Happy Birthday Nanna!

Today Rick's mom would have been 64. I made one of Rick's favorite casseroles for dinner and invited Ted over. I don't think it was one of Ted's favorites. Rick is still in South Dakota with Taylor and Jade. Taylor signed up for the draft today and visited a recruiting office. Rick was proud as they left. Taylor shook the men's hands and said, "It was nice to meet you, sir."
Jade got her drivers license today! She is pretty excited!
Abby and Emmy are playing dolls tonight, while Grandpa Ted is with Luke at Tiger Cubs. That should be interesting. It's Luke's first den meeting. Emily starts piano lessons tomorrow. So much excitement!

I Am Back

I am Back..............

It has been two months since I have blogged. I embarrassingly, read each of your summer blogs. Embaressed because, I so love reading yours, but Ashamed that my blog sat silent.

OK! We have had a fantastic summer, I am dripping with GREAT pictures, but the LC Centennial has really kept me busy this summer and NOW! It is a beautiful thing, but WOW!

Luke enjoyed each Thursday competing in his motocross at Hannagan Speedway. He finished 2nd place overall, even though he started half way through the summer. He is set and ready for next year with a new race bike and gear to rock the track. God gave mercy: so no falls were too harmful.

Abby could not get enough of her Alaska cousins this summer. They had a hard time saying goodbye, but the time spent was a true blessing. We love you girls. She rode her horse at Pa Pa & Hunny's any chance she got.

August brought Jansen family fun during a big event at our house and the Company Picnic. It gets better every year. Too much fun!

We have also been blessed with our friends from New Zealand and Costa Rica.
The cultural differences are the same and different. My kids are so privlaged to have the experience to live with the friends we have. Sad good bye to Claire and Family and not looking forward to the CR goodbyes.

I don't want to forget Emily.
She is so excited to start piano lessons this year. She has been reading really well and ready for 1st grade. She too, likes to ride horse.

Also: Rick is traveling to Sioux Falls right now and is bringing a car for Jade who turned 16 in May. She will be a licenced driver soon.
God speed to Rick who is currently in Wyoming, driving the Pontiac Grand Am that will soon be Jade's.

Taylor will be 18 on the 12th. A MAN! Rick is excited to spend time with Taylor and Jade. I am happy for them and wish I was there. Luke does too. He asks why Taylor's voice sounds different.

Ok, with any luck, I will include photos next time. I forgot how.

Oh and on a side note. I am still the assistant Development director, Alumni Coordinator, Silpada Jewelry sales girl, Mom, wife, friend, and have taken on year book advisor for the K-8 yearbook. And did I mention, it is the Centennial!

It is going to be a GREAT year!

Hugs to all and thanks for sharing your stories all summer!

Our family is celebrating God's Faithfullness this year at LC's Centennial!

God Bless You

blogging blunders

I would like to learn how to blog without mistakes. I don't do it enough and I can't see the pictures I am putting up. Some are numbered the same so when I write down what numbers to choose, it just gets crazy. So for all you professional bloggers out there. Help. Please disregard the mistakes I have made in the following posts, but I am trying.
Thanks for the love.

Luke the Loco Lad

Last Thursday was Luke's last race at Hannagan Speedway. This boy does nothing but ride. Riding motorcycle runs through his blood. His very first race earned him 5th place out of 8 kids. Keep in mind that he doesn't have the fanciest of bikes and he is the only one that has to shift. In his 2nd race, he bumped up to 3rd place and a bigger trophy. He was quite pleased. There was an opponate named Komakazi. He is the boy to beat. So with much practice and Mom with her many gasps and heartstops: Luke was bound and determined to beat Komakazi. Last week he did just that. It was such an exciting race and evidently he did not even know Komakazi was on his tail the whole time, he even passed Luke on a corner once. But in the end the pressure got the best of Komakazi and he took a fall. Sad but true. And Luke walked away with the first place trophy! He can't wait to race tomorrow. If it doesn't rain he will compete in the beginners 4-8 year old class at about 5:30. Race on! Vroom, Vroom!

Entertaining Emily

Emily has been so much fun this summer. She doesn't ride the motorcycle unless someone comes over and Luke starts riding. She wants to be sure everyone knows she can ride too. She doesn't have near the experience as her brother who rides for many hours each day. The pictures speak for themselves.

Also, Emily is reading so much this summer. For her Kindergarten graduation, our church presented her with her very first Bible. She enjoys reading it as well as lots of "Biscuit" books. Biscuit is a dog, and the books are suited for beginner readers. I know that they are too easy for her, but she is reading and that makes me happy.

She enjoyed a fun time swimming and circling sparklers on the 4th.

Abby's 4th

On the 4th of July, our family celebrated with some friends at the home of Kathy Chambers. What a beautiful evening and lots of fun. Lucky for Abby, two of her friends are daughters of our friends.

She had fun playing "chicken" with two dads and all the kids. Abby, Kelsey, and Alexa are pictured together.

