Birthday Bash

Well it has been quite the week. We made it though Aubries parties and had a great time! Friday night Kelly and Erin and the girls came to visit and work on the siding. The guys got a bunch done and we are one step closer to being DONE! Saturday we had Aubrie's party in Sheldon. Our plan was to eat pizza, open presents and then go swimming at the outdoor pool in Sheldon. Well for those of you who know me can rest assured that I called and double checked all our stops to make sure everything was in order... well....... little did I realize that when we were done eating and on our way to the pool we would pull in the parking lot only to read a sign that says "We are CLOSED.. --some kid pooped in the pool"!! Are you kidding me... Ok tricia don't panic lets just go to the indoor pool at the Holiday Inn a few blocks away... so our birthday "caravan" loads back up and heads there ... when we arrived the old hag who was working the front counter was a miserable old lady! AHH She was SO rude and unpleasent I couldnt give her our money SO you guessed it on to pool option #3 HOSPERS.. that was the end of our journey.. it cost us 1/2 as much to swim and we literally had the whole pool to ourselves! Fun was had by all.

Dance camp and basketball camp this week will keep us busy.

Someone is turning 7

So I seriously can not believe that we are going to have a 7 year old running around. Aubrie's bday is on Thursday the 23rd. This really makes me feel OLD! Seems like yesterday she suprised us and I remember it so vividly. We have lots of things planned for the week. Wednesday night we are meeting her dad in Rock Rapids for a mini bday party at the Pizza Ranch, then on Saturday afternoon/evening we will be heading to the pizza ranch again for supper and presents then off to the pool for some swimming. She is really excited!
We had a very difficult time this year shopping for a gift. This girl has it all and what she doesn't have is either not age appropriate or she has no interest in having it or its to spendy. So I told her to make me a list... well the one and ONLY item on this list was a CREDIT CARD!! Are you kidding me!??? Oh Aubrie you definately are your mothers daughter aren't you ;) We ended up getting her a pink Nintendo DS and hope she will love it just as much as a credit card. I will post pictures of her "beach Party" on sunday after all the festivities. Can not wait to see you guys there!

Summer BBQ

On July 11th we had a BBQ with our friends and neighbors. IT WAS A BLAST! We set up a "modified" version of a slip N slide, had mexican horseshoes, a frisbee game, jell-o shots and a little to much alcohol :) It was a great time for our friends and us to hang out and relax. We grilled burgers and our neighbor Brad put a pork loin on the rotisarrie-- it was AMAZING! We had plenty of food and fun and hope to do it again next year. Here are a few pics from it while the night was still young and we were not as wild :)

4th of July

We spent this 4th of July at Kelly and Erins trailer on the river in Ponca NE. The kids had a great time as well as the parents! It was a bummer that we had rain all day on Saturday, but we managed and did not let it ruin our fun. The girls enjoyed chasing the parachutes that we fired off, and also making sandcastles in the sand. At one point we were not sure if Jeremy or the kids were having more fun. Needless to say it was a muddy dirty mess and required LOTS of oxy clean when we came home to get the stains out :)

We are excited to go back again on August 8th.

FCM

Well it does appear I have not updated this blog in some time SUPRISE! Who didn't see that coming :) It seems that everytime I sit down to get caught up my mind is pulled into 5 other directions on things that need to be done. I will try and catch you up.

June was a fairly uneventful month, weekends were spent working on the house and chilling out where possible. We have since finished siding the house and 2 sides of the garage. We are waiting for the contractor to come and install out french doors and our deck. I also need to get paint for the foundation. We will be painting it black. We also went to California to attend a conference for Aavyn. It was amazing to meet new ppl and people we felt like we knew for years beings we communicate via email and facebook. We had a great time and got lots of usefull information. Aavyn got to stick his feet in the ocean and meet lots of new friends. If you would like more information on what we learned please visit Aavyn's caringbridge site at www.caringbridge.org/visit/aavynhoekstra

Our amazing Aavyn turns 2

Well we had a birthday party for Aavyn on sunday which was also mothers day and it was a great time! Thanks so family and friends who came and helped us celebrate! He got some fantastic gifts and it was great to hang out with family! Here are some pictures from his big day

All she wants to do is dance dance dance!

Ok so Friday night was dance picture night, and I must say I was a little nervous about the whole situation. Jeremy decided he wanted to go fishing which meant I had to juggle costume changes and Aavyn while doing it. We made it through w/o any major issues, but would not choose to do it like that again :) I should have brought his stroller down to the studio, however there are like 3o steps and I had my hands full enough :)

Aubrie smiled beautifully like always as she loves to be the "shining star!" This year I finally came to realize the independent side of her doing things (well i knew about her b/f but thought I was still on top of things) well she failed to tell ME her tap and jazz shoes were 1.5 sizes TOO SMALL! She had been dancing w/o them in practice for many weeks. She told Miss Megan (one of her teachers) that I ordered her new ones and they were coming soon..... i had no idea about this! haha oh kids! So needless to say I was online first thing Saturday morning ordering new tights, tap shoes, ballet shoes, and jazz shoes. Lets hope these last her into next season a little bit. :)