April 2022...

Friday, April 1, Alton Brown came to Eastern Kentucky University Center for the Arts. Claude loves watching Alton Brown. I purchased tickets and we went out for a very fun date. We ate dinner at City BBQ on the way there. Our seats were right up front. We were not sure what to expect. The first part was really Alton Brown as a stand-up comic. He shared stories from his childhood about S'mores. He was delightful. He played the guitar and sang songs about food. We were allowed to take all the pictures we wanted during this first half. The second half is something he is working on and he asked us not to take pictures of it. I did not take a picture. He has built an enormous fryer to make wings. He told us the inadequacies of an air fryer. Then rolled out this huge contraption and made wings in it. At the end, Claude was able to score one of these wings to eat. Claude was one happy camper with the seats we were in and getting the wing to eat. This was a great evening and we highly recommend it to others.

Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, were General Conference. We would watch all of these later in the week. 

Tuesday, April 5th, Claude and I went to get new tires on my Buick. As we sat in the waiting room, my phone started to get notices from the Buick dealership warning me that air in my tires was low. Well, duh! They were taking the old tires off and adding new ones. It was very humorous. Grateful for the alerts though.

Wednesday, April 6, while in the pharmacy drive-thru window picking up a prescription, the cashier must have noted our advanced age. She quickly told us they had a new version of the pneumonia vaccine that covers more types of pneumonia. We listened and then parked our car and went in for each of us to get a pneumonia vaccine. 

Thursday, April 7, was Todd's birthday. I posted this on Facebook: "Happy Birthday Todd Tyler!! Todd is our Michigan and Packer lovin' son-in-law. We hope you have a great day today and a year full of good things that bring you happy memories in your future.  Love ya bunches!!"

Friday, April 8, I got an alert on my phone that CVS was now giving the next booster to those over 65. I got online and made us an appointment. We were back at CVS and had a jolly good time with the same person that gave us the pneumonia vaccine also giving us each another vaccine. When we left we assured her to keep us alerted to others and we would be back the next day. 

Thursday, April 14, Andie eMailed us a most remarkable picture. Our Hayden is very much an inside kind of person. He doesn't do the heat from the sun very well at all. The Marx family determined it was time to remove the play set from their back yard. It was a little fort with a swing attached that Claude and Michael put up when they first moved there. The kids are well past playing in it. They dismantled it and removed it. Hayden was outside helping. This was our evidence of Hayden being outside, working in the yard.

Saturday, April 16, found the Roper family out and about. Katelyn and Drew took Mai, their exchange student, and their three kids to Mackinac, Michigan. They were at the foot of the Mackinac Bridge. It was a cold day for them but they all had smiles and enjoyed being out and about.

That evening, Jake went out on our patio. The leaves were off the trees and he was able to see Venus from our backyard. In the summer, there are way to many leaves to see the sky well. I thought this was a lovely view.

Sunday, April 17, was Easter Sunday. Here a few Easter pictures of our family. The first picture is me and Claude in our home. These second picture is the Ropers kids: Raelyn, Emelia, Joel and Mai. Mai is an exchange student from Japan. This picture was taken on the front steps of the Roper home in Muskegon, Michigan. The last picture is the Roper family taken at church in Grand Haven, Michigan: Drew, Joel, Katelyn, Emelia, Raelyn and Mai.

Monday, April 18, was Jake's birthday. I posted this on Facebook: "Claude Christensen and I invite you all to wish Jake Christensen, our son, a very Happy Birthday!! Here are a few pictures of Jake that I love. We Love Ya Bunches and wish you a Happy Birthday!!"

Tuesday, April 19, Jake was in his room watching a podcast. Claude and I were sitting on the sofa in the study reading. We heard a sound that was like a gun shooting a bullet or a loud single firecracker. I got up and went to check on Jake. He was fine. He had heard the sound and thought we made it. We thought that maybe it was a car backfiring. We all went on with our business. Finally, one of us got up and went to the kitchen for something. That is when they found a nice hole in our dining room window. It seems when they were mowing the lawn, a rock flew out of the mower and hit that window leaving a hole the size of a baseball. The window is a double window and the rock was resting inside. Yike!! 

