A day of rest

Finally we have a day of rest. After a crazy month we have a relaxing lazy day where the only living thing awake before 11 was the damn dog. Activities for the past month have included: Abbey's First Holy Communion, Abbey's dance recital, Maddi's piano recital, The Manhattan Catholic School's Spring concert, My friend Matt Harbstreit's wedding, Maddi's class field trip to Topeka, My nephew Daniel's high school graduation, and Maddi's softball tournament in Salina. The problem is that most of these activities overlapped each other and created one hell of a logistical nightmare, leaving Amy and I with a feeling of quiting our jobs, leaving everything behind (except for the children of course) and starting a new life somewhere else using different names. The only problem is that most of the craziness was created by the children so I guess bringing them along really wouldn't help the situation. It would be an easier decision to make if we weren't so attached to them.

Thankfully Abbey's Dance classes are over now which will make our Tuesday and Thursday nights a little more tolerable with only Softball practice to worry about. Once school is out life will hopefully slow down a little to allow us to enjoy life again. Maddi and Abbey will be staying home during the day with an in home sitter. Maddi's friend / neighbor / teammate Nicki will be here a few days per week as well so I really think they will have a fun summer. They will both have swimming lessons and instrument lessons that will take place during the day so our evenings will be free for family time.

We are really hoping to get some cycling in as we have only logged roughly 60 miles this year. We still plan on riding in "Bike MS" in Topeka like we did last year and have decided to also ride in "Sunflowers to Roses" in Kansas City. It is a ride to raise money for Cancer research. We have had several friends and family diagnosed with Cancer this year and really want to ride this for them. We will most likely be hitting everybody up for donations so have your checkbooks ready! They are both for a great cause and we are proud and thankful to have the ability to participate and help these organizations raise money as well as ride in the honor of our loved ones battling this disease.

The girls have only a week and a half to go before the end of school and both will be losing friends who are moving away. Maddi's friend Elizabeth will be moving to Washington at the end of the year and Abbey's friend Sarah will be leaving for Texas the day school gets out. We have surprised the girls with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge the day school gets out and we will stay that night. Maddi will be taking Elizabeth as a fun goodbye activity and since Sarah couldn't join us Abbey will be bringing her friend Ruth. We are all looking forward to some fun and relaxation. Here are some pics of the many activities that have filled our calender.

Before Abbey's First Communion we did a recreation of the "Last Supper". We call it the "Last Lunch". My niece Katie recruited a few of us to play parts in the recreation. I was cast as the role of Jesus and had the honor of breaking the bread and washing Abbey's feet. I wasn't very excited of the shedding of my blood but it was for family so I made the sacrifice.


Here is Abbey with the Grandparents. Grandpa Fred was not able to make the trip.


Abbey had a reading during the service and did an excellent job.



She really wanted some pictures next to these flowers in Grandpa Dale's yard.



All the family that could come.



Maddi's 4th grade class outside the Ronald McDonald house in Topeka on their field trip.


Maddi with her friends Elizabeth (left) and Brigitta (center).


Maddi's class collected pop tabs all year for the Ronald McDonald house, here she is taking her turn dumping them into the collection dumpster. This is the single largest fund raiser for the Ronald McDonald house so please don't throw yours away!! Please donate them or send them to us and we will do it for you. Another interesting fact about the Ronald McDonald house: The only funding they receive from McDonald's is the money that is collected in the change boxes at their counters!! Next time you have a few cents to spare go ahead and drop them in there, you never know when you might need to stay at a Ronald McDonald house!



Maddi Did a presentation on Colorado at the Manhattan Catholic Schools State Fair.



Abbey with her friend Sophia before their dance performance.


Maddi playing in her piano recital.


Thank you God that we are done with recorders!! At least until Abbey is in 4th grade.



Manhattan Catholic Schools Spring Concert.



Maddi with her best friends Haley and Elizabeth after the concert.



Screamers teammates between games at our first tournament. Hanna is to the left of Maddi and Nicki is to the right. Hannah is the toughest 4th grader I know. She broke her arm on a trampoline just an hour before a two hour softball clinic that our team participated in but didn't tell anyone she was hurt. She did every drill (throwing, catching, base running, and hitting) and only complained toward the end that her arm was sore because a ground ball hopped up and hit it. She didn't want anybody to know because she was afraid we wouldn't let her play. Her cast will be off at the end of this month and she will be able to play in our next tournament on Memorial Day weekend.

Coach Jeff talking with the girls after one of their games.


Maddi at bat, We were in Oklahoma City the night before at Dan's graduation and had driven up to Salina the morning of the tournament. We battled a bottleneck on the interstate, the wrong address typed into the gps and Maddi holding having to use the restroom for 45 minutes to get there roughly 10 minutes before this at-bat. Ohh yeah and the game started 30 minutes early so she missed the first inning.


The Screamers in the dug-out ready to take the field.


Maddi is developing into a pretty good catcher...but now she's wanting to learn how to pitch as well.

Teammates playing on the playground between games. In this pic is Maddi, Oriana (with her back to the camera, and Gracyn. Gracyn's family is looking forward to the summer as well as Gracyn is on our traveling softball team, a traveling soccer team, takes dance and plays piano.


Maddi and Gracyn.