ScHoOLs oUt FoR ThE SuMmEr!!!!!!

                        Kate painting her homemade pinata!!!

                                 Kate & Mrs. Torgerson...last day of 1st grade!

                                 Grant(8 1/2) Kate(7)...last day of school

                                      My little water bug Grant:)

                                 Grant jumpin off diving board...woohoo!!!

                                   Ageze taking a run for it!!!

                                      brothers:)

                                        Gotta love snowcones!!

                                    Sweet brothers!!

                                    Grant!!

                                   Ageze!!

                                 Our end of the year treat!!...tropical cupcake cones...yum!!

( Thought this above pic was really cute...went to get Kate after school, looked in thru her door, and her teacher had them all huddled together praying for them...sending them off with hugs & good wishes!! )This is a day I look forward to all year long....1, because I thoroughly enjoy having all of us together...i'd much rather all of my kids be under 1 roof, and 2, I LOVE summer....now, just hoping our summer is HOT!!! This last week was full of fun activities for the kids...end of the year parties, picnics, cleaning out desks & even a pool party!! I hope you are looking forward to Summer 2011 as much as we are!!

cousin time:)

                   Gotta love having cousins so close in age!! Jack & Abby(my sister's kids) spent the night on Saturday...we always love having them!! We had a great time...popcorn, cookies, hot-tubbing, movie-watching & playing together....always so fun to see them all interact!! Above we have...Ageze(4), cousin Jack(5),Grant(8),Kate(7), &cousin Abby(3 1/2)...Tesfa was already fast asleep!! Love having most of their cousins so close by!!                                                     xo

2nd grade chapel....

Every year..usually towards the end of the school year...each grade at the kids' school is to perform at their Friday morning chapel...which is put on for grades pre-k thru 5th grade, and also parents, grandparents...etc. Well, this year Grant was chosen to represent Jesus! Never knew Jesus liked tie-dye, but who knows?! Anyhow, the theme for their program was "Shine!" They led us in a few songs such as..."Shine, Jesus Shine!"..."This little light of mine!"...I thought it was pretty sweet...how appropriate to end the year with "Shine!" I pray that all of these kid's "Shine" as they go about their summer plans/vacations....Great job Grant...we are so proud of you!!                      xo

missing this today...10 months home!!!

                                  

                                  10 mths ago...

                       can you believe I actually miss this??....i do!!!

 This morning i woke up missing ET...and then this afternoon my mom & grandma stopped over, grandma asked how long it's been since A& T have been home...and Today...it's been 10 months!! No wonder I miss it...And yes, I really do miss the taste of their food...roadtrip to Mpls might be in our near future!! Not that it compares to the "real" injera, doro wat...etc...but it's worth a try!!! Not a day goes by where I don't think about ET..i consider that a good thing:)  Hoping that a trip to ET is not so far in our future!!! Ageze & Tesfa...you amaze us!!                                xo

love me some projects!!!!

                                        grant's room before....

                                          after!!!!!

                                       kate's room before............

                                             after!!!!

                                           

                                          Ageze room before...........

                                           after!!!!!

                                                  Tesfa's room before...............

                                  after!!!!!!!!!!

                                        living room before..............

                                          after!!!!
   Lovin our old house...love how excited the kids get when their room is finished.....love all of the projects I get to work on...love making it "ours"...love demolishing...love painting...i guess you could say...we are quite pleased with our new"old" purchase!!

the sun will come out tomorrow.....

as i'm writing this...i can hear Ageze watching Annie, while singing his lungs out to..."the sun will come out tomorrow..."   this is already after we had the conversation in his room about 20 min ago, him asking if the sun would be out tomorrow...ha!!? Oh, and while I was up in his room painting...he fell asleep like this...seriously!!  Ok, before i get lectured on how dangerous this really could be...i was in the room...and after i took this pic, i DID turn the light off!!  But, how funny is this!! My boy must really be missing that African Sun:) He loves warm weather, the sun, helping me in the yard, peaking at the leaves that are starting to pop out...he is definitely my boy:)  xo kristen

Mother's Day 2011:)

            Such a fun, sunny, family-filled day we had!! We started the morning off by going on a bikeride/walk around the neighborhood...followed by a delicious lunch at my parents...next up was the zoo, then off to my favorite place....Plant Perfect Greenhouse!!! The weather pleasantly surprised us...it was a beautiful day:) This year...i had all 4 of my chicks together...that made this momma happy:) I was blessed with sweet cards, flowers, pics from my kiddos...oh, how i love hand-made gifts from them!!    xo kristen