The Actual 3rd Birthday Day

Here are a couple pictures from Kehan's actual birthday, today, May 31. I can't believe how fast the years go by! Some days can't go by fast enough and other days you just want things to stand still because they really are only little for awhile!

The top picture is of Kehan and his birthday cup cakes and the next is of Kehan, Kjerstin, and their dad Quinten enjoying them. The kids helped to frost them and choose the colors as I made frosting.

Kehan's 3rd Birthday

Now that life has settled down a bit and Quinten's dad Brad is at home and doing well I have a chance to put up some pictures from Kehan's 3rd birthday party on May, 24. The Spiderman couch was hands down the favorite gift as you can see by the look on his face. I don't think he could have been more excited than he already was. Thank you Uncle Kyle and Auntie Kim!

Good News Friday

Well today is a good news day! Brad has left the hospital and is on his way home. We thank God that he has answered so many of our prayers and has granted that Brad may stay with us for a while longer! A few lifestyle changes are around the corner including a 40 year old smoking habit that will have to stop. Your prayers will continue to be needed as Brad conquers that habit.

Again thank you to everyone who helped and offered assistance during this past week. It really means a lot to us and the rest of the family to have such close family and neighbors who are willing to pitch in when things go unexpectantly. May God bless every one of you!

Update on Brad

This morning Brad had an MRI. The results came back and showed nothing on his spine. They are going to take him off of the pain meds and get him up and walking around and see what happens. Otherwise as of now we do not know why he has pain. If all goes well he will come home tomorrow night.

Sunday Evening

Late Sunday evening around 10:00pm Quinten's dad, Brad, had a heart attack. They transferred him to Grand Forks around 11:30pm that evening. He was doing well but having pains through out Monday. All of his heart scans came back clean. Monday evening he started to have uncontrollable pain again and they brought him down to look at his heart again. They found one small fuzzy spot in his LED. They put a stint in there at that time it was around midnight Monday night. Brad had to be sedated and put on a ventilator due to the sedation because the pain was so bad. They did a CT scan of his Chest and Abdomin, both came back clear with the exception of his galbladder being slightly enlarged. Right now he is in ICU and we are waiting for the results of the rest of the tests they had run. They should figure out what is going on this morning. Please keep Brad and Lana in your prayers and I will keep everyone update.

Also I will get around to posting about Kehan's 3rd Birthday party this last Saturday, but it will be later today or tomorrow.

Baby Boy Devin!

Here is a picture of Devin that Peggy sent me today. Isn't he cute?! And look at all of that red hair! Pastor, if you are reading this are you jealous? A full head of red hair from the start!

Baby News!

Hello to all. I am bearing good news!

Peggy had a baby boy last night, Wednesday, May 21 at 10:18 pm!

Devin Richard
9 pounds 9 ounces
21 inches

She is at the hospital in Hutchinson, MN. She is exhausted right now but doing well. Keep both Mom and baby in your thoughts and prayers.

***Update****

Talked to Peggy this evening. Things are going as well as you can expect. She is pretty sore and Devin has a bruise on the back of his head that is pretty sore. Devin also has A LOT of RED HAIR!!! I am so happy he has red hair!! I guess the hair is even pretty long. Peggy also says he has her complexion so he is pretty white. I told her that every year he will get a bottle of sunscreen from us for his birthday. She thinks they should just buy stock between the two of them. Please keep them in your prayers. They are going home tomorrow afternoon.

Tick Season is Here! New Puppy Too!

This morning I was braiding Kjerstin's hair and low and behold she had a wood tick stuck to her head!! I hate insects and really hate the creepy crawling kind that want to drink my blood! I am pretty calm about getting them off of the kids but then my skin starts crawling and think there is a tick on me too...this continues all summer long. I too had a wood tick on me but not stuck just a few nights ago and pulled one off of the wall last week too. Love summer just not the bugs that come with it.

So a couple of days ago Quinten's brother Tyler brought over a 10 week old yellow lab. He is male. No name yet because Tyler wont give us one. Pretty soon though it will just get a name because I am tire of calling it puppy. It is a very sweet mellow lab, if you have heard of labs this is not what is typical! He loves to just lay next to you and let you pet him. Most labs are very exciteable and high strung. Not this guy he is so sweet. Ok well here is the bad news, he is not our dog but Tyler's dog. We get to babysit until Tyler's house is built this fall. So I have to continually tell the kids that remember he is Tyler's puppy we just get to take care of it for now. Good thing Tyler will only be 1.5 miles down the road for us so the kids will be able to see him all the time.

Our black lab Onyx does get kind of jealous. Now Onyx is a typical lab he is very excitable and loves to lick and pester you. There is no such things as being able to nicely pet him because he goes wild with his tongue and just can't sit still. He is 7 years old! We thought once he turned 3 which is typically when a lab calms down it would get better...4 years later and still waiting! Onyx is mostly jealous because we untie the puppy and let him wander the yard by himself and he can follow the kids around playing. Onyx has a radio controlled colar fence which gives him a gentle beeping warning when he gets to close to crossing his line and a shock if he does cross the line. We had to fence him like this because he runs and a running dog is usually a dead dog around here. No one likes a running dog.

Oh! And please keep a friend in your thoughts and prayers as she is going through labor today! Hurry up baby Goshaw!

Picking Chicken Eggs!

