Sumpter's visit

Derek's sister Karen, her husband Steve and cute Miranda passed through here on their way to California from Michigan. It was so great to see them again and especially to see their new baby Miranda.

Lauren loved seeing her Aunt Karen again!

Joe enjoys his story time with Steve and Karen.

Spiderman bike

Check out Ryan's new Spiderman bike, complete with a Spiderman helmet. He loves riding it when it's nice (of course we've had only 3 nice days since he got the bike...). Go Ryan!!

Happy Easter!

Easter was so early and cold this year, but that didn't seem to dampen any egg hunter's spirits. The kids had a great time dying eggs with their Ogborn cousins and visiting with Grandma Sorenson.

Ryan waits patiently for his green egg...

French Doors

Well, they've been in the works for some time now, but we have finally finished installing our French doors in the living room. We love the fact that Mark loves the piano and plays great songs on it. We were having a problem having conversations in the kitchen without yelling, though. We decided to put some French doors into the living room.

The first picture below is what the entry into the living room looked like before. We liked the arch, but it was hard (and expensive) to get a transom built for the arch.


We ended up squaring off the arch and putting in a square transom. The next picture shows the unfinished doors installed.



The last picture shows the finished doors - painted with the protective cover removed from the door lights (windows).

We love the doors and the muffling effect they provide. We can still hear the music, but we can still hear ourselves think as well.

Piano Pieces
The kids had piano festival in February. For those that are wondering, piano festival is where the kids go to a performance hall and play two piano pieces for a panel of judges (piano teachers from the county.) They are judged on several categories and given an overall rating (Superior, Excellent or Good.) They wouldn't let us film or record the live performance because apparently someone sued them because they thought their kid should have gotten a better rating.

Mark played "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Sonatina." The following clip is an abreviated version of "Maple Leaf Rag." There are several repeats that he didn't play while I was recording it. One of these will probably play really fast. If it plays too fast, just select the other one.

Lauren played "With a Yo-ho-ho" and "Aardvark Boogie". She didn't want to play either to be recorded, but she did consent to play a song called "Ramblin' Rails." Enjoy