Saturday, June 14, 2014

Videos...

Seeing it is a rainy day, I decided to figure out how to get the videos I've taken off of the video camera on onto the computer. Task = success! See for yourself:


Here's Emmit's first BMX race this year.

Here's Gerrit's first race of the year too.

And here is the finals for Gerrit's race (He made it to the finals in heat #2).


I'm still working on Gerrit's spring program. I taped the whole thing (23 min) so its tough to upload. I have not given up though!

Hopefully, I'll be a bit more on the ball with videos seeing it is quite easy with the new camera! That is, if we remember to take footage too! 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Easter

I just realized I didn't post Easter pictures!


The annual egg dying wasn't quite the same without Luker, but we made the most of it:



The Easter bunny came at night and left a few things for the boys in the morning:



Emmit sure enjoyed his treats!



Gerrit loved his too:

 I was able to get them to sit still for a few minutes to get a photo:


Gerrit refused to wear his shirt and tie (that he picked out). It was very hot in church so he was probably better off in short sleeves anyways!


When Uncle Travis and Aunt Millie came, the boys had an egg hunt outside.



There were more eggs than room in their baskets!


After lunch we walked to the park to try out their new kites - thanks to Uncle Travis and Aunt Millie. 






It was a beautiful day with just enough wind to fly the kites. A wonderful lunch and afternoon with family is always a bonus on a holiday.  

Look Who's 7!

I was home on Gerrit's birthday due to no daycare for Emmit. Gerrit invited us to have lunch with him at school so we brought him Subway and joined his class in the cafeteria. I must say, I'm not a fan of the small tables in the elementary! He even gave me a hug as he headed back to his class! Loved it! I was also able to finish prepping for his party that we had that afternoon (no school on Friday for him made it even better)!


Gerrit had a few friends over to help celebrate his 7th birthday. Luckily, he only wanted his 2 best friends from school and the neighbor boys! He wouldn't wear his "7" shirt I made him to school, but did put it on when we got home so I could get a picture - I even found golf fabric to use for the 7!


His birthday cake was a bunch of cupcakes. I found this idea online and am pretty proud of my first 'decorating' job. 


Goodie bags consisted of a water bottle with airheads in it (Gerrit's favorite candy), chocolate covered Oreo cookies, an extra cup cake, sports themed colored pencils, foam golf balls and golf tees (thanks to the MN Corn Growers!). The tag on them read: Thanks for coming to my par-tee!


A pre-mini golf snack:



Such concentration by Ethan and Gerrit patiently waiting his turn:



Emmit moves his ball right next to the hole:



This was speed golfing at its finest! 


Jacob and Emmit have very similar mini golf styles - put the ball near the hole!



The boys were kind enough to stop for a group photo:



One last attempt at a group photo:



Gerrit and his buddies from school, Ethan and Christopher:



Ethan enjoyed helping Gerrit set up his Hot Wheels track he got from his grandma and GG:


Big smile!




Everyone enjoying their cupcake!



Monday, March 31, 2014

Spring Break 2014

Adam and I had an amazing time in the British Virgin Islands! Meeting up with John and Deb from Zumbrota and staying with Bill and Tricia who we see a few times a year when they come to the states made for a great week.

I have a few pictures here on the blog and you can see the rest on shutterfly. I am in the middle of making an album on Shutterfly instead of scrapbooking it - because of time (I am soo far behind on the boys' books). 

So here is a glimps into our past week:

The view from Bill and Tricia's home. They are part of a resort/estates and have access to the pool you see in the middle. We spent our time on the beach (although I wanted to sit by the pool and use the swim up bar - next time!)


Our new favorite past time - snorkeling! I think Adam would stay in the water all day if he could snorkel.


Our first island visit was to this great spot for lunch. Its called Pirate's Brick on Norman Island. We enjoyed a drink under the umbrella and moved to the tables (behind us) for lunch:


Here's the view of our lunch spot from the boat:


 We took a tour of the island and stopped for a few photos at this beach. Here is the group:





One afternoon we went to a remote spot on an island for a picnic. Here the guys are assembling the 'table'. There is lots of 'stuff' washed ashore here so we made our table out of a broken lawn chair and a piece of board. A nice beach towel on top and we were good to go!


Each day would not be complete without rum punch! A new favorite of mine!


We thought we'd play 'Gilligan's Island' and try cracking open coconuts.


It worked, thanks to Adam and his aim to get the coconuts down from the tree (I had 2 rum punch's in me and we hadn't eaten yet so my aim was not real good!) John found a 2 x 4 with a nail in it that they used as a hammer. It worked great!


The boat


Enjoying our spot in front to and from the islands


The rest of the crew - Bill took care of the anchors etc and Tricia was quite the driver. Adam assisted Bill as needed.


A view of their home - loved that the wall folded open so it was light and airy inside as well as on the deck:


The other direction of the living space. Off to each side were the bedrooms.


A view from a little island just off of Tortola. 


The restaurant on that island.


Friday we left and it actually rained. I didn't think it ever rained because our weather was amazing! Tricia said the heavens were crying because we were leaving. 


A conch shell Bill found for us when we were snorkeling and he was hanging out on shore. It looks great in our family room and is a wonderful reminder of the amazing week we had!


And now we are back to reality - cold and wet! We missed the boys but had a relaxing time. It was a great treat after the winter we had. And the great thing: Adam was bummed going home so now we have a voucher to use within the next year....perhaps we will go back next spring break?

Sunday, March 16, 2014

A Winter to Remember

Here are a few pictures from this winter. We will never forget 6 snow days - 5 due to the temps being TOO cold and 1 due to actual snow...Here is hoping this is the end of the winter and spring is on its way:


L - R: Emmit, Gerrit, Emma, Blake

Emmit and the bank of the driveway. Our little snow blower couldn't push the snow much higher than this:

Note the mailboxes....


The utility boxes between the houses were almost buried!

A view from our street:

Our walkway to the front door:

Emmit, Gerrit and Jacob playing on the bank of the driveway:


At first it was too cold to go out and enjoy the snow, then we got too much snow and it was too hard to play in the snow! 
Thankfully we think we are in the clear for spring to come. We can see the grass!