Alligators, Kim Monroe and NBA basketball

We recently enjoyed a visit from Kimberly Monroe (Sheralie's sister) from Poway, California. Her spring break consisted of hanging out with Jeffrey and Laird at such fun places as the alligator park, where they did some fishing (pictured). Kim also saw "Back to the Future" for the first time, one of my favorite movies of all time. Hard to believe that the movie is now 22 years old. We are only 8 years away from the "future" that they travelled to in Back to the Future 2.

My brother Mark and I also went to the Rockets home game against the Jazz in the first round of the NBA playoffs. We went with some folks from church. This was the first time I had sat in the cheap seats, though one of our group works for the Rockets and was able to arrange for us to sit on the Rockets' bench during warmups. The game was very exciting, as the Rockets won. We would have been very disgusted if they had lost. Those are the chances you take when you go to sports events.

Laird Turns 2

Laird turned 2 early this month (April 15) and we had a small party to celebrate.

Laird sporting some of his new clothes from Grandma Bev.

Laird and his dumptruck cake, a Sheralie creation.

One of his favorite presents, a new "bike".

The party crowd: Grandma and Grandpa Broadbent, Uncle Mark, Sheralie, Jeffrey and Laird.

Easter in Dallas

For Easter weekend, we took a long weekend up to Dallas. I believe it was the coldest weekend of the year in Dallas, as they even got some very light snow. While there we visited our friends the Smiths (Nathan and Emily), my cousin (JoEllen and Mark) and Sheralie's aunt (Aunt Ruth and family). Unfortunately, we forgot our camera everywhere we went except for the Easter Egg hunt on Saturday with the Smiths.

Jeffrey (in Tigger sweatshirt) and friends line up for the Easter Egg Hunt. Laird had to be roused from a nap and joined later.

We are very glad to be back in Houston now, and I thought this picture was a good one to add:

Pete in the Big Apple

I took my first trip to the Big Apple at the end of March. I have a few observations (and pictures) from the trip.

1. There are a lot of people packed in New York. And most of them walk on the street. There are very few people that walk on the street in Houston. This cathedral/church looked very small next to all the skyscrapers in midtown.

2. The only green spaces I saw while flying over the city were cemetaries and Central Park. You think we could think of a more efficient way to entomb people than by taking all available green space.

3. I am an uncle for the very first time. Below is a picture of my new niece, Charlotte. She is featured more prominently in "Christina and Helaman" blog to the right.

4. Manhattan really is an island. They have a lot of bridges though, like the Washington Bridge behind my brother in law Helaman.

5. I have never been presented with the option of "If you pay with cash, you don't have to pay sales tax" - it was a little fishy.