lake, puppy, mother's day, volleyball, etc

This is our new puppy, Taja. Actually, she's 15 months so probably not a puppy anymore, but that's what we call her cause she's so cute. We were presented with an opportunity to bring her into our home when we found out that her previous owners were looking for a new home for her. The day we found out that Taja needed a new home, we decided to meet her that evening and were blessed with the opportunity to take her home that night. Taja's former owners are wonderful people and raised her well. We have had the idea of getting a dog in the back of our minds for quite a while, but hadn't seriously looked around for any. I guess we waited patiently for the right opportunity and then acted promptly when it was presented to us. We feel very blessed to have her in our family. As you might be able to tell by looking through this post, I got a little camera happy with Taja.

Tiff and Jeni on the dock with Taja

Jeni on the deck overlooking the lake

Sherry, Lorraine, Jeni, and Tiffany enjoy the sunny day

Lorraine and Jeni relax on the swing

Claire enjoys her ice cream

Jeni, Claire, Tiffany engage in some meaningful granddaughter/grandmother time

Taja

She didn't get in the water, but walked on the dock and went for a quick boat ride. She also met a couple of new dog friends when we were at the lake.

Taja

Cole has fun playing with his new friend

Jeni and Tiffany at the lake

Chad pets Taja before she goes for a walk with Janelle and Claire

Janelle and Claire play in the sandbox


Janelle, Taja, and Claire returning from their walk

Cole and Jayden pause from a game of basketball


Chad and Tiff watch Janelle, Taja, and Claire depart for one of their walks

Jeni walks with Claire at the zoo. Claire was scared of all the animals and kept her hat down so she didn't have to look at any of them. We'll definitely have to work on that fear over the summer.

Cole took lots of great pictures of the animals at the zoo

Jeni, Cole, and Claire

Jeni, Kaydra, Cole, and Claire after they gave Jeni her mother's day present. Claire was sleeping on the couch during the presentation of the gift so they all huddled around her for a picture.

Claire, Cole, and Jeni eat McDonalds on the trampoline. We had our vents cleaned inside so decided to get some fast food and have a picnic on the tramp because there wasn't much room for cooking in the kitchen during the dinner hour. We're happy we had that done. We had lots of dust in our ducts.

Sunset off our back porch...looked pretty so thought I'd capture a photo of it

Brekkyn and Kaydra pose for a picture at the conclusion of a successful volleyball season

Kaydra hammers a serve over the net

Kaydra sets Brekkyn up for a spike

Brekkyn sets Kaydra up for a spike

Claire relaxes on the swing

Cole and Collin also enjoy themselves on the swings

Happy Birthday Grandpa Art!

We celebrated Grandpa Art's birthday this evening. It was filled with family, friends, flavorful food and fantastic fun! A special thanks goes out to Grandma and Grandpa's neighbor, Jessie, for taking some of these pictures.

Summer has arrived!

Summer is officially here. We made it to the lake for the weekend. The ice cleared the day before we arrived so Nathan and Cole decided that it was swimming season. Nathan told Cole that he'd jump in if Cole jumped in so that's exactly what Cole did. The two videos below are of Cole and Nathan jumping into the icy cold water. This is Cole's very first jump into the lake when the water has been this chilly. He's prepping for the polar bear club and is nearing the day when he can join Nathan and his friends when they take a sauna and then jump into the water through a hole that they cut into the ice. Nathan claims it's one of the most exhilarating experiences ever...Jeni's not convinced; however, she's never actually given it a try:)

The pictures below include some pics from the lake, some from one of Kaydra's bball games, and some of Claire playing outside with her Barbies.

Cole and Nathan psyche themselves up for their first jump off the dock

Cole's the first one in the water this year

Cole warms up after getting out of the "barely warmer than ice" water. He said, "I'm never doing that again!!!"

But after a couple minutes, Cole had a change of heart. Here, he poses with Nathan only a few moments after their quick swims. This might just be an annual tradition for Cole. He felt great and the cool air temp didn't feel so cold after spending a second or two in the freezing lake.

Claire warms up in her towel. She's excited to swim this summer, but the water was a bit too cold for her this weekend. She dipped her toes in, but didn't go any further. She said she hopes that the conditions are more favorable for swimming next weekend (I guess she didn't say those exact words, but that was the message she conveyed to us.)

Sitting around the campfire

Enjoying the peaceful evening and comfort of the fire

Jeni and Tiffany pause for a quick cousins pose

Janelle, Jocie, Cole, and Jayden take a break to play a game inside

Getting ready to put the dock into the water

Claire swings in style

A beautiful rainbow graced our presence

Cole blows bubbles and watches them bounce across the water

A few basketball pics from one of Kaydra's games......

Kaydra listens to her coach as she prepares to get back out on the court

Looking for the rebound, but getting boxed out in this one

She's ready for the pass

Claire played outside on the swingset with her Barbies after her daycare friends left for the day. They had fun on the swings, on the slide, and in the sandbox.