Cousins

I just love this picture! Kaylynn and her cousin,
Gabe pulling the wagon, and Jaden laughing hysterically!

Breakfast Creations!

One of our favorite breakfast dishes is pancakes, and one of our favorite things to do before we eat them is GET CREATIVE!

Jeremie's Bear.

What is your interpretation?

Kaylynn's self portrait.

And....Kalli's Abstract Art!

Kalli Turned 2!

Kalli enjoyed her second birthday. She is well-versed in the birthday traditions. Right after we said Happy Birthday to her in the morning, she replied, "Kalli eat cake now." How can we resist? We had a nice little family party for her here at the house where she enjoyed playing with Cousin Enan. Her most treasured gifts were the bike seat given by auntie Louise and Uncle Brian and her sleeping bag from Grandma Kay and Papa Les. She played in her sleeping bag FOREVER!!! And was quite possessive of it. We especially like the bike seat because now we can all go biking together!

Kalli enjoying the bike seat. That is big sister's helmet....
we have since bought her one of her own.

One of her many party faces!

Blowing out candles.

Woops, the pictures are backwards...oh well.

What she chose to wear to her party. She picked this dress out and asked for a "pony" in her hair. The dress is about 2 sizes too big, but I wasn't going to argue.

Jolene comes to visit!

My wonderful friend, Jolene came to visit us for her 30th birthday! She left behind her husband 4 beautiful children for an entire week. We made sure she saw as much of the east coast as we could manage. We took her to the ocean, to the lake, to see all the lighthouses, to many old forts, ballet recital, t-ball games, and of course a trip to Boston. We spent some time over at Kay and Les' house riding the golf cart (which she refused to drive). We attempted to race Les, but he beat us every time....he was driving the snowmobile. Yes, we tend to drive the snowmobile more in the summer than we do in the winter. We miss you already, Jolene. Next time, you need to bring the whole family!

T-Ball

Jeremie had his first year of T-ball. He ha a lot of fun, and we had a lot of laughs. Daddy was the assistant coach which helped Jeremie. He is not too fond of doing stuff without mom or dad yet. It is quite humorous to watch 4 and 5 year olds play t-ball. They hit the ball, then run to third base instead of first, then try to chase down the ball they just hit, then run to the pitcher's position. Most "games" left us with belly aches from our laughter! He had so much fun, and at the end of the season all the kids get a trophy and a popsicle!

The Pide Piper

Kaylynn enjoyed another year of ballet and still has dreams of one day being a prima ballerina. This year she performed The Pide Piper of Hamlin for her recital. She was a little village girl and oh so cute! She had so much fun, and really played the part. There is a part of the song when the rats come out and Kaylynn jumped into the arms of one of the teenage girls. It was so cute! Here she is afterward with her lovely boquet of flowers from Grandma Kay and Papa Les.

Back Woods!

Alan had the opportunity to go to Idaho this past spring to hunt ground squirrels with my grandpa and my dad. He spent the week shooting, hunting, riding 4-wheelers, visiting, and eating good food. He had a great time. We wish we could all go. Hopefully sometime soon we will make it out west for a visit. We miss you guys!!!!

Alan and Grandpa John

Alan shooting trap with the "guys."

Alan and my dad.

Alan and Grandpa.

THE BIG APPLE!!!!

April vacation we took a wonderful, but too short trip to New York. The kids had been asking to see the statue of liberty for a while so since NY is only about 6 hours away (and because priceline gave us a great deal on a hotel), we decided to go! The trip was...well....not without its adventures. On our first trip on the Long Island Rail Road, the stroller fell off the top luggage rack and hit Kaylynn and Alan on their heads. Alan got a small cut by his eye, but Kaylynn's was a bit larger.....and of course head wounds bleed like crazy. So, she was screaming and crying so the car conductor arranged for "medical assistance" at the next stop. Little did we know that "medical assistance" meant policemen...paramedics...the manager for the train station...and lots of paperwork! Jeremie was very impressed by the policemen's guns, and Kaylynn just wanted to go to Central Park. Well, the paramedic checked her, gave her a bandaid and sent us on our way, but not before the police gave each kid an "official" NYPD shoulder patch. I didn't take any pictures of this incident because I was too distracted with Kaylynn, and I didn't want the police to think I was a nutty mom. So, we were off again to catch the subway (which the policemen escorted us to...it helps to get a minor injurey in NY). We made it to our stop. Kaylynn and Jeremie and I got off and just as Alan stood up, Kalli hit her head on the hand railing. So, Alan starts comforting Kalli, I turn aroudn just as the subway doors close and off go daddy and Kalli (with my ID, all the money, the cell phone, yup pretty much everything). Through this, I found New Yorkers to be EXTREMELY friendly and helpful...after using a couple different people's cell phones, I finally got a hold of Alan and we re-connected. After all this adventure, we had a normal trip, with the exception of the SWAT team being on the peer after we returned from Liberty and Ellis Islands. We will definitely go back (Lord willing), and I highly recommend that all of you take a trip to New York if you ever get the chance.

A NEW YORK PRETZEL

RIGHT OUTSIDE CENTRAL PARK

CLIMBING ROCKS IN CENTRAL PARK

CENTRAL PARK HAD THE MOST AMAZING FLOWERS!

FAO SHWARTZ...YES THAT IS THE PIANO FROM BIG!

LEGO DARTH VADER, THEY ALSO HAD CHEWBACA,
BATMAN, AND HARRY POTTER ALL BUILT OUT OF LEGOS.

ON THE FERRY TO SEE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
(OR WIBBERBEE IN JEREMIE'S WORDS).

NOTICE KAYLYNN'S BANDAID

LADY LIBERTY

JEREMIE TRYING TO PLAY "FETCH" WITH THE SEAGULS.

REPLICA OF THE FOOT (ACTUAL SIZE).

REPLICA OF THE FACE (ACTUAL SIZE).

JEREMIE ATTEMPTING TO "PUSH" THE WALL OUT OF
HIS WAY SO HE COULD SEE THE VIEW.

AND, FINALLY, A REST STOP PICTURE.

Jeremie's 4th Birthday

Jeremie had his 4th birthday Hooray! He had a "football" birthday where he requested that we all play a "real" football game. This was quite entertaining with a bunch of 4, 5, and 6 year olds. Oh yeah....and the 28, 29, and 30 year olds. We had a great time playing at the park, swimming in the lake and eating football cake, which I made myself. I was very proud of myself, and Jeremie was ecstatic about it!

Jeremie playing with his new Playmobil Castle.


All the kids had a blast running in the lake, and somehow...Jeremie ALWAYS finds a way to get completely soaked, regardless of what he is wearing!


Pinata Fun! Those T-ball lessons paid off. He really whacked that thing!


Picture of the cake; I made the whole thing from scratch!