Soccer Season

 William

 Kyle

Brad

We have had soccer season this spring.  Brad, Kyle, and William played.  They had a lot of fun playing this year and learned a lot. 

Ducklings

 Mother with ducklings in nest

 Mother hissing, because we were too close

 Escaped duckling

 Mother leading ducklings to pond

Kids with ducklings

After a month of waiting the ducklings in our backyard finally hatched. There were 7 in all. One got through the fence, so Joe carried it back to the nest to be with its family. After a couple of hours in the nest the mother finally led them out. We had to open the gate to let them out. The kids then made sure that the mother and her ducklings made it across the street safely, so that they could make it to the pond.

Father-Son Camp Out

This was Matt's first Father-Son camp out and he had a lot of fun. He was mad that Joe took his stick away from him for a picture. Matt went to bed around 7:30pm and woke up around 6:30am. When he woke up he looked at Joe and said, "I took a nap". They roasted hotdogs, went on a hike, rode bikes, and played around the campground. Everyone coming home safely = another fun Father-Son camp out.

Matt's Drawings

Joe

Janette, Baby, & Matt

 Matt likes to draw on our side walk and this is what he drew the other night. He drew Joe and no those are not his angry eyes. Then he drew Janette with the baby in her tummy and Matt next to them.

Pinewood Derby

Kyle's Lightsaber

Brad's Lego Car

This year was Kyle's first year & Brad's last year for the pinewood derby. Kyle wanted to go with a Star Wars theme and Brad went with a Lego theme. The boys had a lot of fun making their cars. Brad had finished in the bottom half the last two years. He was a good sport, but I could tell it bothered him. Our friend Adam Worden gave us some tips on how to make our cars faster and it sure helped. Kyle finished 3rd out of the Wolves and his car won the award "Cubmasters Favorite". Brad finished 1st out of the Webelos and 3rd overall out of 38 kids. It was great to see the smiles on their faces. Now I only have 8 (possibly 11) more cars to make, which William has his planned out already. He wants to make a firetruck with a ladder that goes up.

Brandon Mull

Brandon Mull is the author of the Fablehaven series and he came to Omaha to sign autographs. My claim to fame is that Brandon served his mission in Antofagasta Chile. Unfortunately he left right before I got to Chile, so I never knew him. I'll tell Janette that Brandon and I are facebook friends and Janette likes to tell me he has over 5,000 friends. Then I remind her that he invited me to be his friend. I'm pretty sure not everyone can say that.

Bradley started the Fablehaven series. He finished book 1 in 3 days and is now reading book 2.

Candy

Candy got a haircut yesterday. Can you tell who gave her a haircut, but left her with a Mohawk & Fu-Man-Chu?

Pictures

Bringing Back the Racing Stripes

I told Brad how Tim & I used to have racing stripes in our hair, so he wanted them. His hair is so light that they are kind of tough to see. He is probably wishing he waited until the summer though, because he said his head is colder now.

We Are Proud To Announce...

That we are going to be an Uncle & an Aunt again. Congratulations to Tim & Amanda, due July 8th, and Teri & Aaron, due July 31st! Oh yeah, and we are expecting Aug. 20th.

Kyle's Birthday

Kyle's birthday was on the 26th. We had a birthday party for him before school let out for the break. He chose Harry Potter. We had a lot of fun mixing potions, making root beer, doing experiments, practicing spells, and of course playing. Kyle had fun, and so did his friends. On his birthday I made a number 8 cake for him, and he chose chicken and dumpling for dinner. This a big year for Kyle turning 8 as he will be baptized this year. He is very excited to be baptized. He is a wonderful example to us of being willing to share your testimony. He loves to share his testimony and has a great early knowledge of the gospel. He received a Book of Mormon and a bible for his birthday and been reading every night. He also very excited to start cub scouts, and has already started signing things off. He is learning to play the piano and is learning very well.

Kyle's Favorite things:

Color: Red
Food: Chicken and Dumplings
Cartoon: Star Wars the Clone Wars, Phineas & Pherb, & The Smurfs
School Subject: Math & Gym
Sport: Basketball
Book: 2012 Guinness Book of World Records
When he grows up Kyle wants to be: Missionary

Christmas Day

Enjoying Christmas Morning.

Enjoying Christmas morning.

Brad, Kyle and William lined up on the stairs.

Matthew enjoying one of his presents

Kyle's Santa presents

Brad's Santa presents

Matthews Santa's presents

William's Santa Presents

New Sunday Clothes

We had a wonderful Christmas again this year. Matthew woke up in the night with a bloody nose and ended up hopping in bed with us. I went downstairs, to get a drink at 1 am and smiled as I heard the conversation between two of our boys. "Do you think it is time yet?" "Do you think we can go get Mom and Dad yet?" I knew it was going to be any early morning but not that early. Luckily it was determined that it was too early and they restlessly went back to sleep. We started our day at 5:30, much to Matthew's dismay. He brothers woke him up, and he was not to happy to be woken up until he remembered that Santa had come during the night. Some of our boys are very funny because they HAD to get dressed before going downstairs. We had church at 10:45 for an hour. The boys were all very sleepy by the time Christmas night came.