Well, we decided (kind of last minute) to head down and check out the flags down at the Amvets. My family had 'bought' a flag this past year in honor of my Grandpa, who recently passed away. Wow - it was really neat! It was so windy and as you stood in the middle of all those flags, it was a noisy ocean of red, white, and blue. Very neat. It was also a great moment watching my little ones, especially Eliott, who never had the honor of meeting my Grandpa, grab a hold of his name plate. A very neat place to be today. Photos to remember... as we drove away they began taking the flags down.

Happy Easter!

I can't wait to look back at this picture in ten years... and see if there personalities are reflected in what we see. I love it! And I love that Madison has such sweet cousins! Oh, and don't all good family gatherings end with a few scrapes... we were actually saying a 'thanks' prayer that it looked like this... she was just a few inches away from a metal stub... Probably not the best place for us to let her play but she was having so much fun! And Eliott did enjoy most of the day out of his seat but the only pic I snapped was during 'naptime'. Love you little man!

May Day Baskets!

Our little man is 6 months!

Crazy! Someone told me the other day (after little sleep the night before) to remember that the days seem slow while the years go fast. I can totally see how true that is! I can't believe how much you are doing, Eliott! Lots of milestones this month... your biggest and most exciting is that you are able to see the world from a new view as you have become strong enough to sit up. I still prop pillows around you as you sometimes tip, but you are getting better and better each day. The other day I even watched you almost push from your belly back up to sitting. Life seems a little more entertaining for you now. You also just got your first tooth at the end of your sixth month. You and I spent hours together one night a couple of days ago. I was wondering what the deal was and then the next day you could see that pearly white in your mouth. The second tooth is close behind and I can tell it doesn't feel good. You still love your sissy and she still loves you. The best is when she wakes up in the morning, comes out into the living room, spots you and says with a big smile, "Hi El-tee-tee, Hi... seep good??? Hmmmm?". You just watch every move she makes. I will say that you have given her a bit of a run for her money though, now that you can take her things and pull her hair. You have caused a few tears. When she doesn't want you playing with one of 'her' toys, she will find you a new toy as she takes yours... the one she brings you is often not very exciting :). She does randomly supply you with fun toys, even without being asked. She very much loves her little bro! Dad is the best at making you belly laugh. You lay on his belly and he know just where to tickle you. When he does you let out the biggest belly laughs. It's definitely irresistible. You don't fuss much... only when you figure out that Mom is making your dinner and it's not arriving fast enough. You love pretty much anything I have supplied your tummy with. You're not too picky yet. Sleeping on the other hand still isn't your favorite. The other night you let Mom sleep until 6 without waking her up... thank you for that :). Then the next day you got your first fever and you went back to your old habbits. We're all trying to stay patient in that department. I think you just like seeing us... Dr. Huwe continues to call you a "leader" when it comes to your size. You are growing quickly into your 18 month clothes and through size four shoes. You weighed 21 lbs 3 oz lbs and were 28 3/4 inches long. We just ordered your new carseat since you are too heavy for yours... and your toes hang way off the end of your old one. I was thinking the other day about a thought I had when you were born... 'can little boys be sweet like little girls?'... oh my goodness, I can't get over how wonderfully sweet you are. You have the hugest, most amazing bright blue eyes that just make my heart melt when you look at me and smile. We love you little man!!!

Well I had a moment on Mothers Day this year...

When I was little, I used to beg my mom to put curlers in my hair. Before I would go to bed, I would wash my hair and sit on the floor while my mom rolled my hair up in these little sponge curlers. The best part was waking up the next morning, unrolling each curler to find a little tight roll of hair spring back up.

As I strolled through Target the other day, I found the same sponge rollers. As I sat there debating whether or not to spend the ten bucks, I finally threw them in the cart. That spur of the moment decision made one special, unexpected "mother's day" moment for me.

As Madison sat in the floor in front of me, ironically wearing a baseball shirt with the name "Berry" printed on the back that used to be mine, I somehow convinced her to sit still enough for about 20 minutes as I rolled her hair up. It was a crazy moment... still not believing sometimes that I am at the point in my life that I have a little (or not-so-little) girl anymore. Another reminder to enjoy every moment... as it is flying by!

