Hiking and a new kitchen floor

What an amazing Spring it has been! Both Karis and Timothy have been able to go on hiking trips with Ben. Karis and Ben hiked to the top of the bluff at Hixon State Forest.
Ben and Timothy hiked in Perrot State Park.

This was Timothy's first hike in the big backpack!

We had the kitchen floor replaced in early April. There was wood laminate flooring that had been
damaged by water before we bought the house. This is what was under the wood floor... ugly, but it saved the sub-floor!

The final product... vinyl tile with grout... we love it!

Easter

Timothy with his basket... trying to eat the chocolate.
Karis with her basket... gotta love the crazy bedhead!!!!
The kids played bells on Easter morning...
Timothy was very attentive during church.
Karis showed off her egg.

Vegas

The pool complex at the MGM Grand
The water show at the Bellagio
New York New York
AMAZING art work at the Bellagio
The Venetian
Back in Early February, I was struggling with the winter weather. Amy Jo and I were talking about this and the idea of Vegas came up. Within a week, the trip was booked! We ventured to Vegas for a long weekend in mid March. I was able to reconnect with my childhood neighbor, Barrett, via Facebook. He has lived in Vegas for a few years and his parents have also moved there. We planned to catch up and visit Red Rock Canyon with them.

While in Vegas, Amy Jo and I stayed at the MGM Grand... there are too many stories to tell about our first night there, but the rest of it was wonderful. We were able to see "Ka" (Cirque de Soleil) and "Blue Man Group"... two amazing shows.

We hung out in the hotel pool complex, ventured in and out of the hotels and people watched. I had a blast without gambling or doing anything illegal...

Vegas Part 2

Barrett, Dawn, Serena and Alex at Red Rock Canyon
Amy Jo and me at Red Rock Canyon

Phil and Linda Snyder with me in the lobby of MGM Grand.

The inside of the Venetian.

Hangin' with Blue Man Group after the show!

Vegas is such an interesting city... never a dull moment. What a great way to get away from the winter cold.

Star Student and a beautiful quilt

Timothy is so excited to show off his new quilt, made by our friend, Kim Burkhalter. Thank you Kim for taking the time to show this little guy some love through your amazing talent.
Karis was "start student" today at school. She made up a picture book about her family, friends, home, favorite activities, food, etc... Ben, Timothy, and I were invited to be a part of her presentation to her class. Timothy was amazed by all of the activity in her class.

This is our family participating in the presentation. We were so proud of Karis. The ironic thing was that the school had an "intruder lock down" drill while we were there. We had to sit quietly in the dark in a corner of the room with the rest of the class.

Sorry again for the delay in posting pictures. We've had a busy winter, as you will see below. We also haven't ventured into getting another computer, so I continue to post this through Ben's work computer.

Ben is working hard as our church continues it's three year plan. My work is experiencing the downfalls of the economy... less jobs, no affordable insurance, high medical costs, and more cancer diagnoses than ever.

Karis is half way through Kindergarten and learning at a very fast pace. She especially enjoys art and music. Timothy is growing like a weed. He's over 21 lbs. and just got into a "big boy" car seat this week. He loves to "click" his tongue, eat anything he can fit into his mouth, and make attempts to pull himself up to prepare for crawling.

We were able to attend a gymnastics meet at UW La Crosse this winter. A member of our church, Kasey Crawford, is one of the coaches. The above picture is of Ben and Karis at the meet.

Timothy enjoyed watching gymnastics too!
Karis loves trying winter sports. Most recently, she's been ice skating. She did really well and enjoyed the time with Dad.

There's been a lot of inside days since we've had a cold winter. During some downtime, Karis wanted to make sure that Timothy has been able to enjoy her iPod. I'm not sure what he thinks about the pink thing in his ear that plays "Miley Cyrus."

We'll just call this one "toothless." Karis lost three teeth in a week. The tooth fairy is going broke in our house!

We've also had quite a bit of sickness. Karis and Timothy like to "cuddle" during the sick times.