The Real Winners!

Here are the winners ;) I took an extra close up of the best clay sculpting each of us did. My dog looks like just a blob in the picture because it's all black, but it's supposed to be a dog rolling on it's back :) It really is a winner!! I promise! hee, hee! Julie's little girl is so cute! (it reminds me of those people you collect from hallmark, Julia - I can't think of what they're called - that's gonna bug me ;) Anyways, Grandma's rose was really neat! I wish you could see that one better, too, she had it rolled so that it looked perfect! The candy shop was one I made. Julie handed me a bunch of construction paper and told me that I had to make a picture of a boy and girl walking together holding a balloon, and to try to make it 3D. Well, it was too hard to make anything about the actual kids 3D without them looking silly; therefore, (do you like my transitional word?...I had too many "so's" in a row) there was just a 3D balloon, so I just kept embellishing till it came out looking like this with an awning (sp?), side walk, flower pots, bags of candy, "real" hair on the girl, and m and m's by the shop name. I got a little carried away - but had plenty of time - because Julie spent that whole time glueing (sp? - man I'm really struggling with spelling tonight! ;) her popsicle stick box! haha! (did you ever make a top for it jules?) And I was entertaining mom and grandma - they kept making fun of my picture, which actually ended up turning out pretty neato, huh, girls? ;) hee, hee! j/k! But I think the real winner was Julie's foil ostrich! hahahahahaha! It still makes me smile when I look at the picture! It was funnier in real life, but I was thrilled it would actually stand for me to take its picture! Thanks for the fun art classes, Jules! (I guess that helps make up for some of the play dough days we missed in kindergarten, mom, but I think I still have at least 4 that I never got to do...and I know Jenn and Jules have some, too! We're still keeping track!) Haha! Anyways, it made for a very memorable spring break, Jules - very memorable! Lots of "pickles" and "whoopsy doos," right Grandma? Hee, hee! Wow - I don't think we've ever had so many slumber parties in a row - you're the coolest Grandma ever to let us keep you up till 1 every night! We just couldn't get enough of all the fun with rummikub, dominoes, and art! haha! (this summer, Jason, we can make you some art for YOUR office ;) Okay, this is a long post, I'll stop babbling now. Miss you all! :) Thanks for all the fun!

Art Projects

Here are some of the art projects we worked on late into some of the nights of our spring break. Julie had to have 12 kinds of art projects completed for her art file for one of her teacher classes. From what Grandma and I could tell - she is going to be an excellent art teacher ;) She made the box of popsicle stix, the Christmas tree, the camp site, one of the shapes in scribbles pictures; and of the foil she made the ostrich; of the clay stuff she made the flower, the smile face, the M.O.M., and the girl holding the heart. Grandma made black paper with swirls on it, and of the clay she made the yellow cat, the green frog, the pretty rose, and the red dress :) She wrote her name in cursive, too, but it broke :( I made one of the shapes in scribbles pictures, also, and then of the foil I made the kitty, the bird, and I sort of made the alligator or crocodile or whatever ;) I don't know what Julie was trying to make, but she wanted me to fix it - so that's what it came out looking like! haha! And then of the clay I made the red heart, the dog (in memory of Berkley ;), my name, and then I also made a smile face, but we gave it to Jordan to display in his office...lucky him! Hee, hee!

Hi, Mom! :)

Jordan took this picture ;) Ever since I can remember, mom has always tried to hide from the camera - whether it's a video camera or a snapshot camera. One of Dad's favorite things to do when he was taping our home videos, was to try to get mom on the camera when she wasn't paying attention and didn't know. So we have lots of cute videos of mom, and then all the sudden she sees the camera is on her, and she holds an afghan up over her head, or puts her hand in front of her face like she is in this picture. Behind her hand is usually a big smile and smuggled laughter, and every so often she'll peak out and give you an attempted "mad" face. (that must be where jenn got her "i really am trying to be mad" face) hee, hee! Jordan tried to take a picture of her for a long time while we were all around the table talking, but she wouldn't quit - so neither would he and he finally just took a picture :) To see her beautiful face, refer to my previous blog update about Julia's surprise birthday party. I have a picture of her there with Jason, Julia, and Grandma. Isn't she perty? I love you, Mom! ;) You're the best - even when you don't let us take pictures of you ;) hee, hee!

Surprise, Julia! It's Your Birthday...next month! ;)

Well, Julie already explained the surprise part on her blog, so here are more pix from Julia's surprise birthday party! (look at all those candles!) She is going to be 24 on April 14th - but we decided to celebrate early since we won't be home for it. It was so cool to have the whole family together! Got some more family pictures, and then I had to include the funny one of Julia and her present from Julie. Julie was so nice to give Jenn and I her only bows to use on our presents, and then used a kleenex on hers, and made it look like a ginormous kleenex box just for kix! haha! Anyways, Happy Birthday, Julia! ;) I am so thankful the Lord has brought you into our family! You are truly a blessing. You are the BEST sister in law ever! ;) More like an actual sister! Thank you for being so sweet! I love you!

