Prom

Hauser Prom was help on Saturday, April 29th. Bella and Sam (her friend, now boyfriend) went together.

Off they go!

They got some really nice photos taken in front of the prom venue by Sam's best friend's mom.

Sam and Evan have been friends since elementary school. Evan has been dating Grace, one of Bella's closest friends, for the past few years. Sam just started going to Hauser this school year and it was through Evan and Grace that Bella and Sam got to know each other better. They all had a great time going to prom together.

After getting their photos done, the four of them went out to dinner at a restaurant in downtown Columbus. They finished before prom actually started, so they just walked around downtown taking photos. These are some from Bella's camera.

It got a little rainy that night.

Just about time to head in! 

These photos were from an online news article in the Columbus newspaper. As a junior class officer, Bella was part of the prom planning committee. She also got the honor of crowning this year's prom queen!

I thought this was kind of funny. This photo showed up in the newspaper photo collection.

And this is the photo that was being taken in the photo above.

Bella planned these mocktails, designed the menu, and made the list of ingredients for her advisor to purchase.

A couple teachers served as "bartenders".

After prom, it was time for After Prom! This is an event held at school where students can go hang out after prom until 2am. This is such a great event because it allows the party to continue in a safe and fun environment. I didn't take any photos, but it was a 60's/70's disco theme. We had inflatable obstacle courses, 9 Square, limbo, air hockey, foosball, corn hole, large Jenga, large Connect Four, limbo, lounge areas with bean bag chairs, decks of cards, etc. There were also amazing prize giveaways throughout the night. For example, Sam won and Apple watch and Bella won a $100 gas gift card! They also gave away a couple of laptops. I heard we had over $7,000 worth of prizes. Everyone got something. Growing up, my school never had anything like this, but I love that an event like this is part of the culture here. Apparently, After-Prom has been going on for decades!

Academic Awards Banquet

Bella and several other classmates were honored at the Hauser Academic Banquet. Students who are in the top 10% or their class or who have maintained a 4.0 cumulative GPA are invited to this special meal. The students are all recognized with a certificate and are also given a pin.

Here are the top students in this year's junior class.

While Curtis and I were at the banquet with Bella, Andy was getting photos of Graydon attending his first semi-formal dance. These kids clean up nicely! 

Spring Sports

Graydon decided to do track this year. His events include: high jump, 100 meter run, 200 meter run, and 4x100 meter relay. He is really motivated to improve his high jump and practices as often as he can. His current personal record is 4'7". Here are a few photos from his first meet this season. 

Bella is playing the #1 singles position again for Hauser Varsity Tennis. I've not been the greatest about getting photos of her playing. Last year, we had a parent who was amazing at getting photos of all the girls. But her daughter graduated and we don't have her this year. I don't want to distract Bella while she's playing, so this is all I've gotten of her so far. I'll have to get more before the season is over.

Easter!

Here are the kids before church on Easter morning. 

And after. I didn't get a lot of detail in this photo, but we have a team of people who do a beautiful job decorating the church for Easter. 

In holidays past, we used to wait around at church to get a family photo; but with all Andy's greeting, talking, and pastor-duties, we'd typically be waiting around for quite a while. Now, the kids and I just head home and we utilize the self-timer on our phones to snap our own quick photo after Andy gets back. 

Some snacks to nourish us before our big meal. I mainly took a photo because I was proud of my pepperoni flower. 

It's time for the annual egg hunt! 

I believe we hid 96 eggs, which mean the kids each had 32 to find. Bella found hers first followed by Graydon shortly after. Andy and I ended up helping Curtis find his remaining eggs, but we still came up one short. Maybe we'll finally locate it over the summer. 

Bella emptied her eggs and separated her winnings into neat piles. The slips of paper all represented $1.

Even though Curtis didn't find all his eggs, he did manage to find the most valuable egg - the one containing the paper for a golden bunny and $5!

But wait. . . there's more! They still had baskets to hunt for! 

We ate the traditional Easter dishes: ham, green bean casserole, cheesy potato casserole, buttered-carrots, rolls, and washed it down with sparkling grape juice. Later, we ate some carrot cake. 

I realized this year that Easter is my favorite holiday. It's always been right up there with Christmas, but it really hit me this year that I actually enjoy it more than Christmas. For one thing, we are celebrating something so miraculous that gives our lives immeasurable hope. The other thing I enjoy is the simplicity of it. I guess Christmas can feel like a lot of pressure and a lot of busyness. Easter doesn't have as much of that and I really appreciated that this year.