We are 5!

As some of you know Jo got a little tired of her bangs hanging in her eyes so she got some scissors and took care of them. Mom just was not trimming them short enough and has now learned how short Jo wants them. haha She was very proud that she took care of her own hair and Oma did a great job of not making her feel bad. Heck, Oma was stilllaughing about the hair when I got home from an evening out.

Happy 5th Birthday Jo & Cole!

We changed it up a bit this year for their birthday. Cole and Jo got to invite one friend over for their actual birthday (Kenna and Noah) and those friends were asked not to bring a gift. The gift was being with their friend on their actual birthday, playing, and eating dinner and then pie and ice-cream cake. With all the BIG BASH birthdays these days and tons and tons of gifts we just wanted to take it back to simple pleasures and we think this worked. Oh, we did hear once or twice from the kids that they were sad they didn’t get lots and lots of presents or that their other friends might be sad that they didn’t have a big party. But in the long run Jo and Cole had a good time and played very hard with their friends and then had no problems going to sleep that night.Jo has asked over a year now for a Princess Pegasus present. With her tricycle getting to small and her not showing any interest in riding her bike we bought her the Princess Big Wheel. After assembly Mom created a couple more stickers with the Princess Pegasus theme and added them to the Big Wheel. Jo was/is very happy with this gift. She is actually out peddling Cole now on the other Big Wheel rides around the block! Fast Pegasus Princess she is!

Cole has been having a good time with his new batting-T and bases. We no longer have to spray paint bases on the grass while he plays ball with the neighbor kids or us. He starts T-ball soon so we thought this would be a very good gift for him. Not only can he practice hitting but also he gets to use a real ball in the yard now. (Real ball onlyon a shock cord though, he hits too hard other wise) We know he enjoyed wrestling and probably will again but the baseball in him is strong and he smiles on every hit, catch and then laughs the whole time he runs the bases.Might not be your typical Birthday Cake but the kids were told earlier this year that they didn’t have to have “cake” for their birthday, they could have anything they wanted. Cole chose an ice-cream cake and Jo wanted strawberry-rhubarb pie, so on Monday night the pie was baked with the help of Oma, Jo & Alexis and the ice-cream cake was ordered. Some of you are probably wrinkling your nose up at the pie but Jo LOVES it and they both enjoyed their desert this year!

Good Day!

100 Years Plus

Well, my Grandmother had her 100th Birthday in April. She expected a party and one was given, it's the least anyone should do for someone who has spent that much time walking this earth. People from all walks of her life showed up to celebrate with her, from her family in Montana and South Dakota to her supervisor when she worked in the box factory in Portland during WWII. She was all smiles and just had a very nice time, even though she got very tired and went through quite a bit of oxygen during the party. I know she thinks it was all worth it.

It was wonderful to have all the families show up as well, every last one of her offspring made it to her party and we got a nice photo of her with her four generations.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

East Coast – Soccer – First Photos

Well the Young/Conkey Clan flew to Oregon for their spring break, and spent time visiting as many family members as they could in a short week. We were happy to have them for a couple of days, hanging out and playing? I was in awe of how tall Andrew and Mandy have gotten along with how they have grown into beautiful teenagers on many levels. I was just a happy gal to have the three of them here.Cole and Andrew played light sabers for quite some time. I think Cole had the advantage because the rule is you can only tag the other person on their legs
Mandy and Jo had some fun with the hair along with nails being painted at one point and some awesome dress up cloths that were given to Jo for her birthday. We all loaded up in the van and headed to Wild Life Safari for a day (poor Oma had to work). We dropped the middle two seats down in the van so all the kids could move around freely in the back and look at all the animals. Most of the animals were out where we could see them on our first drive through which was just a lot of fun. I think it being a little cooler in the morning helped this.After our drive through we got out to stretch our legs and see the birds, snakes and other animals, alive and stuffed (stuffed as in the gift shop). We watched the monkeys play a little bit, took the train ride to see a few more animals and then jumped back into the van for another drive through the wild.Andrew threw a little javelin last year in track and asked Jill if she could show him a few things to make him a better thrower. I think they both had a good time doing this together. I filmed the lessons as Jill broke it all down for him and then they worked together for a while getting a few throws in the yard. Jill burned all the lessons onto a disk for Andrew to take home. I look forward to hearing how he does this track season.

Jo is in soccer right now, one day a week for an hour. Her first practice was not the best, not only did over a hundred kids show up but we didn’t get enough grub into the girl and she ran out of energy. Any one who knows Jo very well knows when her batteries are low she shuts down. This week we planned better for the food intake along with Oma bribing her to participate by taking her to McD’s if she finished the whole practice. Jo came home all smiles and was happy to be playing soccer. I think we have a winner!
The kids had their first ever school photo taken this year. I sure look forward to seeing them all, the good the bad and just the standard school photo look. Love it!