Oh, deer!

On the evening of April 20th, Graydon was out later because he went with his girlfriend's family to see the movie Project Hail Mary. 

I was really tired that evening, so I went to bed a little early and Andy waited up for Graydon. Later on, Andy woke me up. He said he was tracking Graydon on Life 360 and saw that he was on his way home. But at one point, his car stopped moving and didn't start again. Our drive home is a long country road. There are no stop signs or traffic lights on that road, so no reason why he should be stopped. And when Andy tried calling, there was no response. I told him to immediately go to Graydon's location and I'd try calling him again. Thankfully, Graydon picked up right away when I called. I asked, "Graydon, are you OK." He responded, "Not really. I just hit a deer and my airbag went off. I just got off the phone with 911." I was immediately so relieved just to hear his voice. I told him that Andy was on his way and to hang tight. Then I called Andy who was also very relieved.

While Graydon was OK, his car was not. It's so amazing the amount of damage a deer can do. Our insurance company ended up totaling the car. I'm a little sad about that since this car was given to Graydon by my dad, not even a year ago. But, we are all in agreement that cars are replaceable and Graydon is not and we are so, so happy he was not seriously injured. 

Bummer that we just spent $1,000 on brand new tires the month prior. And, the back-up camera only worked occasionally. A few days after this accident, a notice from Ford came in the mail that multiple 2017 Ford Taurus models were having back-up camera issues and that they were going to fix them for free! That's life sometimes. But all in all, we still came out of this one very much ahead. 

Curtis's Basketball Banquet

We were sad to see basketball season come to an end. It was an exciting time to be a Hauser Jets basketball fan. The Varsity team finished with a 26-3 record, JV with an 18-2 record, and C Team with a 13-4 record. The Varsity team were Sectional and Regional Champs as well as Mid-Hoosier Conference Champs. This team also made it to the Final Four for the first time in 20 years!

Curtis was also one of the students recognized for his academic achievement. 

Hocking Hills

Since the Renners (the couple on the left) couldn't go on our cruise in January (due to the small fact that their first grandchild was being born), we planned this quick weekend getaway to Hocking Hills. 

We wre also celebrating Jennifer's (in the middle) birthday!

I've never been to Hocking Hills before and it is beautiful! 

Something about these tree roots just made me want to take a picture and remember it.

This weekend was filled with so much fun and laughter, just what we all needed.

Clifty Falls

My brother Scott, Jen, and Maddie were in the Clifty Falls area during Maddie's spring break and I decided to take a personal day and visit with them since they were so close. I hadn't been to Clifty Falls State Park since Bella and I went back in 2019. 

Scott and Jen.

It's not too often I get one-on-one time with any of my siblings, so this was kind of nice. 

While sitting outside of their rental house, we spotted an eagle up in a tree! 

Ladies Day

The weekend after Easter, I drove up to Muncie to celebrate Ladies' Day with Bella and her sorority. I got to see her two weekends in a row, which was a nice treat!

Standing by the photo of us at last year's event. 

We ate a delicious brunch and painted shells. 

Later on, we strolled around Muncie and stopped to split a smoothie bowl.

Spring flowers are my favorite, especially tulips!

It was a beautiful day to walk around Minnetrista Museum & Gardens. 

I love any time we get to spend together. 

Easter

In the two weeks leading up to Easter, Andy spent the majority of that time up in WI visiting with his mom. In that time, she didn't seem to be improving, but she also wasn't getting worse, so he came back home just in time for Easter. 

I was having a good hair day and wanted to document. 

I opted to an Easter brunch this year that included: charcuterie board, fruit salad, banana and blueberry muffins, deviled eggs, frittata, sausage egg & tator tot casserole, and bacon. 

We played an egg game this year that involved rolling dice and completing actions. At the end, each kid opened their eggs to see their prizes, which mostly consisted of candy, cash, and some get out of chore tickets. 

Hidden in all the eggs was the Golden Bunny prize! Curtis has definitely won this prize the most out of all three kids. 

But Bella and Graydon didn't do too badly either. 

As the kids have gotten older, it's been hard to find good hiding spaces for their baskets. This year, I hid a few eggs that contained challenges and trivia. After a challenge was completed or trivia question was answered, they earned a letter. Once all eggs were found, they had to unscramble all the letters to determine the location of their Easter baskets. 

Bella found the first egg and the challenge was to complete a one-minute wall sit! 

Another of our challenges was to take a silly family selfie. 

The trivia questions were:

What was the first pet we had as a family? Answer: Johnny the beta fish.

Where did we go on vacation in 2017? Answer: Wyoming

What year did both sets of grandparents get married? Answer 1976

What was the name of the grocery store we lived across the street from in NJ? Shop Rite

The other two challenges were to spin in a circle 10 times then walk a straight line and do "The Bunny Hop" dance.

After all eggs were found, they got to work unscrambling. 

Nice try.

After a few attempts, they figured it out!

Since Andy was gone for his birthday, we celebrated him that evening. Looking pretty good for 46!

And this isn't Easter related, but my Dad has been busy painting all the rooms in their house. I love this photo of him relaxing and enjoying his peaceful living room.