Easter 2015 Part 1

Easter is my favorite holiday.  Not for the candy and egg hunts but for Holy Week!  As a kid I hated going to church that many days in a row and I would buck about it too!  Now that I'm an adult and "get it" I can't imagine Easter any other way than going and celebrating/participating Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.  Lauren ended up throwing up Thursday afternoon so I had to miss Holy Thursday service.  Kind of a bummer starting out.  But I was where I needed to be-with her.  Luckily it was a quick little bug and as a family we were able to attend Good Friday and Easter Vigil.  And another part of Easter that I like is coordinating the girls outfits and Brian and mine too!  Its dumb I know, but its a way for me to feel like I have it together for at least 1 day. :)

Starting out Saturday, the girls and I went to River Rock for a treat and coffee while Dad was hard at work in LeSueur.

Then right before Lauren went down for a nap the girls got the egg dye ready.  They were very organized this year and tried some fun new colors.

Saturday's Easter Vigil was a little over 2hrs long and this photo was taken after.  All smiles!!  There were 5 Baptisms (one adult, two teens and two kids) 7 First Communions and 3 Confirmations.  It was extra special!  

Back at home I wanted to get a few more pictures, but I think everone was DONE at this point.  Our craziness/silliness settled in.

Our "twinsies"

Its the Easter Bunny!!

JI Luck of the Irish 7K

This was the 2nd annual JI LOI 7K fun run.  Last year Brian was the only one representing our family and did very well.  This year, after a little guilt from the run coordinator, our whole family signed up to either do the 7K or the .7mile (kids).  I can't quite figure out why people sign up and pay money to run!?  Is it really for the t-shirt? :)  It was a good way to do something as a family, get some exercise and donate money to a great school.  Despite my hate for running, I actually had a good time and it felt good to get up and exercise in the cold.  Emily was my running buddy, Caitlin and Brian ran together and Rachel and Natalie ran the .7 Mile.  Emily and I started out pretty good, but then she had a side-ache and we walked for a while.  After that it seemed as though I was the one that had to do the motivating.  I was thinking Emily would have to do that to me!  We walked for a while even though I wanted to run.  I do have a little competitiveness in me!  Caitlin and Brian ran well, not as good as they wanted but Caitlin also had a side ache so they walked for just a little bit.  At the end, after Emily's water break, she left me in the dust.  Nice.  So the little turkey beat me by seconds instead of holding hands with her mom to the finish.   I get it though...she's a little competitive too!  I was happy to finish without dying on the course.  Caitlin and Brian finished together, but on the results it puts Brian ahead of Caitlin by .01 second.  She let me know though that she was ahead slightly. :)  We'll give it to her!  In the .7Mile Rachel did awesome!  When she left the start I was thinking to myself there's no way she's going to keep up with her sprinting pace!  But, she too, a little competitive came in 2nd after her friend Kael and in front of her friend Luke.  2nd place isn't too shabby!  Natalie had a little bit tougher time.  I think the excitement and couple glasses of water before her race did not help.  She finished crying and complaining of her belly hurting and her throat hurting.  Still, she finished and for a little peanut that was pretty darn good!  Later in the evening we enjoyed the LOI Dinner and Auction.  It was a very fun and exhausting day!

Natalie super excited to run!

Pre-race Photo
Salfer Family-Mia Hansen-Heather, Ella and Levi

6th grade runners
Ally, Emma, Emily, Ella, Elisabeth and Madison
missing from photo-Mia

working out our strategy :)

Last Year there were only 50 runners.  This year 190!!

Start of the .7 Miler

Here comes Natalie!!!!

Top 3 finishers
Luke (3rd)   Kael (1st)   Rachel (2nd)

Wolf Ridge-6th grade class trip

Emily headed up to Finland, MN to the Wolf Ridge environmental learning center with her 6th grade class for 3 days/2 nights.  They had unseasonable warm temps but luckily still had enough snow to snow shoe.  Emily, from what I've heard, was the best on the ropes course.  The also had to build a winter survival shelter and her friend Elisabeth and her did an awesome job.  They were the only 2-man team.  Despite her friend Grace getting the stomach flu/or food poisoning the last evening, Emily still had a good time and was super happy to make it home safely without anyone puking in the car.

St. Patricks Day

John Ireland School had a great showing for this year's St. Patricks Day parade.  It was a beautiful evening-a little chilly but still way better than in years past where there was snow everywhere!  After the short 4 block parade we ate at El Agave with 2 other families and our friend Amber.  We had a group of 17!  It was alot of fun and the green margaritas were the icing on the cake!

Mexico!!

Brian and I were lucky enough to take a few days to ourselves, leave our worries behind and enjoy each other's company in Cancun!  It was so relaxing.  Walks on the beach, drinks by the beach/pool, getting dressed up for dinner, chatting, sleeping in, playing in the ocean, holding hands, warm breezes, sunshine, being silly...it was all wonderful!  Can't wait to do it again next year!