More Catching Up - March 2016

Easter in Biloxi

March had some fun time and some challenges. First, the challenge. About the 22nd of March (maybe the 21st) I went in to take a shower. I had been washing clothes earlier which means the water heater should have been all warmed up. I turned on the shower - no hot water at all. We went out to the garage, and the heater was leaking so bad it had put out the pilot light. It was obvious that we were not going to get it started again. So we were reduced to boiling water on the stove and adding it to some cold water in the bath tub hoping to get enough water to take some semblance of a bath. We managed to get by for a couple of days while we waited to get the water heater replaced. Finally, on Thursday (24th) JoAnne had had enough. She had an early morning flight to Biloxi leaving out of Columbia, SC and was not going to deal with a cold shower or bath. So we checked into the Hampton Inn there in Rock Hill for the night.

Now the fun part. JoAnne got a really cheap flight out of Colombia, through Charlotte, directly into Biloxi. (It cost significantly more to fly from Charlotte - even though that leg was on the same plane as the flight from Columbia!) She got up before 5am and drove the Civic to Columbia to catch her flight. I had to work Friday so I got up about 30 minutes later and went to work. About 10am she called to tell me she was in Charlotte, then caught her flight to Biloxi. They spent the day shopping (Yay!!! I don't have to go!!!)

I, on the other hand had to work all day. Since it was Good Friday and the place was about deserted, I left work early (about 1pm) and started my drive to Mississippi. I went the usual route through Columbia, Augusta, Atlanta (because you have to go through Atlanta!) and spent the night in Montgomery, AL. At around 4am CDT I was up and on the road before 4:30 I got to Biloxi by 9am. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Easter Bunny had come!

Joshua loves Star Wars

Nathan checks out his stuff

Books are good

Brothers

Ready for the Easter egg hunt

Looking

We all jumped into the van and headed to New Orleans to visit the Audubon Zoo. We got to the zoo around 10:30a and had a really good visit, although the boys were ready to leave after a couple of hours. It is a pretty nice zoo.

Waiting to go in

Flamingos

Wow!

Birds

Watch your head

Things to see

White Tiger

Large Parrot

White Tiger

Can you see the bear?

Sun Bear

Nathan loved the birds

Who is the fat guy on the right?

Another bird

Time for a snack

After the zoo, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. After getting home we did some more Easter Egg hunting, and the boys read some of the books they got with their Easter baskets.

 It was a great day.

We spent Sunday at church and had a special Easter Family Home Evening where we talked about the atonement and resurrection.

One other thing. This Easter Sunday, the Biloxi ward was split, and Matthew was called to be the bishop of the new Orange Grove Ward. I had the honor to ordain him a High Priest, and stand in when he was ordained a bishop. Pretty heady stuff. At least now it isn't a secret any more. Two weeks before he has his first sacrament meeting, thanks to General Conference.

We drove back home on Monday, stopping in Columbia on the way to pick up the Civic we left there on Friday.

BTW - they replaced the hot water heater while we were gone so we had a hot shower that night!