Spring Tease

Tomorrow school starts again... spring break is over... A week-long teaser of summer break makes it all the harder to return for six more weeks of school, state testing, and projects.

But it was a fabulous break. We left last Friday for Oregon to visit Aaron and Em. On the way to Central Point, we stopped by Sacramento to see baby Ada, all of two weeks old! And I admit, I did chuckle a little as Weston was describing how Ada was so much different "when she was younger..." How much younger can she get there, Daddy?!?  But it is true that our little ones change so quickly, even before our very eyes...

Anyway, after dinner and baby cuddling, we got on the road again and arrived at 2:30am at Rabun Way and plopped our kids--and ourselves--into bed.

And no more than 5 hours later, a parade of Pokemon loving cousins were running laps around the house having battles, trading posts, and quizzing each other on HP and EX's and etc. And a couple hours after that, we all hit the ground running to our first adventure: and... I can't remember the name of the place--will update later... A little drive, a short hike to the right, and we arrived at a beautiful huge waterfall!

And then back to the left, was the Valley of giant boulders (or something like that--update to real name later...) Lots of fun climbing, exploring, and even sliding to do!

The boulders surrounded a little beach by a raging river of death! ... or some beautiful rapids :) There's something about rivers and rocks and sticks that can keep kids entertained for hours!

And on the same day as that beautiful sunny hike through the woods, we continued up the mountain until we hit SNOW!! Lots of snow! Crater Lake was our lunch destination!

Ever since I saw Emily's post on Instragram, I wanted to do this!! I got to roast hot links in the snow!! I LOVE their little portable fire pit! Dream come true!!!!

Something fun for everyone at Crater Lake! Dawna and Adele busied themselves building a snow fort/palace/mansion: 

Jade found plenty of snow to taste (one of my favorite pictures of the day):

Apparently, snow comes in many delightful flavors... much like ice cream! 

Jon, Adele, and I raced little snowballs down the slope and over the ridge overlooking the lake! Super intense racing...

And to top it all off, we harvested the largest icicles we could get off the roof of the resort! Jon won.

And Jade and Malachi will tell you that icicles also come in many delightful flavors...much like Popsicles! 

And after all this, we weren't even done with our first full day of vacation! Once we returned home from Crater Lake, Aaron and Jon went off to indoor soccer and long distance running, respectively, and Emily and I ate more food :) 

Sunday we slowed down... a little... but still stuffed in as many Easter delights as we could. I got to play in a trio with Adele and Emily at church. Adele and Dawna dyed eggs with the kids while we hid plastic eggs in the house. Then we had a delicious lamb dinner. After that, we did the Easter story in eggs and the kids followed clues to find their Easter presents... yeah, that was our "slow" Easter Sunday...In the midst of all that, Dawna and Adele found a few minutes to serenade us on their instruments:

...a more grown up reprise of their original hit:

LOVE THOSE GIRLS!!! Then and Now... 

Anyway, back to spring break... 

Monday dawned bright and early once more for the big kids. Aaron and Jon, who had originally planned on taking the older kids backpacking but changed plans when rain came, took each of their older three kids on a caving adventure. They had a wonderful day, and hopefully my other contributor to this blog will fill in the details of their adventure... Emily and I had a very relaxing day at home with our little ones. It was a little nostalgic of our Lansing Court days, when all we had was little ones. We almost forgot what to do with them... but they reminded us of what they love to do. So we went to the park, read stories, played music... all the little kid things we miss sometimes with the hustle and bustle of active older kids.  

Tuesday was a celebration our our seven-year-old Xochitl! (Even though she wasn't officially 7 until Wednesday... but really, what kind of birthday is driving home from vacation??) We caught an early matinee of Beauty and the Beast starring Hermione Granger... I mean... Emma Watson :) then headed straight over to the Rrrink for some exciting ice skating! Xochitl is a quick study with anything involving balance, so with a little guidance from Aunt Emily, she was swooshing around the ice in no time! Jade and Larry made good use of the plastic "helpers" and Dawna did quite well after having roller bladed a lot this year. And it's always fun to see what Adele has been working on in her ice skating lessons... and try to copy her... mostly Aunt Deeb just ends up looking foolish... but having fun! 

On the way home from ice skating, Xochitl picked out two ice cream cakes from Cold Stone. Yum!

And we all know the Koberstein tradition of car trouble when traveling I-5... running over the moving dolly with the Quest, tire blow out, car being backed into, hitting a deer... so when Wednesday came and our vacation was almost over, Fate had to hurry and squeeze some car trouble in. Eva's battery was quite dead and decrepit on Wednesday morning. We weren't going nowheres. The car wouldn't start at all! So I called roadside assistance and they offered to tow us to a garage... but I thought it would be easier to just have them replace the battery on the spot. Only problem was... we had to get the battery. My manly main man Jon got on a bike and rode to the auto parts store with a backpack, bought a car battery, and biked home again! This is not an activity for the feint of heart. Those batteries are HEAVY!! He made it back to Rabun way just in time for the mechanic to get to work! And with only minor damage to clothing and sidewalks...All in all, it's one of the kinder car trouble experiences we've had.  All the kids were happily playing with cousins, safely parked in front of Aaron and Em's house :)( ALMOST something to smile about... 

