May

It feels like the month of May came and went in the blink of an eye.  I’m still scratching my head, trying to figure out where it went!

First we had my Mom’s wedding.  It was a neat day to see my mom sealed to Blake.  We love him dearly and are glad to count him (and his wonderful kids and grandkids) as family.

(I shamelessly stole these first two pictures from my brother’s Facebook wall.  I’m sure he won’t mind.  He’s cool like that!)

Combined, they now have 7 kids, each with a spouse, and 22 grandkids…with 2 on the way!  Here they are with MOST of the grandkids.

It was a great day, though we did wake up with a bit of snow on the ground.  The reception was blissfully chaotic with all those kids running around.  They got to eat desserts to their hearts’ content, along with all the snacks grandma brought for them.  They were even nice enough to feed a couple of mice they discovered on the patio!  Such caring kids!!

Here are some a whole bunch of fun pictures.  Hoping to get more soon!

 

Then there was Rachel’s birthday party.  Six giggly girls, lots of glue and glitter, lipstick, and oodles of pink.  Could there be anything better!?!?

May also brought several storms and several awesome rainbows to go with them.  Here’s our favorite.  The biggest and brightest of them all.  The camera just doesn’t do it justice!

 

In between rain/show storms, we had some days with incredible weather.  The temps. reached 90 degrees a couple of times!!  We spent lots of time outside with bikes, scooters, and yes…even, dirt!  (I’m getting pretty quick at changing bike tubes!)

 

There were a few school functions too.  Emily got to attend the Breakfast of Champions, along with her dad, for receiving a 4.0 GPA this year.  Rachel had a fieldtrip to the zoo and then to the park, Caleb had one to the park and the cemetery, and Josh had one to the Planetarium.  And Emily is spending the day at the swimming pool today.  Whew!! 

Josh started baseball this month.  His team is the Cardinals, and they’ve already played three games.  Two of those were wins.  I think he has played almost every position, with the exception of pitcher and catcher.  One of these days, we’re going to see him knock a ball right out of the park. 

Of course, we celebrated Memorial Day with our traditional cemetery scavenger hunt.

And, to round out the month, we got the shelving cut, primed, painted and installed in two closets, with one more partially underway.

Now we’re gearing up for Summer busy-ness.  Softball, baseball, T-ball, birthday parties, yard work, more house projects, Girls’ Camp, swimming lessons…I think I may need a nap to get me through it!

Memorial Day Fun

After a delicious breakfast of homemade crepes filled with berries and cream cheese spread, we (mostly Jared, with some help from Josh and a bit from me) spent the morning installing shelving in the mudroom closet.  It was all done by lunchtime – hooray!  Now it just needs some love from the caulk gun and a little touch up paint.  Cross off another project on our very long list of things to do!!

We sat down for lunch and then hit the cemeteries.  Jared and Emily spent some time Saturday evening looking up the burial sites for ancestors we hadn’t previously visited.  They found several of Jared’s ancestors at three cemeteries in the valley, and they even found a set belonging to my side of the family!

First off, we visited Jared’s grandparents and great-grandparents.

 

More of Jared’s ancestors, Magnus and Martha Holm.

 

My only ancestors (that we know of) buried in the same cemetery!  These are my 3rd great-grandparents, Hans and Marie Hansen.

 

At the next cemetery we found more of Jared’s ancestors.  These are David and Vera Roskelley. 

 

Christian and Zilpha Plowman.

all

 

No relation to this person at all, but I had to take a picture.  She has the same first name and maiden name as my grandma…except my grandma is Geraldine.

 

John and Metta Plowman.

 

William and Agnes Roskelly.

 

Alonzo Raymond…

 

and his wife, Elizabeth, who is buried with her family in another part of the cemetery.

We will have to dig up some stories about these people and get to know them!  I wonder how much we look like them, what traits we have that are similar, what life events may have contributed to their personalities.  They certainly left us a great heritage!

And we’re so thankful for the cemetery directories, as the numbering system seems to have no rhyme or reason whatsoever!

World IBD Day

Today just so happens to be World Inflammatory Bowel Disease Day!!  Can you see me throwing my hands up in the air?!?!  No?  OK, let’s be honest.  I wouldn’t say this is a celebration-filled day.  No parties.  No shout outs.  There’s not much to celebrate about IBD.  But hopefully this day can bring greater awareness of IBD, the struggles facing those who have it, and greater hope for better treatment and a potential cure.  Now that would definitely make me throw my hands up in the air!

So, to do my part, here are a few tidbits of enlightenment:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease is NOT the same as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
• IBD is a group of inflammatory diseases that includes Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
• Crohn’s Disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.  It commonly occurs at the end of the small bowel (the ileum) and the beginning of the colon, but can occur anywhere along the entire gastrointestinal tract.  It can affect the entire thickness of the bowel.  The inflammation of the intestine can “skip”-- leaving normal areas in between patches of diseased intestine.
• Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease of the large intestine, also known as the colon, in which the lining of the colon becomes inflamed and develops tiny open sores, or ulcers, that produce pus and mucous.
• IBD affects an estimated 1.4 million Americans.
• There are different medicines to help treat the symptoms of IBD – from steroids (like Prednisone), to immunosuppressants (like Humira) – but there is no cure.

(This information courtesy of CCFA.org)

And a little enlightenment strictly from me: Crohn’s disease stinks! 

Happy IBD Day everyone!

Princess Party

Rachel finally got to have her first friend party to celebrate her 6th birthday.  She was so excited!  The girl has been reminding me for at least 6 months that I promised we’d do a friend party this year!!

She knew right away that she wanted to have a Princess party.  NO BOYS ALLOWED!!  Believe me, I tried to convince her to invite the princes too, as there are a couple of boys in her class with whom she is really good friends.  She politely shot down that idea without hesitation!

This really does say Happy Birthday. The light pink ended up being a little too light, so you can’t see the white letters very well.

 

The girls decorated princess wands to start.

 

Then they played “Keep the poisonous balloon from touching the ground.”  I was going to have them use their wands for that, but forgot that there was glue on the wands that needed to dry.  So they used their hands or paper plates.  I was surprised how much they loved doing this!

 

They LOVED getting to kiss a frog…though a couple of them were a little hesitant about the lipstick at first.  Rachel had no problems with laying a big one on the fat fella!

 

Wicked Queen freeze tag was also a hit.  Man, I wish I had half the energy!!  After they’d each had a turn being the Wicked Queen, it was time for goodies.  Funny enough, I think the jelly beans (inside the jar where I put the star wands) were the biggest hit!

 

Pink princess cupcakes were pretty tasty though.

 

Pink princess punch and some ice cream topped it all off.  Mmmm, mmmm, goooood!!  I’m so glad I have Pinterest and the internet in my life.  I got all my ideas and printables for free, and thank goodness too!  I’m no good in the creativity department, but I’m a pro at copying someone else’s ideas!

One more birthday party for the year, and then we’re on friend party hiatus.  For a looooong time!