There was a contest at Dad's office for all the staff. It was a coloring contest. Everyone was given two Easter eggs on paper to color. They cut them out, put their names on the back and voted on the best one. There was a prize involved, which stimulated the competitive juices to a high degree. Dad colored his first one at the office with crayons, but he brought the second one home, seeking some artistic input from his wife and daughter. He wouldn't let us help, but we could advise.
He took me up on the offer of colored pencils. We talked about the colors to use, which I then selected and he set to work. Dana thought this was great and grabbed the camera. It's not often you see a 61-year old man coloring an Easter egg. 
Although I offered to help speed up the process, Dad was adamant that he do it all himself. The ladies at the office were being really strict about this. We thought the finished product looked very nice. He did a good job of staying inside the lines. Sometimes, you have to. Evidently, the people at the office really liked Dad's work, because he won the contest. When it was discovered who had won, there were cries of unfair advantage and how he must have had help, which were only somewhat in jest. We never did find out what the prize was because Dad gave it to the secretaries and never did see it opened.Story #2
We had a hunt in our backyard on Friday, but it wasn't for Easter eggs. It was for a septic tank. We are beginning an addition to the house and needed to find the septic tank and "take care of it". This means poking holes in the top and bottom so water won't collect in it. Matt and Dana did some preliminary digging in the garden. They got down about four feet but were only hitting caliche, not a tank cover. How deep was the swimming pool you guys dug out there that one summer?
Friday morning, Rusty Riggs brought in the big guns, er shovel. Dad said, "You've got neighbors." When I looked out the window, this is was I saw.
It was a very amazing process, watching the driver inch the backhoe into the yard between the house and the shop. He put out the shovel as far as he could, pushed it into the ground and used the hydraulics to pull the cab into place.
This is how close the cab was to the buildings on either side. 
Once the driver was set, the hunt was on. He started by digging up the garden area. It was much faster than Matt and Dana and fewer blisters. No septic tank.
After some discussion, they moved closer to the lawn. No tank. Closer to the orange tree. No tank.
After some discussion, they moved closer to the lawn. No tank. Closer to the orange tree. No tank.After more consideration about the lay of things and the sewer pipe, they tried again, in front of the shop. Bingo!
The sewer pipe ran across the top of the tank. They carefully moved the lid and proceeded to "poke" holes in the tank with the backhoe. Every time they hit that thing, the house vibrated. Finally they were finished and filled everything in. Then the driver carefully inched back out and they were gone.
We meet with Rusty Monday evening to talk about scheduling and other stuff. So it begins.