Girl Group

Well, even though mostly all you other bloggers I know of have this pic, and have blogged it, ...I'm going to, too! haha! Just because I want to say that it was so much fun to be together with you all! The top picture is a VOP reunion picture, and the bottom one is our girl group. Christa, and Charity - we will miss you this summer while you are traveling with your singing group, but are excited for you and this opportunity you have! You are in my prayers! Can't wait to hear about your traveling experiences over your spring break (call me, Charity! ;) Sara, and Charise - I can't wait to be home with you girls this summer! We'll have to get together a lot! Love you all and miss you!

Congratulations, Seth and Charity!

Christa stopped by our house Saturday night to say "hi" and when I asked her where Charity was, she said "at home - - with Seth - - Seth's there" and she had a strange twinkle in her eye. So Sunday morning when I walked into church, I found out what the twinkle was all about! On Friday night after watching a movie with the family, and everyone else had gone off to get ready for bed, Seth proposed to Charity, and she said "yes!" (of course - hee, hee!) He gave her a beautiful gold ring with 9 diamonds! and heart shapes on the sides of the three big middle ones. Charity was just glowing on Sunday - and Seth looked pretty excited himself. All of us girls got our cameras out and started taking picture after picture (I think there were 5 or 6 of us with cameras! haha! and they just kept patiently posing for us). Charity has been one of my very dear and closest friends since her and her family moved to Granada in 2000. I feel like we've been friends for so much longer than that, and have enjoyed all the fun memories we've made together in our teen years :) and look forward to the many more to be made! ;) Charity, thank you so much for being such a dear friend. Being friends with you has been full of many good times, and in everything your life has been a challenge to me spiritually. Thank you for the godly example that you are - Seth has truly found himself a treasure! Congratulations! I love you!

Daisy Girl

Everyone meet Daisy. Daisy is Jason and Julia's new puppy. We came home Friday night for spring break, and about an hour after we got home they came over with a new puppy and surprised us all! Daisy is quite different from Berkley. She is much more rolly polly ;) has a short nose, thick tail, and big paws. She's a little cutie, and much more calm than Berkley was. Jason and Julia are happy to have a puppy again, and we all enjoyed her as well. The way Jordan's looking at her, I'm thinking he might be warming up to getting a lab when he and Jenn get a dog instead of a bull dog, right Jordan? Anyways, I'm happy to be an aunt again ;) haha! I'm so glad for you, Jason and Julia! :)

Spring Break

We're home, and it's wonderful! I wanted to post a picture of my home, but this computer just takes too long to upload anything, so I'm just going to write for now. Jennifer and Jordan brought Laura and I home on Friday. We almost didn't make it home because we completely lost our brakes near Green Bay, but the Lord was watching over us, and thankfully Jordan is a good driver, and safely got us to a mechanic where they fixed them temporarily, and we made it home. It was so great to have the whole family together again - and even Grandma came on Sunday, too! We had a surprise early birthday party for Julia on Sunday because we won't be able to be home for her real birthday April 14th. Laura's golden 19th birthday was on Sunday, too! When I get back to school I will be doing a special post for her, because she is such a special person! :) We haven't been doing anything too big and exciting over break...it has just been very nice, enjoyable, and relaxing. When I get back to school I will try to post the events of spring break. hee,hee! I hope you all are having, had, or will have a great spring break too! :)

One More Day! :)

Two More Days! :)

Three More Days! :)

Four More Days! :)

Spring is Coming!

Here's a picture for no reason - it was just a day we all felt like taking pictures! Probably because it was a Friday :) Friday's are fun! Anyways, it was GORGEOUS weather that day - the first time since the beginning of last semester that I was able to actually walk around all day without a coat and to wear flip flops without being cold! That's what I love about spring semester - to know that it's just going to keep getting warmer (with the exception of the weather events of this present week) and warmer! Only 8 more days until it's officially spring! YAY! :)

Swensons

Two weekends ago, Laura's parents surprised us and said they were going to be coming up this way to look at a tractor, so they decided to stay for the weekend. They took us out to Storheim's for ice cream on Saturday night. It was a big treat, and then we got to go to Walmart afterwards. I think that was the first time all of us girls got to be in town together - it's very difficult as a group of freshmen girls to try to get off campus to just hang out - no cars, no privileges, no nothing ;) hee,hee! J/k! But it definitely was a treat! Then they went to church with us on Sunday -- Jenn and Jordan joined the church that Sunday, and Laura and I sang "A Garment of Praise." Then we went out to Pizza Hut to use our hockey shirt coupon for the last time. They stayed until Monday after chapel - was so much fun! Hard to say goodbye, but now we'll be home SOON! :) Love you, Mr. and Mrs. Swenson!!

Surprise Party!

