Kindergarten Graduation

In May Madalyn finished Kindergarten at Hewitt Elem. and had her first Graduation. Madalyn loved her first year in school and made great progress in reading and counting. We were fortunate to have family come and share in Madalyn's graduation. Meme & Papa, Aunt Amy , Mason, Bryson, Jackson, & Teegan (cousins), and Mema & Pepa (great grandparents) were all able to come. They had a little program were they sang several really cute songs. We have video of it but it is way to long for the blog. Here are a few pictures of this exciting day.

Madalyn walking in to the graduation music.

Madalyn waiting for her name to be called.

Mrs. McMahan gives Madalyn her diploma.

Madalyn with her teacher Mrs. McMahan.

Madalyn with her daddy.

Madalyn with her Mommy.

Papa & Meme with Madalyn.

Pepa & Mema with Madalyn.

Four generations.

Aunt Amy, Mason, Bryson, Jackson, Teegan & Madalyn.

Ethan & Madalyn.

Camp Fire at the Ranch (April 24th)

On Friday we went out to the ranch and had a camp fire. AS we drove out to the back pasture we passed all the cows. They were all around the camping area. The kids have always loved to look for cows on the rode while traveling. However when they were right beside the car both kids said they were staying in the car. I told them we needed to bring them out to the country more often. Once we parked and started unloading the car the kids finally decided it was okay to get out. Ryan tried to get the fire started, but it was so windy it took several tries. Once the fire was started I took the kids for a walk around the pond that was near by. They had lots of fun running around the pond trying to catch each other. When it got dark we could hot dogs for dinner. Then we made smores for dessert. We had a great time. We look forward to camping out next time.

Family Pics (April 19th)

We decided to get a few picture after church one day.

We are at my parents

We will try again, these have too many shadows

Grandma, Grandpa & Emily came to visit

Grandma, Grandpa & Emily came down for a day trip. Grandma had a meeting for work so Grandpa & Emily came over to play. Emily & Madalyn just love to play with each other. I think Madalyn feels like she has a little sister with Emily around. They played house, dress up and rode bikes outside. When Grandma got back from her meeting we had dinner and visited a little bit longer before they had to get back to Bryan.

Ethan & Emily

Madalyn & Emily

Emily, Madalyn & Ethan

How cute!

Thanks for coming to visit it was fun.

Bergquist cousins come to visit

Liz , Dave & their kids stopped at our house on Sunday (march 29th) when they were headed home from Dallas. It was really great to see them again. I think it had been about a year since we saw them last. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.

The cousins

We made waffles for dinner topped with fruit, whipped cream & syrup. Everyone enjoyed dinner.

YUMMMMMY

Ryan & Dave

Thanks for stopping in to see us Liz, Dave & family.

Cousin Gabe's 5th B-Day

In January we celebrated Gabe's 5th Birthday. This was lots of fun but also a little sad. This was about 2 weeks before Gabe and his family were leaving for another overseas journey for about 2-3 years.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we gave the kids one present each to open. They were so excited to open even one gift. They each got a new pair of Pj's and modeled them for pictures.

Madalyn & Ethan open their presents.

Yeah!! New PJ's.

Madalyn

Madalyn posing.

Madalyn the ballerina.

Ethan

Ethan uses his spidey webs.

Ethan shows us his Hulk muscles.

Treats for Santa and his reindeer.

Then we put the kids in bed and read some Christmas stories.

Trip to Canada

Ryan's Grandmother passed away in December. At the last minute we figured out that you can still drive across the Canadian border without a passport. So Ryan booked flights for the two of us to fly to Great Falls, Montana and from there we would drive in to Canada. My parents agreed to keep Madalyn and Ethan while we were gone. Which was really sweet of them to keep the kids for the week.

We drove to Dallas Wednesday afternoon and went to Travis' house. He took us to the airport that evening. When we were boarding the plane a lady that worked for the airline told a few people in front of us that the overhead bins were full everyone else would have to check the luggage in that would not fit under your seat. We were not very happy about this but what choice did we have. Ryan knew we would lose our luggage once it was checked in.

We boarded the plane and made it to Denver, Co were we met up with Ryan's parents and his sister Elissa. We were all on the the next fight to Great Falls. When we arrived in Great Falls Ryan and I had NO luggage. The fastest way for us to get our luggage was for us to come back across the border the next day and meet up with the delivery guy. So we made to Aunt Nola's house in Canada at 3am. We did get our clothes the next evening and all was well. We had a wonderful time visiting with all of Ryan's family that was in the area. Friday we drove to Cardston for the viewing and then Saturday was the Funeral. It was a very nice funeral service but the bitter cold made the grave side service short. After the Funeral we had a nice luncheon with the family.

We had a wonderful visit but we were worn out from all the driving. Sunday we went to church which happens to be just behind the back fence at Aunt Nola's house it was nice to walk through the back yard out the gate and be in the church parking lot. After church we rested and the had another great evening visiting with the family. We had great meal and learned a new game called "werewolves". They said it is just like "Mafia" but we had never played that either. Although it was hard to be away from Madalyn & Ethan we definitely enjoyed the visit.

Monday afternoon we packed the car and headed to the airport. We checked in and saw that our plane was delayed for and hour. Ryan decided to go check with the airline to see what was going on. They figured out we would miss our connecting flight in Denver so they gave us vouchers for food and lodging in Great Falls. After we got to the Hotel, Ryans parents called because the plane was still delayed and they were going to miss there connecting flight too. So we all ended up in the Hotel across the Highway from the airport. We walked through the snow filled parking lot to the Flying J and ate dinner. The next morning we caught our flight and made it to Denver. We sat in the airport for an hour and then boarded our next plane. We finally made it to Dallas. The nice thing about the flights home were: in Great Falls they checked our luggage on for free due to our delays. When we boarded our plane in Denver we realized that the guy in Great Falls upgraded us on our flight so we more space to be comfortable.

Streets in Cardston.

Standing in front of Aunt Lois's house.

Me in front of Aunt Lois's house.

The temperature on Friday in Cardston (-22 F).

Grandma Bennett's Children and some of the spouses.

A few of the girl cousins. Hillary, Isabeile and Jennyin the front row. Myself and Elissa in the back.

Elissa and myself talking with Aunt Jeannette and her daughter Hillary.

Cousins Dallin & Bradley

Ryan clearing the snow off the car.

Aunt Nola's house where we stayed.

The snow plow in Taber.