Meanwhile, we found another delight in our front flower bed. The previous owner planted tulip bulbs and one bunch of them are bright yellow. They are gorgeous.

Claude and I went to Lowe's and purchased an additional table for our patio. The plan was to put a table large enough for six chairs. As I did my research, the space we had was not safe to put a table that large. So we opted for a square table for four people. Claude put that table together this day and we set it up with its umbrella. I believe we will really enjoy this table. We moved the little round one to the other end of the patio and it will have two chairs at it. We can add two more if we so choose. 

Katelyn shared these pictures of Emelia at her first soccer practice. She is really into the game...well...

Wednesday, April 20, This day, Jake left to return to Chelsea. It might be permanent. He might return. It was a bittersweet moment in time.

Claude and I watched little birds determining if they should use my decorative birdhouse for their own home. I have several decorative birdhouses, one for each season, that hung on our front porch in Sadieville. When we moved to Georgetown, I brought them with me determining they would take turns hanging in the little tree in our front yard. Claude first noticed them. We are not sure what kind of birds they are. They are trim enough to get in and out of the little hole in the birdhouse.

Saturday, April 23, we drove back to LaGrange. Bailey was participating in the stage crew portion of Oldham County High School's musical. The musical was The Addams Family. The stage crew dressed as though they were participating in the play themselves. It was a cute play. Fun to have the kids be able to do these things again. This is a picture of the cast (Bailey is not in it) and a picture of Bailey with her autographed program after the play.

Tuesday, April 26, we attend the Prism Concert by Oldham County High School. Hayden participated in this. The basic idea is to burst the band apart like you would a ray of light through a prism. That light would then display as separate colors. The band is burst apart and each section sits in a different part of the auditorium. The band play 20 number in 1 1/2 hours with each section of the band playing their numbers from their part of the auditorium. Way cool. Totally enjoyed this different kind of concert experience.

Wednesday, April 27, was our day to attend the Spring Meet at Keeneland. We love watching the horses race. We don't bet. But, we purchase the program and pick the horses we think would win. There were eight races this day. We were there for seven of the races. I picked the winners of the first two races we watched and a second place horse in one of the other races. I was particularly fascinated with two of the horses that work with the race horses. There is a lead horse that leads the horses and riders in and sets the bounds of where they warm up. There is also a horse assigned to each race horse to help keep them in line as they warm up. This day there was a beautiful palomino that was the lead horse. The other horse looked to be a mix of the Frisian and appaloosa breeds. It was large and sturdy build. I really enjoyed watching these two horses work. I must give Claude credit for some of these pictures as well. Great day at the races. We would go to Firehouse Subs on the way home for our dinner.

Thursday, April 28, while I visited Papa at the nursing home, Claude worked on one more home improvement project. As we have walked our neighborhood, one of the things we noticed was how people set up the area around their HVAC unit. Some have poured concrete pads, others have built fenced in areas around them, and some have done what we chose to do, make a rock edge and fill in with smaller rocks. The rock edge is the same kind of rock the flower beds are made of in the back yard. The fill rock will be the same kind of rock we used in the French drains. It will all tie together. I think Claude did a masterful job starting this project. 

Friday, April 29, we drove to Michigan through Indiana. We both agree that, for most of the drive through Ohio or Indiana, the scenery is the same, flat farmland. Our goal was to be in Muskegon by 7pm to watch Raelyn's soccer game. We got there well before that and stopped first to see Nissa and Todd. Then, through text with Katelyn, we planned to buy pizza for their family for dinner before the soccer game. These pictures are at the Roper home before the game. Joel and this cat have a very special relationship. The cat adores Joel and allows our boy to really play rough with him. The cat seems to thrive on that attention. Katelyn tells us that he sleeps with Joel all the time. Loved that all three kids have soccer t-shirts. Katelyn is a coach and also sports a t-shirt. 

