Playstation with Grandma

Sam loved showing Grandma how to play a Lego Star Wars game.

Sophie Field Trip

Grandma went on a field trip with Sophie to Three Rivers Gymnastics. Sophie loved playing in the foam pit and hanging out with Grandma.

Beginning Band

Emily had her first band concert on December 1st. She started playing the end of August. The band is 5th graders and a couple new 6th graders. Each of them gets to do a solo (see below).

Alex and a mink.

Alex caught his first mink about two weeks ago.

Dance and Dessert

Last Saturday Em was in Dance and Dessert. We watch the girls dance and then we get dessert.

Santa Days

We also had Santa Days in Campbell last Saturday.

Sundogs over Campbell

Time to get a tree.

We picked out our Christmas Tree yesterday. We always get a big (10 - 12 f00t tall) short-needled tree. This year we had to cut the top off a 25 ft tree to find one we liked. It wasn't quite as full as we normally get, but I guess there is more room for ornaments that way. The weather was perfect for cutting a tree (20 degrees, no wind and a little snow). I am glad I had my whole family with to get a tree. I get more requests to get a fake tree each year, but I still love a real one.

Playing in the Blizzard!

We are in the middle of a blizzard! We bought two snowmobiles from Karen's cousin Nathan. Emily thought it would be fun to snowmobile in a blizzard! Alex thought it would be fun too, so the three of us braved the elements. The weathermen say this is the worst blizzard since 1997. When we came in, the temperature was 12 degrees below zero with a wind chill of 35 below. Pretty much everything is cancelled and the kids are hoping the storm lasts long enough to cancel school tomorrow. I have heard we have gotten 15 inches of snow. I don't know how they can measure the snowfall when all the snow doesn't seem to be falling down, but rather flying horizontally.

Dad, I Need a Hoop

It is a little difficult to practice basketball without a basket, so we decided to put in a concrete pad and basketball hoop. Errow had a great idea and we put in a tetherball pole also. What can be more fun than hitting a ball as hard as you can at your friends and siblings.

Getting Ready

I dug out some of the gravel in front of the garage where we are putting the hoop and

then Errow and Frank put up the forms and filled it back in gravel to get a 4 inch concrete pad.

Pouring the pad

We poured the concrete pad on May 23.

Handprints

Of course, we had to put the kids handprints in the concrete. It was the last day of school so we took Alex and Em out of school for about an hour so that we could aways look at their handprints.

Sam's First Shot

Sam made his first shot at our new hoop (Alex and Dad made their first shots too). It took quite awhile to get the hoop up as it did not come with all the parts. We did get a pad for the post out of the deal, maybe it will prevent an injury. The kids have really enjoyed the hoop. We still need to get the free throw and 3 point lines painted. One of these days.

A Few May Flowers

The dahlia is the one I gave Karen for Mother's Day. The apple trees are in full bloom and I didn't see a single bee on the trees. It is kind of scary how few bees are around anymore. I hope we get some apples. The tulips are actually my Mom's, and since she is in Alaska visiting Pam I thought she would like to see them.

Kindergarten Graduation

Here are some pics from Sam's Graduation. There were seven kids in his class.

Sam's Little Solo

Sam the Policeman

Sam said he wants to be a Policeman, but Dad wasn't quick enough to get it.

Sam Video

Taylor the Turtle!

I found this baby Painted Turtle a couple days ago and I thought the kids would like to see it. Little did I know that Sam and Emily would adopt him/her. They named it Taylor. You can see by the last photo that he has quite a smorgasbord to dine on. His main food now is Turtle Pellets from WalMart. I wonder how long he will hang out with us.

In Memory of Grandma Addy!

We planted a flowering crab tree in memory of Grandma Addy today. We picked a tree with white flowers because it will remind us of angels.

God Bless Grandma Addy

Grandma loved the rosary and gave each of the kids one, so we said part of the rosary in her memory. I know she would have loved it!

Boating On The Rabbitt

The kids wanted to go for a boat ride today. Alex and Em took the canoe and the rest of us took the duck boat.

Captain Sam

Sam gave Mom a ride in the jon boat.

Big Blue Birdhouse

We put Karen's birdhouse up on the birch stump today. It was a beautiful day, high temp was 63, sunny and very little wind.

Pretty Yellow Flowers!

What Mother doesn't love flowers!

Happy Mother's Day!

The kids made Mom breakfast in bed this morning.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's out there, especially my Mom. I Love You. Paul