Don't fret....

 
A long awaited day came for Ella as the braces came off, and she reaped the rewards of indulgence of all the food that runs afoul of orthodontic brackets.  Graces' final guitar concert was played in front of a packed house and she played beautifully and confidently.  She is hanging up the guitar training for a while and will turn her sights towards the brass instruments this fall and a soccer in the summer.  Sophia is playing well for the high school soccer team and Merrick's indoor soccer has come to a close as well.  So to has his piano training in favor of percussion in the school band.  The piano still plays each evening as Ella has confidently taken up the ivories to add to her instrument training.

Birthdays, bikes, bridles, bunnies and Burie!

 March went out like a lamb, similar to how it came it in...but the latent lion roared into mid-April with a record setting snow storm.  Snow day and all after a three day blizzard that left nearly 24 inches of snow, the most in 130 years.  The week before the temperatures were balmy and the sun was warm and we hiked the grass covered trails in Oconto.  The birthdays came with equal flurry of the blizzard, as they always do and we chalked up more years and packed on the cake.  They both got new bikes and added a few miles before the snow storm hit.  Merrick scored a new scope as well and Grace didn't get the horse she asked for but she did get to ride Betty.  Somewhere among the cake and gifts the Easter bunny stopped by to spread the eggs and delivery some much needed sugar treats just in case the cake started to wear off.