Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Time out for snuggles


After a long day of playing and activity, Maia and Jimmy snuggle up on the floor for a cuddle.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas today - Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Sindy, Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Cindy all came over. Grandpa made us a big breakfast, then we opened presents. We all got what we asked Santa for, and more!

Ella got the Care Bear she has been dreaming of, Maia got her fancy big girl hoop earrings, and Cameron got a model car. We also got lots of other things!
Our family gift was a Wii, which we have really been wanting, and then at the end of the gift giving was one last special gift...

Ella


Cameron


Maia


Let's get this thing open!


One happy girl


Here Wii go....

Trying everything out, we all got together in a game of Wii Golf. We love this gift!

Scavenger Hunt


After all of the gifts were opened, we found out there was JUST ONE more. But we had to go on a special scavenger hunt to discover what our last gift could be. So we donned our coats, and went out to find the clues.


Quite the riddle

The first clues were hidden throughout the house and the yard. We rushed out and got them, then brought them back to try to figure out the mystery. They said:

Congratulations Cameron, Maia and Ella Rose!
This Christmas, you have participated in one of the most important children's movements of your time.
The goal - to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.
But how to do it?
How do you empower children around the world to take full advantage of every opportunity this world has to offer?


We puzzled over the question, then went off to find the next clue, where we learned:

One Laptop Per Child
A donation has been made in your name to a very special program which is putting laptops in the hands of children in third world countries all over the world.
To learn more about these children, visit their blogs and videos at http://laptop.org/en/children/learning/
But there's more!!!

Wow, that's pretty cool. But more could there be? Off we were again, to find the next hint.

Mystery Revealed

And then came the final clue, and the mystery was revealed! It said:

Thank you!
To thank you for your generous donation, you will also be receiving a laptop of your very own. Your laptop will arrive in early January, once the child who will be the recipient of your generosity has received their very special gift.
With love,
From Mom and Dad,
Grandma Sindy and Grandpa Jerry
And Jeff

Sunday, December 09, 2007

It's a Wonderful Life


Cameron performed in his first play this holiday, acting as Tommy Bailey in the Entertainment, Inc! production of "It's a Wonderful Life."


He had a really wonderful time with the experience, and learned lots about the process of community theater.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Birthday party


Ella and a group of her friends gathered at Million Dollar Lanes today for to celebrate her seventh birthday. She had lots of fun, and commemorated the day with a gift from the bowling alley of a special bowling pin!

Cutting her cake


Ella and Abbie having cake


Having some cake and goodies


Little bowlers


Tuesday, November 06, 2007

They say it's your birthday...


Today's the day - Ella is seven!!!

Her party isn't until Saturday, but she got to open a few special gifts from out of town.

This one was from Gran and Granddad in New Zealand. As she was pulling open the paper she said, "I'm so excited, Gran's gifts are always good!"

A baby doll for a baby doll


A baby doll and all the accessories - just what I wanted! The baby's name is Jane.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween


Cameron, Ella and Maia show off their Halloween costumes before going out for the evening to take in the All-City Halloween Party.
Cameron is the bad guy from Scary Movie, Ella is Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean, and Maia is the dead bride.
A little background on Maia's costume - apparently she became a member of the undead when she decided to try to lick the frosting off the bride and groom on the top of her wedding cake, but choked on it and passed on.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Ella's art



Ella made this "bowling ball" with her iron-on beads, but decided a photo was better, because then she could reuse the beads.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Long distance interview


Maia's teacher recently assigned her the task of interviewing "the oldest" person in her family. Since Granddad Richard is 108, she of course thought he was the perfect choice. Only problem? He is in Whangaparaoa, New Zealand, and she is miles and miles away in North Dakota.
Enter the internet.
Maia and Granddad were able to hook up via instant messenger, webcam and yahoo phone - a full package allowing them to be face to face (sort of), hear each other's voices and interact through the interview.
She had a long list of questions, including what he liked to do when he was her age, how much things cost when he was her age and where he grew up. The process was so interesting it grew a crowd - not long into it, there were three very interested children sitting on the edge of their chairs, one of them frantically taking notes. She could barely keep up, but she loved every minute of it!
Big thanks to Granddad for such a special evening.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Third grade health fair


Maia took part in the Mercy Medical Center Health Fair, an annual event for third graders. She had lots of fun (even though it was educational!!), learning about the health risks of smoking, local emergency workers and much more.
Plus she got the cute t-shirt.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Miss North Dakota

This has been a very exciting week for Maia. This week, she took part in the Little Sisters program during the Miss North Dakota Scholarship Pageant. As part of the program, each girl is matched up with a contestant to be sisters for the week.
Maia was matched up with an incredibly sweet 17-year-old big sister named Megan. She loved every minute of their time together!


