4.17.12  Happy 11th Birthday Kylie!  Wow - you are getting so grown up!  Hard to believe that you are 11 today.  We love you very much and are very proud of what a wonderful young lady you've become!  We met Jeff at the Ram for her birthday dinner....very nummy!  We had already eaten so many treats that we opted for a single cupcake instead!  We think her favorite present was the Justin Bieber poster from her brother! 

4.16.12  Kylie's science project this year was very colorful and easy!  She chose to do the red dye in the bottle with a celery stick.  She chose water, vinegar and 7-up in her bottles to see which one would rise the fastest.  The water bottle made the red dye rise all the way to the leaves on the stalk.  The rest of the stalk was pretty clear still.  The vinegar destroyed the stalk and it drooped way over.  The 7-up showed actually the most color on the stalk but didn't get to the leaves.   (Barbi - do you remember when Jordan did this experiment?).

Kylie got to have some friends over for a fun night at the Carlsen's while her mom (that's me) and her friends Mom's had a mom's happy hour at Applebee's to finish planning our girl scout camping trip. Thanks Jeff!  You are the best for hosting and putting up with all the girls!

4.14.12  Yesterday morning we got a call from my long time friend Nikki that her 16 year old daughter Cassidy was playing in an all-day volleyball tournament for her club volleyball team at Kentwood High School.  We visited after Kylie's soccer game and stayed and watched several matches.  They ended up winning an exciting 3 match game that went into extra points!  A nail-biter it was!  Then they played for 1st and 2nd and Cassidy's team won the game and 1st place against a team that beat them that morning.  Way to go Cassidy!  Congratulations!

4.14.12  What a great sunny day for soccer!  I forgot to get my camera out at the beginning of the game so I don't have too many pictures to choose from.  There were only 10 girls total at the game so we played with only 8 in the field and it's such a big field that all the girls were tired out!  We ended up winning 3-0 which was great as we lost to this team earlier in the season 2-1 I believe.  Great game!

4.8.12  We were so busy with birthday parties that we dyed easter eggs on easter morning.  Quite a quiet affair but then we went to church with our friends the Hawley's.  It was a very nice service.  Because everyone else in the family was either out of town or with their in-laws, we had an Easter dinner with just us....but we had all the fixings.  Ham, scalloped potatoes, beans and rolls of course!  Happy Easter everyone!  I do have to say it wasn't the same not being all togerher but we understand the logistics.

4.7.12  After Kylie's soccer game, Oma and Papa and Tina, Kurt and Kendra were able to come down and join Grandma and Aunt Tara and Delaney to help celebrate the kids' birthdays.  Thought it would be easier this way to have them together since everyone has such busy schedules.  We had a bean bag tournament and Oma and Papa ended up winning!  Lucky them!  The kids opened some great gifts, we enjoyed the sunny weather and just being together as a family.  Thanks everyone for coming down to party!!!!

4.5.12  Kylie performed in the school choir's spring program and had a large part in it.  It was centered around baseball and its history.  Kylie was one of the main characters and had a lot of speaking parts - all memorized too.  They sang songs about baseball and such.  It was a great program!  Nice job kiddo!  We are very proud of you!  Sloane came to cheer Kylie on - wasn't that nice?

4.7.12  Kylie's soccer team got to play at Kentwood High School because the Mattson fields are too muddy to play on anymore.  So, we had 10 girls playing on a large field with regulation size goals.  We unfortunately had no subs but the girls played great!  Kylie's team lost 4-2 but Kylie scored her team's 2 goals so that was exciting.  Grandma Paulette and Aunt Tara and Delaney got to come down and watch the game too.  Great job Kylie!

Zach and Kylie are enjoying their Spring Break. They spent the day in Seattle hanging out with their Dad. First they visited the Pike Place Market and then boarded the water taxi and cruised to West Seattle. After a 15 minute cruise across Elliott Bay, they rented bikes and peddaled 2.5 miles along Alki Beach. Had lunch at the popular Spuds Fish and Chips. After lunch they traded in their bikes for kayaks. They paddled around Elliott Bay until it was time to board the water taxi and return to downtown Seattle.  After disembarking the water taxi, they made their way to King Street Station and rode the Sounder train back to Kent. They had a blast!