Rosie's 8th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our special Rosie!  Rosie loves her birthday and this is an extra special birthday because she is eight and will soon be baptized.  She will be baptized in June in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when our family visits Grammy and Grampy.  She can't wait!  

Rosie wore her baptism dress to church on Easter Sunday and she looked so beautiful.  She is bundle of energy, very sweet and we love her so much.

As you know, Rosie loves just about everything, but she really loves opening presents.  She was up bright and early on April 16th and Papa Donut was waiting with her favorite maple donut.  Then she, with Coleman's help, opened her presents.

She got the cutest set of pink golf clubs, some clothes and much anticipated Molly, an American Girl Doll.  She was thrilled with her presents!  Papa Donut loved the golf clubs, he has always proclaimed that Rosie "Will be the best LPGA golfer ever!"

We had Rosie's friend party early so we have an Easter theme and make Easter crafts.  The girls ate pizza and strawberries, frosted and decorated cookies, painted hollowed-out eggs and tin buckets, made a pom-pom chick and played Easter bingo with Jono.  They also played Easter games and Rosie loved opening her presents.  It was a very fun party.  I remarked, "There is a big difference between a party for 12 girls and a party for 12 boys."  Rosie's friends were so quiet and mellow. Rosie was by far the loudest and most energetic, which is what makes her Rosie! 

Rosie is a delightful girl!  She takes Jazz dancing and tumbling.  She can't wait to start Activity Days with the other 8 year old Primary girls. She is an excellent reader and is reading the "Box Car Children".  Her great aunt Toni Lee gave her four books in the series for her birthday and she treasures them.  Rosie likes math, especially times tables.  She just started learning cursive at school and can write her name.  She loves her school teacher.

Rosie is quite dramatic.  At least 3 times a week she bursts into tears and wails, "This is the worst day ever!"  Luckily, she is quick to be happy again and all is forgotten.  She loves to be doing things, writing stories or writing in her journal. She is famous for her sweet notes and poems, and she leaves them in secret places for those she loves.  She rarely watches TV.  Her best friend Katie lives next door and they love to play together.

Right after Christmas, Rosie passed off all her Articles of Faith in Primary and earned a glass brick that says "Believe".  She worked so hard to memorize them, she listened to the music every morning to learn them.  The Primary President told me she was sad when Rosie passed them all off; she loved listening to Rosie sing a different Article of Faith to her each week.

We are so blessed to have our precious Rosie!  We love her so much.

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Happy Easter

We were so happy to wake up to a beautiful Easter day!  After a fun Easter egg hunt (Coleman broke a few eggs, to his dismay), we were off to church.  The boys wore their Masters green shirts and Rosie wore her baptism dress, she is turning eight this week.  Papa Donut took our picture and declared, "The Oettli children will be the best dressed at church!"

After church, we had a delicious lamb dinner with the Oettli family and watched the Masters on TV.  It was so exciting to think we had just been there!  We served our drinks in Masters cups and had Masters moonpie with our dessert.

Then, we went to the Ashby home for another party.  All the cousins played in Laura and JD's awesome yard and we loved Laura's yummy desserts.  Bud, Rosie and Coleman feel right at home there, they stayed with Laura and JD while Jono and I went to the Masters.  My kids loved spending time playing with sweet Macy.  Laura and JD played Scrabble with them, did homework and laughed at all the funny things they said.

Our Easter egg hunt; the Easter Bunny hid all the eggs and baskets in the living room.  The kids got an Easter treat and $20!  Their practical dad made them put half of it in the bank.

Earlier in the week, we dyed eggs with Jen F.  Coleman had the most fun of all!  He accidentally dropped at least 5 eggs on the floor and was devastated each time.  Rosie and Bud were so kind and kept giving him their eggs.  Finally, I boiled more eggs to compensate for Coleman's disasters.

I have to share our Easter morning out-take photos; we had a few problems, as you can see!

This weekend was Spring Break and we did lots of fun activities.  We went to the aquarium, the Dinosaur Museum, and we rode Trax to the Gateway and went to the Children's Museum.  It was a fabulous long weekend!  Happy Easter 2009.

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The Masters

Jono and I just spent some magical days in Augusta, Georgia at The Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.  It is one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the world, but for one week a year, they open the gates and the public is allowed in.  A badge, however, is the hardest ticket in sports to get.  Jono knows the right person and we got badges to watch the practice rounds, the Par 3 Tournament and the first day of the Masters.  I attended only the first two days, Jono stayed behind for two more.

Augusta National is one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever seen.  It is considered "hallowed ground" by golfers around the world.  The trees are sky high and the tee-boxes, fairways and greens are perfectly manicured.  Even the second cut is in perfect condition.  The azalea flowers were in full bloom and the sand is as white as snow.  It is breath-taking!

Jono's friend, golfer Mark O'Meara, had his agent take us behind the ropes for a tour of the Clubhouse, Caddys' Barn, Butler Cabin and the Crow's Nest.  It was amazing!  Then we spent the next two days watching players on the practice putting green, the driving range and on the course.  It was so great that cameras were allowed for the practice rounds and I took hundreds of pictures.  Here are just a few.

This is Adam Scott and below is Phil Mickelson.  

He has won two green jackets.

The Masters Tournament keeps commercialization of any kind at a minimum.  There are no sponsor signs on the course and parking is free.  They have kept the food prices down, also.  I had to try the famous pimento and cheese sandwich.  Jono loved the moonpies, two for 50 cents.  All the signs, TV stations, garbages cans, etc. are green to blend in with the grass and trees; even the sandwiches are in green bags.  Our breakfast and lunch each day cost only $7.00.

My favorite holes on the couse are what's called "Amen Corner".  The pictures just can't do it justice.  Jono and I walked this part of the course before any golfers had reached it and we were one of the only patrons there.  It was so beautiful!

This is the 16th green where many big putts are made on Sunday afternoon.  It was very windy when I was at Augusta, and Jono and I wore golfing wind pants and jackets.

Above is Ernie Els leaving the practice putting green and 

below is Boo Weekly laughing with his caddie on the course.

This is Vijay Singh on the driving range (he's a former #1 player in the world) and below is Rory McIlroy.  He is one of my favorite players.  He is a 19 year old from Ireland and has played on the European Tour. This is his first Masters.  On Tuesday, he played with Mark O'Meara and we followed them for several holes.  Jono met him after I went home, and he signed a Masters cup for me.  

Above is "The Shark", Greg Norman.  He is a golf icon and married to tennis player Chris Evert. Below is Jono's friend Mark O'Meara. He was so kind and generous to get us tickets to this amazing event.

This is the reining champ Trevor Immelman.  I saw every big player except Tiger Woods.  Jono met him after I went home and shook his hand!

The last pictures are of the Par 3 course.  It was so beautiful, all the holes are surrounding two lakes. We walked this course before the ropes were up and it was fabulous to see.  

This was such an amazing few days,  

we will remember it for the rest of our lives!

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