Ride, Sister Ride!

Kacy got her new bike for her fourth birthday in October so she really had to wait until this spring to ride it....well she is finally out & about and really getting the hang of it. Maybe next year we can take the training wheels off!!!

I do not usually encourage riding with a dress, however it was right after church....

and look how well it matches her bike!!!!


She is pretty proud....and we have not had too many diggers!!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!!

Oh another Mom's Day for me....I try not to expect anything so then I will not be disappointed.

This year Kacy said she wanted to throw me a party, but Dad said no!!! That man truly has no clue in the world!!

I truly am happy with him just reminding my kids to tell me Happy Mother's Day before the clerk in the store does it first! Just little thing that make me feel special today!

Look there is actually a picture of me and my kids on this day!

(It really is a national holiday!)


Kacy

Bret

Madi

And all three!!!

We first went to church, we were the greeters that day. Came home and then headed over to the Drive Inn in Taylors Falls for lunch and a round of mini golf. It was then off to Turtle Lake to have supper with Ruth and Rene for Mom's Day. the weather was great and we all had fun.

Bret's Confirmation

As an 8th grader moving on to high school next year(god willing.) Bret had his first rite of passage this Sunday....Confirmation! No more Wednesday night catechism classes, no more sermon notes (though he only had to do them one year,) and no more verse memorization.

Our church does not have too many people his age, currently the the kids are a great deal younger so he was one of two confirmats.

Ryan, Bret and Pastor Devrise


The weather Sunday turned out great which was a blessing in itself, because our house is none too big. We served brunch after the service so our guests were able to sit outside and enjoy the food and the sun.

Do you think he is smiling because this the end...or just the beginning!

Bret with his Godparents Becky and Todd.

Bret and my parents who made the trip up to SCF.

Bret and Grandma Ruthie

Nana, Papa and the whole brood.

Way to go Bret, now just remember what you learned and take it with you always!!!

Nature Girls

Remember when you were a kid and even if your were in some sort of organized club, whether it was 4-H, Girl Scouts or Boys Scouts, we all made up one of our own. Mine, along with Tanya, Ginger, Liana & others, back in the days of Roche-A-Cri was .....drum roll please.....the"Lemur Club." I, to this day have no idea why it was Lemurs....I may have to ask one of the other club members to enlighten me.

So anyway. Kacy, Hope and Madi have started their own club....It is called Nature Girls. I think Hope started it, she was just nice enough to let the little girls join in! As a member of this club you pick up trash, collect items from the ground & river, plan trips and do projects.........oh yeah, you must also irritate your brother to no end by not allowing him to join....poor Trey!

The following are some pictures of the nature girls with the gorgeous crab apple trees in the Anderson's yard. The girls are all dressed in part of Hope's wardrobe, which Hope tailored in some way or another to fit. That girl is a born leader.

Cheese!!!!

Miss Hop-A-Lopa!!

Miss Kacy Lou!!!!

And finally....

Miss Madi Moo!!!

These girls play so well together, it is going to be a tough day for the Johnson girls when Hope heads her own direction. She is already such a busy girl, but Kacy loves every moment she is able to spend with Hope. (On most days!!!)

Ice Jam

All day at work anyone who came down 87 to us at the bank was talking about the huge ice jam at the Lions park. They said we really must go see it if we had time....

So when I got home Mark, the girls, and I jumped in the van and headed down by the river. Bret was at confirmation so he missed it.

A little background for those of you who are not familiar with SCF. We live right along the St Croix River, St Croix also has a hydro dam. The lions park is along the St Croix. This is a narrow part of the river so of course all of the melting ice and chunks from farther up north were getting all bunched up at this point. It was awesome to see!!!

Then Thursday the girls and I thought we would go drive by again in the morning ......

to our surprise it was all gone!!!

So we headed down to the overlook to see the water heading over the dam...

We were able the watch the chunks and debris going over

and the cool rainbow that was over seeing it all.

The Timberwolves!!!

Tonight we had the chance to go to a Wolves game at the Target Center. They are Minnesota's professional basketball team. Todd had bought 20 tickets at a benefit and invited 20 of his closest friends to come along......I am thinking we may not be very good friends, because the seat were high!!!!! It was great though for our kids, they had the section to themselves. Which is great idea when you have 8 kids with you. It was hard to relax though because if one started rolling I am not sure what would break their fall.

Thanks TA, we had a great time.

Kacy adn Hope....

Becke adn Trey were not able to come because Trey was sick.

Arica and Madison

Doesn't this one look so excited!!

Bret and Dad

Two times the fun!

Kacy has been asking me for weeks if she could have a play date with Ry. Well we finally set one up for Sunday afternoon. Those girls have so much fun together....it is actually really funny to watch them play. I am very hopeful they will always be good friends!

They had a blast playing out in the water....what kid doesn't. They did stay pretty dry if my memory serves me right.

We did go to the pool later and that is were she had a chance to get really wet!!!