Happy Birthday Makayla!

She is the big 1-0! Into double digits now. She is so excited because now she can stay at home all by herself when Charlie and I are gone. I can't believe she is getting so old.

The Big Trip

This is a replica of the cabin that Abraham Lincoln was born in on the site that they think it was.
Jana and Jason at his graduation.
The Louisiana State Capital building. We went out on the observation deck on the 27th floor which is where the wider part meets the smaller part.
Dad and I at the Grand Ole Opry.
We were stuck in traffic south of Nashville and there were these Bison, so I took a picture for Kurt.
This is the Parthanon in Nashville. A scene from the movie The Lightning Thief was filmed here.
I downloaded this twice, sorry.
Just one of the pictures I took of the gardens at the Opry Hotel which is next to The Grand Ole Opry. It is a HUGE hotel with different atriums built under a glass roof. It is beautiful.

the graduate

Well, he did it! Jason FINISHED school and I couldn't be more proud of him. Unfortunately he felt awful. Just look at him as he walks through the door. His allergies have been horrible lately. What a crummy way to feel on one of the most monumental days of your life!

I thought he looked STUNNING in his Dr. gowns--they symbolize real life beginning! We're going to miss the great friends we've made out here.

His diploma is HUGE. As is the monumental task we have of moving in just SIX DAYS. Wish us luck! There is still so much packing to do. But we can't wait to see y'all!

And thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to see him graduate. It meant a lot for you to be there, and Addie can't stop talking about going to Grandma & Grandpas after we go to "Ginia!"

6 months!

Well, he did it. Carson turned 6 months old on the 18th. Wowzers. And to commemorate the occassion, we tried to get a group photo.

New car and new patio

Heather's car finally decided to take its leave.

The front driver's side strut spring broke, puncturing the tire and breaking some internal pieces. Repair estimates from a couple places put the cost around $2000. That was more than we wanted to put into it, considering we were planning on replacing it within the next six months. So we moved those plans forward. Fortunately, Heather's family's Ford shop had a used Freestyle on the lot. And now we have a new car.

Heather's parents drove it down for us on Friday. At the moment, we're planning on finding a junk yard to take the old one. If you know anyone that could use it that can haul it away and repair it, let us know.

On Saturday, we spent 4½ hours doing this:

We did it all with a sledge hammer. If I had to do it again, I'd rent a jackhammer. Dave, Heather, and I are all kinds of sore. Also, if you know anyone that can use about 3 cubic yards of broken concrete, let me know.

We finished around lunch time and went to lunch at our new favorite diner, The Bomber. Then we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather, so we headed over to the Domino Farms petting farm.

The kids had a blast feeding the goats and sheep. There was a recently-shaved llama that looked ridiculous. A bit like a huge poodle, with tuffs of hair on its head, and around its feet. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of that one.

This is an albino peacock that was acting a bit anxious.

Another one was sitting on a perch above.

I have no idea what this is, but it looked cool.

There was a family of geese down at the pond.

And some young chicks pecking about.

We didn't get to see any bison this time, but the long-horned cows were out. There were also a couple rare-breed donkeys that were as big as horses. I wished I'd snapped some pictures to give you the sense of scale, but just imagine really huge donkeys.

All in all, we had a very great day, enjoying the beautiful weather, the interesting animals, and the back-breaking labor.

Family pictures

So at our last family dinner we talked about doing family pictures while camping. Mom thought it would be good for everyone to where solid colored T-shirts with jean bottoms. What are everyone's thoughts?

Happy Mother's Day

way to go, Mom

You've raised 5 awesome kids who have in turn started their own awesome families.  Way to go!  Happy Mom's day, Mom and thanks for being our Mom.

Easter Pictures

Hillary's comment on Jana's post about pictures from Easter, reminded me that I took some, so here they are. Sorry Alexis, I didn't get a picture of you. I'll try harder next time.

hairy easter

It's a good thing our ward planned an egg hunt and party, or our kids wouldn't have done anything this Easter. We didn't dye eggs this year (I know, a terrible sin), didn't have an egg hunt at home, didn't have Easter baskets...nothing. In fact, for the ward party, we only had one basket for Addie- Macie carried a pink purse from our dress-up box. Our lack of planning, and frankly, lack of caring this year is pitiful. I am sad about not dying eggs, I love doing that, but oh well.

The egg hunt was at a family's house in our ward. They have chickens and chicks, bunnies, cats and donkeys. Addie stayed in the chick pen nearly the entire time, she only left for the few minutes of the egg hunt because she knew she'd be getting candy. We were worried she was going to strangle one of the chicks to death, she was holding him so tight! She LOVES all animals. I'm excited for her to visit the Hicks' house--she might stow away one of your bunnies! She keeps taking me on "bunny hunts" in our backyard. I've promised her that if we can catch a bunny in a box, we can keep him. Haha. We've never even seen a bunny back there, just tons and tons of squirrels.

Looking in at the chicks.

Macie, on the otherhand, is not as fond of animals. Macie loved feeding bread to the chickens, but wouldn't go near the donkeys or bunnies. She is absolutely terrified of dogs, and will go near cats but won't pet them. I think she only liked the chickens because they were behind a fence and she could throw the bread far away from her. I was surprised she got up enough courage to poke the little chick Addie was holding a few times.

Scared of the Easter Bunny! (It IS a pretty scary costume. Poor guy, he was roasting in there, it was a very hot day!)

The last picture is just a fun moment. All three kids crowded together on my bed while I flung the blanket over and over on top of them. They really do all love being together and we enjoy seeing them all laugh and play. I know to savor it now, because when they're teenagers, this might not be the case!

easter

 Here are the pictures from Easter.

First, on Friday, we did our own egg hunt inside our house because it was raining.

 Next, on Saturday, the spouse's organization (SAA) sponsored one.

 These are our Easter outfits.

And last we tried to get a family shot, but the camera was falling and then the battery died...maybe next year.

I hope you all had an enjoyable Easter weekend too!

Good Friday Trip

Dad and I went on the Good Friday Trip on Thursday and Good Friday. There is a road that used to be called the Chicago Road that was built to be the main road from Detroit to Chicago (it is now Michigan Ave or US-12). It goes through lots of small towns, so that is where I decided to go this year. There is a web site called Michigan Historical Markers, so I looked up the markers that are along that road and we stopped at a lot of them. We went to McCourtie Park in Somerset Township where a man who made a lot of money in the cement business, paid some artisans from Mexico to make 17 bridges which cross a stream. Each bridge is made of sculpted concrete, painstakingly carved to look like logs, planks and ropes. This is one of the bridges. The last picture is Dad standing by one of the 2 trees made this way, that are really chimneys for a building built into the hill.
This is one of the several historic houses that we stopped to look at. We saw a lot of very neat old houses.

The picture of the frog and the snow leopard were taken at the Binder Zoo in Battle Creek. It was so cold and rainy that day, that they only charged us half price for admission because most of the animals weren't out. We also went to the cemetery in Battle Creek and saw Sojourner Truth's grave, the mausoleum where the Posts are and the plot where the Kelloggs are.