Congratulations Aunt Jodi!

Yes, you heard it here....

The fourth and final Groen child is out of college. Flew the coop, as you may say.

Well, technically, she hasn't flown the coop, and still lives in the coop. But it is fun to use the expression.

On May 10, 2008, Aunt Jodi walked the hallowed halls of Northwestern for the final time. (That is sarcasm for any of you who have actually seen the hallowed halls of NWC. Graduation is in the student center, with many tarps hanging from the ceiling.)

I wanted to give Jodi a shout out....

CONGRATULATIONS!

May your future be merry and bright!

And, because I am in the know...... your student loans are due. :)

Obviously....

Sorry it has been a while, what can I say, everything and nothing happens at the same time.

Jaina and I are both finally feeling better after getting what seems like the nastiest cold on the planet. Mine started over the weekend, but I kept trying to convince myself that it was allergies. Finally, after speaking with my mother, she convinced me that just by the sound of my voice, she could tell it was a cold. Eerie.

So, yesterday, J and I spent the day at home, trying to rest. I say trying lightly, because although I would have been more than eager to rest, sleep, and watch movies all day, 3 -year olds are not so willing to be, how do you say it, lazy.

So, in the afternoon, we finally had to get out of the house. We went to the park, just to run off some energy. And then we went to the store. And then we went inside and played some more.

I was halfway tempted to take another day off today, just to relax from yesterday. But, we both went back to work, day care, and school today.

However, I have a slightly humerous story about last night. Jaina and I were playing Wii (which is a miracle in itself, but since Mike was at a golf meet, we actually got a turn :)) Jaina settled on playing golf, and she schooled me. For some reason (I am blaming the cold medicine instead of the sheer lack of talent), she beat me up. She must have some secret golf skills that this family has not heard of.

Anyway, back to the real story. On the second hole, I could not get the ball into the hole. It got to the point that the screen said "Give Up", and automatically added 5 points. I turned to Jaina and said, "Man, Jaina, Mommy can't get it in the hole!"

She looks at me with her big brown eyes and says, "Obviously, Mom."

Really?!? Sarcasm at 3? What do I get to look forward to next year?

The View......

From my room in sunny CANCUN!

That's right. Last week, Mike and I went to Cancun, Mexico, as part of a Wells Fargo Service Conference.

Every year, Wells Fargo rewards a small portion of their employees with an all-expenses paid trip to some exotic place. This year, it was in Cancun! And I won one of the trips! It was AWESOME!

We went down there a day earlier than the conference started, to get the lay of the land. And it is amazing.

The grass is green (which is desperately missed up here :)), and the water was wonderful.

For the first two days, Mike and I did NOTHING. It was long overdue. We laid on the beach, in beach loungers, and under a tiki hut. No interruptions, no schedule, just time to ourselves. We both read, and read something more complex than Green Eggs and Ham.

On Sunday, all of the other Wells Fargo team members showed up, and we continued to have a great time. We had a personal concert from the lead singer of Train, listen to inspirational speakers, and, who could forget the snorkeling.

The pictures tell it better than I....

Yes, we had a Jacuzzi tub in our room......

To add to it, we had a fully stocked fridge, our own Captain Morgan on tap, and it was all complementary. Mike thought it was WONDERFUL.

One night was a theme night, where we got "Lost in Paradise - on the Riviera Maya" They had live animals to take pictures with, so we took a pic with the birds. We skipped the snake.....

On the final night we were there, we had a "fancy" dinner of surf and turf. We got dressed up, and Mike got to wear his new sport coat, of which he was SO excited.

We DEFINITELY have to go back.....

Easter

It has been a while since I have posted, so I thought I would give an update to everyone to let you know what we have been up to.

Easter was a few weeks ago, and although we didn't do anything spectacular, or go anywhere fancy (just the in-laws, and that was tasty), we did manage to get some eggs dyed, and a new dress worn.

Below are some pictures of our experience.....

This is Jaina, coloring her egg before she dyed it.

For every single egg, she felt the need to write on it...

What did she write on EVERY egg?

Her name, of course. :)

And then, on Easter Sunday, she got to wear her brand new dress at church.

Disclaimer: Blog poster takes no responsibility for the devilish grin on the subject's face. This is entirely genetic, and come from her father.

And then, there are the obilgatory family pics....

Has Erica been tanning? Why yes, more on that in the next post. :)

Come ON, Spring.......

We have all been feeling a little spring fever.....

• I have smelled spring on the way, and look forward to planting flowers....
• Mike is looking forward to Golf........ (and I am looking forward to him getting paid to coach golf - let's go DEBT REDUCTION!)
• Jaina just wants to......BLOW bubbles.

She got the idea at the grocery store. She saw the bubble mix, and wanted to get some right then and there. Of course, she was with her father, so he said no. But when she got home, I found ours, and after supper, we went outside for a bit, to blow some bubbles.....

Mom got camera happy. What can I say? I love bubbles in Black and White. Enjoy, and may spring reach you (and us) soon.

Seriously, the next one did look like a GREAT picture in

the camera, and as soon as I pressed the shutter, she moved her eyes.

Boys' Basketball....

...is OVER!

I apologize, usually, I don't get so excited about sports. But I have to admit, there is a little relief every year when the basketball season ends. There are several reasons for this:

• It means that spring truly is on the way



• I get my Friday nights back!



• My life stops revolving around the triple-double

Okay, so it is not that bad. In fact, I rarely have to pay attention to the game at all. Which is very beneficial, since I know next to nothing about what is going on.

The George-Little Rock boys had a good year. They finished second at state, which means I got to spend a LOT of time at the Wells Fargo arena, and watching a LOT of basketball. And i got to see my parents.

I only took pictures at the first game, because, although I love my camera and all the cool things it can do, sometimes it is just too cumbersome, especially for pictures of boys I don't really know, competing in a sport I don't completely understand. But there are a few. Take a look. And then relish in the fact that you don't have to see any more for a year. :)

And here is one with Jaina and Grandma.... (Grandma is much more tolerant of basketball than I am)....

And the score at the end of our first game.....

We proceeded to beat Boyden-Hull (a team that we had beaten twice already, making the third time much more diffcult), and losing to Northern University High, out of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Good job Mustangs..... see you NEXT year.

I only look sweet and innocent....

Yep, that is the best caption for this picture. It just looks like she is about to do something that I would not approve of......

She is actually just irritated, because all she wants to do is throw rocks into the river with Grandma. And she wants to stand. But at the insistence of her mother, (and Grandma), she is sitting. Hard to get a really good throw when you are on your hiney....

We went to Pella this weekend. It is the week of the Boys' State Basketball Tournament, and George-Little Rock (Mike's employer and Alma mater) (Wait, can you say Alma mater for a high school?) is in the tournament. It started on Monday, so we made a long weekend of it, and spent the weekend in Pella before the big game. On Sunday, we went to the river in the hopes of seeing some eagles. Instead, Jaina decided it would be infinitely more fun to throw rocks. So to the shore we went.

We also went to a concert for a tribute for a guy I went to high school with. His father and him started a band, and he was tragically killed in a car accident last fall. This concert was a tribute to him and his three year old son, who was also killed in the accident. The band's name is Big Blue Sky, and they are REALLY good. No joke. Kind of folksy, artsy, jazzy, rocky, all in one. It blended together quite nicely.

And, GLR won. So we will again be traveling to Pella this weekend, to spend more time watching Basketball. Hmmmm, did I know this when I signed up 7 years ago? Yeah, I guess I did. :)

GO GLR!