Michelle's Graduation

She did it! And a good job of it too :) A comment during the party from someone looking at the display wall asked, "What internet site did you go to find those awards and certificates? We could use some!" She has been blessed with both brain and energy. Hopefully she can continue to use them both constructivly. The following thoughts by Richie Cusick come to mind when thinking of Michelle:

My spirit takes flight -

How it soars!

How it sings!

as it rides on a dream,

as it opens its wings...

How it searches each cloud

for a soft silver lining,

And follows horizons where

new hopes are shining...

My spirit flies high - I am fearless and free -

to express, to explore, to begin to be me.

We are fortunate to have grandparents attending our kid's graduations!

Can you believe we have three adult children already? Three that are done with high school?

Thanks for sharing her day either in person or in thought. It means alot to us.

HAPPY GRADUATION

CONGRATULATIONS MICHELLE!!!

Really wish we could have been there. Can't wait to hear about the party and see some pictures posted on the blog of you in the cap and gown.

Heather

Those were the days...

Oh, the days when we could just pretend!
These girls love to do
skits and dress up in all kinds of garb.
Eric has donated his school uniforms to the cause.

More Projects!

Recognize these guys? Tom and Ken put up Hardi-plank (or something like that) siding on the north side of our house as a fundraiser for the new Elk River congregation that we are a part of.
We have 3 crews that do building projects as fundraisers. This was a pretty small job and the two had a couple slow days, so did it on their own. They work for the same outfit along with brother-in-law, Dean. He is the head of the building crews and does a great job organizing and managing projects. We still need to do the old part of the back, but need to wait until the financial kitty has something in it to work with. It worked out really slick doing the north side this way. Wayne hasn't been home long enough to do it and it really was in desparate need of getting done. The funds will be used for land and church construction when we get to that point. Wayne tore off the old stuff before heading west. I found a drop site where I was able to get rid of it for $15 - and they unloaded it for me! Can't beat that! Now we need to find a warm, dry, still day that Wayne is home to paint the front and the new side of the house. Jenny, don't expect it to be done before you get here :-) -b

Eric & Rosella

Here they are, Seattle bound... Off to visit her family and work on wedding plans. Getting them to the airport for 5 a.m. was a bit early for this night owl, but I didn't have to fight traffic. There wasn't enough light at that time of the morning to get any decent pictures, but it was the first opportunity to try get pictures to share with all of you. Eric has a pretty cool one from Jay Cooke the day they got engaged. It is a silhouette of Rosie's face with her hand and ring visible and the water and rocks in the background. Hopefully he will post it here when they get back :-) They have picked Friday, August 31st as their big day. Tentatively they are planning to get married in her parent's back yard (a gorgeous and immaculate yard) with a reception at the church in Seattle. We will have a reception here also (possibly September 16th) since we know many won't be able to make it out there. Most details are still in the planning stages, other than that Nolan is Eric's best man and her sister Becky is her maid of honor. They won't be having any other attendants. She likes a deep red, but doesn't know yet if that is realistic for that time of year. One of the many details they hope to get taken care of while in Seattle. I am pumped to hear some of you are hoping to get there!!! We won't be able to make a lengthy trip, but plan to drive and be gone about a week. Michelle is flying, going ahead to spend some time with Justin and his family, and then landing here with just enough time to get a few winks of sleep before school starts. The rest of us will likely be piled in the rig with our trailer in tow. Would love to meet up with anyone that is driving for a night of camping somewhere if schedules/plans coincide. ....When Wayne gets back in town, we will spend some time with a calendar in one hand and a map in the other. He has been in Eugene Oregon for a couple weeks, making it tough to do so far. By the way, while there, he was able to go to Longview for the weekend. He was able to attend Justin's graduation, making Michelle quite envious. He also got a taste of Phil J's bread and pizza made in his hearth oven and will probably be stacking bricks to make one when he gets home. He has wanted to build one for some time. I could hear the drool as he was describing Phil's baking. ...Ok, enough rambling. -b

fathers

To Isa and all the other fathers....Hope you have a happy fathers day!!! May your day be filled with love and laughter!
Love, Frans & Jenny

Lindsey's birthday!

Guess who's 6 today??