So we got home. And on Friday to finish off our spring break fun, we all enjoyed Larry's "field trip" to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! Paul and Becca et.al joined us and now we all have annual passes to the aquarium! Many thanks to the thoughtful people there who made the "Family Pass" include two adults and ALL their children! All too often a "family pass" is for two adults and two children, which is pretty much useless for us...

Maybe the Jellyfish are cousins too!

Squids will be squids... We loved the "Tentacles" exhibit!

Playing with light settings on my Pixel XL. I liked this picture of Zyna!

Happy Spring Break!

Easter Sunday Fun

Easter with grandparents! Traditions, culture, and sugar. Lots of sugar. 

On Saturday night after returning from camping at Mt. Diablo, the girls went shopping to JoAnn's (for the last of the quilt fabric) and to WinCo for more candy and ingredients to make sushi! 

(I HAD to get the candy building blocks from WinCo! I love playing with them and eating them!)

After the priesthood session, we had a great sushi-making lesson from mom. 

Remember, when you make sushi, spread the rice thin, leave about an inch at the top of the seaweed, add strips of ingredients, roll carefully...

...and most importantly, remember to shout while you squish is all together! (so says Jon...) It was a delicious and educational dinner!

Easter Sunday morning dawned cool and cloudy in Antioch.  We enjoyed breakfast and the first session of conference, then we got to dye Easter eggs inside while the rain came pouring down outside! Our colorful Easter eggs did not last long this year.  They were boiled, colored, and consumed for lunch that very day.

After the second session of conference, Weston arrived and we indulged in a Koberstein Easter tradition: the Jelly Belly hunt! 

(does that say Happy Three-ster? very funny Dad...)

The Jelly Belly hunt occurs when the adults scatter/hide a truly insane amount of Jelly Bellies (like, almost an entire Costco container...) around the whole house...

Some are as easy to find as picking them up off the ground...

Some are hidden in the most ridiculously hard places, like INSIDE Lego Duplo structures, tucked under light switch covers, or high atop wall decorations...

Some Jelly Bellies don't ever make it to the bag.  Jade's mouth was constantly full of beans throughout the entire hunt...

The best part of the day was the amazing sessions of conference we got to watch and listen to.  It's exciting to look forward to seeing new temples in new places like the Ivory Coast, Haiti, and Thailand! Having conference on Easter is awesome! Hearing testimonies of Christ from such powerful witnesses adds a special spirit to the day we devote to celebrating the resurrection of our Lord! Wish it could happen every year...

Palm Sunday

I'm not sure my mom is capable of having a small simple gathering at her house.  Whenever we go to dinner or family home evening or anything, everything is amazing and thought out and perfect! 

Tonight's gathering was no exception. We went for a dinner of homemade waffles to start off the afternoon, then we had a Fireside/FHE style gathering in the living room.  We sang some Easter hymns and then mom and dad each gave a small lesson. 

Mom talked about Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey and all there placed their clothing and palms down to welcome him in:

Mom invited us to think about the cloth laid down for Jesus' donkey to walk over and to imagine our feelings upon seeing the Savior come to our own city. How amazing it would be to see Him! 

Mom had prepared a bunch of large ivy leaves and each of the kids got to take a leaf and lay it down to make a path for the Savior.  Then we all shouted Hosanna together to express our admiration and joy! 

Dad's lesson was similarly memorable.  Dad reviewed with us the beginning of the last supper, when Jesus meets with his apostles and washes their feet.  He talked about Maundy Thursday being the day before Good Friday and the day Jesus gave us a new commandment: to love one another as He loved us. To demonstrate, Papa got a basin of water and washed Levi's feet.  All the kids were intrigued and wanted to have a turn also. 

 Of course, that was the plan, and one by one, each one of the children got a turn getting their feet washed. As he washed, he spoke of our service-centered gospel. We accept callings and assignments in the church not to get praise or admiration or riches.  We fulfill our callings in order to serve all those in our stewardship, to see to their spiritual and physical needs, as Jesus did.

 Papa also talked about how teaching others to serve is part of our divine calling. Peter was taught by Jesus to take care of the affairs of the church and serve the believers.  He then called Levi to wash the feet of the rest of the children there, as he had seen and been instructed.  So Jesus calls to all of us to serve our fellow brothers and sisters on earth!

 Christ has shown us how.  It is up to us to find joy and fulfillment in following his counsel.

 It was such a sweet moment with all the cousins washing each other's feet. I know I haven't done a great job summarizing the story, but I'd invite you to read John 13 to get the full account.  What a new and refreshing Easter experience! I feel the start of a new Palm Sunday tradition!