This is the day after my birthday. I stayed overnight at Jennifer and Jordan's with Julie for my birthday night, and then we slept in, went to a basketball game, and then Jules took me to the Daily Grind! When we finally headed back to the apartment, there were balloons, presents, and yummy food all out and ready - and Danielle, Megan, Amy, Audrey, and Laura jumped out and surprised me! It was such a fun party, and I was totally surprised (once again!) I'm so blessed to have such sweet friends! Thank you again, girls! Love you! :)

Artist Series

Here's a post for you, Mom! ;) This is from the artist series night - also, my birthday night! :) The entertainment was "The Three Tenors" which were Jeremy Vegter, Craig Ralston, and Northland's very own Brett Habing. It was a good artist series. A group of us girls went, and then afterward, we were all going to take pictures, and up comes Julie! She was like "HI!!" And I was like, "JULIE! What are YOU doing here?! You DID come!" (because for pretty much the whole week before that I had been telling her how much I wished she could come, and trying to figure out how she could make it work, and she had me convinced it just could not and would not happen. It was pretty much the greatest birthday surprise ever!) Afterwards, we and a bunch of our friends went down to Jenn and Jordan's apartment and Mr. Gaugler had made me a cake, so we had birthday cake, and then played some fun (to play) group games ;) I have such sweet friends and family who helped to make my birthday SO special even though I didn't get to be home for it! Thank you again, you guys! :)

In Memory Of Berkley Boy...

Today I received an e-mail that Berkley died this morning :( I am a very very very sad Aunt. The vet didn't know what was wrong with him - didn't see anything from the examinations they had of him...so he was just supposed to go home and they said it should pass. I kept in touch with Jason and Julia over Skype, and got to see Berkley over the web cam -- it was so sad to see him so not himself :( Usually he 'speaks' to me when I call there, or they'll show me one of his new tricks. He was such a good boy. He wasn't even a year old yet :( I know that Josie really liked it when Berkley came over on Sundays so she had a playmate...I'm sure she'll be wondering where he is - you guys will have to get another puppy! I'm so sorry about Berkley! He was a cutie! I love you, Jason and Julia!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Rachel Tucker's 19th Birthday was yesterday, March 6th. Her sister Lydia planned a surprised birthday party for her in the dining hall. So a bunch of us met there at 8 - Lydia and Tara already had the cake, other goodies, and decorations out, and then we wrote notes to her. Chad Tramp finally got her to the dining hall around 8:30, and we all jumped out from behind the coat racks and surprised her! I don't know how surprised she was (she told me she was a little suspicious since the blinds were pulled down), but I think she was surprised where we jumped out of! haha! I got some good pictures - the close up one turned out pretty dark :( but i cropped it so you can see her better. She's so cute! :) Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Big Boy Berkley

It worked! Whenever I write an apology that blogger is down, it starts working again! All I can say is PTL, cause I really wanted to blog tonight ;) hee, hee! Actually, I'm going to delete my apology post, so you guys aren't even going to know what I'm talking about. Here's Berkley now, Julia very recently took these pictures - before he was sick - I still don't know how he's doing or what happened on his vet visit, so I'll post an update when I know so you're not all left hanging ;) The comic in the middle is SO Berkley! When he was a puppy, he chased his tail ALL the time, and it just cracked me up! I had seen cats chase their tails before, but I'd never seen a puppy/dog get so much enjoyment out of it! haha! Wish we could have got that on tape! Another thing we need to at least get a picture of is Berkley smiling - someday I'm going to, and then I will post it. It is hilarious! He actually smiles! If we're all standing in a circle laughing up a storm, he'll come stand in the middle, and show his teeth like he's smiling, and just wags his tail. haha! ok - I just found out that the doctor doesn't know what's wrong with him, cause his blood work came back fine, but he's still sick, so he's just at home on a clear liquid diet ;) haha! J/k! Actually that's just all he'll eat - just ice :( poor guy! Hopefully he'll be better before Aunt Jessie gets home for spring break! ;) Only 11 more days! Yay! Get well soon, Berkley! :)

Berkley Boy

Here is the Berkley pictures I promised a long time ago that you've been staying tuned for ;) Julia called me today and told me that Berkley is sick, and had to go to the Doggy veterinarian hospital :( I still don't know how he is doing, but Aunt Jessie will be eagerly awaiting a call from his parents ;) I decided to post a bunch of pictures of his life from when they first got him till now - Julia even took some really recent ones for me which I will be posting after this. He was so cute when he was little, tiny, and puppyish, but he's still cute - all dogs usually are cause they're sweet and that makes them cute, right? ;) hee, hee! This picture is one of Berkley's bath pictures - he's so cute! And then one when he's a little older on his favorite blanket before he got older and destroyed it ;) - it probably looked a lot like the shreds from his pillow in the "blue snow" picture. ;) hee, hee! Then Jason put Berkley in one of his t-shirts, and the reindeer one is the antlers I gave him at Christmas time. Jason and Julia were trying to get a good picture of him for their Christmas cards, and evidently there were a little too many flashes, and he had to close his eyes. haha! I hope you get better soon, Berkley! (Berkley reads these, right Jason and Julia? ;)