The Noehren's

This past week my parents came down to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. It was great to have them here! He loved the photo book my sisters and I put together for him. Here are some of the things we did this week: Celebrating the big 7-0! We went to the artsy Berea, Kentucky and had fun looking at the shops and eating at the ecclectic Black Feather Cafe in old town. We went to the Thoroughbred Center where 900 racehorses live and train and many barn cats live. As you can see, the cats were a major highlight for Grant! I had found an old car in my boxes that was my dad's toy as a kid and he was thrilled! I had no idea you were supposed to hook up a string and pull it in circles, and he had no idea that I still had his toy! We also spent many hours outside on the swing in the great weather. And finally - we set up the mega pool for the kids. They love it. Pool season is open! It was a great week...except for the fact that all of us except Grant caug...

I keep forgetting to post the pictures from Grant and Brian's first Father/Son campout a few weekends ago...so here goes! The camera didn't get packed, so they stopped and bought an old school film one on the way - so they are a little grainey. How did we ever survive before digital pictures??? They had a great time at Laurel Lake with tons of other dads and their sons from the ward. Grant is ready to go! The Boys! (someday Grant will learn to smile normal, right?) The tent is up! It's the same tent that Brian and his dad used to camp in together with. This one of my tired boy cracks me up! It was 11:30 p.m. - only about 4 hours past his bedtime! I'm going to throw in another random video (again, mostly for the grandparents!) of Grant's Monday ritual...greeting all 3 trash trucks that come each week. We've almost lived here a year and he is out there every week in the rain, snow, wind, and sun. I felt a little funny videoing the trash man - but had t...

After some serious coaxing and a little bribery my shy Haley decided to enter into her classroom's talent show and she did great! I tried talking her into arm motions etc., but she wasn't having any of it! I was very proud of her. She chose her favorite song from chorus, "This Land is Your Land". Other talents featured were dancing, jump roping, and lego building. Cute! I attached the clip of Haley's song (mostly for grandparents). Enjoy! Grant and I had fun eating lunch with Haley and her friend Hannah today. And just when Haley's day couldn't get any better, she got to go to an after school pizza party for being the top female Reading Counts reader in her classroom. Way to go Haley!!

Today I finally got out my clippers and gathered a ton of roses from the 4 HUGE bushes we have in our front yard. They are a little past prime, but I still love the fresh flowers in the house. Maybe all of that rain was worth something after all!

After deciding that our mom's probably didn't want another tchotchke (yeah, I had to spell check that!) for mother's day this year, Brian and I decided to each write a little note about the things we love about our mother's on the blog. We love each of you and want the world to know! We hope you like your heartfelt (albeit inexpensive) gift from us: To The Amazing Mary Kent Williams: I love my mother because she is an amazing cheer leader. Not the pom pom kind, but the kind that is always there when you need her, squealing with excitement, rooting for your happiness and success. Her support and listening, empathetic, ear has been a godsend to me throughout my whole life. I find she is often the first I call with news, good or bad, and one of the few people on the planet that I feel comfortable calling when I need to ball my eye's out! I also love my mom's zest for adventure. She is always finding new trips to take, new projects to do, or new skills to lea...