More February and March FUN!

We LOVE sunny and mild winter days!

It was the perfect day to enjoy the last 

 homeschool ski day!

They have so much fun skiing and snowboarding!

Twelve kiddos went and next year Mary is going to join them!

She is more confident now, after learning to ice skate!

Through HopeKids we were able to go tubing at Wild Mountain!

It was another beautiful day to be outside!

Madeline and Jenny

We drove over an hour to get here

and it was well worth the drive!

The also have skiing at Wild Mountain but today we went tubing!

Anna and Ellie

Mary helped Grace with her tube!

They are besties!

Joe and Luke with Grace in the background!

Sam, Abby and Ben-

 I made them stand still for a quick photo op!

It was a super fun afternoon!

Ava and Jake running to get another turn!

Mia was able to get off work early so she could go with us!

That dark blob heading down the tubing lane

are all of our kiddos hanging onto each other!

It was quite a sight to see!

We just happened to see these two eagles hanging out near their nest!

They are so breathtakingly majestic!

The five younger kids go to 

Baker Nature Center once a month!

I volunteered with Grace and Mary's group!

We worked on fire starting!

It was really fun and much harder than I thought it would be!

Our kiddos got extra credit this year for celebrating 

"Pi Day" 3.14

And they just so happen to LOVE pie!

 

By the time I took the pic...

he was finished!

Jenny didn't inhale her food like Sam did!

We made apple and blueberry pies!

We go to the library every week!

And this time we returned 6 bags filled with books!

Each bag was as big as these two!

By the time I decided to take the pic,

the others were already in the return bin!

And yes, it does seem like the younger kids get stuck

carrying most of the heavy books...

totally UNFAIR!

HopeKids had an in person, inside event!

We went to the Disney movie "Raya and the Last Dragon"!

It felt soooo good doing something normal!

We had popcorn and icee's at 9:00am!

Perfect breakfast!

Spring has arrived in MN!

We took a 6 mile walk!

Wow did that feel great!

Belle, our GoldenDoodle did so great!

Our other dogs would have sat down part way around the lake...

And how do we know that?

Because that's what they did the last time they went with us!

Games in the yard!

Pickle in the middle, keep away or what ever they think of next!

Happy St Paddy's Day!

It was also Homeschool Coop day

so they celebrated in green!

💚🍀

I can't believe that March is almost over!

It's all going by so fast!

We are excited for warmer spring temps!

The Passion of Christ

 Our church performs "The Passion of Christ" every year in March!

The 9th graders and those that are in the first year of Confirmation

are part of the cast!

We were blessed to have 8 teens in it, this year!

The kids were so excited when they found out their roles!

Father Steve spoke after the play!

The kids did am amazing job!

They have devoted the last 2.5 months to

remembering their lines, going to practices,

and volunteering to help in one way or another.

 We are so proud of them!

(back row) - Ben, Jenny, Sam, Ava

(front row) - Madeline, Abby and Melissa!

The worked hard and always had great attitudes!

Melissa- blind person and the first thief

Madeline- Simon the Zealot

Jenny- Sarah (the woman by the well)

Abby- third Pharisee

Ava- second Pharisee

Anna- Judith

Anna and Ben, who played Caiaphas!

Abby- Third Pharisee

Sam- Matthew the Disciple

 Mark, Kari, Billy and Barb watched the performance with us!

So thankful for Mandy, Elliut and everyone else 

that put their time into this production!

Thank you for blessing the kids and the families!

Our HaPpY VaLeNtInE's DaY 2021

Only a month or so late...

As the kids get older the traditions change!

No more store bought valentines and candy hearts!

This year the kids made valentine cards 
for their nieces and nephew
and we sent them! 

In return we got Valentines from them!

Because of Covid and preschool changes 
they weren't going to be able to exchange!

So we happily exchanged with them!

Our kiddos loved the cute cards and candy that they received!
This is how we look on a Saturday morning!
Not quite bright eyed and bushy tailed!

The "grands/nieces and nephew did such a great job! 

The handwriting is sooooo precious!

Good job girls!

Nana and Papa got gifts and a Valentine, too!

Amazing sea salt caramel chocolates from Seattle,

a special card

and...

A decorative heart with seashells!

Honestly, 
it doesn't get any better than this!

💓💞💘

This just warms my heart!

In the afternoon,

we went ice skating at a nearby indoor rink!

For some of our kiddos,
ice skating doesn't work.

They played on the ipad while we skated.

Ellie loves to ice skate and she does a very good job at it!

With the Covid rules,
it's a challenge to get reservations to go ice skating.

We have to plan way in advance (a month at least), 

find a time that has many openings, and make reservations!

In order for all of us to be able to go... 

we need special permission (because of our numbers) 

and they have to override the the system to get us all in!

Only 25 are allowed on the rink at a time

and the system can only handle 6 from the same family...

Mary started out with help
but after a little while, didn't need it!
It was her FIRST time ice skating!

And yes, she has a photo bomber!

Some crazy guy that we don't know...!

We were all a little rusty at first
but improved quickly!

We LOVE going skating!

Especially when it's inside an arena!

Jake has come soooo far!

He is quite proud of himself!

Jenny loves ice skating!

Dad is needing a few breaks!

He's thinking, 

"Why am I doing something when I'm in my 60's 

that I wasn't any good at when I was 12!?"

True!

He improved with practice and got his confidence back!

Most of our kiddos have ice skates but we did have to rent a few pairs!

Hoping the ice rinks will be open next year and we can go without reservations!

Trying out a few new moves!

Love how Jenny is helping Mary!

A total of 25 can be on the rink at one time... we took 15 spots...

there were very few other families there.

It felt like we had the place to ourselves!

What a treat!

They have so much fun,

no matter what they are doing!

Later that week, 

we had 13 kids go to "Luke 18" camp at our church!

8 teens were counselors 

and 5 tweens attended!

They LOVED it!

When they went off to camp,

the 5 of us went out to dinner!

It was so enjoyable and 

so peaceful!

Sometimes,

 it's a blessing to enjoy the kiddos in smaller groups!