Really?! 17 years?!

For our seventeenth wedding anniversary, Aaron and I took the kayaks out on the river behind our house for some fun paddling. This year, the river is extremely high due to the amount of snow we had in the winter, and the cool, very wet spring that this area has experienced. We started out late in the afternoon, went downriver for about an hour, then hopped out for some delicious dinner cooked by Aaron. We then, got back in the kayaks for the rest of the journey home.

The view from my kayak..really pretty!

This is in a local park that is located next to the river. Generally, the river is below the bank about 6-10 feet. This year, however, the park is pretty flooded. My kids had their pictures taken last year standing under the tree Aaron kayaked under.

Here, he is holding onto the sign that usually lets you know that you could fall into the river if you get to close to the bank......what river bank????

Yep, seventeen years married.....can't believe it!

It was pretty dark when we finally got home and got the kayaks out. All in all it was a fun anniversary trip!

Creativity!?!

So far this summer, we've had quite a few creative moments. My boys figured out how to move the swings around on the swing set and came up with this interesting way to make swinging more thrilling....

and by the way, yes, sometimes we do use the word "butt" . Hopefully you won't be too offended by it.

Awards Galore!

On the last day of school, the kids all had awards assemblies. Needless to say, I must document some of the awards that were brought home.

First, Enoch. He recieved a Super Scholar award. On it is written,

"Enoch enjoys writing stories, mostly about soccer. He loves to read them to our class and make us laugh."

Samuel received quite a few awards. One was for being able to type 25 words a minute. I thought that was impressive. A few others were for writing and illustrating stories. He received a trophy and certificate in his class for the best story written in their contest. His story is entitled, "The Cheeseburger with No Cheese". Very compelling stuff there.

Kiera was able to attend her school's honors program this year where she received an academic excellence award (being in the top 15% in her class) She also received a scholarship medal. At the awards assembly later, she was one of four students to receive the President's Outstanding Academic Excellence Award. She was also presented a medal for taking first place in the girl's team biathlon with her friend, Aldena. They took first place last year as well, and this year they bettered their time by almost 2 minutes! Lastly, in her specific group of classes she was awarded the Best Math Student Award! She said that this one really surprised her because she was sure that her friend, Mitchell, was going to get it.

Being in ninth grade, Shenna didn't have an awards assembly at school, but she has certainly accomplished alot this past year. She was the assistant director for the school play and also acted a part in it. She has picked up another instrument (the saxophone) and was also able to play the irish tin whistle with the school orchestra at their concert. And most recently she was the student director for the symphonic band. She had to pick out a song, teach it to the band and direct it at their concert. Not to mention all the A's on her report card. She also raised one of those grades up quite a bit this last trimester, so good job Shenna!

We are happy with everything all our kids have done this year! Now for the best reward of all....summer vacation!

End of the School year!

We had so many activities going on at the end of the school year, that there just isn't any possibility of me documenting them all. I guess I'll just settle for one post about a few of them.

First of all, this year I was able to go with Enoch on his field trip. First off, we went to the local zoo where his teacher had the opportunity to touch a snake! Then after the zoo and some yummy lunch, we went to the bowling alley where all the 2nd graders had a great time bowling a couple of games. Enoch even bowled a couple of strikes!

Both Samuel and Enoch's spring soccer ended. This was the worst soccer weather that I have ever experienced! Because of that and also scheduling conflicts with play rehearsals and performances, I was happy to see the games be over. PHEW!

Samuel and his team, The Rebels

Enoch in action

Kiera and Shenna both had band concerts. I video taped them, but couldn't get the videos uploaded. I really want to try to get some of Shenna's to upload, because she actually had the opporturnity to direct one of the numbers and she did a fantastic job.


It was quite a hectic time for the family, but also fun. I'm glad that the kids enjoy doing so many different activities.