Catch Up

I have a million excuses of why I haven't blogged in over the last 6 months, but I will spare you with the excuses and instead catch you all up on what we have been doing.

Easter

We spent Easter in MT at my parents. The kids had fun dyeing easter eggs, going to the Easter egg hunt, and opening their baskets.

Preschool Graduation

Elliot graduated from 3 year old preschool at Pumpkin Patch in Monticello, MN

Here he is with his buddy Andrew.

Spunk Days

We were at the lake for Spunk Days. We started out our day by going to the Art in the Park and the bouncy houses. Below is a picture of Great Grandma keeping track of the kids while I made a purchase. If only I had a cane!

The turtle races are a big part of Spunk Days. Elliot's turtle Tank won first place in his heat. Elliot was very excited!!

Whitney wasn't into the races as much as she was into keeping eye on the turtle bucket.

Of course we took in the parade.

Time With Family

We were able to spend lots of time with both of our families. My parents got a pontoon boat this summer, so we enjoyed lots of time on the boat. Of course the favorite activity to do on the boat is drive!

We got to spend lots of time Ryan, Lorelei, and Iona. Elliot and Whitney absolutely adore Iona. They make great big cousins!

We went to the horse races one afternoon with Ryan, Lorelei, and Iona. The kids had a blast!

We al spend lots of time with the Sala family. Nichole and Aidan came for a week or so this summer and while they were in the area we all spend sometime at the lake house. It was a nice and relaxing couple of days.

Aidan's first fish he caught. He was pretty excited, but there was no convincing him of touching it!

Gavin caught a nice sized fish.

The whole family

The kids taking a walk while we were waiting for our food at the Fisher's Club in Avon.

My attempt of getting a picture of all the kids in midair while jumping off the retaining wall. Oh well, at least I got one!

Grant, the kids, and I took Nichole and Aidan back to MN to fly back to Houston. We stayed in a hotel one of the nights. The kids enjoyed the pool.

Time with friends

This fall we met our friends Jed, Becky, Jack, and Finn in Fargo. We have really missed the Sager's since we have moved to MT, so it was great to see them!!

Baby Finner's (that's what Whitney calls him). He is such a good baby! I hardly heard him cry all weekend.

I had these monkey hats made for the boys

Halloween

I didnt have my camera on Halloween night, so I don't have any pictures of the kids in their costumes. I'm not sure what I was thinking with forgetting my camera! I do have pictures of cookie dcorating and pumpkin painting. The kids wanted to paint their pumpkins rather then carve them this year.

Well there you have it, a glimpse of what we have been up to in the past 6 months. We did lots of other things in the past 6 months that I didn't get on camera.......we moved, I started a new job, Elliot started a new preschool, both kids started at a new daycare, and I got to see some wonderful friends and their children this summer.

Houston

The last week of March Grant, the kids, and I went to Houston to see Scott, Nichole, and Aidan. We went to see Scott and help with Aidan. Scott had been in the hospital battling cancer. His battle ended on April 12th. Both Grant and I are glad we were able to spend the week out there. Even though the reason for going wasn't a fun one we did enjoy our time we had with Aidan. We did lots of fun things with the kids.

The kids were a big hit on our flights. They got to go into the cockpit and talk to the "driver's" of the plane.

With the weather being different then it is here or in ND we were able to put on our shorts and sunglasses and enjoy the nice weather! We went on lots of walks and had a picnic for every meal.

We baked cookies with the kids

We went to Kema, which is a boardwalk with lots of fun things to do.

Watching the big boats come in

While at Kema we rode the train. Elliot was in heaven!

The kids waiting for their treats

We also went to Galvenston, TX, so the kids could play in the ocean. The plan was to just walk along the beach, but it ended up in the kids stripping down to their underwear and me making a trip to the store to buy dry clothes! They had so much fun though so it was all worth it. We ended our trip to Galveston with some yummy seafood.

Iona's Baptism

Iona Dawn was baptized on March 20th. Not only am I Iona's aunt, but I am also now her Godmother. This was a very busy weekend of celebrations.

Where Does the Time Go?

I can't believe Elliot just had his 4th birthday! Time flies when you are having fun. Elliot had a pool party at the Community Center this year. The theme was Lightening McQueen. He had lots of fun!!

Our Little Skiers

We had a such a great day skiing with the kids today! They both did very well and loved it. Whitney doesn't look like she was enjoying it in some of the pictures, but she did. Elliot is making a goofey face in every picture I took of him. It is hard to take a normal picture of him these days. Whitney didn't last as long as Elliot, but enjoyed hanging out in the lodge watching from the window. At the end of the day Elliot even went down the Bunny Hill by himself a couple times. He started getting the hang of snow plowing and turning. He is already talking about the next time we go skiing.