Some pics of Jes and Lance

 Jessica got a box of chocolates for Valentines Day.  Jeff Shaw brought them over.  This is the first time she received something really special for Valentines Day.  She took a treat over to him later in the evening.  I think she was a little embarrassed.

 In January Kerry and I have been talking about getting rid of the basketball hoop.  The kids never use it even when it has been nice weather.  We never said this to the kids.  Well funny thing Jessica and Lance have been using it almost every day for the last month and a half.

 She loves playing basketball with the boys at school.  Lance said she was actually pretty good at it.  That saying a lot for the big brother to give a compliment.

 Love this picture of Lance.  He is really maturing.  He has had a great year.  He is 5'11" now and weighs 141.  He has maintained his 4.0 the entire year so far.  I think he is so handsome as I do all of my children. Well I am biased.  He has good friends.  He has been playing a lot of basketball, xbox, fishing, and golf.  He is thinking about joining the golf team next year.

 He is the first person in our family who doesn't need a chair to change a light bulb.  Yes that is a little jab at Kerry.

Lance made me this fabulous jewelry box in wood shop.  I love it!!!

Braddick

 I love this picture he looks so healthy.  He was such a cute dog.

 Braddick and Daxter loved to lay by each other on the couch.

For a couple of years Braddick has been having bowel trouble.  This last year it has been worse.  He has lost a lot of weight.  He hasn't been able to make it outside and he goes out so often.  He has to take a long time and he just leaks.  He ended up 12 lbs of skin and bones.  He has been suffering.  We took him Tuesday, April 02 to the doctor.  We had been telling the kids it was going to be time.  The morning before we left for the vet we let the kids say goodbye.  They all cried, even Lance and that was hard for me.   We went into the office and waited for the doctor.  Braddick still had all of his mental facilities. This made it harder for us.   He was his normal smart alert self.  He sniffed around and came up for loves.  He went up to the doctor and his assistant for loves.  We kept petting and loving him.  We kept telling him what a good dog he was.  I hope he could understand.   Dr. Ryan Roundy came in and told us about the procedure.  He reassured us and we could tell he felt badly.  He was very respectful and kind.  We put Braddick up on the table with a white towel under him.  He didn't fight us and he was so well behaved.  He trusted us.  That really bothered me.  He normally gets upset at the vet.  Dr. Roundy tried several times to get a vein in several places.  Braddick's blood pressure was so low that it wasn't possible.  The normal treatment they do that takes only a few minutes was now going to take longer.  He sedated Braddick which took about 6 minutes.  Dr. Roundy then came back and put the other medication into his thigh.  He twitched and moved and after a few minutes his heart stopped and his spirit left his body.  The entire time we just gave our dog as much comfort and love as we could.  We cried.  I really understand what it means to love and to be so broken hearted.  Our family has been crying for days.  I really can't remember the last time I felt this sad.  I can't even explain the pain and the feeling.  This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  I am glad we were there with Braddick to the end.  I think people owe that to their dog. Dumb things set us off.  We see the toys he loved, especially his blue racket ball.  We got him a coat and sweater because he got cold easily.  Seeing his special food and not knowing what to do with any of it.  Braddick was a loving dog.  He loved being with us.  He would follow us around.  He liked sleeping in bed with you when you were sick.  He wanted to protect us and always barked at the door.  He didn't play fetch well...he wouldn't give the ball back. He knew how to shake play dead when you said bang, hands, high five, roll over, dance and he understood hand signals and English.  You could always feel his love.  He always came to the door to greet you when you came home.  We will miss him so much.   

Lance

Lance has had an eventful couple of weeks.  I think he is trying to set a record for appointments. He started basic hair and dentist.  He found a lump in his neck above his thyroid...just small pea sized.  We went to the doctor and they did blood tests which came back fine.  He had to go to Primary Children's Hospital for an ultrasound that we are still waiting for, but it looked promising.  He just had his bottom braces put on.  Then we took him Thursday to remove all his wisdom teeth.  He has bounced back pretty well, but he is very swollen.  Well I told him at least we know what you would look like if you were chubby and you are still cute.  Kerry is teasing him about being a chipmunk.  He is a little worried about going back to school on Monday.  He doesn't like to explain things to people.

Science Fair

 Lucas won 2nd Place in the schools science fair.  His project gets to go on to the district science fair.  It was interesting the results every two feet dropping the cantaloupe without the helmet and with.  It was less messy than I thought it would be.  He had tons of fun doing and researching his project.

 14 ft without a helmet

14 ft with the helmet

Parents could help in dangerous situations.

Christmas

 Christmas with my family.

 Yes he has a coat.  I am sure my neighbors don't think so.

 Yes he got underwear for Christmas and he was happy about it.  We teased him for a few days earlier that he was going to have to wear Lance's old ones.  It was funny how angry he got.  Man we are mean.

 The kids teasing the dog.

Everybody was pretty happy.  This Christmas Season was very enjoyable for all of us.

Here's Your Sign

Lucas was chosen as Citizen of the Month.  He gets to have the poster in the yard this month.  We were joking that it was like the honor student sticker for your car.  Well it is fun and we are proud nonetheless.

More Metal

Lance got his top set of braces on Friday.  I think he looks cute.  He is glad that they will be off before he is old enough to date.

Lego League

 In Lego League they designed and built a small robot with attachments and programmed it.  They also designed an invention.  This year the theme was Senior Solutions.  They learned about senior citizens.  They had to do presentations for their invention. The competition with the robot was pretty cool.  They had to make their robot preform functions and each function had a certain amount of points.  Each team had complete the mission in 2 1/2 minutes.

 They won two awards.  They received one for the best robot mission they scored they highest out of all the teams.  Then they won the overall competition and they get to go to the state competition at the U.

The School District recognized them as the Students of the Month for January.  

Jessica learned a lot in this after school club.  They only chose 10 kids out of the school to participate.  It was a fabulous opportunity for her.  It was an enormous amount of work and I am so proud of her.

Lucas and Jessica School Pictures

Fall Family Pictures

 Jessica is starting to get attention from the boys and she is loving it.  I keep telling her it is because she is so sweet.  I hope she stays that way.  Jessica works so hard at everything she does.  She is so honest and caring.  She is makes everything silly and fun. 

 My favorite picture. 

 Lucas brings me so much joy.  He is so kind.  He thinks about others when he makes decisions.  He is the most helpful child.  He has so many talents and is always working on new ones.  He started playing the trumpet this year. 

 High School has been so good for Lance, but he is growing up way to fast.  He is Fourteen and when I met Kerry he was Eighteen.  I am really trying to enjoy these next Four years.  Lance has been working at Coldstone a couple of days a week.  He is learning so much and he is getting so responsible. 

 I am the luckiest girl in the world.  I really have a great family.  They make life so enjoyable.  I am thankful for every minute.  I have been blessed with so much. I am so proud of my children.  My husband is incredible.  I really do know true happiness.

Once again Rory and Suzanne work their magic!!!!