Of course, we had to finish the day with a sillier tradition... the egg hunt.  Even though all the eggs were empty, the kids still had fun hunting for them.  Jade was helped by big cousin Calder, who was an intense egg hunter! Any kid who found an egg got a little bag of jelly beans and a gold dollar (basically we just skipped the stuffing and emptying the eggs part... it was more efficient that way...)

I hope as I approach Easter Sunday this year, I can remember the joy that Christ brings to me and fulfill all kinds of opportunities to serve! Happy Palm Sunday!

Easter Fun!

 Easter weekend was filled with fun for all of us!  On Friday, we joined Larry's class party and egg hunt.  Mr. S. was worried that there weren't going to be enough eggs, but as it turns out, the parent volunteers really had to watch out... there were so many eggs that we accidentally stepped on some while trying to hide others... Dawna and Naomi both got to join in the classroom games since a couple kids were absent on Friday!  It worked out perfectly! (except I forgot my camera...)

Saturday Weston came down early and we dyed eggs.  We got a kit that included "velvet" stickers that you could design and stick on the eggs. Dawna very creatively made a brown egg (with her art knowledge that purple and orange make brown, she double dyed the egg to get the right color) and then made a great velvet carrot! That was her favorite one!

 Each of the kids had their own buddy to dye with.  Larry was paired with Daddy, Xochitl with Weston, and Dawna with me!

 On Sunday, we did an old Koberstein tradition: hiding jelly beans (not Easter eggs) all over and hunting for them!  Wes and Jon did the hiding, but we all did the finding and eating of the jelly beans!

Here's Xochitl finding a trail of beans leading to a "jackpot" pile!

Later we went to Nana Papa's house for an egg hunt and dinner.  Uncle Lynn met us there to enjoy the festivities!
My kids got new Sunday clothes for Easter this year.  The girls were really excited, so Larry tried to join in the excitement, but let's face it, he just doesn't go crazy over clothes the way the girls do... 

But look how cute he is!  I LOVE Argyle sweaters! 

 Dawna helped me pick out the girl's dresses.  She wanted to match with Xochitl, but did NOT want another pink dress, so we went with the blue and green floral.  Thank you, Costco, for carrying dresses with sleeves!

NOTE: These were NOT made from old curtains! Geez, Jon!

We finished the evening playing Topple.  Look at the cute brothers! I know it's not the best picture ever, but it's proof Lynn was there!  Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Fun

Our Easter holiday lasted all week long. It started on the Sunday before Easter. The Wightmans came to Fremont for dinner and piano lessons. Marisa is particularly great with my kids. They had a great time hiding empty Easter eggs in the back yard and then looking for them... over and over and over again. Balaine had a new lens he was experimenting with on his camera. I think he called it a "fish-eye"? I know there's a lot of photography people out there that would really know... It produced some pretty awesome pictures of all the backyard pre-Easter fun:
On Monday, Nana and Papa prepared an Easter FHE with a new "Easter Walk" book and the 12 Easter eggs that follow the story of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. After the lesson, they prepared an Easter egg hunt with actual candy in the eggs this time! This is really the first year that Lawrence could enjoy finding the eggs and he was such a crack-up to watch! Great expressions of elation upon finding each egg. To make it fair, Dawna and Larry had separate colors to look for--so Larry found all the yellow eggs while Dawna found all the pink eggs. But... our Easter fun didn't end there...

For Conference/Easter weekend, we went to visit our Antioch family. Grandma and Grandpa were only around for Friday night and Saturday morning, but uncles provided ample entertainment even after the grandparents had flown away to Philadelphia. Larry was particularly taken with Grandma's chickens on this visit. He chased the big black hen all around the back yard:

On Sunday, Daddy and uncles worked together to boil and dye some eggs! There was shrink wrap designs in the egg-coloring kit! I'd never seen that before and thought it was so cool! Unfortunately, Weston and Jon had bought extra large jumbo huge eggs... so the shrink wrap decor didn't fit around the girth of the eggs... Fortunately, Grandma's hens had laid a couple eggs that WERE small enough for it... so we got to see the coolness in action... shrink wrap wrapped around the egg, then dipped in boiling water, and SHALOOP! it skinnied all up to the shape of the egg! So cool! There was also the standard food coloring and stickers... I also just love watching Jon play with the kids! It's so cute!

Easter Egg Hunt

Backtracking a little ways, Easter Sunday was a blast. We had missionaries, the Jacksons, great-Grandparents Severson, and the Yus for dinner. The best part was that everybody under 30 got to participate in the Easter egg hunt! Dawna would get so excited and squeal and say "I fine it!" when she saw the eggs. Papa Severson was her helper. The younger couples got one basket between them and both people had to hold onto the basket to search. We had a great time! The best eggs to find were, of course, the ones with money in them! Mom Severson is famous for that! The dinner was fabulous as well... traditional ham and mashed potatoes, artichoke salad, and angel food cake for dessert! Who doesn't love Easter?