Emmett is 6!

Emmett turned 6 years old on May 8th - my little boy is not so little anymore! He is such an amazing kid. He completely engulfs himself in whatever his passion is for the moment - family, superheroes, pirates, Legos, hunting. His mind is always thinking of the next activity/interest and I have to keep him busy or gets very restless! When we first moved to our house in California, he swam with a life jacket in the pool - still not comfortable swimming yet. It only took about a week before the jacket was off and he was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the ladder - no fear! He is so anxious to start kindergarten and move on to the next challenge. Not too fast, Buddy - I may not be ready yet! ;-)

Since the Last Post.....

 Okay! Let's catch up....

Gracie had her first piano recital - she did great!

Jason exploring our new state - difficult job, but somebody has to do it!

Jessie Turns 4 Years Old! (a.k.a. Easter Sunday this year!)

Party #1 on Easter, Friend Trish made cheeseburgers, mac & cheese, fries, and lots of other goodies to celebrate. Strawberries on angel food cake for dessert.

 

Party #2: With Daddy, Grammie, and Friends and of course, ballerina cupcakes.

Favorite Gift - New bike with seat for Dolly - Lucy got the same bike on her birthday - two days after Jessie's! :)

With best friend, Lucy

Zombie's invade Great Falls on April 1st

"California or Bust" party with Feather Your Nest Chicks

Gracie celebrates her First Communion and Confirmation

 

Only picture of "Moving Day" - we (with the help of many friends) loaded 9 UHaul Pods

Off for a visit in Washington before heading to California

Even though it rained almost 5 inches in the first two days we were there, it cleared up for a couple days and the kids checked everything off their activity list: Pa's zipline, riding Homey and Bob, trekking through the woods, and a couple dips in the hot tub - whew!

 Now on our (Mom came down with me on the two-day trip) way to California

Our first stop, The Rickert Ranch (friends Byron and Barbara), Rainier, OR - zipline, tire swing, wooded trails, baseball, and Circle Lake
Second stop (just a quick one): The Kanyer's in Monmouth, OR - hoping to meet their new baby, but she didn't arrive for another week! Still great to see the boys! :)

Okay, we made it! First stop, the pool! And, a nap for Elli.

And finally, Gracie turned 8 years old yesterday! She took cupcakes to her new friends/class (27 kids!) and I made a doggy cake. Her school is out at noon on Wednesdays so one of her new friends came over with pizza for. Then, we headed to the mall for ear piercing - no tears! For dinner, grilled chicken, twice-baked potatoes, and green beans.

House For Sale!

So, we've been a little slack on our Blog (nothing new there!), but we've had a lot going on over the last couple months......the week before Christmas, Jason was offered a new job....in California!  It took several weeks to finalize the offer, then we were in full swing preparing for selling our house (finishing projects that we started in December) and getting ready for a move. Jason left for his new job on February 21st - the same day we listed our house for sale! He rented a room from a Navy retiree and is scoping out schools, churches, and houses. The kids and I have been holding down the fort in Great Falls, keeping the house as clean as we can and getting out when needed (we were our own selling agents, so I had to take all the calls and do a few showings). It took 9 days, 14 showings, and two offers to get the deal we were hoping for, now we wait for inspections and hope it all goes through. In the next few weeks we have a piano recital, Jessie's birthday (on Easter Sunday), and Gracie's First Communion - somewhere in there I am working a couple days a week and packing up the house! We hope to close the deal on April 10th, then it's off to Cali for a new house and new school. Jason's been on the job just over a week and it's all going well, so as long as government sequestering doesn't throw a wrench in the gears!

We will keep you posted on our new address and ask for your prayers to keep us going.

Piano Recital Choices

Hi, this is Gracie!  I am having my first recital  later this spring.  I am playing one of these two songs, Old Macdonald Had To Rock and The Wild Colt.  Please help me dicide which one i should play.
Love, Gracie

Big Band Fun

Last weekend Gracie's school had their annual "big" fundraiser/auction and the theme was the Big Band era of the 40's. They hired a 16-piece band that played swing music and other favorites - it was great! Most people don't/didn't dress up, but that's half the fun, so I threw a couple outfits together and we looked smashing! :-)  There was another couple there (a few decades older than us :-) that came as a nurse and soldier - they were fantastic and danced the whole night!