Grandma Sheryl Shot the Sheriff?!!

Grandma Mary had a wonderful idea of having a Mystery Murder Party for my mom's 5oth birthday....it was a western themed one that we borrowed from a friend...(Thanks Diane!!) and turns out Sally Forth.....mail order bride from England.....played by Sheryl (my mom)was the murderer!!

Grandma Mary went to so much work to make it special....everything was nicely decorated and the meal was fantastic!!! Thanks Grandma!!

I was narrating the murder so I didn't really have a costume...thus the baseball shirt.....but check out that peacock feather in Bibi....the saloon girl!

Here is Juan Bandito, Rowdy Azell, Doc Holiday....(check out that mustache) and Juan Bandito the 2nd! We had a lot of fun and would very much recommend doing this as a party idea!!

I updated my blog!!!! It's only been a couple months...

Noah and Kader at the Volleyball game.

Maddie's sixth grade class surprising Mrs. Foss on her birthday with a basket of her favorite things!!

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out a candle!

Mareyn...the princess....Maddie ....a pink lady....Noah as a frog.....and about the coolest Elvis impersonator I have ever seen! (J of course was already mia....and Vinnie did not dress up this year) For those of you that do not know...... this was a dream come true for Kader he has loved Elvis since he could talk and walk....we do not know why or how....he just always has.

Mareyn with two of her classmates and her teacher, Mrs. Mitchell on pajama day at school.

Kader turns 8!!

Vikings shirt was on the list!!!! Thanks G&G

Getting his elephant from Africa that he has been "patiently" waiting for!!!

Mom made his favorite bars instead of cupcakes and he blew out an "8" candle on the bars shaped like stars!!

Hunting time again.....

Kader got this hunting outfit for his birthday!

Looking pretty proud of the pheasant hunt.....

Dessica meets Nicole C. Mullen!!!!!!

Women of Faith 08 turned out to be a memorable one for me as I got to meet someone who I admire greatly and to be honest was quite a bit starstruck!! As you can see in this picture I was a little nervous to be standing next to her!!! If you do not know who she is, it is worth your time to find out and listen to her music...God has blessed her with some awesome gifts!!

Erika, Missi and I having lunch.....

Here is part of the group in our seats.....

Me and Ang waiting to meet Nicole!

Maddie starts Junior High VB @ Hillcrest!

Maddie getting ready to serve!

The fans!!!

Mom's cheap way of taking a sports shot!!

Maddie plays volleyball very well and she loves it and MOM and DAD are so thrilled because we love the game as well and love to watch her play. Maddie is going to play JO Volleyball this winter and mom is going to coach her team!!!!

July 08

Mareyn at Bible Camp
Bubba Gumps....so good
There with Don and Kris and Darcy Veum
Vinnie enjoying his spicy shrimp
Not sure what was so funny here

July '08

On a very hot day the kids had a pop stand at the end of the driveway....it was so hot that they needed umbrellas to get some shade....and drank all their profits as well!!
Not summer without Zorbaz....we went with Paul and Melinda to celebrate Grandma Bev's Birthday....

Kader at Legoland at the Mall of America and the touching baby stingrays and sharks at the Underwater Aquarium.

Summer '08

Mareyn stood up on the zipsled this year!! I did this when I was young on the same zipsled.....Thanks Grandpa Virgil for all the great rides you give to the kids!!

We finally got around to starting the painting of our house.....we currently have three sides done. Shawn and Kader were up in this lift....nice perk to having a rental store at your disposal.

Mareyn and Nevaeh in the pool....

Summer Ball

Baseball continued

Maddie is in her first year of fastpitch....she played last night and did so well!! It's hard to believe where my little girl went.

Baseball is a ongoing theme for us in June and July!

Vinnie plays on two teams: the pony park and rec team and the Babe Ruth Traveling team. He is usually either catching or outfield. He hit a triple this night!!

We have seven to 10 games a week so we get a lot of use out of our chairs and sunglasses and for awhile our umbrella's!! So fun to watch the kids play though!!

Summer is Finally here!!!!

Picnic with the Berges on a nice night in our front yard and Andrea was here to visit and we got a picture with some (yes there were more) of the kids playing in the neighborhood.

Slip in Slide and Trampoline