Ella and Jessie feeding her new puppy. 

Ella blows out her candles. Six already!?!?! 

Ella's super cute birthday cake, complete with ladybugs. 

Ella checks out a new journal she got for her birthday. 

Ella shows off a new dress. 

Ella opens her gifts. 

Jessie tries her hand at pin the ladybug on the leaf. 

Maia makes ladybug shaped cookies for Ella's birthday party. 

Spooky Day

Halloween 2006 has come and gone. Everyone dressed up and had SO much fun. Cameron was a skeleton, Maia was a zombie bride, and Ella was a witch (and a scary one, at that).

Ella started her day out with some trick-or-treating at the college with her daycare, then off to kindergarten for Halloween parties and lots of goodies. Maia and Cameron also had Halloween parties in their classes and got to put on their costumes and have a good time.

After school, Mom and Dad took them to the Trail of Treats, a program put on by the Chamber of Commerce. You start out at the Chamber office, where you get a map and a treat bag, and then you trick-or-treat somewhere around 50 downtown businesses. We walked up and down Main Street and hit a couple of others, then Ella went to music class, and Cameron visited a few others that were off the beaten path and had to be driven to.

Once Ella was finished with music we made a visit to the All City Halloween Party, which was a blast. There were tons and tons of carnival-type games, goodies, treats and prizes galore. We loved it! Everyone ran around having a great time, then we topped it all off with dinner at McDonald’s.

We only had two trick-or-treaters at our house this year, but with everything going on, can’t really blame them for not being out in the 20 degree weather freezing their butts off for a little candy.

Not really sure why we didn’t get a photo...silly us! At any rate, we had a great time, and it was all-in-all a very good day.

Dog Jog

Saturday was a good day. :)
We took our eight-month-old puppy, Wolfgang to Spring Lake Park for the "Dog Jog," a special event sponsored by the MonDak Humane Society. The day included a walk with lots and lots and lots of other dogs of all sizes from around the community, raising funds for the Humane Society's projects. Cameron did some pledge collecting and raised $50, which got him his very own bright orange Humane Society T-shirt.
Everyone had lots of fun, Wolfgang included.

Maia's lost tooth

Tonight, Maia and Wolfgang were wrestling on the floor in the lounge, and suddenly she came up with a bloody mouth...and a smile.
While the two of them were tussling, Wolfgang had knocked out one of her teeth! It was all OK with her, though, cuz all she was worried about now was leaving the tooth for the tooth fairy.
Being seven is the best!

First day of kindergarten

Ella Rose had her first day of kindergarten today. She's growing up so fast! Mom even made it through the day without crying, which made everyone happy. :)

Despite the fact that she doesn't appear to be *smiling* in any of these photos, she really was quite excited. And incredibly disappointed when she realized the first day was mostly just an orientation, and she only had class for 45 minutes.

Tomorrow, though, big day!

Here we are, ready for our first day! 

One cute little girl, all set for her first day. 

Ella walking from the car on her first day. 

Jaycees convention weekend

We had a great time this weekend at the Jaycees convention - hosted right here at home in Williston. There was so much for us to do, we spent Sunday lying around and being totally exhausted!

There were two kids programs this weekend, and we had lots of fun with our friends Jill, Michelle and Allayna as they led them. And there was even McDonalds for lunch!

We made a special appearance in matching shirts...just like the "real" Jaycees. It's fun being a Jaycee kid!

During the kids program, the children made cardboard cars to show off during the evening banquet. They all put a lot of really creative effort into the project, and had a blast doing it. 

Maia (in the lead!) and Cameron participate in a race of their special cars. Maia beat out both boys to take home the award for first place in the race. 

Cameron shares his special-made semi with the crowd. This baby has features galore. 

Maia shows off her Sponge Bob car. It had flames coming out the back! This one is fast! 

Ella poses with her special car - complete with windshield wipers and rain drops! 

Dance Photos

The girls' dance photos arrived this week. They were taken by Terri Rider photography, and turned out very cute.

Miss Ella Rose poses for her dance photos before the spring dance recital. 

Ella (second from left) with her ballet/tap dance class from the Dance Factory. Doesn't she look proud as a peacock? 

Maia posing for her dance photos following her spring dance recital. 

Maia (center) with her jazz/ballet class from The Dance Factory. 

Busy weekend

We had a super busy weekend, with lots going on!

Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of some friends - J.C. and Susan. We played lots of board games with the family, and made some new friends. :)

Then Saturday morning, bright and early, we were up and at it again, off to Fairview to do some work with the Jaycees. The group was putting in a barrier to protect the area between the bridge and the historic railroad tunnel (the only one left in North Dakota), and we were big helpers. Got real dirty, climbed and played a lot, and had fun.

That evening was J.C. and Susan's wedding. It was beautiful, and we made fun of Mom for crying. Grown ups are such saps!

After the wedding was the good part - the reception! We had a very good time snacking on the treats, playing with the kids, and then partying the night away. We all did lots of dancing, and Cameron even got up on stage to sing karaoke with J.C.! They sang "Beer for my Horses," and Cam sang the Willie Nelson part. He did a great job singing his part.

We didn't make it back to bed until eleven, but it was a very fun night. We can't wait for the next wedding dance!

On Sunday, Cameron and Maia tried out for the youth theater program. They had to get up on the stage and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," then recite "Mary Had a Little Lamb." They both did very well, especially after Maia got some coaching about speaking loudly.

They find out at the end of the week what parts they will play, and we'll keep you posted!

Cameron and Wolfgang had a great time climbing up the hills while the grown-ups worked. They were pretty high up, but they weren't scared! 

Here is the bridge we were working at -- the old Fairview railroad bridge, which leads to the only railroad tunnel in North Dakota. 

We had a lot of fun helping out with the fence building project for the Jaycees. And we got pretty dirty! 

Great goat!

Wolfgang met a goat while we were at Amanda's this weekend. He wasn't sure what to think about that! 

Fishing trip with Grandpa

Written by Cameron:

I went on a fishing trip to the Little Muddy River and I caught a carp, and Grandpa's neighbor caught a catfish, but we had to throw them back. The catfish was too small, and we weren't going for carp.

It was fun. It rained pretty hard.

Brownie graduation

Last weekend, Maia had the chance to take part in her first Brownie graduation ceremony. Some of the girls bridged up to juniors, and Maia had fun watching them go over the bridge into their new troop. At the end, she got a little bag with all of the try-its she had earned during the year inside.

Maia loved her first year of Brownies, and is looking forward to being a part of the troop again next year!

Maia looks through her Brownie try-it badges.