On Friday we had a party for the Olympic Opening Ceremonies



Jackson helped me make fortune cookies the night before, they were far more successful than the very over churned ice cream...
Today was the robotics conference I have been helping to plan at work
These are two of the water robots, the boat takes sonar images of anything under it. All I know about the plane is that it can fly and go around on the water.
This is the solar car that won some competition, the guy on the right is one of Michigan's Representatives, he has been in office since Truman.




I think this one looks like WallE.

Senator Levin was one of the speakers.
Before Camille and Ryan left they gave Bennett his first hair cut.
Isn't he handsome?
This week Jackson and I were lucky enough to have the Bringhursts visit us.

Eliza and Ryan playing speedmitton.



This is Jackson's new favorite game.

Paint

Left= Red 1 Right= Red2
Left= Blue 1 Right= Blue2

We are planning on doing a little painting. Tonight we painted a few swatches on our wall and we are having a hard time deciding. We are kind of leaning towards the lighter blue for the bathroom. The red we painted on one our walls for an accent wall, now we are wondering if we should try and less va voom color, maybe a green? Let us know what you think, I know it is hard to see the colors really well.

Ode to the Parkers

Today my sister and her family moved. We have officially gone into mourning. I feel so lucky to have been able to live so close to her this year, it really has been so great. We have done traditional (the way Mom makes it) Sunday dinners every week, gone to fairs, exhibits and all other sort of fun things around town. Our lives are going to be changing because we spent most of our free time with the Parkers. Quite frankly I don't know how people can move away from home without a sister, I have been very spoiled. We will miss them very much.

In case you were wondering I hit the jackpot and got two wonderful sisters, this one stills lives in Utah though.

What Cara forgot to mention...

...was that her own jewelry was on display and for sale at one of the largest and most prestigious art fairs in the country.

Cara has spent hours and hours designing and making her jewelry and everyone who gets a chance to see it, loves it.

Jackson's birthday celebrations

For Jackson's birthday party yesterday we started it off with some home run derby.

The girls hit too, but we mostly sat and were eaten by mosquitoes.
I forgot to pick up candles, luckily Camille and Ryan brought sparklers.

The day of Jackson's birthday we went to one of our favorite restaurants, an Irish Pub.
Jackson's birthday also marked the first day of the Art Fair, one of the largest in the country.
We were a bit creeped out by these fine pieces of art. We really thought they might move.

Jackson's first cake was exactly what he asked for, a chocolate Ute cake.

Jackson's new Foosball table, that fits conveniently on our table.

One of his favorite root beers.
A gift from his parents, speed mitten. We tried it out tonight, it is a new favorite of ours.
It may seem strange that I gave Jackson marshmallows. His family has a special treat where they microwave the marshmallows (it has to be on a paper plate) and then freeze them, sounds strange to me but then again I don't like marshmallows. Which is why Jackson got them for his birthday, because they were rarely ever be in our house otherwise.