Happy Birthday

Here are a few pictures from the Brendan and Carter Birthday Bash! Carter is hilariously funny. I think he gets a little personality from me because he is kind of wild and crazy guy! Brendan is one proud cousin, I can see why because Paxton is quite a little honey. Brendan held him, "played" with him and was watching at the door when it was time for him to arrive with his mom and dad.

 

Carter and Grandma Mac had some very interesting conversations while checking out the horse magazines. UFDA!

  

We had a pirate birthday with a pirate cake!

  

Bill and Carter always seem to "hang" out together.

  

Carter in his new bull riding outfit.

  

Carter could not find his cowboy hat so he grabbed an Elmo basket instead...very creative young man!?!

 

Now he is a real cowboy with his cowboy hat on.

 

Carter recieved an IRON MAN costume from Aunt Marcy and Uncle Aaron. He was pretty excited!

 

I am pretty sure Paxton and I are new BFF's.

We had a great day filled with family and two sweet little boys who are growing up way to fast for this aunt. We can not believe they are already six and 4. Happy birthday boys:)

Newphews

On May 6, 2004 our lives were opened to a new kind of love. Brendan Robert Maasjo was born and we fell in love with him immediately. The news of another niece or nephew was as exciting as the news of Brendan. Carter James came into the world Easter evening April 17, 2006. What an Easter blessing he was!

The joy of being aunt and uncle is a tremendous feeling that has brought nothing but happiness to Bill and I. 

  

We always have a pal to snuggle with...

  

A buddy to hang with...

  

Brendan and Carter are fun, inquisitive buddies that we love more than life.

 

Today we are celebrating their 4th and 6th birthdays. The roles of aunt and uncle are definitely the best roles we share. We love spending time with them and we love being a part of their lives.

Gus and Grandpa Dale

I am 100% convinced that my dad, Dale, loves Gus. They gravitate towards one another and have a great deal of fun when together.

Waterfall 2 Dana and Bill 0

Today we dropped Gus and Sandy off at Dale and Becky's house and went on our adventure...
We ventured back down to the Sheyenne Forest in an attempt to find the infamous North Dakota Waterfall. WE DID NOT FIND IT! We do know that we were on the correct trail this time and it did not rain. Major improvement from last time.

 

Bill at the beginning of the trail.

 

The view from the top.

 

Bill and I enjoying a break.

 

Tired at the end.

 

Horses by Mooringstone Pond.

 

Mooringstone Pond, a place that we fished for trout many years ago.

 

The life in Fort Ransom, looks like a scene in a movie:)

The lake that was once not even a slough! This is west of my parent's farm. It is so crazy! Game and Fish are now stocking it because it is permanent.

Fun Weekend

Bill and I had a great weekend! Bill got home around 10 Friday night and we sat up until 12:30 talking. It is nice to spend time together after not seeing each other during the week. The schedule thing has gotten a ton better but we still do not spend any time together until the weekend.
Bill surprised me with not having to work Saturday (2nd time since Christmas) and we had a a blast outside doing yard work, tilling the garden, and hanging out in the sun. We then headed to prom. The kids looked great and we had fun announcing the couples again this year.

 

These are our adopted triplets. The Swansons:)

 

Jess Brandt and I have started a tradition and kept it going again this year. 

These are our couple pictures at prom:)

After prom we went to the Baron with friends and headed home to bed. 

Sunday was spent at Sunday School, Church, and then off to the farm! 

So Weird

We were getting ready for the week tonight. Finishing clothes, dishes, picking up, laying out clothes the usual Sunday night activities. We then noticed Gus was missing. Jokingly I said, "He is probably up stairs tucked into bed. Haha!"
Bill said, "Yea, don't joke about that, he probably is."

We did not think about it again until we decided to head upstairs and get ready for bedtime.

What did we find in the bed? Not a neatly made bed, but this...

All I could say was, "Good Lord, he is so weird!!"

Note from Gus

Dear Readers of Mommy's Blog,
First let me just say Mommy exaggerates a great deal. I really am a sweet, cuddly, darling little pup who just loves live to its fullest. I am so misunderstood and I feel it is time to air the truth about me. I only do mischievous things when Dana does not hold up her end of the bargain.
Now today Dana decided that it would be OK to not arrive home until 5:30. This was HER choice, not mine. I have a routine each day and she is the only person to blame for what happens when my routine is messed up.You see I begin pacing and readying myself around 4:00 for her arrival home. If she is not here by 4:15 my anxiety kicks in. If she does not arrive by 4:30 I can not contain myself any more. Again do you see that this is all her fault? She is the one to blame when she does not arrive home in time.
Today I decided to teach her a lesson. I told her last week that this getting home late stuff is just not acceptable.
She thought she was so clever to put all of the shoes away in the closet. I began by bringing them one at a time up stairs into the bed. I managed to get 8 shoes up there and decided this would not be enough to teach her a lesson. I then proceeded to enter the bathroom and empty the garbage. It was garbage day today and she did not take it out so again, her fault not mine! Besides she is the one who spent an hour cleaning the bathroom yesterday instead of playing with me. Poor choice mommy, poor choice.
By this time it was 5ish and I was really peeved at her. Sandy tried to calm me down but she just does not understand!
In the next 30 minutes I dumped my dog food dishes in the living room and my water dish in the kitchen. It took me awhile because my dog dishes are actually very heavy.
Now let me just tell you that I have tried explaining all of this to Mommy Dana but she just does not listen! Maybe the rest of this week will be easier on her if she would just come home right away instead of leaving me alone longer than necessary.
Do not feel sorry for her, she brings all of this on herself. Besides who do you think raised me. I guess daddy picked me out but he is kind of one of those weekend fathers. No issues there, he is good for a nice ear rubbing every now and then.

Great Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter Weekend. Bill and I got to spend an entire day together at home with the dogs on Saturday. Then we headed to church and down to Fort Ransom on Sunday.

I really enjoy hanging out with Bill. We relish the days we get to hang out together. Hopefully soon there will be more of those days and evenings!

 Hanging out with Grandma Mac is always fun:) She is one awesome Grandma!