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?

Look at me!

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

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.

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.