Motor Cross Champion

Last Thursday, Luke entered his first ever Motor Cross Race. I was not in attendance, not because I did not want to be, but because we wanted Luke to have time without his sisters who would have 1. made fun of him, and 2. wanted to try it too. They each admitted that they would have. Emily may want to try in a few years when she is more experienced, Abby has no interest, but did tell me, "oh, yeah, I would have made fun of him". NICE.
In the end, I am glad I was not there, he fell on the first tight corner.
This racing on a track thing is very different than on the ranch. Rick said he was very "underbiked" which I think means that his really cool bike is not that cool. The age range was from four to eight. Luke is 6. He took 5th out of 8 (I think). So we were pretty proud. And the way he walks around with his trophy: he can't wait for the next race. Unless Rick makes it home tomorrow, we may have to wait until next Thursday. I have to work tomorrow night.
I am afraid he is HOOKED!
Ride on Man!

2nd Grade Reading Luau

In Second Grade, if you meet your year long reading requirements, you get to celebrate with a Luau. The Luau takes place in the back yard of my office (which adjoins the elementary playground). I took some time and traded hats, office worker to mom (my favorite of all hats). The kids played all kinds of games, ate fruit kabobs and celebrated their reading successes. Thank Miss K. and all the kids and teachers for making this a fun day! I had a great time.

Baby Horses and other Ranch Happenings

Baby Animals and other Ranch Happenings

On May 5, 6, 12, and 19 baby horses were born here on the ranch. They are adorable and so funny. The births do not take long, in fact, we watched 2 of the births. One even got video taped. Too cool. Last year the name of the horses were decided on by the theme "candy". So we had Starburst, Caramel, Snickers, and Mentos. A little silly, but hey, the kids chose the names. This year, we decided to go with a Biblical theme. And the names are cute, but most of the names are after the Bible "bad guys". So we have two boys and two girls. Cain, Jezibel, Delilah, and Saul. The photos may all be of the same one or all different. I can't keep track. We also acquired 2 baby chicks from Abby Jo's 2nd grade class who raised them. McKinnley Heights was the boy who we did not quite snatch from the clasp of our cat's jaws. May he rest in peace. There was only about and hour and a half of hysterical crying from two young girls. Rick was speechless and less than compassionate. Luke was scared. The girl chick is still the love of Abby's life. She treats it like it was her first born. Her name is Addison Jolee. Life is good here on the ranch.

Ranch

Where Did May Go? It's on to June :) and SOCCER

May was such a crazy busy month that I think I will just skip it. If I don't start my June, I will have to give up this blogging business. We will start with soccer. It was a successful season of learning the game. Emily and Luke were on the light blue team together. Abby was on a team of all girls, also light blue. Makes for an easy fix, when one shirt goes missing. This only happened once, but, wow!, it could have been THE END of the world.

All of the kids did very well and they each scored at least one goal. Those were highlights!

Happy Birthday Cary and Carly

Today is the birthday of my sister Cary (age 41) and Carly (age 21). They do have different Moms, but how cool is sharing a birthday with your sister who is 20 years different in age. I am 20 years and 27 days older than Carly's sister Kelcy. So we will be turning 40 and 20 in Dec, Jan. Super fun. There are two boys in between two sets of girls. Can't wait to see everyone on May 19. Photos to follow.
Happy Birthday Sistaz!

Broken Camera Sadness

Well People,
The camera is at the hospital. The flash fails to pop up, it won't turn on, and it is just dirty/sticky. Clearly I use this tool. I am always replacing my camera. This one was a bit more expensive than the ones before, in fact I could have easily bought a very nice camera for what its costing me to fix the one I have. I admit it, I am darn hard on cameras. And so are my kids. I hope to have my best friend back by weeks end, but if not, I will continue to write. I might just learn how to post video, and then you can watch a horse birth. Pretty cool. It all happened within about 7 minutes. Baby was walking within 20 minutes. We have 3 , almost 4 babies walkin' the ranch, come on out and have a look see. They are soooooooo cute.

Football Friends

Rick attended Northwestern College in Iowa. While he was there he played on the football team. He had a lot of fun and made great lifetime friends. This month one of his teammates/friends passed away. He was living in Sumas, so four of his friends came from Iowa for his funeral. The guys stayed with us and they used the opportunity to enjoy each others company. It was really nice that they could come out, it meant a lot to his family. Here are a few photos that were taken during their stay. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. All in the name of Robbie. He will be missed.

A Litlle Work, A Little Play

On Thursday of Spring Break we decorated eggs! The kids colored and dipped, tie-dyed, and ate several eggs that cracked in the boil. Luke wrote the whole alphabet on one before he dipped. A good time was had.

I remember my first Easter with Rick's family. I brought traditional hard boiled decorated eggs. Rick's Mom thought I was crazy, evidently in their family they hide candy and not boiled eggs. "What kid would want to eat eggs on Easter?" I will be going to the Dykstra Easter this year at Uncle Rich and Aunt Doris', " I will not be bringing these eggs, the Candy is bought and ready to go.

After we finished the eggs, I decided to get going on Abby's homework she missed the week before Spring Break. She was sick 3 of the 5 days and had a little catching up to do. Passion Week was celebrated and a book was written. She has one page left. She finished her April "Just Read It" work, worked on flash cards, and finished her Sioux Indian person. That was fun!

Today Luke is getting his hair cut, this might be followed by a trip to Hi Hoe!