Boys and Their Toys

Riley got an extra special gift for his birthday from Clay and I...actually, it's for both boys' birthdays. Of course, Clay had one so when the opportunity arose to buy a DIRT BIKE for our boys, Clay seized it!

The boys loved it. The were so excited. The first night, Clay ran alongside the boys to ensure that the didn't get hurt and to coach them along. Of course, everyone got the safety brief. We let our neighbours' kids have a crack at it too. It's quite popular in the neighbourhood, go figure. And, Clay also let the girls have a turn, but, he didn't let go of the bike at all. Here are some pictures from the first evening when we gave the boys the bike.



The boys have road the bike a few times now. Last night, Clay let them ride on their own without running alongside of them. The are getting good at it. We also acquired some extra safety gear.

Can't Believe We Have An 8 Year Old

Our big boy turned 8 on Sunday and we had a Birthday party for him on Saturday. Riley wanted to have a sleepover with some buddies. So, we let him choose three of his friends for the sleepover. He also invited some of his other buddies over on Saturday even to play some hockey and have some cake.

For the sleepover, we let the kids have a movie night with popcorn and pop. In true boy nature, they tried to stay up all night, so Clay and I stayed up until 1 am, which was when they finally fell asleep. And in true boys fashion, they were up before seven, running around and rocking the house. We served waffles, whipped cream and strawberries for breakfast and shortly after that, the parents came to pick up their kids.

Riley's First Communion

Riley's First Communion was a wonderful and busy weekend. We had tonnes of family come: Clay's parents, my parents, my grandparents, and Martin and family and Chad. So, the house was full, but we were prepared for more, just in case. Riley had a really great weekend. He was very excited about making this step in his Christian journey. He was also very appreciative about all of his gifts. He made Clay and I so proud when he thanked everyone so genuinely for each one of his gifts. What a big boy. Anyways, here are the photos from that weekend.

Wedding Weekend in Calgary

My cousin got married in Calgary on April 30th. We made the trip to Calgary from Winnipeg by car, with stopovers in Regina. We stayed in Calgary with our wonderful friends, Mike and Katie Strawson. The kids hadn't seen each other since last summer, but they were instantaneously acquainted with each other.

The weekend was really great, inspite of the long drive and the puking bandit in the backseat of the car. Poor Brodie threw up only 35 mins out of Regina and required a temperary road break to help him out, then, a good fixing when we got to a gas station at Moose Jaw. Other than that, the trip went smoothly.

We had a really good time at the wedding and I got to see a lot of my cousins that I haven't seen in a while. The kids danced like crazy and got to party really late. They also had some awesome wrestling time with Great Grandpa Englot when we went back to their room after the marriage. He's almost 80 and he had those kids flying through the air. It's pretty cool that they are going to have such fond, fun memories of them.

Here are the photos.

The Kotzer meet Sophie Jane

Connie and Greg's baby was born on April 15th. We had to wait until April 27th to meet her and got a chance to do so on our way to Calgary for my cousin's wedding. She is such a sweet little thing and when she sleeps, she sleeps hard. Pretty much, nothing wakes her up. Here are the pictures of our newest little niece.

Easter Weekend 2011

Clay and I and the family stayed at home for Easter this year. We had a really nice weekend, which also included sausage making with two of the neighbours. Clay has always wanted to try making breakfast sausages and actaully did it on Holy Saturday. They turned out great.

Easter Sunday, we went to church, ate Easter brunch and then had the greatly anticipated Easter Egg hunt.

Winter in the Spring

It's not uncommon to get snow in the prairies in the spring....it's actually expected, but not necessarily welcome. One Friday night while hot tubbing, it started to snow, the next morning it looked like November and the kids made the best of it. The pictures tell the story.

Morning Practice

Grace is such a diligent little piano player. Sometimes, it's the first thing she does in the morning, even before getting dressed.

On this particular morning, she played for her jam-faced sister and super flexible Barbie doll.

Going Buggy

On April 14th, Riley and Brodie took part in a school play called "Going Buggy." It was a super cute musical production about bugs fighting for their right to be treated fairly on the earth. Riley was a spider and Brodie was a bee. Brodie sang a few songs with his class in the play and Riley had an acting part that he had to audition for. They both did really well with their songs and lines. Clay and I were very proud parents. Here are the photos from the evening. There are also a few photos with Riley's classmates. Warning: Boys will be boys, so, some of them look quirky.