Memorial Day

I like to have Blake's gravesite ready for Memorial Day first thing Monday morning, so we went down Sunday after church. We like patriotic things for this holiday, and then we can leave the decoration until after the Fourth of July.

 

We're thinking of you, Blake, and miss you so much!!

Lincoln's 7th Birthday

I picked Dagny and Lincoln up from school on Lincoln's birthday and he had this giant balloon! He said his mom brought it to school and gave it to him. How fun is that?

Lincoln was very excited and couldn't wait to open his presents. He wanted to open them as soon as they got here. Landon and his kids come earlier than the rest of the family for Sunday dinners. Usually we celebrate birthdays after dinner and cake, but he was just so excited I decided to let him open them anyway. We're giving him an outside toy and sometimes there isn't a lot of time left after birthday celebrations to try out the toys.

A new shirt!  And Lincoln was even excited about it! 

Lincoln couldn't believe his eyes when he saw this stomp rocket. I have one that the kids love to play with, and I thought he would like his own.

We immediately headed outside to give it a try. Lincoln was first since he's the birthday boy,

and he was followed by Dagny who jumped with all her might! That rocket went soooo high!

The cousins are ready for cake! I hope Lincoln thought up a good wish!

After cake and ice cream all the kids went outside to have a turn with the stomp rocket.

 The rockets go so high, it's amazing! This is such a fun toy!

It's hard to believe Lincoln is 7 already! He is such a sweet boy who loves to snuggle and sit on my lap. He has a great time playing with his cousins and is so good to the younger kids and is always ready to help them out. He loves to ride his bike and play video games. We love you Linky buddy and hope you had a great birthday!

Calista and Everlee Spend a Week With Us

Wade and Kimberlea are going to Las Vegas to celebrate their anniversary and we are keeping the girls for a week! Calista lined up all the animals for a train ride.

I let them pick what they wanted for breakfast and they chose waffles. I was happy about that since I love waffles but don't make them very often.

Too happy for sleep! They were excited to be sharing the bed, I didn't tell them I would be moving Everlee to the crib after they fell asleep. Haha.

Time for some sidewalk chalk art.

Little artists hard at work.

Calista helped me plant some flowers.

The walls in the new house are just right for sitting in!

We are moving the beds upstairs to the storage shed in preparation for the remodel. Grandpa lifted the girls up to sit on the mattress and they thought it was so cool to be up high.

 Snuggles on the couch. When you have a sister, you always have a friend! We had a great week with Calista and Everlee! We read lots of books, played with Play Doh, and played outside quite a bit. They go to sleep easily at night and are not picky eaters. What a fun week!

Claire's Elementary School Graduation

Claire is graduating from 5th grade and elementary school! How did she get so grown up?? In Elizabeth, the middle school is grades 6 through 8, so that's where she'll be next year. In Castle Rock, the middle school is grades 7 and 8, so it seems strange to me to have sixth graders in middle school! They don't seem old enough in my head.

 They started the graduation with a parade down the halls where parents and teachers cheered for them.

Yeah Claire!

She received her certificate and

then hugged her teacher.

She was proud to show off her certificate.

I was so happy I could be there.

Claire's admirers! Two sisters and two cousins.

 Lots of yummy treats! They even had chocolate milk, which all of the kids loved. Congratulations Claire!! On to middle school!

Swim Banquet

Tim Byers (aka Profe) took a teaching position at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch to be closer to his home, so Douglas County had to get a new swim coach. We had the hardest time tracking him down! We got his name and number from the school, and then it took him a bit to get back to us. His name is Jason Brainard and he doesn't work at the school, he manages Safe Splash, a swim school. We were finally able to meet him at the Rec Center after practice one day and tell him about Blake's award and scholarship. He was so kind and nice and is excited to help us continue this award.

This year's recipient is Travis Oleson. His best event is the breast stroke, and he was one of the team captains. He is going to a school in Florida on a swimming scholarship. He also has really good grades!

We were unable to track down the plaque that hangs in the school, so we had to have another one made. 

Coach Jason did a great job of explaining the award and then presenting it. He asked if we wanted to present it, but we prefer the coach to do it.

Coach Jason shows Travis the plaque that has his name on.

His parents talked about him and told about how much he has loved swimming ever since he was a little boy.

Congratulations!

This award makes me so happy! I'm so glad we are able to keep up Blake's memory even though these people didn't even know him.

 

Bringing Ryan Home from Utah State

Ryan is coming home for the summer and working for the Town of Castle Rock again. He's had his motorcycle in Logan, so Delwyn and I made quick trip to bring his bike home. We drove out on Friday, loaded up the motorcycle and drove back home on Saturday. 

Of course we got a treat afterwards! We went to Shivers and had frozen yogurt. We really wanted Aggie ice cream, but the line was out the door, down the sidewalk, to the parking lot, and we didn't want to wait that long. I couldn't even start to guess how many people were in the line, but it was too many! Frozen yogurt is always good and they had a lot of tasty toppings!

Adrienne's grandparents are coming to get her tomorrow and she has a flight home to Chicago. Here's to summer!! And then these two will be getting married!