Off to the park we went for the soccer game. Raelyn is much better at soccer this year. She actually scored two of the goals in the game. She loves running after the ball when it goes out of bounds and bringing it back to the referee. Then she waits patiently for him to give it to her so she can throw it back into the game. She and another teammate ran into each other during the game. They both have big goose egg on their foreheads. Raelyn told me you just get up and shake it off and keep on playing. That's what soccer players do. These pictures show Raelyn warming up with Katelyn to her right. You always find Raelyn as she is the most blond of any of the kids, her hair is in a ponytail, and she has the number 7 on her t-shirt. Joel is a happy guy to be held by his dad. Emelia enjoyed Claude and then we got my Kindle and she played a game and then made puzzles. We all had a great time. 

There was a sign as you go onto the soccer field that I truly believe should be at every kids game in any sport. Parents need to see this and heed its wise counsel.

Before the game, Raelyn sang me this song she learned at her school. It also teaches some valuable lessons.

After the game, Grampa treated for ice cream to celebrate Raelyn's two soccer goals. It was a cold evening for ice cream but we valiantly ate it anyway. Yummy. Then Claude and I pointed the Buick toward Holton which would be our home away from home for the next three nights.

Saturday, April 30, was our day to visit grandmonsters and great grandmonsters. We started this full day by meeting Paul at his new home. He and Rachel have jointly purchased a new trailer. It sits in a very nice trailer park. Their plan is to rent to own. When they own the trailer, they plan to purchase a lot in the country and move the trailer there. It is a very nice trailer with three bedrooms. We had a lovely visit with Paul. Didn't get to see Rachel. 

Next we drove to Aubrey's home to pick up Nelson. Aubrey had studying to do, so we took Nelson with us to the Ropers. As we drove to the Ropers, I asked Nelson if he knew why we were going there. He did not. I told him that it was Emelia's third birthday and we were going to her birthday party. Nelson squealed with delight. Then he said, "We get to have cake!!" Claude and I got a good laugh out of that honest reaction. 

We spent several hours at the Roper home. First, I painted the three oldest kids fingernails with polish I got from a bridal shower. They loved having their nails done. 

Katelyn purchased a unicorn outfit for Emelia as that was the theme of the party. Isn't she an adorable unicorn?

Next we enjoyed cake together. Katelyn got this cake at Walmart. I loved it. It was a cake surrounded by cupcakes. We at the cupcake portion and the cake was left for guests who came later. Way cool way to do a cake. Emelia was very happy with her cake. At one point she was sitting in the lounge chair in the living room. I heard her say to everyone in a loud voice, "Don't anyone mess up my party!" Even at three, she knows what she wants.

Then it was time to open presents.

We spent a little more time enjoying being together as a family. 

Claude even took pictures of me with Joel. I really am not in lots of pictures as I am the person taking pictures. It was a wonderful treat to get these pictures of me with our youngest great grandmonster.

We left about 2:30pm to take Nelson home and have a visit with Aubrey. We were amazed as we drove Nelson home that he knew all the roads and was telling us we were going the right way. We made a wrong turn near his home and Nelson immediately alerted us that we were going the wrong way. Very perceptive for a little guy. While we visited with Aubrey, Nelson took my phone to look at pictures. Soon I heard the steady click, click, click of my camera. Our little man was taking selfies of himself. Lots and lots and lots of selfies. Here is the best of the lot. He has the best smile ever.

We returned to the Tyler residence. After a short while, we opted to head to The Blind Squirrel in Fremont, Michigan for dinner with Nissa and Todd. I ordered a burger that had peanut butter, bacon and grape jelly on it. It was delicious. Not a combination I would have ever thought of. But Todd assured me it was good, so I gave it a try. 

This was an excellent end to the month of April!