Thursday, June 2, 2011

Track and Field Days

This year, all three kids were old enough to particpate in track and field. After a few rain delays, they were able to squeeze it in for all the elementary grades. This is such a fun day for them.

Luke getting ready to run the 50 meter hurdles. Go Luke!!
Lizzy getting ready to do the sack race. She came in 1st!!

Lizzy doing the long jump. Taylor running the 50 meter hurdles.



Taylor and some of friends.

Luke turns 9!

Hard to believe my little boy is 9! He is such a sweetheart and at this point still gives me hugs.

I hope this doesn't change for a long time!

Luke and grandma Becky
Grandpa and Luke


Luke and his friend Peyton had a combined friend birthday at Peyton's house. They wanted to have a baseball game outside, but of course, like most of this Spring, it was cold and rainy. They played bean bags and air hockey inside and made the best of it and got outside for the last half hour and went home soaking wet!!
Opeing presents with all of his friends.
Happy birthday Luke!!


Spring piano recital

It is so fun to watch the kids play at their piano recitals in the spring and to see their hard work pay off. Luke got invited to a Twins game the night of the recital and since he hasn't gotten to go to the new stadium yet, we let him skip the recital for the game. He was sick last year and missed the recital as well. Maybe next year!!

Lizzy ready to play her pieces. Taylor and her good friend Markayla.
Taylor, Ruth, their piano teacher, and Lizzy

Lisbon, Portugal

In May, I was able to go to Lisbon to help with a meeting for work with my manager, Julie. We had a wonderful time exploring the city and the meeting went great.

I loved all of the narrow cobblestone "roads."
Julie's mother-in-law and her sister and our co-worker Steve joined us on the trip. We had dinner in the hotel restuarant one night. It was super fancy and expensive but a fun experience.

The kitchen sent this "appetizer" out compliments of the chef. It is strawberry jello, duck and mint foam. Very interesting.

A castle in Caiscais.

One of the tour guides from the company we worked with gave us a private tour one day and we took a drive to Sintra and Caiscais and along the coast. It was nice to get out of the city and see a smaller village and the coast.

Mmmm...pastries!! A ruin of a Moorish castle up on the hill. We had the faculty dinner at an old palace that has been renevated into a restaurant and hotel. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was great.



Julie and I outside a monestary in Lisbon.Another picture of the monestary.

This is a monument down by the water in Lisbon. I believe it is Christopher Columbus out front. Apparently he set sail from Lisbon? I wish I would have done a little reading about Lisbon before going.



There were lots of interesting different "street" people doing odd things for money.



Julie and I with some monuments in the background. There were lots of monuments throughout the city that honored someone or something.

The view of Lisbon from my hotel room. Most of the mornings were really nice and sunny, but it would cloud up a lot of the afternoons.

The inside of my hotel room. Notice the glass bathroom wall. Could have had a nice veiw of the city while I showered, but I kept the blinds down!!

It was a great trip and experience, but at the end of the week, I was ready to get home to my family!!

Easter

After church on Easter Sunday, we went to my mom and dad's for Easter dinner. Mom had Christopher hide eggs in the yard and the kids had a blast hunting for them-especially since this year there was money in the eggs! Lizzy hunting for eggs!Love this kids grin!Taking a little rest with grandpa and Jack the cat after hunting for eggs.

Love these girls!!

We had Jenna, Jessica, Christopher and Tyler over for dinner before Jessica moved to Jackson. It was great to spend some time with them.



The kids taught Christopher and Tyler how to make Duct tape roses. They had a team effort going to construct their own. It was pretty funny to watch!!

Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells!

We took the kids to the Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells for a long weekend over Easter break. They had a blast swimming at the different waterparks at the resort and doing all the fun activities.


Playing laser tag.

We had dinner at Moose Jaw pizza.

My 3 little mooses!
We even got our own antlers to wear.






Playing at the arcade




Playing 3-D pirate mini golf


Luke and Liz seem to have their priate scowls on in this picture.