Entryway makeover

I think our entryway is finally done!  New paint, new laminate floor, new decorations and new hall tree.  Yay!
Before:

Newly painted.  Old floor removed, moisture coming in under door :S.  Got that all caulked and dried up...storm door ordered.

New laminate in!

And after:

First day of school

Yesterday (the 25th) was the first day of school for Matt, Ben and Grace.  B & G were really excited, they met their teachers early and they both really like them.  Matt was stressed out to start 9th grade, but he found lots of his friends in his classes and seems to like his teachers, so I think he'll do fine.  Tennis started up again for him...tonight they played Williston.  The days get pretty long for him between school and tennis.  He's happy todays Friday :)). 

The monkeys in the tree

We took a family zoo trip the day before we left for Iowa, and got a good shot of the weird monkeys in the big tree.  Crazy, crazy monkeys.

Tyler goes to college

We took a trip down to Iowa last week to take Tyler to college.  How is that possible?!  He was just born, right?  He was super excited to finally get there and get classes started.  He likes his classes so far, so that's good.  His roommate is from China, so I think he was a little bit apprehensive about that at first (the language barrier), but they have gotten along great so far!  He speaks pretty good English and he has the same major as Tyler (political science), so I'm sure they'll have some classes together next semester.  Tyler's girlfriend Rachel is at Iowa, as well as some of his Ankeny friends, so I know he'll fit right in.                                                            

                                           Tyler and Rachel  in Tyler's dorm room

                                            



Tyler's dorm room door.

Rachel, Xu, and Tyler :)

Visit to Moorhead and Saturday fishing

Last weekend the kids, Grandpa Jim and I went over to Joel and Heidi's for a fun weekend.  Saturday Heidi took the kids to her nephew Austin's birthday party, and Joel, Matt, Grandpa and I went the the Hjemkomst Heritage Center.  They have a full-sized Viking ship inside, and a full-sized reproduction Stave church out back.  We found out that this particular church is a reproduction of an actual Stave church from Vik, Norway...the same village Great-Grandpa Halvor Peterson came from in 1900.  Very cool!  Also, we found out that our tour guide Lyle has a daughter that lives in Ankeny.  And his son-in-law happens to be the pastor that baptized Eli and Noah.  Crazy small world.  In the afternoon Heidi, Matt and I went shopping.  We found some fun things at the Antique Mall.  The cousins had a great time together too <3. 

Tonight, Rich and I took the little kids fishing at a small ND Wildlife pond near the prison.  That's right, the prison.  Each of the kids finally caught one fish....they just weren't biting tonight. 

Grace was quite proud of her little guy!

Tomorrow Tyler is driving home from Iowa.  We're excited to have him back!  Then Thursday we're leaving at midnight to head back to Iowa and take him to college.  Scary and sad and exciting all at the same time :). 

Friday at the Dakota Zoo

Ben and Grace and I have been searching for things to do this summer.  Preferably things that are free :).  Since we have a Zoo Pass and haven't been to the zoo yet this year (it's been closed until a few weeks ago because of the floods), we had to make a trip on Friday.  It was a perfect zoo day, not too warm and not too crowded.  We rode the train, had cotton candy and got to see Zebras and Gibbons that were on loan from the Minot Zoo, which is closed because of the floods. 

A Gibbon ...they were really cool.  The monkeys are my favorites.

Hello Scary Raccoon, please don't claw my eyes out.  Grace said "Does someone need a hug?" like Buddy the Elf does on 'Elf' LOL.  I thought he was going to attack us right about then.

We got most of the entryway painted.  Pictures of that to come...we still have to get new laminate and a hall tree.  Oh, and frames for the Grant Wood prints I got for the wall.  So maybe not pictures too soon LOL.

Tyler may get to come home for a few days before we take him down to college!  We're excited to see him, we all miss our brother. 

Happy 14th Birthday Matt!!

Our little Matthew is 14 today!  He bought a new TV for his room with all of his birthday cash...a big Thank You to everyone for his cards!  His birthday dinner of choice was Applebee's, where he gorged himself on his favorite food...buffalo wings.  We came home and sang Happy Birthday and had cake, now he's back to doing what 14 year olds do best:  playing XBox 360 :).  We love our crazy, witty, smart 14 year old kid!