Froemmings

A couple of Sundays ago we participated with Brynn in her First Communion Instruction at our church. We started out as a full group of fifth graders with their parents in the sanctuary singing some songs, watching videos of the pastors explaining what communion means to them and going through a booklet of questions about communion that the students had received to work on.  The next couple of hours after that were spent making Matzoh bread, decorating their own chalices and preparing charoset as part of the Seder meal that was to come later.  After the kids were done at each of the stations, we gathered in a large group again to take part in the Seder meal and so the students could learn how to receive the bread and wine during their first communion which would be on Maundy Thursday. As you may already know, the Seder meal is a Passover meal like what was shared at the Last Supper. The different foods and beverage are served in phases as follows: ...

The Red River finally crested at 35' on Monday this past week. On Sunday we could see the water from our house which is something we can't typically do. It was up pretty high, though. So, we went across University to check it out. It was a really nice, calm night. (It has been 10 years since the last true flood in Fargo. That year the river crested at 40'.) On Monday Brynn and I volunteered at the Great Plains Food Bank filling bags full of food for the Backpack Program. We look a little harried in this pic. We snapped it on our way out after helping fill more than 500 grocery sacks of food. :-D There were several other people who had volunteered for the same hour-long shift and it really went like clockwork with everyone working together. There was such a beautiful sunrise the other morning; it looked like the sky was on fire. This is looking out from the back of our deck, and you can see the water from the river. Snuggle pile! On Thursday ...

After a hiatus from the Butterfly Ball last year (Dad was out of town), Brynn was ready to go back this year and this time bring Clara with her. Girls need to be four years old to attend, so this was the first time Clara was eligible. I think Brynn has one more year left next year and then she's done. I needed to update my polish anyhow, so I booked an appointment for all three of us to get our nails done. Clara was indecisive between doing her toes or fingernails and ultimately opted for toes. It's always such a riot when they work on her since she's so little. Brynn went with her fav color. Again, being little is hard. They had to set her up with a box and some towels so that she could reach the dryer to dry her toes. Haha. Next was up do's at the salon. She loves to be a goon. :-) Brynn and all her thick hair turned out beautifully. It was pretty chilly still today so we did our pics inside. They ended up looking...