Lindsey had some friends over for the afternoon, then tonight we had Anita, anna & tia, my mom and dad, my sister Lori and her kids, and my sister in law Audra and her two over for cake too! It was a fun day for everyone! Lot's of swimming, and after being in the sun all day, they were out as soon as there heads hit the pillows! Here are some pictures, then I'm off to bed:)

Howdy Everyone!

Congrats to Eric and Rosie!

Eric... I hope you savored the doughnuts, some of the last you can eat in a relaxed state before its a job requirement :-)

I havn't posted for a while, but I do try to skim through the blog and catch up by reading about everything that everyone else is writing about, even though I'm not posting much of anything.

From the "old man" riding the "metal mulisha" honda (I'll line up to watch the metal mulisha backflip), to all the work being done on the house in AZ... to vacationing on the 'range... Everyone looks like they are keeping busy :-) hmpf I don't have any pictures to put up though...

So... I'm just gonna say "HOWDY"

Charlie

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Many congratulations to Eric and Rosie on your engagement! This is such an exciting time for you guys, and we are so happy for you! Thanks for calling us with the news:)
Love, The AZ Kuoppala clan

Happy Wednesday!

Today marks the last day of the school year for our girls! As usual, it has been a busy last several weeks with Science Fairs and Concerts, finals for Alyx, and the usual hubub. It has been a while since I added anything on the blog ... will see what kind of pictures I can drum up!

I saw this cute idea for teacher gifts for the end of the year. Filled $1 large teacher mugs with classroom staples. The idea I saw had attached a gift card to an office supply or bookstore. I'm too cheap for that one!

The boat left our posession on Monday. A sad day in this household. However, should we end up staying here .. Jari is busy shopping on e-bay and Craigs List for another one. I assured the kids to have no worries .. we will be around water should we stay if the house doesn't sell.

The house. Yesterday a realtor showed the house for the 3rd time to a couple. Not sure who they are looking at it for. They have kids at ASU .. I don't care who lives in the house .. just buy it from me. The boat I wanted someone to love. Am I odd? The house I really don't care. Our "home" travels with us and is where we live and love .. it isn't in these four walls. Besides, I only have thousands of pictures of this abode .. I have mega scrapbooking to do when/if we finally leave. The common complaint with this house has been the view across the alley. They don't like the metal part added to the garage of the house across the way. So we went to the nursery and ordered trees to block the view. If we stay I get to enjoy the trees. If it helps to sell the house, that would be great. Murphy's Law came to visit the day we ordered and paid for the trees. Some goofy tree trimmers trimmed the neighbors nice trees that added shade to our yard and sort of hid his house. Can you believe this trim job?? They must have been straight off the coyote wagon or something. Obviously haven't been trimming for any length of time. Either that or they are incredibly short folks and can't see how nasty this looks. Can't win it seems. Today Brock and I get to work on digging some holes. The tree folks will plant the trees, but we are also lining a block wall with some orange, drought resistant (necessary for me) foliage. Ought to look good when they're in.

Jari is going to Finland in several weeks. He has been talking about it for several years. Says he wants to. Then says he really doesn't care. He is going this time. Ticket showed up yesterday via Express Mail. He will be in Helsinki the Sunday before Suvis, stay through suviseurat and come home the following Wednesday. No. I don't have any interest in going on this trip. This is a meet the family expedition. He will be brought from one house to the next .. meet so many cousins/aunts/uncles that let's hope he remembers their names when he gets off the plane! Someday I'd love to tour Finland .. not yet. The East Coast, Hawaii, Ireland and a few other places are beckoning first. There is that catamarran cruise in the Caribbean .. aaaaahhhhhh.

Other than that folks .. I've hauled out fabric this week and am working on a few projects. It is so much fun. Haven't had the opportunity to do that in a long time. Am also working on Alyx's Christmas stocking. The last one I have to do!!! When those are done it will be time to haul out some paint brushes and see if I can paint a thing or two. Summer without home schooling is truly a vacation.

To work I must go .. laundry, floors, beds etc. Have a great week everyone! Will post Memorial Day weekend camping pics later.

-a

Happy Birthday in June!

I will probably forget to post later so i will just post a Happy Birthday to all the birthdays in June! so Happy 18th Birthday Michelle on June 6th and Happy 6th Birthday Lindsey on June 12th! hope you both enjoy your birthdays a lot! -debbie