Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Monday, May 27, 2013

Memorial Day in Odessa

For Memorial Day this year, we flew to Kansas City so we could attend the Herrick reunion and visit with friends and family.

On Saturday during the day, the grandkids went with Grandma and Grandpa to the nature center and then for ice cream. Andrea and I went shopping with the Gobles and we met Jordan, Jenni and Avery for lunch.








Connor went to the Royals game with Drew, Abby and Nate and stayed the night on Friday.


Nathan was picked to name pizza toppings and managed to name more than Greg Holland (one of the Royals players). He was famous all weekend, it seemed like everyone in KC was at the game and recognized him.


Connor loved all the goodies to eat. He tried just about everything and kept pestering Abby for beer when the beer guy came by.



Allison and Paige stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa had the excellent idea of watering the flowers with Paige before bed. We stripped off Paige's pretty dress and she loved being a big "help" with the hose.



Paige started off very careful and responsible, but little by little she got sloppier with the water until she was soaking wet. Eventually she realized how much fun it was to chase everyone around with the water too.




Grandma baked a bunch of goodies and Paige loved to help. On Friday night they baked cupcakes.


On Saturday morning, Paige helped Allison and Grandma ice the cupcakes. It turned in to a huge mess, but Grandma somehow didn't mind and Paige sure didn't.



Paige loves to play kitchen at home. At Grandma's house there were a lot of kitchen toys and Grandma and Allison played it with Paige a bunch.


Sissy enjoyed having baby Graydon around. She "helped" with him whenever we let her.



We stopped by Buddy and Renie's house to visit for a bit while we were in town.



While we were chatting, I played with Paige and did the horse go to town song with her. Renie recognized it and told us how she used to do the same thing with Andrea when she was little. She played it with Paige for a bit and I got a cute video of them together.



On Sunday, we all drove to the Kansas side of the border for the reunion at Mike and Cindy's house. Everyone brought something to eat and it's Andrea's favorite kind of meal with all the different sides and salads. The kids played with the other children and there were a few kiddie pools in the backyard that were a little cold but very fun. Rain had been in the forecast, but thankfully it stayed nice all day long and we played outside most of the day and visited with everyone.












Before we left, we snapped a pic of the grandkids together. Unfortunately Graydon had already left, so he wasn't in the pic with the other kids.



Paige and Allison were exhausted afterwards.



After the reunion, Connor and Paige stayed the night with the Rudolph's and the next morning enjoyed Nate's pancakes and waffles. On Monday, we got together in Odessa for a BBQ and some more family fun.



The kids have had an incredible time with everyone. We are happy that our family made so much time to entertain us and to make the visit so special for the kids. The Rudolphs had the kids over multiple nights, the Gobles went to McAlister's with us more than they probably liked, and Genie and Garry were awesome hosts and had all kinds of goodies and games for the kids. Drew is turning into a young man, taller than Andrea and so mature, but he still plays so nicely with little Connor and is so patient. Allison was a big help all weekend and Paige enjoyed every moment with her. They played kitchen together, baked cupcakes, and played together constantly.

We are sad to say goodbye to everyone, but looking forwards to vacationing together in Gulf Shores soon!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Leader of the Pack award presentation


Every quarter, each class at Connor's school votes for the "Leader of the pack" in their classroom. Someone who is a good example, shows leadership, and is a good student. This quarter, Connor was picked and we all went to his school early on Wednesday to see him get his award.

Kenlyn and Trevor both also got awards this quarter in their classes.


They did the Kindergarteners first and Connor was actually the second person called of the day. 





Grandma and Grandpa came too!


Great work Connor! He's had such an awesome school year, we are so very proud of him.



Kindergarten end of year party



It's hard to believe Connor's almost done with Kindergarten! This week his class had an end of year party and Andrea and I both went to celebrate with him.

Every student got an award based on their school year and Connor got the "Manners" award. 

The kids all showed us some of their dance moves that they do to unwind during the school day and then we had some ice cream!



Connor's best buddy TJ is moving after this year. Connor has really enjoyed being his classmate, they play every day and Connor thinks TJ's an awesome athlete.



There were some pictures on the classroom door and the kids all wrote their future jobs on a chalkboard. Connor's wasn't much of a surprise!