Easter was a busy time for us this year; we got to celebrate Joy's birthday on Saturday, and we had a bunch of missionary friends over on Sunday after the church service for a good old fashioned pot luck dinner. We had a 12 pound honey/pineapple glazed ham (of which I am still reaping benefits), mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, cheesy macaroni, salad, and three desserts! We had fun talking and laughing together, playing games, and coloring easter eggs.
Joy's birthday was fun too, although many things didn't really go as planned. I took her to a little town about 25 miles from here so she could go shopping. It was a really nice day so it felt great to be outside, but after looking in several different shops, nothing really tickled her fancy. So we came back home and one of our friends offered to babysit for the evening. Joy wanted to go to a restaurant that we like to go to for special occasions; they have a great salad bar and awesome rotisserie chicken. The only problem was that we had limited time to sit down and eat because she also wanted to see a movie. So we decided to just get the salad bar, but then we had to wait for utensils because they were so busy they ran out of clean ones. Then we had to wait for a long time to get our check, and by the time we got over to the movie theater, it was starting. But we figured we could miss the first few minutes and it would be ok, so we paid for our tickets and ran up to the theater just in time for the manager to come walking out saying the show was canceled because only a few people showed up. Oh no! We did get our money back and a pair of free tickets to come back some other time, but we were still a little disappointed. Instead, we walked the streets for a little while and found a nice little coffee shop where Joy got a slice of cheesecake and we shared it on the terrace. All in all, she had a good day, and her next birthday will be a lot more interesting I'm sure, as we celebrate it in Congo!
Our French is still coming along; I'm just about finished with my second semester. After that, I will participate in a conversation course where no new grammar is introduced, and we just practice...well, conversation, and speaking/understanding too. It will be a good two months of building a solid vocabulary and practicing what we've already learned. The time is going by fast now, and before we know it, we'll be on our way back to southern California.
A certain little girl is also growing up really fast! I realized the other day that she doesn't really fit in my arms anymore. She's learning so much! We've started her on some baby food, so far just peas and squash. She hasn't really got the whole "open mouth, close mouth, swallow" thing down yet, so what she does is more like this: "open mouth slightly, push contents back out onto chin and surrounding area, collect contents with hands, mash vigorously on tray, lick contents from fingers, repeat." She hasn't figured out the crawling thing yet, but she can stand all by herself and very soon she will be completely mobile!
We hope you were able to make some great memories during this wonderful holiday too, as we celebrated His death, burial, and triumphant resurrection!
Mommy and daddy both took turns taking me on all the fun toys there. I like going there when it's nice and sunny and warm outside. It's fun to go on a stroller ride and see lots of neat things. 
