Happy Earth Day 2008

A Day at the Zoo

A couple weekends ago Amy, Alivia, Brayden, Mindy, Lilly, the kids and I all took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent a Sunday at the zoo. This was Alena's first trip to the zoo and she was in awe. She absolutely LOVED it! She wanted to spend 10 minutes at every exhibit whether there was actually an animal in there or not. She really likes the elephants, zebras, and the penguin house. She even liked the reptile house! I think she felt at home at the monkey house, since she is our own little Alenatang. It was a wonderful day and everyone had a great time visiting all the animals.

Alena's Birthday Playdate

Alena's birthday playdate, although a little chilly, was also a lot of fun. She was very excited about her birthday this year and couldn't wait for her party with all her friends. We had a bounce house for the kids to jump around in (thanks Dougie) and Alena got a lot of fun new things to play with. She even had a chocolate birthday cake with her picture on it in icing. She did a really good job blowing out her candles and already can't wait until her next birthday!

Easter 2008

I finally downloaded all my pics and can get caught up on blog posts, so I guess I will start with Easter 2008. Since it snowed on Easter this year we really didn't do an egg hunt, but everyone still had a great time getting dressed up and spending some quality time with our families. We all had a lot of fun decorating Easter eggs the Friday before, which we turned into deviled eggs for Sunday. And even though Alena was still officially two years old, this was her FOURTH Easter, which I thought was rather strange. Here are a few of the pics...

April 4th Anniversarys

Today, April 4, 2008, marks the 40th Anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I have previously blogged that Dr. King is one of America's true heroes and his words are an inspiration to me and millions of others. Everyone should take a moment, not just today but everyday, to reflect on Dr. Kings messages, such as "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." Also one of my personal favorites for obvious reasons, "When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."

Ironically, today is also the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Symbol. The symbol was first introduced in England on April 4, 1958 at a nuclear disarmament march. The symbol quickly spread throughout the world with the turbulent 1960's. As we look to the leaders of the future, we must choose ones that consider the messages of peace, equality, and nonviolence the most important issues facing our country and our world. "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr