Presser/Christiansen Family: April 20th and before

Isaac flying

Well I could not stay awake today in Sacrament meeting. I am sure it was my fault because the Elder that spoke had some good things to say. I am sure it is because I am taking too much Trazodone. They had a return missionary speak that just returned from Argentina. Apparently he was one of Sammy's teachers before he left on his mission because Nathan invited him into Primary to listen to Sammy give his talk. Sammy did a good job giving his talk but the person helping him whispered the talk to him so he whispered it to the audience until he got to the end and he whispered, "In the name of Jesus Christ," and then he shouted "Amen". Typical Sammy.

We took the kids home after church to keep them for a while. Larry had not felt like going to church because he was sick. So he had cooked chicken and had a vegetable made and we had fruit salad from last night so we were able to get them fed quickly. They had brought a whole sack full of things that they got from the Easter Bunny so then they began playing with the things they brought.

David Hanging out on the Slide

They have a tradition here that I had not heard of. It is Fiesta time here in San Antonio. They have these brightly colored eggs call "casdcons" that they throw at each other and they break up into confetti they come in egg cartons just like eggs and look like eggs . The kids brought some but I make them go out to the patio to throw them at each other. It looks like it is fun but a huge mess.

Maggie on the swing

We also played a My Little Pony Rainbow game. They have to spin a dial and depending on what the ponies land on they try to build a rainbow before the sky becomes completely cloudy. It was a fun game but Isaac and Maggie thought it was more fun to throw the rainbow block pieces at each other!!

We had set up to

Maggie and Sammy Rolling Eggs

Skype with Nikki and the kids between 5-6:00 PM. When the kids were still here at 5:10 p.m. I decided to just Skype anyway. It was good to see the kids again. Myles has grown a lot. He ran across the room tonight and he was barely walking when we were there in September. Abbie read us a book about 10 scoops of ice cream. She is reading well and in September Nikki said she had no desire to learn. It was good to talk to Lexie and Ashton. Lexie has been in a couple of plays this year in school and is sewing several projects Ashton told us about what they got for Easter. Sara came to get the kids while we were talking to Nikki and the kids. So they were able to talk to them for a few minutes also. Nathan spent some time talking to them also. We talked to Nikki and the kids for about an hour.

We then took some time to relax for a few minutes. After that we had some dinner. Then we talked to Kirsten and her kids for about 45 minutes. Taylor was cute. She was excited to see Grandpa at first. Kirsten said that she misses coming to our house and watching Disney Jr. Kirsten also talked about their getting together with Erick and Heather and rolling Easter Eggs in Logan. Apparently Ryker and Taylor really had a good time rolling eggs together.

David Set to Roll

Sammy with a yolk to roll

On Saturday Larry and I went to Weight Watchers. We got lost again with the GPS so I went into the website and looked for different directions and we finally found it. We actually stayed for a meeting. A person that we had met in December at the meetings in Schurz was working there and she actually remembered me. I lost 4.4 lbs and Larry lost 1.0 lbs which is a miracle because we are faced with constant temptation to eat things that are high sugar in the mission office.

Sara brought the kids at about 1:30p.m. and we initially went to a park that is just down the road from the apartment to see if there was a place to roll Easter Eggs but there was not a place so we went to a place below the apartment where there appears to be a small dam. It was pretty steep but the eggs rolled easily on some tire tracks that had compacted the grasses growing on the hillside. David was the first to have an egg go to the bottom of the hill but eventually they all had one that went to the bottom. Nathan and Larry watched from the turn off road and I went with the kids.

Running up and down the hill

Larry and Nathan watching from the road

The kids were too tired to go back to the park after climbing the hill for so many times so Nathan suggested that we get Frozen Yogurt and they were excited about that. David suggested that we go to Orange Leaf a company that sells Frozen Yogurt. When we got there I realized why they liked it so much. It was really built with children in mind and there were lots of choices and toppings. We had a great time and we ate so much yogurt and toppings that we really were not hungry for dinner.

Larry felt like he overdid though and so that is why he did not feel good this morning.

Riding with Dad after Yogurt

Sammy with his baby Furbee

On Friday I had a big order come in from the distribution center at the mission office so I was unpacking boxes most of the day but I also had baptisms to enter and referrals to enter. I was frustrated because I thought I had ordered on pad of some forms that Larry needs for his job and I got one paper. I thought I had ordered 10 packs of Baptism and Confirmation forms and got 2 and a half boxes. I think that I ordered 250 thinking that I was ordering the number I needed and those ended up being packs. It is frustrating that they are inconsistent about how you have to order them. I think I can send the excess back. It was a busy day. Larry got some bike rakes that he had ordered in as well but he did not have to unpack them.

David and Sammy playing

Friday we had a couple from the mission the Studevants come and visit with us at lunch and bring a lunch for us to eat. They are a military relations couple and they want to help Nathan. We found out that they are serving the mission from home and live here in San Antonio. They thought that they could help Nathan get a VIA tram pass to ride the handicap bus. After they came Nathan went down to the business center and printed out an application.

Maggie throwing rainbow blocks at Isaac

Nathan had a friend invite him to go to the show with him on Friday evening. So he went with him and Larry and I had the night to our selves. It was a funny feeling. We went and bought dinner because we were tired from the Mission office. We went to Whataburger with some coupons that came to the office. I was shocked at the size of their hamburgers. Then we took my new phone to the AT&T store at the mall to have it set up and transfer my contacts. That took about 2 hours so we went home after that and watched a "Bones" TV show while waiting for Nathan to get home. It didn't take long. He and Jason went to see "Frozen" which surprised me.

Well Larry tells me it is lights out for missionaries so I will close for now.