Vacation 2012

This year on vacation we went to Minneapolis, MN. We met Larry and Tracy and their family on the way up. We went to mall of america and Chelsey and Brittney bought their American girls dolls.  They had so much fun picking them out and then they chose to have their ears pierced.  They had been saving their money for a long time to get them so it was really fun for them.  We also stayed at a waterpark hotel and spent a lot of time swimming there.  The last day of vacation was spent at valley fair which is an amusement park.  The kids all really had a fun time there.

8th Grade Graduation

This is what you do when you are 14 and take your moms camera at 8th grade graduation.  You take pictures in the locker room!!

Courtney with Mr. Conway

Courtney receiving her certificate

Pizza

8th grade class

The girls


Last night Courtney had her 8th grade graduation.  The kids vote on who they want to speak and they chose Mr. Conway who is a new teacher this year.  He did a great job!!  We had pizza and then the kids played scatterball in the gym and some watched a movie.  I think they all had a fun time.

Awana Awards

Chelsey receiving her award

Brittney receiving her award

Brittney & Chelsey both had a great year at Awana. Brittney finished her 3rd book and received her award and Chelsey finished her 2nd book and received a ribbon. They both learned a lot of verses and we are very proud of all they accomplished this year!!!

Prom 2012

Brandon & Michaela

At the Grand March

Junior Class

Brandon & Casey after the walk through



Brandon & his sisters

Brandon had his prom on Sunday night.  We had storms forcasted for Saturday and so they postponed prom until Sunday.    After they walk through with their date they come back through doing crazy things, Brandon & his friend Casey came back through with mohawks.  He had a fun time and even was able to win a new TV at post prom which he was pretty excited about.  

Courtney's 14th Birthday



Brittney & Colton

Playing in the pool with the cousins

Courtney & Colton



Courtney's 14th birthday



The kids didn't have school on Friday and so Bryan and his sister Sonya planned a surprise birthday for Courtney & Colton.  Bryan had half a day off and we had planned to go to Omaha and to a hotel with both families.  We told Courtney that she needed to pack clothes in case we decided to stay overnight with them.  We pulled up to the hotel and Courtney was still asking what we were doing.  We then told her that we were going to be staying here and celebrating her birthday, she was so excited!!  Kirk and Sonya, Vincent & Colton came and we swam for a long time.  Bryan and Kirk went to get KF*C for supper and also picked up a D*Q ice cream cake.  Everybody had a really fun time.  Courtney's birthday was on Easter Sunday and so we went out to eat and she picked Chinese.  The kids then went to Wal*mart and picked out gifts for her (a family tradition) and went home and opened them. 

Brandon's 17!!!

Brandon wanted to go tanking for his birthday and so we loaded up the troops and headed for the river. We decided to go on a 5 hour tanking trip and so we got there at noon and loaded ourselves and our cooler of pop and snacks into a blue tank and floated down the river. The kids had a blast and especially loved sinking in the stinky mud...gross. (see picture above) Brandon turned 17 the next day and we celebrated by going to Wendy's with friends after church and then he enjoyed the kick off to Aftershock (Youth group) that night. I can't believe that our oldest son just turned 17 where does the time go???

Family Zoo Trip

We decided to take a trip to the zoo with the whole family on Sunday. The zoo was very busy but we were able to visit some of the things we hadn't seen last time. The kids all loved feeding the birds in the Budgy exhibit and spent quite a bit of time doing that. Chelsey's favorite is the petting zoo and we didn't get there last time until it was closed so she loved doing that this time. We also went to an Imax show about Tornados. Everyone had a fun day!!!