Go Twins!

Teagan could hardly wait when her parents told her that they were going to see the Twins on Sunday, April 18th. "I have been waiting my whole life for this moment!"

She tried to wait patiently as the light rail weaved its way through the city. "It's nice," she thought, "but why did it have to stop so much?"

But when Teagan arrived at her destination, she quickly realized she wasn't going to meet her twin cousins Alexandra and Cecelie (see post: From Norway with Love). "Oh, those Twins."

Her parents did their best to explain that they weren't just going to a Twins game, but that they had box seats to celebrate her Great-uncle Michael's 30th birthday.

Teagan thought her Great-aunt Sarah was awesome for planning the surprise party for him.

After making the rounds, Teagan headed straight to her Great-grandma Lynn to get the scoop on the Twins. "Do I really have to yell that loud?"

Teagan was glued to the game, filled with excitement and anticipation...

The Twins were down by 3 runs with 2 outs and bases loaded. "And here's the pitch..."

Teagan consoled Kitty the whole way home.

On the Move

Crawling wasn't coming fast enough and Teagan could wait no more - she had to move. With her Christmas money from Great-grandma Lynn in hand, she put the down payment on a slightly used car. She was ready to go, but she knew that safety came first.

She began by checking the blind spots. All clear.

Next she checked her mirror noticing that some of the objects appeared much closer than she expected.

Finally, with her rattle in hand, she revved the engine and slammed it into gear.

Unfortunately Kitty didn't get out of the way fast enough. Poor Kitty.

Importance of Stretching

Teagan had heard that a person should stretch before doing any strenuous activity, and she figured crawling fit into this category. She wanted to prepare for when that time comes.

She began by stretching her hamstrings, but she had no idea for what count or even how to count.

Next she tried the hurdler stretch. She wasn't sure how she had gotten herself into this position or if she could even get out of it.

Finally, after all that work, Teagan decided to take a breather. She wondered for a moment if all these stretches would get her to her goal. Then she came to the terrible realization that all of her smiling hadn't reduced the size of her cheeks one bit.

Winter Doldrums

It was mid-February and Teagan came down with a case of the doldrums.

Having emptied her toy box for the third time, Teagan still couldn't find any new toys.

Then to her surprise, Natalia (Teagan's God-sister) came over to play.

First Teagan showed Natalia her book, "See this blank spot right here? This is where my Mom and Dad are suppose to insert a picture."

Next it was time to play with the colorful chain links, but Teagan was unable to find her second set. Suddenly she realized how much she valued her toys, especially those chain links in her God-sister's mouth...

Thankfully Mom found the second set of chain links just in time.

Christ is Risen!

Our first Pascha with Teagan (and with little sleep).

Seven years earlier, our first Pascha together as a married couple at St Mary's Orthodox Cathedral. Pictured with us are our wedding sponsors, JoAnn and Harold (see post: From One Beginning to Another).

Celebrating with Friends

The time was 3 AM and Teagan was still going strong. She hadn't realized that the Agape meal was more than just feasting on food, but also time for fellowship with friends. With a full belly, she knew it was time to make the rounds and socialize.

The first stop was with her God-sister.

Next was some cuddle time with Leo.

Confronted with her heavy eyelids, Teagan soon realized that she couldn't visit with all of her friends individually. She decided to have a little party of her own, but eventually her eyelids won the battle and her parents took her home for a few hours of sleep.

The next morning, slightly rested, Teagan found Easter Vespers to be the perfect venue to spend more time with friends.

You can see more pictures of our Holy Week and Pascha services, including sightings of all three Bassetts, on our church's website: Holy Trinity Orthodox Church.

Easter Basket Tradition

This was going to be Teagan and Natalia's first Pascha, so Vince explained the tradition of Easter baskets. Each family brings a basket filled with meat and dairy to the midnight Paschal service. Then, after the service is over, everyone shares their baskets and breaks the lenten fast together in the Agape Meal that lasts through the early morning hours. Teagan assured Vince that staying up wouldn't be a problem.

Between the Copa and Bassett families, our refrigerator was heavy ladened with polish sausage, lamb, cheeses, chocolates, and all sorts of goodies.

Hearing about the stocked refrigerator, Sky wanted in on the Easter basket action - but this isn't quite what he had in mind.

The 2010 edition of the Bassett's Easter basket was ready, complete with four 22-oz bottles of home brew for Dan and Andrea to share and a banana and some squash for Teagan. She hadn't planned on sharing.

Celebrating 100

This post marks the 100th entry for our blog. One hundred sounded like a big number to Teagan, but she withheld her excitement until she had a better understanding of what this meant...

Teagan asked, "Is that how many people are in the Copa family?"

"No," I replied, "Think bigger."

"Is that how old you and Mommy are?"

"Ah, no. Think much bigger."

"Is that how many bottles of beer you brewed this year."

"Think smaller."