Meet Bowzer, the new hound

We finally caved in and got a dog. James said that a dog was all he wanted last Christmas and we got him video games instead, hoping the video games would suffice. But, for his 13th birthday this year, he stuck to his guns for a dog.

Bowzer was at the Portland Humane Society. He's a one-year-old beagle/Jack Russell terrier mix. We think he's great. He came to us mostly potty trained. Here are a few pics of the hound.

The big Nine

Emily turned the big nine-years-old. Kristy made a delicious cake. Emily had a fun party with just the family on her birthday. Then, on the following Saturday, Emily had a friends birthday party at an area water park. I think Emily's favorite b-day present was a Wii game called "mario smooth moves". The boys seem to enjoy the Wii game pretty well also. So, now we are pretty much done with summer birthdays until James in August.

The Graduate

It's official. Nicki is now a pre-school graduate. She even has the diploma to prove it. Her class this year had a guinea pig (Rosco) as a class pet and guess who was the lucky student who gets to keep Rosco at their house during summer vacation. Yep, we'll be housing the little rodent for a few months. Stay tuned for some rodent pics later this month.

Nicki is 5

Nicki turned 5 and had a great birthday. We did a little birthday party for her and 7 of her friends; it was quite a party. The girls had a pretty fun time and we parents survived. The party was actually pretty fun, nobody got hurt and crying was pretty minimal.

The Big 15

Matthew turned 15 in May. He's growing up on us. For his B-day we took him and some friends at an amusement park. He also got a Wii game that he likes pretty well.

Mother's Day

Well, we did the usual Mother's Day gig: breakfast in bed, a few presents, some chocolates, and lots of thank yous for Kristy. Grandma Judy was also with and so we were able to treat her to the same. It was pretty great for Bob to be able to have a mother's day with his Mom and with Kristy.

James Cross Country

James has found a sport that is a good fit for his body type: cross country running. The Jr. High had a two-month cross-country program and James ended up doing ok. One of the races was a bit chilly, however. Grandma Judy and Grandpa Dan joined us at the race that was a little chilly. James finished middle of the pack for a 6th grader racing also against 7th and 8th graders. Assuming James stays a skinny guy, this might be his thing.