Grandparents and Kids..

Grandma and Grandpa Berning with the Belken kids!!

Emma's 7th Birthday

Emma enjoyed her 7th birthday and kept rather busy... 1st we went to the Arboretum for awhile to play at the park and look at the fish and flowers, then we headed off the dentist (She was very excited about this part... Thanks Kristen for having her enjoy going to the dentist and for the balloons!) Then we came home for awhile and she played with her new 3-D glasses. They work after you draw with chalk or paint. They are neat.. Karley enjoyed painting also along with Josie and Connor. At dinner time, we headed to Murphy's park for pizza in the park! After that we were off to Emma's ball game. Afterwards, she shared cupcakes with her team and siblings! Finally the last stop was meeting Grandma and Grandpa Berning at Dairy Queen. Also she received lots of phone calls also and Grandma Belken dropped a gift off for her.

The yellow shirt she is wearing says, "Happy Day." She put that on right away in the morning because she told me she was going to have a Happy Day today!! .At the end of the day, she said this was a "Happy Day!!"

Kids...

Trying to get all the kids posing for a picture can be a challenge from the oldest to the youngest. Here are two photos I got of them the other day. The first one is at the Arboretum and the second one is outside of Dairy Queen. Those were two of the different places that we went for Emma's birthday! They each have their own character shining through in the different shots!

One Fish..Two Fish...

Terry got all the kids new fishing poles this year since the old ones were falling apart and some tangled together. Connor got a longer black one and the girls each got a Barbie one (those were a hit!) One Saturday Terry took them all fishing while I was gone and Karley's pole caught two fish!! She was pretty excited to hold and see the fish. Then the next Sunday we went as a family and brought Carter (our nephew) along. We went down to McDonald part along the river. The excitement was there but the fist weren't really bitting and the river was high and rough. The girls didn't get much fishing in so they played on the play ground. The boys did catch one fish and were good sports about giving it a good shot. Karley has been practicing with her pole and gets all excited when she hears the word fishing!

The girls had to pack a picnic lunch for themselves since they knew they would probably get hungry and Emma says that is what fishermen do. Of course as they were packing, they said they needed to have a healthy lunch so they packed: sandwiches, carrots, green peppers, apples, raisins and pretzels! Needless to say everyone enjoyed part of their lunch!

Back yard fun

Our back yard pool gets lots of use out of it from our own family to extended family! Though it only goes up half way to the kids knees, they have hours of fun in it. Karley is really getting use to the water and realized that she can walk on her hands while her legs float behind her. Her favorite thing to do is dunk her hair in the water and then jump up and fall on her bottom. The girls enjoy playing with their barbies and Connor and the girls enjoy playing underwater tag or dodge ball.

Sisters, Sisters.....

Dress up, Dress up is what these girls LOVE to do.... they have plenty of dress up clothes to play with, but nothing is better than dressing up with Mom's clothes, shoes and jewelry!! I have learned some new styles and combinations that I would never have thought of! It all started with my shoes. They let me know what shoes are pretty and which ones I should wear! Then it grew into my necklaces and then clothes. Josie is very big on the shoes and necklaces (yes, she is more of the girly, girl!) I have seen skirts worn as tube tops or strapless dresses! They take a hair band and wraps it around to make the clothes fit. It either goes in front or back depending on the look they want. If it is in front, it turns into a big flower as accent their outfit; in the back, to tighten them up to make them fit better. They do have fun with this and I love hearing and watching them play!!

Pig Tails

Karley's hair is growing enough to be able to put it up in pig tails or a pony tail. She likes to have her hair done, especially when she sees her sisters putting something in their hair. She usually brings me about 10 hair bands to put in because she thinks they all need to go into her hair!

June Birthday Activities....

Besides the great food, cup cakes and presents, we got to enjoy, in between rain showers, going out on the rivera and playing in the sand. The kids LOVE this part of the party. I believe all kids got out on a tube, canoe, jet ski, etc or some floating device throughout the day! It was a great day with family!!!

June Birthday Celebrations

June is a month full of birthdays for my family so we decided to have a one day celebration with everyone! Thanks to Kristen's parents, we hosted the event there and all had a great time. The weather cooperated for the most part. We celebrated with great food, cup cakes and the opening of presents!

June Birthdays: Pierce (4), Matt (31), Josie (5), Emma (7), John (2), Mom (60), and Tina (21)

40th Anniversary

On June 5, 2009, we celebrated my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary and my mom's 60th Birthday. We started the evening by attending mass at Nativity B.V.M and then surprised them with a party at Matt and Natalie's house. Mom and Dad were very surprised and had a wonderful time!!! There was great company, food, and dancing. Their wedding party got up and danced with them while my 86 year old Grandma played away on the piano. We even go to see an old video clip of their wedding day thanks to my Uncle Dick. We feel that was the best present we could give them. They still continue to talk about what a great time it was!!

Little Eagles Track Meet

Connor, Emma and Josie participated in a track meet. They all were excited about running a track meet on the big track. Connor and Emma both ran the 50 and 100 meters. Josie participated in the 50 meters. Connor came home with two 2nd place ribbons and Emma came home with one 1st place ribbon. They were both very proud of themselves. They keep asking when the next one is.

Josie is in lane two.

Coloring

While Emma was playing a softball the game the other kids enjoyed coloring under a shade tree!

Birthday Celebrations!!!!

Memorial weekend was busy with celebrating birthdays! My dad surprised my mom with two shetlon ponies and a buggy. I remember having a team of ponies and a buggy when I was younger. The kids are loving all of it. They have all gone for buggy and pony rides. Willa (my brother Matt's daughter) also celebrated her first birthday with having pony rides! Emma even made the comment, "This is better than a gator ride!"