Peaceful Sunday

I will be honest, it's peaceful because the kids are still asleep.

We had a very nice day yesterday. Some friends of ours invited us to their home for a bbq. They have a beautiful house that overlooks the valley. We sat around and had great food and talked about everything from fishing to politics. We could have stayed there to watch the fireworks but there is something so American feeling about being at the stadium. It starts with the small town band playing some great old rock, the stadium being lined with American flags and being mauled by cheerleaders to buy their cookies.

The fireworks show was a little shorter this year. Our fireworks show is a community sponsored event. Our little town is so hard hit by the economy it amazed me that we still had such a good show. For those keeping track, we had another plant close last week. If the "cap and trade" goes ahead, it will be devastating to Eastern Oregon.

Jason danced while the band played, Megan scoped out the area looking for friends. Anthony helped the cheerleader's sell their cookies. I think there is one cheerleader in particular that he might like, just a little bit. Andrew and Skeeter showed up and then joined us at our house to light our fireworks. Our 4th of July wouldn't be the same without Andrew and Skeeter.

The most shocking thing to happen this 4th: I only took pictures of the fireworks. The rest of the time, I sat and just relaxed. I hope everyone's 4th was just as good.

Here is one picture of the fireworks. Not a good one, but what do you expect when I am balancing the camera on my chest and holding my breath. I didn't want to be bothered with a tripod.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Uncle Rick.

I stole this picture from your facebook profile. The last picture I have of you is at Andrews graduation last year. That's bad, time for you to come for a visit.

Have a great birthday and we will be thinking about you.

Church Picnic

Today was the annual church picnic. We had a really good and relaxing time. Both our priests are from Niagara so they kept score: Americans vs. Africans. Africans won in soccer but I believe the Americans pulled it out in ping pong. Fr Francis is the only person I know who can play soccer and talk on the cell phone at the same time. I did what I do and took lots of pictures. Megan hung out at the skate park and played soccer. Jason didn't last long at soccer but Megan let him borrow the skate board for a while. Anthony played soccer but only because no one would take him up on a game of football. The food and conversation was wonderful. I am so glad that Steve was home to be there with us.

Here are some pictures from today.

Megan trying it out on her skate board.



Jason giving it a try:





This baby belongs to noone in this picture:

but she loves Anthony

And one last one of Anthony

Proud of Her

We are proud of her. It's been a tough year for Megan. She had started off this school year really good and very determined. Soon after the school year started DJ's Father was murdered and he moved. This was tough for her. Her grades fell apart and so did her attitude. After December, Megan decided enough was enough and she just wasn't happy being unhappy.

She told us and her teacher that by the end of the school year she would be on the honor roll. Let me tell you, that when this child gets something in her head there will be NO changing it. It took some serious work and some sacrifices but she did it. We got her report card a couple of weeks ago and was impressed. We let her know that she pulled her grades up to a 3.5 but the numbers really didn't mean much to her, until last night.

The joys of a small town. They post the High School and Middle School honor roll in our newspaper. I wish I took a picture of her face when she saw her name in the paper. Now the numbers mean something. She looked at it then checked where her friends are. Quickly she ran to the computer to type an email to her friend in Italy to let her know where on the list she was. Then looked at us and said "4.0 next year guys." Followed by "he he I am higher then Anthony."
A quick DJ update: His fathers killer was sentenced to life with possible parole in 25 years. Megan keeps in contact with DJ regularly. Now that summer is here, she is missing him big time. There was some talk that he would be here sometime to visit for a couple of weeks. I really really hope it works out.

Fathers Day

I don't have to much to report for Fathers day. We just didn't do much and that is exactly what we wanted to do.

Anthony is away at wrestling camp and I am missing him today. It seems very strange to be celebrating something and not having all the kids here. Just wait until my birthday. Two kids will be gone. My parents will be here so it won't seem so empty.

This is a picture of our desert last night. The hamburger buns are cupcakes and the hamburger is a brownie. The french fries are made out of sugar cookies. Megan helped me put together the basket and french fry bag. Jason was moral support and official taste tester. They tasted pretty good and Steve was impressed. I wish I could say this was my idea but it wasn't. I got the idea from another blog I follow.

I hope you have a great day. I am off to swimming lessons then VBS and to finish out the night soccer practices for both Megan and Jason. The lazy days of summer have begun.

Happy Birthday Lady Grandma

Have a wonderful birthday Lady Grandma. We miss you and really wish we could be there to celebrate with you.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Steve and his Mom.

An Almost New Camper

We have had this pop up camper for a few years now. Steve lived in it for 6 months before we finally moved up here. As you can see, it really needs some help. The plastic bag is covering a hole.



After sitting for 2 years we finally decided to get it fixed.

Here it is now.



The canvas looks a little loose, but after it's been used a couple of times it will start to shrink up a little bit. I was very nervous about ordering it from a company we have never used before. I would highly them, they where wonderful. Thanks Sherry and RV Workshop.
Tent Trailer Camper Canvas Replacements Pop up Camper Canvas Replacements

Believe it or not, it took about 5 minutes to get the old canvas off and just about an hour to get the new on.