.  Warm afternoon.  Tackling some chores!  No time for typing -- pizza is in the oven (homemade with Aunt Nano's crust).  Game night at church this evening :).  Kids are excited.

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

Since Titus is studying farms, in particular dairy farms, we made some homemade butter.  This required an afternoon snack, of course.

Next we had to test the effects of erosion on different slopes.  We tried three different heights before we decided to use the water source as a sprinkler.  Who cares if it's only in the 50's?!?  The sun was out! 

And, at the height of three bricks, we had quite the wash out!

This afternoon we traded a kid with the Kesslers and spent some time at the park in Conklin while Emily & Briella had dance class.  After unloading the cooler and uploading the pictures, I'm whipped!  Looking forward to having my better half home from Germany.  Goodnight!

Today was so warm and sunny.  We built a seismograph today, much to Jared's delight.  He was my expert seismologist, as you can hear in the video.  I confess that I am publicizing my ignorance by publishing this video!  I know, I know.  The Richter scale goes up to 10.  And the Chilean earthquake of 1960 registered a 9.5.  I've got that figured out now :). 
On other news, the thunderstorms just rolled through.  We have cool, fresh air and the pitter-patter of rain.  I made pies with Titus this afternoon.  We read a funny book about blueberry pies and then we just had to have one.  He also picked raspberry/blackberry for the second pie.  They were very yummy! 
The snakes are out.  My neighbor saw me throwing rocks in the road.  I hate stepping over live snakes on my jog.  I was trying to hit his head, but I'm not a very good aim when I'm scared.  Okay, I'm not a good aim period.  So, I had a not-so-small pile of rocks in the road!  He told me some good stories about seeing two bears already.  He proceeded on his tractor to my rock pile.  I didn't watch to see if he let it go or rolled over it.  I'm guessing he let it go, but I don't want to know that.
Well, I also made bread dough this afternoon and I must go tend to the that before I crash for the evening.  Time to finish my World magazine!  Goodnight :)

EASTER SUNDAY
He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  I love the new life of spring ... the hope we have because Christ conquered death ... knowing that Easter IS the answer!


Here's a summary of our Easter in photos:









We lined up the kids before church for a quick shot. 

Here's a quick family shot after church -- thanks Jen for taking time to shoot us!

The Easter bunny smooched me.

I had to include this one for Grandma Jane who likes to capture the grumpy faces!  Someone "stole" the tiny egg she was trying to get. 

And, after the hunt!

And, so that everyone knows, Emily LOST in Spite and Malice :). You can rub that in next time you see her!  We really just spent the rest of our day lounging, folding laundry, playing piano, etc.  I thought about hosting some adopted "extended" family since we are too far away from anyone to celebrate Easter together.  But, it just didn't happen because I don't have my house and meal plan together for hosting these days.  Sigh.  I do miss being with family on days like today.  Praying that my kids all live nearby and come home for Easter'til the day I die!!!  Maybe I should have second thought about the grumpy ones ;)!

A very good GOOD FRIDAY

Emily is "too big" for coloring eggs today.  Plus, she wanted to finish reading Pride and Prejudice before watching it with her friends tonight.

Jared loved poking the holes for blowing the eggs.  Just ask Titus about the one that exploded all over him!

Picnics all day today -- our first grilled burgers of the season!  Ahhh, they tasted soooo good!  I love the ease of grilling our food outside :).

Emily and I still have quite a bit of sewing if we're going to wear these dresses on Sunday!

And, this is taken looking out the now broken window in my bedroom.  Boys, boys, boys.

And the best for last.  I just love this shot of Titus blowing his egg today!  Look at those neck veins!
And, to top it off, Dan has some consulting work lined up. This has been a prayer for a L O N G time! God's timing is perfect and He has taught us a lot over the lean times. May we not forget those lessons and be mindful of those around us who are facing difficulties as we have.