Allison Irgens, Maia's personal hair dresser, helps her get ready before the show.

Maia and her big sister, Miss James River Valley Megan Ockert of Cathay, N.D. What a gorgeous pair!


Maia (green dress) and Megan (black dress) unwind after Friday's preliminary competition with some dancing at the Miss N.D. gala.

Joining in to do the Macarena with the other contestants and Little Sisters.


Getting ready to go on stage - Maia smiles for the camera next to her spot in the dressing room.

Maia presents Megan with a rose during the evening gown portion of the competition.


Maia (yellow hat, second from left) and the other Little Sisters play dress-up during their special musical number during the pageant.


Gloves, necklaces, bracelets and heels - what fun to play dress up for the crowd!


Megan and Maia say their good-byes - and Megan signs Maia's program from the event. They had such a good time together!


Maia with Miss North Dakota 2007 Annette Olson.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Our friend Amanda (Alea Photography) did a great photoshoot of us this winter, and she has the pictures available for sale on her Web site.

They are gorgeous, and you should really check them out!

http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/album.jsp?aid=768a5498cf4009c8ca2f

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Big day for Ella!

This has been a very, very big day for the baby of the family.

It was the last day of kindergarten (woo-hoo! Here I come first grade!), she lost a tooth and went to a birthday party.

Does it get any better when you're six?

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Look at me!


Check it out, I can touch my feet to the back of my head! ~Ella

Monday, March 26, 2007

Playing with Jimmy


Jimmy taking a ride in the doll stroller - he's not sure what to think about that!

Maia and Jimmy


Taking a break for a snuggle.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

St. Louis trip

It was a very exciting week for our family. Four of us traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for the national convention of the U.S. Jaycees, and to compete on the national level in the Mungenast (Jaycee family of the year) competition.

(Cameron stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpa because he has perfect attendance, and didn't want to lose it!)

The competition consisted of interviews and judging on a book put together from our family activities throughout the year. And we won! Our family was honored with the Andrew and Charlotte Mungenast Memorial Award.

We made the Herald, too. Here is a story about us getting the national award:

http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2007/03/17/local_news/news3.txt

While we were in St. Louis, we also had some time to check things out and have a little fun. (Photos to follow....)

St. Louis


Little competitors

Maia and Ella are ready for their interview before a panel of judges.

JCI tour


Among the places we got to visit during our trip was the JCI (Junior Chamber International) headquarters in St. Louis. Here we are (the North Dakota delegates) with Scott Greenlee, the president of the JCI organization. Very exciting place for us to be! There was even art on the walls from New Zealand, and a doll collection with dolls from all over the world. We also got to see lots of interesting history of JCI, and check out the state-of-the-art offices.

Convention days


Being a delegate means lots of time in the grand ballroom as people from across the state receive honors for their hard work throughout the year. Maia found lots to do while she represented North Dakota.

Mungenast family

Here we are with President Lisa, being honored as family of the year. Those are some proud girls!

All dressed up


A family photo all dressed up in our fancy clothes for the Saturday evening banquet. Don't we look like gorgeous princesses?

Posing with Tami


Here we are with President Tami, 2006 President of the North Dakota Jaycees. Can you tell from the photo how much we love her?

Sharp-dressed group

The North Dakota delegation stopped for a group photo in our finery.

Dancing queen


Having a great time! Maia learned lots of new dance steps on the empty dance floor as people started to come in for the dance on Saturday night.

Dancing into the night


Maia gets down with Daddy during the inaugaration dance.

St. Patty's princess


Having a great time. Ella celebrates the end of convention and St. Patrick's Day with a super cute headband.

Dance baby, dance!


Ella got into the act, too. Check out those moves!

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

While all of the adults were off doing training, we took a trip to the St. Louis zoo. We wanted to see the new baby elephant, but he must have been having a nap at the time. But it was still lots of fun, because we got to see this Mama elephant, and lots of other animals. We took a ride on the train, saw the leopard and the crocodile and more.

Having a rest

Ella's favorite memory from the zoo, this little guy sat resting against the glass wall that separated him from the onlookers. He sat that way the entire time we were in the primate section of the zoo. Maybe he was listening in?

Hissssssss.....

Maia and Ella pose with a statue of a snake and its eggs during their zoo visit.