Neal family update:

Well...now that it is officially April I will do another post! I haven't been very good about posting. I guess I am going for the once a month thing!

March rushed by! We enjoyed Spring Break at the end of March. We officially moved into the cabin over the break. We cleaned, and cleaned and cleaned. The entire cabin was covered in 9 months of dust and grime. I must admit that I have never had so much fun cleaning! The kids were great. They worked like dogs and helped with whatever we needed. We took them into town one night and got everyone an ice-cream cone. Somehow ice-cream works every time. Not only did we clean the inside, but we spent 2 days cleaning up all of the trash that all of the subcontractors left outside. We literally took 4500 tons of garbage to the dump in two different trips! I know that because they weighed it at the dump! We rented a Uhaul to take some of the furniture that we have been collecting to the cabin. Once we unloaded it we used it to fill it full of all of the trash. It was actually ideal because we didn't have to worry about thing flying out! Anyway...that was important enough to document!

The kids are all doing well. Hayden finished his school play. He did a great job. He had a hard time not smiling on stage when he heard his dad laugh. Brittan is the most avid reader I have ever seen. We actually find ourselves getting mad at her because she is always reading! She starts an acting camp tomorrow that she is very excited about. Olivia is running track. She has been practicing for the long jump. I think the coaches took one look at her long legs and sent her straight to the long jump! Isabelle is the queen bee of the neighborhood. She has about 6 friends of all ages that ring the doorbell after school and play until dinner time. I was washing windows the other day and I heard her scolding a 10 year old boy on the trampoline. "Jake...if you take the lords vain in name one more time I'm going to have to send you home!" I was so proud of her! She has a lot more guts than I ever had (have) at her age!

Michael is great! Working hard and playing harder. He got excepted to Law school. Now he just has to decide if he really wants to go! It is such a huge commitment. He paid his fee that says he is coming. Now we will weigh all the pros and cons.

I am still plugging away. Hair on T/Th. I am enjoying my time during the week while the kids are at school. Michael's sister Emily has 3 young ones. I help her out a lot and she helps me too. She said today that I was so lucky that I didn't have to take my kids to the grocery store anymore. I totally agree! Life is good!! I was made the Mia Maid advisor a few weeks ago. I think that it will be fun to be in YW while my girls are there. Brittan will be 12 May 1st!

We hope to see as many of you as possible this summer. We are planning on being at the cabin a lot so look at your schedules and figure out when you can come! So far I only have Curtis' family coming for sure!


Hope you are all well!