Graduation

When we asked Jaden what he wanted to do for his Kindergarten Graduation he said, "I want a bonfire." So despite the rain we gathered with friends and family to celebrate Jaden's move into the 1st grade.

May 17th

About a year ago I started this blog and one of the first entrees was about running my first marathon. It was the Fargo Marathon and this year I decided to run the Half Marathon. It was my fourth half marathon but I was pleased with my performance of 1:51:47 even though it was my third best time. My goal is it someday get it down to 1:39:59 to be able to say I ran a half marathon in 1:30's. I did wear the beanie and it was again a hit. My next big race will be the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

First Communion and Confirmation

On May 10 Megan celebrated her First Communion and Confirmation. We were very proud of her (and not just because she wore a dress). After the ceremony we had a get together at our house and served tacos (that is what she wanted). She received many nice gifts but we are most thankful for all the people that showed up and gave their support. Her Aunt Michaela and Uncle Gary were her sponsors (and her godparents) but only one was allowed to walk with her. One of the nicest things about the whole thing is the scrap book Megan prepared, you will have to see it the next time you visit.

1st Road Trip

Megan, Jadan, Grandma Shirley, Grandpa Jerome and I took the new van on its first road trip. We went to the Cities to Cousin's Michael's 1st Holy Communion. It was a quick day trip that turned out to be a enjoyable day. The new van has swivel chairs in the middle so the middle row and the back row can face each other and a table goes up in the middle. The kids did not know about this so they were real excited to get on the road and try it out. Things went well all the way to Albertville were we stopped for breakfast. Grandma and the kids played all kinds of games the whole way. After breakfast we took off for the last hour of our journey. Jaden sat in the middle row with his back to the front of the car and started getting car sick. We don't know if it was because he sat backward and he had just eaten a big breakfast so we are going to have to be careful with him on trips. If you don't know Jaden has a very week stomach and I could write a book of stories on that subject.

Easter

Here is a family picture of us after Easter Mass. It seems that we are at a stage when we can never get a picture of everyone smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.

When you think of Easter Mass I'm sure you think of over an hour celebration or maybe an over two hour celebration. Well 38 minutes has to be a new Catholic record. Father was not feeling well so his homily was this:

"Obviously the reading were about the Resurrection...you know the rest"

Jaden's Birthday

In April we celebrated Jaden's 6th birthday. All he wanted was his best friend Claudia and him to go to a swim park. We started the day by going to Home Depot to the children's workshop and built planters. Then we headed to Casselton to the Governor's Inn with Megan, Jaden, Claudia, and two of our friend's children. We came back and had pizza, cake, and opened presents. It was a wonderful day.