Day 176 June 25

Woohoo!  Last day of school!!  Summertime here we come!!  Crossing the finish line means summer has officially arrived!  I am looking forward to enjoying an enriching, fun filled summer with my family!

Day 175 June24

here is miss norah all dressed up for the day.  I tried to do a photo shoot with her....took about 25 photos and 2 turned out with a smile.  this expression captures her personality more than a  smile does.

Day 174

For dessert tonight we had fresh local strawberries with ice cream!  Delicious!!  I said, "everyone show me your strawberries!"  Small and sweet, so much taste, the big ones in the stores don't taste the same...

Day 173

Sammy had his Super Mario theme birthday party today.  He had a couple buddies come over and they had to rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser.  They completed water world (the slip n slide) and found all their abilities (hidden around the yard)  it was a really fun party! 

Kimball was such a help-my right hand man!

Day 172

The girls and us moms made flowers for all their little school buddies...

Day 171

Woohoo!  I forgot to take a photo for today, so this is one of my fav's from the wedding! 

Day 170

This is our little primary all pointing to the world map to where they served their missions. 

Denmark, Belgium, Holland, and South Africa.

Day 169

Today we had our Primary Quarterly Activity where we sent the children to the MTC and had them go to different rooms where returned missionaries had 10 minute presentations for them.  It was really wonderful!  The kids seemed to have had a great time!  This is a picture of their name tags that were given to them as they arrived at the "MTC".

Brother Wolfs sharing about Holland...

Across the street the rest of the adults were doing a service project for the Heritage Village.

Day 168

Bubbles Bubbles!  I have always wanted to get this photo!

Day 167

This was a wonderful day with Sam and Norah!  We went to the Riverside Park, fed the birds and went for a walk.  There was a lady that I knew that was at the park as well, and she came over and said, 'I hope you don't mind but I took a few pictures of your kids and you feeding the birds.'  I am so grateful she did!

Day 166

So I finally figured out that if I bring her ponies into the kitchen while I'm working, the world is a much happier place!  "What your name?  My name pony.  Oh.  What your name? "  I want to always remember these little dialogues she has with her toys.

Day 165

Okay, so not the most flattering picture of me, but in order for Norah to let me do her hair, I said she could do my hair afterwards...thank you Norah for the lovely 'do!

Day 164

It was so sweet to watch Anna push Norah on her bike.  I love watching my girls play together.

Day 163

Sitting in my hotel room, updating my blog, listening to Aunt Laurie "sleep"...I don't know if I will get a chance to take a photo today so I am going to post one that I took of Carle and Josh for their engagement photos. We had so much fun at this farm...

Day 162

Saturday, reception day...we drove out to Kearney for Chris & Adrienne's wedding reception.  It was very elegant and of course I can't pick just one photo to post for today sooo......

I told the boys to be stone cold for this one...I love this photo!

So of course Uncle Trace just HAD to sneak into the photo...I love it that he is the only one in the world that can say things like "smile or I'll break your head" and it's still funny...

Day 161

Friday, June 11th...today we went and visited historic sites of the Mormon trail.  This is such a sacred area.  I try to put myself in their place and become overwhelmed with the thoughts of having to bury my little children.  But they had their faith that God is over all and that whatever happens is what is best.  This is a photo of the monument just outside the museum.

DAY 160

Today is the day that Chris and Adrienne were sealed in the Winter Quarters  Temple.  They are so full of that new love...the day started with tremendous downpours but just before photos, the rain stopped.  During the sealing ceremony the officiator gave amazing counsel which I have written down in my journal.  It really was a beautiful day, with a beautiful little couple.  It was also so great to be with my family in the temple.

Day 159

Wednesday June 9th in case I'm wondering...Today I drove to Syracuse, New York and flew to Newark, New Jersey then on to Omaha, Nebraska.  Aunt Laurie, Aunt Jackie, Brittany and Caylee were there to pick me up.    The plane was a lot smaller than I had anticipated...it was so great to see them!  We drove to our hotel and it was wonderful to see so many family members that I have not seen in so very long!

Day 158

It is SO fun watching Sam play soccer.  Tonight he had 4 breakaways and 4 shots on net.  The goalie was really on her game though and caught every one.  He is just right in there wherever the ball is, and if he's not with the ball he's running towards the net and turning back to make sure it doesn't go in.  GO SAMMY!!

Day 157

After school today Stephan and Anna practised violin outside and then Kimball and his Dad played checkers on the lawn.  I said, "Hold that thought"  and ran to get my camera, I always want to remember this wonderful scene of my family.

Day 156

You never know what kind of outdoor adventure my husband will dream up...this time it was a homemade slingshot, designed for water balloons, but not excluding children with helmet's on.

Day 155 Canoe Trip in Quebec

This was the first time we had ever gone canoeing for a day trip with all 4 children. We filled a bucket with rocks, which kept Norah entertained, and the other 3 were loving floating down the river in their life jackets at the sand bar. It was a wonderful day! We were lucky to spend it with so many of our dear friends.

Day 154

We hosted a games night at our house tonight and it was really fun! We played water balloon launch..or whatever it's called, and then Jack came and did karaoke with us. Stephan really let out his crazy tonight! Woohoo!

Day 153

Ah, yes, the tire swing.

Day 152

Today we had our lunch in a boat.

Day 151-June1

While mowing the backyard, a little frog hopped out to play with the children. Of course, Anna named it Hoppy and made a little terrarium for it.

Day 150

The kids went to see Dr. Wolfs today after school. How cool are those shades that Sam's wearing. They were thrilled to pick TWO prizes out of the treasure chest!! Of course Kimball's response was " But do all kids get 2, or do they just get one?" He always is insisting that everything is fair. No Kimball, that is one of the perks of the job. Dad says you can have 2.

Day 149

Tonight we played hide and go seek in the dark. This is one of our favourite family games to play. This is a new spot that was discovered by Sam after I cleaned out the linen closets...

Day 148 Race Day

Woohoo! we did it! We went to Ottawa today for the race and it was great! These are photos of the Wolfs and Popke kids ready for the 2km run, a photo of our family, and a photo of Michaela and I just after we had finished the 10km. This was my first 10km run and I am officially hooked. It wasn't easy but it was motivating to have all those people running beside you. I realized that I'm a bit competitive...if people were running too slow in front of me, I just wanted to keep passing them. There were kids along the way with their hands outstretched for high fives, a couple of people with their sprinklers out hosing everybody down, Stephan, Trevor and all the kids were on the sidelines at the beginnning and at the finish line, I thought I heard someone call out SOMER and it turns out it was Kimball, I couldn't see him though. It feels so good to have made a goal and achieve it. Whew! Next year the half?

Day 147

I always want to remember this sweet little face as it looks right now. She greets me in the morning with her half sleepy face, "you had a good sleep mom?" She is so beautiful...her skin is so soft, and her eyes smile into little half moons, what a blessing to have healthy, happy, caring children.