Congratulations Ashly

Here's Ashly's award she got for having a GPA of 3.7. There was a banquet on Thursday evening, but we didn't go because Ashly also had Confirmation practice and pictures. It was her choice which one to go to and her answer was, "I'm sure I'll get to go to more award banquets at school, but I only get confirmed once." Hopefully she'll fulfill her thoughts and will continue to get excellent grades in high school. I'm really proud of all she's done so far!!!

North Dakota Easter

Saturday afternoon we headed to Fargo for Easter with my family. This is Christopher's nap in the car.

This is me being delirious on the long ride, and playing around with my new camera!!!

We stopped at Burger King in Fergus Falls for lunch and playtime.

It's so nice of Ashly to climb up there in play land with Christopher because I would get claustrophobic.

Climbing and playing

I think he will be able to do it all himself in one more year.

Coloring Easter eggs. There were 40 eggs!!!

Christopher loved playing with not only the cats (my sister Jen has two cats: Shadow and Daisy) but the cat toys!

Here's Shadow. She is pretty old so running away from Christopher was not an option, instead, she just kind of tucked her head down until he went away!

This is Chadd's special photography piece: jalapenos! We had salsa cheese dip with chips and a few daring ones topped it with jalapenos. I do believe Chadd loves his family, but his second love is jalapenos!

Steve: Smile!

This is Libby videotaping how dorky we are acting while mom (im)patiently waits for us to line up for our traditional 80 times a year photograph we take!

Here we are in birth order as always: Bobbi, Kathy, Jennie and Steve

Add spouses (and a little boy that wanted to be included, but is really heavy!)

My wonderful parents

Mom and dad and the grandchildren

Easter morning Christopher opened his Easter basket and he got a motorcycle and a chocolate Easter bunny. He wasn't sure what to do with the bunny. I think he thought it was a toy so he decided the bunny could ride the motorcycle. I told him it was to eat and he didn't understand - that is until I took a big old bite off the ears!!! He laughed and started chowing down!

He ate almost the whole bunny. He has a sweet tooth for sure!

He made buddies with Bobbi's boyfriend, Ross. They played ball and remote control cars and helicopters. I guess the boys must stick together. Soon Christopher will have boy cousins to play with. Sister Bobbi is having her baby boy in May and sister Jennie is having baby boy in Aug/Sept. Yeah!!! Holidays are gonna be so much fun getting the little boys together.

And then there are the kumquats. Mom decided to buy some of these for Sunday brunch. No one had ever tried these before. It tastes just like you are eating an orange peel. Are you supposed to peel these tiny things or eat them whole? That was the question. Either way, one was enough for me, but Chadd thought they were kinda fun.

And on our way to the car to go home......this picture melts my heart! I love my boys!!!

Easter Eggs and Bunny

There was no school on Friday and I took the day off work so the three of us were home. We colored easter eggs! This was Christopher's first time doing it and he had a blast. He wanted to eat one, but when I peeled one, he remembered he doesn't like eggs!

Coloring on an egg.

There's the beautiful eggs!

On Saturday morning we went to the Macy's Bunny Breakfast at 9am with Chadd's family - well, all the women and children in Chadd's family! Chadd and his dad had their own breakfast at IHOP! Here Ashly and Christopher are waiting in line for face painting.

There's my cute little bunny! It was such a fun Easter this year since last year he was too little to understand the hype!

Christopher was so excited he was shaking when he saw the easter bunny. He wasn't scared at all. He laughed and talked to him and hugged him.

Here's all the kids! There were 10 cousins.

Me and Christopher

Nana and Christopher. Thanks to Nana for a great breakfast! We had so much fun!

Shining Star

I'm so proud of Ashly this year. We got a letter in the mail from the school and Ashly is being honored at an award's banquet for having a GPA of 3.7 this year in school. Way to go Ashly!!!

Funny Story

So last weekend while I was at work, Chadd was busy at home having a parenting day with Christopher. Chris was saying "Nana"...."Nana"......so Chadd launched into this whole story about how Nana (what we call Chadd's mom) and Papa (what we call Chadd's dad) have a different home and they are home right now with their dog Cody. He went on and on talking about how Nana and Papa are at home and Christopher and daddy are at their home, everybody has separate homes and we will see them again soon and we will go visit them at their home soon, yada, yada, yada. Finally, Christopher walked to the kitchen, pointed at the bananas, and said, "Nana." Yep, he just wanted to eat a banana!!!!

Grilling Just Like Daddy

Christopher is grilling on the deck just like daddy! He thought that was pretty cool.

Yummy! Who wants a hotdog? Anyone?