June 2016

We kicked off June by celebrating Paul and Darlene's 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Natalie, Jay, Will and I hosted the open house for many of their family and friends at the USF college campus where they met.  It was a perfect day celebrating a perfect couple! 

 Our first cut of hay for the summer.  We had friends out for supper and somehow they ended up helping load hay by the end of the night.  Be careful about accepting invites from us in the summer :)

This is the look of money well spent!  I told the kids if they read 10 chapter books this summer I would give them $100 cash!  They all accepted and completed the challenge.  It kept them busy reading all summer long which I loved to see.

 Owen got to attend a FCA football camp with his cousins up at SDSU.  They love spending time together! The girl cousins came to my house for the week and we had a great time as well!

Lauren attended her first FCA camp in Spearfish at the BHSU campus with several other YHS athletes.  It was a great experience!

Track 2016

 Lauren with her friend and running mentor Savannah after a tough race.  They made lots of memories together throughout the past few years.

 Lauren having one of many talks with Coach Youmans after a race.  It wasn't a great track season for her.  When you grow a few inches in just a few months your running takes awhile to adjust.

 Track season can be brutal.  Its usually cold, windy and many times it rains as well! Her siblings are always there to watch though.

She mostly ran the 1 mile, 2 mile and the 3200 relay.

Spring 2016 Happenings

Will took Lauren and Jillian to the cabin in Hot Springs for a weekend turkey hunt.  They had a great time and Lauren got a nice turkey!

Spring time means kitties around here!!  Once and awhile we even get to watch them being born.  Ruby had 3 kitties in this litter.  She has had 3 litters and 13 kitties in her short life. 

One of our favorites!  Just kidding- we love them ALL!!

AWANA Grand Prix awards night

 Awana end of the year awards

We finally had time to squeeze in a friend birthday party for Owen at the Lazer barn.  The boys had a blast!  They did the indoor and outdoor course.

Madelyn  participated in the Girls on the Run program throughout the Spring.  She really enjoys running and we hope she will stick with it! 

Last day of Middle School for Lauren

Last day of 6th grade, 2nd grade and 4th grade. Jillian is recovering from a black eye after a knee to the eye during a slide in a softball game this past weekend.

Dance Recital time! Her smiles in these pictures say it all.  She loves to dance!  Lyrical costume.

Madelyn and her friend Sydnee.  Tap costume

Madelyn and her teacher Mrs Timera.  Jazz costume

Easter 2016

Well Easter weekend brought us a mini snow storm!  I honestly can't remember why they all decided to bundle up and head outside but I do remember they had fun! 

 While the men and kids were playing outside we were inside getting ready for Easter Sunday

The Easter baskets were full on Easter morning

 Heading to church

Grandma Darlene made an awesome dessert.  We didn't even take time to sit down at the table.  We just devoured them right at the island! 

These pictures say it all.  We played Bean Boozled and it was a hoot!  You take turns eating random flavored jelly beans.  You might get pink grapefruit or you might get vomit.  You  might get chocolate or you may get dog poo.  It really is fun!  

We ended the weekend with a  few games of Dutch Blitz

Winter

We started off February by traveling to Aberdeen SD to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday.  We had a lovely open house and it was a great day with family.  While we were there we celebrated Owen's 8th birthday.  

 Lauren wrapped up Middle School Basketball

 Jillian and the Sparxs basketball team played in quite a few tournaments.  I love the picture below of the team all huddled in one hotel room for devotions on a Sunday morning.  We don't play many Sunday tournaments but when we do its nice to have this time together with the team and their families.

40th birthday

I turned 40!  We had a fun celebration with family.  My mom had this beautiful cake made.  Jillian requested Grandma Darlene's sugar cookies for her celebration.  We usually celebrate Grandpa Pat, Jillian and myself all at once since we all have January birthdays.  Shortly after my family celebration I flew to Vail Colorado to spend the weekend with my dear friend Tamra.  She is a NNP at the hospital there but since its fairly remote, its not always busy so she gets to spend her down time at a fully furnished apartment in Vail Colorado.  We had a blast!  Vail is just like I imagined.  Gently falling snow most of the time and beautiful chalet type decor.  We relaxed, watched Netflix, enjoyed amazing food and shopped.   It was the perfect way to remember my 40th birthday.

Disney Cruise!

 In celebration of Paul and Darlene's 50th Wedding Anniversary they took us on a Disney Cruise over the Christmas holiday.  We had a blast!  It was just as Disney said it would be.... Magical!   We had so much fun and made tons of great memories.

 Here we are boarding the Disney Magic in Miami Florida.  We had so many favorites to our trip but a few of the highlights were the all you can eat french fries and ice cream (grandpa and the kids could not get enough!)  Coming back to our cabins at night and finding our towels had been folded into animals, free movies like the newly released Star Wars, AMAZING  live theater shows each evening and perfect weather!!

 The ship was completely decorated for Christmas.  This handmade gingerbread house was just one of the many amazing picture opportunities.  We had fun celebrating "Pirate Night"

 You never know what cool idea you might find on Pinterest.  We added a little more fun to our Christmas Eve celebration with these cute hair do's.

 They allow you to decorate the doors to your cabins.  The kids had fun making posters for Grandma and Grandpa during one of their afternoons in the Kids Zone area.  

 Christmas!!  The line to get a picture in front of the beautiful sky high tree was long but we finally got our shot!  A Christmas we will never forget!

 Snorkeling on Disney's private island Castaway Cay.  That sure felt good after the dads and kids finished the 5K earlier that morning.

A great surprise at the beginning of our trip was that we had been upgraded to rooms with balconies!! The views were amazing and it was a great place to dry our swimsuits as well!!  :)