The whole time, Madison wasn't quite sure if she wanted these in her hair, but I convinced her that Pooh Bear could have some curlers in his hair as well. She finally accepted. Surprising to me, she sat there as I finally rolled the last curler. I handed her the mirror and she studied her new 'do'. The funny face in the picture was her first reaction. Matt then made a good point... "she probably thinks that this is the new style :)". We went out and rode cars for awhile to let them 'set' and then went inside, unwound them, and a bit to my surprise it actually held the curl. I snapped a few shots of the moment. Someday maybe she will roll her little girls hair into curlers. It might be here before I know it.

Chief has puppies!

At five years of age, Chief got to do what we have been promising him for five years... breed a lovely lady. Dan Goetz has a pretty little black lab who 'met' Chief for the first time a couple of months ago. The did their thing and J.C. delivered the puppies a couple of weeks ago. She has 9 puppies (good job girl!)... six black and three yellow. When we went to see them on there second day of life, we saw this little yellow puppy, who's head was noticeably larger than the others, who was aggressively climbing his way between all the other puppies to find some food. You could see all of his shoulder muscles straining as he was determined to get to the front. Matt and I looked at each other and said, there is "mini - Chief". I am soooooo not wanting another dog, but I do hope that whoever gets 'little' Chief gives him as much love and attention that his daddy has had the last five years. Even though I pull my hair out over all the hair throughout my house (no pun intended) I am thankful for our pup! The following is the letter I wrote to the new puppy owners. We love you Chief (or as Madi says, Chee Chee).

Chief was born on May 2nd, 2006. When we picked him up about 8 weeks later, we were so excited to bring him home. I’ll never forget the four hour ride home with little Chief snuggled in on my lap. We stopped about half way home to let him run for awhile. He was playing in the grass when Matt yelled, “Chief - SIT!”... and sit he did. We looked at each other in awe. We brought him home and he slept wonderfully that first night in his kennel. I do have to admit, this was a bit of a ‘honeymoon’ phase and it did take a lot of training to make him into the dog he is, but he has been a wonderful addition to our family. We have raised him as an indoor dog, and we soon realized that if we took the time to wear him out in the morning, he was wonderful the rest of the day. We are both active people and Chief gets his exercise by going on long runs through the park or endless tosses of frisbee. You can tell that he comes from a long line of dogs that work hard. He is built so well physically and would work for you for hours. He would make a wonderful bird dog as I’m sure his puppies would. We don’t have the time to compete with Chief, but we have taken him to some local ‘fun’ competitions. He has battled between 1st and 2nd place for three years in a row at the local frisbee throwing contest (if you give him a good throw, he always catches it). Last spring we signed him up for a dock dogs competition... not really know what we were getting ourselves into. Almost every dog there had traveled from several states away and had brought their ‘serious dock jumping gear’. Chief and I humbly stepped up onto the dock, not really knowing what either of us would do, and he jumped his way to third place... wowing the crowd. Needless to say, Chief is an incredibly fun, active, and naturally athletic dog!

We knew when getting Chief that labs were known to be very good with kids. Two years ago, Matt and I had our first little girl and now have a six month old boy. I have been absolutely amazed at how gentle and loving he is towards them. I can honestly say that I have never once, in two years, been nervous about having him around our kids. Madison is now old enough to ‘play’ with him. He lets her pick up and throw his frisbee, sits when he tells her to, hand him dog treats(and I do mean ‘hand’ them to him... as he gently nibbles it away from her little fingers), feed him his food (while he waits patiently for her to say “o-tay Chee Chee”), and pull his tail while she laughs hysterically, skiing behind him. I remember when he was little, we would ‘dig’ in his dog food while he ate it to train him not to be ‘overly protective’ of his food. I am so grateful that we did this as I often see Madison picking up the food that dropped out of Chiefs bowl and put it back in his dish. He has been absolutely wonderful with our two little kids.

I am very excited for you to have one of Chief’s puppies. We hope you give him/her lots of love and attention... he/she won’t let you down! The five years we have spent with him have been wonderful!

Matt and Emily Hoffert