EVEN MORE GREAT NEWS!

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! It's amazing! It was only on the market for about 7 weeks when we got the offer. We had the inspection on Monday, and there were no problems. We close May 30, which is 1 month before Bret finishes. We're planning on living with Grandma Ellyn until the end of June. We still don't have a place to live in Duluth. We're waiting for the financing on the new house to come through before we can start digging. We're hoping that by mid-May we'll be able to break ground. Movers came today and it really started to hit home. We'll only be here another 5 weeks. Yikes! At least, Duluth Clinic is paying for this move. I'm hoping that Bret and I can just sit back and relax on this one.

Maren's Big News!

On March 27, Maren was coming up the stairs for dinner when she slipped and fell, hitting her mouth on the top wooden step. At the time, it just looked like she bit her lip. I was just thrilled that we didn't need to head to the ER for more stitches (for those of you who don't remember, Maren is our "Stitch Queen". Last week after we got back from Duluth, I noticed that her top front two teeth were discolored and getting progressively worse. I called the dentist and took her in today. The dentist gave me the choice of waiting and seeing or pulling the teeth. She was concerned about infection, which could affect the permanent teeth. After all she's been through, I opted to pull the teeth. She was a real trooper! After a couple of worried moments, she pulled through with flying colors. She's thrilled to put her two teeth in her glow-in-the-dark large tooth that she got from the dentist under her pillow. Dad already brought home 2 Webkinz from the "Dad Fairy". She had previously broken a sliver off of one of her bottom front teeth. Enjoy the pictures!

Newest Pictures

Easter

Looking back, this is the only picture that I have.
Bret actually took it, and I love it!
Maren is in a cardboard box with all of our
easter eggs poured in on top of her.

Bret and Brendan Being Silly

I didn't agree with this,
but Bret was brave (or stupid).
Brendan didn't spill or drop the glass, thankfully!

Dad and Maren's Date Night

Bret got tickets to a concert and took Maren for a date.

Our Spelling Champion!

Ok, well at least 2nd place. Connor participated in the city wide spelling bee for 2nd graders on March 15th. About 45 kids were split into 4 groups in different rooms. Each room would get down to two kids and then those eight kids would compete for the title. After 26 rounds, about twelve kids were narrowed down to two, Connor and another girl. After 46 rounds, Connor missed on "oblige", which the judge pronounced "ablige" (at least in our opinion). He proceeded to spell it "a-b-l-i-g-e". He missed it, and the other boy said, "I was thinking the same thing." Then Connor spelled "delight" and got it. Then Connor missed on "scissors" with "s-c-i-z-z-o-r-s". The other boy got it right and then won with "although". Connor almost got out on "journey", but luckily, the would be champion and his mother fought for his second chance.
They went through all of the 2nd grade words during the competition.

Needless to say, we were extremely proud parents!

I've included some of the videos.



Here were his words:

First round:
bat
moon
cub
off
spoon
dinner
turkey
burn
pack
contest
think
chart
letter
jeep
inside
note
caused
fought
campus
recovered
discovery
regarding
presented
romance
button
lion

Second round:
since
smart
friendly
award
corner
school
screen
shady
shelf
willing
walked
started
handed
wrist
canoe
speaking
journey
oblige
delight
scissors