Our neighbor has eggs for sale! She was around 36 chickens and gets about that many eggs a day too. Need eggs and know who she is call her up! I had some egg cartons for her and so I called up and asked if we could come over and help pick eggs Saturday. Here is a picture of Kjerstin getting some help in picking the eggs. It was a fun time. I am also glad we went right away in the morning because soon after the wind picked up and was blowing around 35 mph too windy for me! We also got to look at the horses. The kids really enjoyed getting to see the animals.

Kjerstin's Preschool Program

On Thursday night, the last day of school also, Kjerstin put on a little program with her classmates. They sang a couple songs for us and then there was a slide show, which of course made me cry. Afterwards there was cake for everyone. It was pretty cute. Pictures didn't turn out really well in the gym it has to do with those flourescent lights I think. She is the last one in the top row. Kjerstin is done with school for this year but will have preschool again next year because she has a September birthday and doesn't make the cut off day. I like that she will be one of the oldest in her class. Next year they are changing the program so she will be in school Tues and Thurs all day. Kehan even has the opportunity to go on Wednesdays all day. I think we will wait to send him until after Christmas. 3 just seems so young for school all day even with a rest time.

Video of Kjerstin's Ballet dance

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2096997273724869841

Here is a video of Kjerstin's ballet dance during the Thursday practice. You cannot see her face really well now that it is uploaded on the net but she starts out in the back row second one in on the right then she will come to the front row same position. The recital went really well and she enjoyed herself a great deal. She really loved to watch the older dancers. She sat on my lap with a huge smile on her face the entire time we stayed and watched the rest of the show. I am so happy that she had the oportunity to go to dance classes. We will have to wait and see what next year holds to see if she can continue or not. Grand Forks is a long drive and gas is not cheap anymore!

Friday Dress Rehersal

Here are a couple of snap shots from Friday night Dress Rehersal. Today is the big day! They did really good last night and hopefully will do better today on their tap dance. The little ones are so cute! There are some really good dancers in the senior classes too as well as a couple moms that can really dance! But wow it takes a long time!! Rehersal started around 6pm and Kjerstin dances about 1/4 of the way through and then again about 3/4 of the way through. We got out of there right after her last dance and it was about 10 min to 9pm! At least it is supposed to go faster tonight because they just run them on and off the stage. Can't wait to see a few dances after her last dance the Can Can dance is supposed to be good.

Thursday Ballet Rehersal

Here is a picture of Kjerstin on stage during rehersal tonight. The lighting is really bad because the auditorium has the lights off just like it will be for the show Saturday night. Tomorrow night we have dress rehersal and will be able to watch most of the dances and leave when she is done with her two dances, ballet and then tap. Saturday night is the big night 6 pm at the Chester Fritz.

Monday at Grandma's House

On Monday I had to go to town and run some errands, which took about 6 hours from the time I left until the time I got home! It was crazy in town. It took over 30 min for me to check out at Kmart because the register kept doing funny stuff and had to be rebooted and junk like that. When I returned and got the kids from Grandma Lana's and Grandpa Brad's house Ashlyn was still asleep so we went outside for a bit and Grandpa showed the kids the cows and calves. Only 3 left to calf so they are almost done and the pasture is getting ready to be opened up, grow, grass, grow! G&G also have a pretty cool like play house outside that they had when their 6 boys were growing up. And Quinten goes a little crazy when Kehan plays with a doll...he had a play house where they played school and stuff all the time! Men! My favorite quote from a book about Fathers and Sons, "Know this, your son will play with dolls and you have to be ok with this." Well it is something on that order but I just loved it and it stuck with me.

Uncle and Auntie reading...

On Friday night we were over at my in-laws house to celebrate her birthday. The kids's Uncle Kyle and Auntie Kim were giving them some quality time by reading together. I thought it was such a great photo opt that I had to capture it on camera. Not that this is a rare occasion just because it is a special quiet moment to be captured to look back on in the years to come.

New Hair Cut

Ok so I know I have been pretty slow at getting the fun stuff posted so today I am going to try and get as many of the cute pictures I took to put on the blog up on the blog.

To start here is Kehan's before and after pictures of his hair cut last week on Thursday I believe. I cut it down to 1/2 inch and the 1/4 inch in the back. Fast and short!

What a busy week!

I guess the start of the week wasn't really that busy but the end of the week certainly was!
Thursday and Friday I subbed for 4th grade and then Kindergarten. Kindergarten was a rough day for a few kids but in the end it worked out just fine. Sometimes the most troubled group can be my favorite place to go. You can just see when some kids need a strong positive role model that day an encouraging word. I enjoy being there and being able to offer that to the students. But it did lead to a busy end of the week.

Today is ballet day and it is the last regular class before Kjerstin's recital on May 10th. Next week will be filled with 3 days in GF for ballet for the recital and practices leading up to the recital. What fun this will be! I can't wait to watch her dance!

Those of you who recieved a Christmas card from our family here is a 6 month update on that same picture. Obviously the kids aren't dress quite as cute but they are always cute to me! Look at how much they have changed in 6 months! Ashlyn is so big now! And really compared to others her age she is pretty small.

Yesterday Kehan started to get a little bit croupy and now this morning he is coughing a lot and is pretty barky but not running a fever so we'll just see how far this goes. Quinten also has a cold right now so they probably just gave it to each other. Hopefully it stays contained to just the boys!