able to show her all her tricks Kevin and Megan stopped in for a quick visit on their way to Sioux Falls. . Lydia Is getting big, almost taller than Maren. . . Friday was spent hanging out with the Grandparents. Ian stayed in Walnut for the day while Maren and I went to Omaha with Grandma J. It was to be a "quick" trip, but end
ed up taking the rest of the evening. We went to a few stores in Council Bluffs, mainly looking for fabric for Ian't "Cars" quilt that Grandma J is working on. After seeing how late it had gotten while we were in Walmart, we decided to go eat at Skeeter Barnes, a Bar-B-Q place in the Mall. MMMmmm. We ended up getting home 
around 9:30. . . Maren was exhausted and ernt straight to bed. Ian was still up when we got back. It worked out well, the Witmer Family showed up around 10. Ian and Audra got busy coloring easter eggs. Ian didn't quite understand the whole idea of using utencils instead of his hands to take the eggs out and ended up looking like the Hulk when he was done. After we finished
, we all hit the sack, Saturday was going to be a busy day!On Saturday monring, we all got ready for Clara's Bridal Shower. It was fun to get together and see the newest additions to the Hoffmann Clan. Maren loved seeing the babies, and spent most of her time looking at them. They were so tiny. It's hard to believe that Maren and Ian were that small once! Af
ter the shower, the boys joined us for lunch, before heading to the pond for some fun. The decision was made to keep the food up in Avoca, so we went to the pond for only a couple of hours. Ian got a litt
le fishing in, I went rock hunting. . . I found a huge one, that just kept going. We dug and dug. . . even the tractor helped out. No luck! Maybe next time. I got a few to line my flower beds with. . . Jim had the tractor and wagon there, so we got a hayrack ride. . . It was an awesome day to be at the pond.
After the pond, we went back to Keith and Nancy's for dinner. Keith purchased a massive black iron Kettle that the boys made stew in. It was really good.
We rounded off the evening with a trip to the Super 8 for some
swimming. Maren was awesome. Swimming on her tummy as Eric moved her through the water. . . She had lots of fun ( she even got up the courage to jump in from the sides of the pool. Ian was a little more hesitant about swimming. He kept me busy! I tried to get him to dog paddle, without much luck. He joined his sister in the fun of jumping off the sides.
Sunday=Easter morning! The easter Bunny visited the kids in Walnut! 
Ian and Maren Made out like bandits. Ian got a Baseball glove and a tee and bat. Maren got a cool ball with a Newborn My little Pony. Church went fairly well. The kids were a little fussy but not too bad. There were 40Hoffmann family members in attendance at Mass thie morning, what a crew. . .The Hoffmann Clan met up one last time for brunch, before heading their seperate ways. . . We had a Easter egg hunt for the 
little kids. Maren did a great job, once she figured out what to do. . . It was alittle chilly, but the kids didn't seem to care.
Before Audra left, she and Ian cut out, baked, and decorated sugar cookies. They did a wonderful job!
At the moment, the kids have enough sugar in them to keep them going for DAYS! We are laying low tonight, not sure what will be in the plans tomorrow. The weather had been A LOT better than I had thought it was supposed to be. Too bad we didn't bring the chainsaw over so we could have dropped the tree at my parents house. . .
