Football Players

Isaac's Football Debut

Isaac is a left tight end (the end of the offensive line).

On the sidelines during defense.

First Day of School

I had some handsome boys on the front step waiting for the bus!

Isaac Turns 9

Isaac's Birthday Party

Family Shots

We dont' get too many of these shots...I'm glad a friend of mine was up visiting and took these pictures.

The family around the fire.

Camping

Our screenhouse in the foreground, tents behind.

Avritt ready for the beach.

This was the scene of 10 days of relaxation this summer.

This was the scene of 10 days of great campfire food.

Memorial Day Weekend at a Horse Ranch

Bird Pics

The three birds right before they flew the nest.

This one stayed in the nest for a couple of days after the others. The parents stopped feeding it (for the most part - they came only occasionally) and we suspect that was a motivation for the baby to leave the nest.

I ended up startling this one out of the nest when taking a picture. The mother bird (Roberta) had been pestering this one all day - we swear it looked like she was trying to push it out of the nest. After it left, the mother was busy cleaning the nest, including getting rid of the one egg that didn't hatch (someone found it on the ground later) and the poop from the two days this bird stayed in the nest beyond its siblings. Since then the mother has done some nest remodeling, including lining it with mud and then placing a fresh layer of grass/twigs over the mud. It's now a little deeper and more reinforced. I haven't seen any new eggs over the last two or three days, but the mother is sitting on the nest this morning again.

The baby has returned to the deck a few times to sit in the sun. We have also seen it in the trees in the yard. I haven't seen the other two birds in several days - their fate is unknown...

The Mother Bird

We have named her Roberta - pronounced "Robird-a"

Avritt Catching

Three Baby Birds

Three eggs out of four have hatched.

A Hatching on Mother's Day

New Resident at Our House

This robin decided to build a nest on our deck light. We have enjoyed watching the progression from nest building to egg laying to egg sitting. The bird has figured out that the activities behind the window aren't menacing, although the cats have been trying to prove otherwise. They growl, assume the pouncing position, and try to look deadly, but the bird has figured out they are harmless. I took the picture sitting at our kitchen table. We haven't looked in the nest yet for fear of causing the bird to abandon the eggs. The mother bird has proven herself to be stalwart, having sat through several downpours over the last few days. What mothers will do for their babies...

Emily's Sweet 16

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Emily turned 16 earlier this month, and she celebrated by taking 3 friends to a spa/salon for pedicures. They basked in the luxury of soaking their feet in individual whirlpool tubs, getting foot massages, and having their toes painted to perfection.

After the pedicures, the girls came back to our house and decorated for a larger gathering of girls/guys. They had pizza, snacks, ice cream cake, played Guitar Hero, watched movies, and generally had a good time hanging out.

Avritt and Isaac were bribed into staying down in their room the whole time by putting a TV in their room (Mike's idea). They didn't come out until the TV was extracted (Ginger's idea).

Emily will be taking the driving test to get her license soon, but needs to master parallel parking with her car first. We are excited to see her grow up, but wonder how we got here so fast!

Thanks to Emily

Emily helped me take some pictures over the weekend for some profile pics for facebook. She did a great job! I figured that I should post some because I rarely put pictures of myself on here.

Emily

Emily attended the spring dance at her high school last Saturday. This is the first year we have been able to take pictures in our own house and have a decent background!

Emily is just plain beautiful.

The fancy updo. These things take longer than you'd think. Emily has a lot of hair. We always warn the hairdresser when making an appointment. Emily usually wins the contest with her friends to see who has the most bobby pins in their updos.