Catching up

The week before Kevin & Kaitlin's birthdays Kaitlin was complaining that she had never had a birthday party and had decided that since she was 16 and had never had one there was no point in starting to have them now. While it is not true that she has never had a party she got one this year anyway. The week after their birthdays we had a surprise party at a neighbors house for both of them. They had a great time swimming and playing games, we redeemed ourselves as parents and were moved from the deadbeat parent column into the okay parent column for at least one night. Katie and Brian took care of the cake for us by making cupcakes that looked like hamburgers. They turned out great as always and everyone loved the idea.

In an effort to keep on top of things with the kids I have set up a facebook page but I use it about as often as I blog so it will be a challenge to keep up with everyone and what is going on. Hopefully I will get better at both.

After spending two months in Alaska with Amanda, Kelly has arrived back home. She loved the scenery, went hunting - saw a bear, went fishing - caught a 13lb salmon, and ate it! Fell in love - and out of love, and generally had a busy two months. We are happy to have her home safe.

One of Ty's favorite things

Motorcycle rides with Papa

Ridin' bikes is serious business!

Growing up

Kevin & Kaitlin both celebrated their birthdays last week. Kevin turned 14 and Kaitlin 16. My mom also celebrated her birthday last week but I don't think she would appreciate my sharing her age here!

Pulling candles out of his Banana Cream Pie

We were adventurous and made Baked Alaska for Kaitlin

The light dawns! Kaitlin finally realized her gift was a facebook account.

4th of July

We had a relatively quiet 4th this year. Our neighborhood has a party at the park every year with a bike parade for all of the kids. Tyler rode his bike about 100 feet and decided that was enough, he went straight to the park and waited for the fun to begin! It was a nice calm day with our neighbors and then back home to crash for awhile. Greg & Carinna decided to run a quick errand and found a rattle snake under their car. That was our excitement for the day. Joe & Brian were able to get it in a cooler and relocate it to a vacant field away from the neighborhood. The snake was about 18" long and had 4 buttons on the rattle. Needless to say we are all much more cautious outside and keep a closer eye on Ty when he's out of the house.

Ty dressed in red, white & blue riding his bike at the park on the 4th.