SIX

Dabney is our JOY, sweetness, cutie-pie; affectionate, princess dressing, story-teller; tea party host, picture drawing, constant ballerina; slow bike rider, mama's walking buddy, princess fort builder; super big hugger, bedtime delaying (hugs and kisses), giggler; couch jumper, eye lash batter, squealer; outgoing, talkative, conversation starter; graceful, hopeful, super whiny, CUTIE; "best friends" everywhere, read-aloud book lover . . . and she's SIX!

We love our Dabney Nutkin!
Happy Birthday sweet girl!

"I make the world happy with my smile."
"Everyone thinks I'm pretty because I have glasses."
"Didn't you think I teleported because I was so fast?"
"The world is so beautiful because God made it and God loves us."

Favorites at SIX:

food:  cheese pizza

drink:  Grape Soda

dessert:  cake - princess cake

restaurant:  Pizza Ranch

fruit:  banana

veggie:  potatoes

movie:  princess movies

book:  princess stories

music:  princess music

toy: princess toys - princess Legos

color:  blue

sport:  t-ball

sports team:  Perham YellowJackets

animal:  dolphin

superhero:  Batgirl

princess:  Jasmine

game:  war (cards)

school subject:  reading lessons

indoor activity:  princess Legos, princess dress-ups, coloring

outdoor activity:  play at the park, play on the group swing.  

"The group swing is the funnest thing at the park." 

with brothers:  play Legos

with sisters:  tea parties

with mom:  read stories

with dad:  "Throw me on the couch, throw me on the couch!"

activity:  dance class

outing:  PACC (community center)

day trip:  swimming at the lake

vacation:  to gramma and grampa's and to the beach

this next year:  moving (!)

dream vacation:  Disney Land

career aspiration:  artist

my life in 25 years:  I'm going to be a cook.  Mom, you be a cook at our house all the time, so I can be the cook to my kids too.  I really want to live at a beach house.  You know why I want to live at a beach house?  So we can go swimming all the time.  I'm going to decorate it with princess stuff.  I'm going to decorate my whole entire beach house with princess stuff and I think my kids will really like it.  I'll decorate it with princess and prince stuff so the boy will really like it.  Mom, I'm happy all the time.  Of course I'll be happy. 

likes: princess stuff, butterflies, swimming, twirly dresses, reading stories, smiling, hugs - you know why I keep coming downstairs for goodnight hugs?  Because I love them.  And I want the goodnight hugs to make you feel comfortable in the night.  Don't the goodnight hugs make you feel so comfortable?  And I love you.  

dislikes:  having my brothers pick on me, and having Addy hurt me, having yucky stuff on me like green slime - "doesn't green slime sound yucky?", spicy meatballs

For Dabney's 6th birthday:

Coffee Cake and strawberries breakfast

Turtle Races

Goose Gang fro-yo

Bacon Grilled Cheese

manicure , tea party, and dance party

Aladdin movie

Zorbaz Pizza take-out

homemade double layer pink strawberry cake with pink strawberry frosting

gifts (magnetic dress-up dolls, sticker set, princess Legos, coloring book, unicorn pajamas, twirly dress)

Dabney was so much fun to celebrate - she was the first one up in the morning, eager to start her very special day and determined to have the "best birthday ever!"
She brightens our day everyday - we loved celebrating her this day :)

Happy birthday love!

XC 2019 - Brave Like Gabe

The YellowJackets hosted an early bird meet this season - the inaugural Brave Like Gabe Invitational to honor YellowJacket alum Gabe Grunewald. 

Gabriele Grunewald was a standout runner for Perham, an All-American at the University of Minnesota, and a national champion professional distance runner - all while facing a 10-year battle with cancer.  In her life and in her running she showed incredible strength, courage, and bravery, a hero in the community and an inspiration to many.  She used her running career as a platform to spread awareness for rare diseases and cancer through her Brave Like Gabe foundation.  In this inaugural Brave Like Gabe early bird invite, with Gabe's family in attendance, the town of Perham dedicated its bike path in her honor renaming it the Brave Like Gabe Running and Bike Trail. 

"I want people to be Brave like themselves" - Gabriele Grunewald

This year, the Yellow Jackets are dedicating their entire season in honor of Gabe.

12 teams showed up to compete in this inaugural early bird invitational.  

The JV and Varsity boys ran together, about 160 runners in all, the top 7 finishers of each team making up their Varsity squad.  Tesfaye was hoping to finish as a varsity runner for the Yellow Jackets. 

With lots of encouragement and pushing along the race from his coach ("You have to pass 8 runners. . . you have to pass 5 more, 5 more guys!"), Tesfaye pushed himself and finished with a PR time for this 5K (3.1 mile) race.  17:19:10.  He was the YellowJacket's 4th runner and finished 10th overall!!!

(This was 13 seconds better than his previous PR - 17:32 - set at the State Championship last year - and incredible start to the season!).  

The YellowJacket boys varsity team finished 2nd overall - just 3 points behind the first team!  Our top runner finished first place, running the 5k in just under 16 minutes and was selected as the MileSplit MN athlete of the week.  Four of our runners finished in the top 10. 

This was an awesome start to the season! 

The meet was exciting with media crews, interviews, awards, videos, and music.  After the award presentation and words from Gabe's family, the Brave Like Gabe Running and Bike Trail was officially dedicated along with an inaugural run/walk by the cross country kids, Gabe's family, and community members. 

This meet marks the start of a great new cross country early bird invite tradition!

*Pictures 2, 3, 9, 14-20  by Kristen McMartin

TEN

Kolpin is our happy-go-lucky, ready-for-fun, ball-of-energy; hot wheel crasher, tiny toy toting, busy fingers; fast friend, easily frustrated, impulsive, toy sharing, laugh seeker; Lego master, sound effects maker, battler; board game wiz, movie lover, play leader; smart, wild, squirmy, playful, creative . . . and he's 10!

He's a special guy - wonderfully fun personality, incredibly smart, eager to share, and ready to play.  It's wild to think our Special K has hit double digits - Happy Birthday Kolpin!

"Hi my name is Kolpin.  I am fun.  I am a Cub Scout.  I am very good at Legos.  I have three separate bins of Legos.  I have a Mini Figure bin with lots of compartments.  In each compartment I have different mini figure parts: hats, capes, wigs, heads, pants, shirts.  My guess is I have over 60 mini figures I can make from the parts.  I almost always have Legos with me.  Do you want to play with my Legos?"

Favorites at 10:

food:  pizza

drink:  Grape Fanta

dessert:  gummy bears

restaurant:  Zorbaz

fruit:  orange

veggie:  cucumber

movie:  Avengers Infinity Wars

book:  The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

music:  piano

toy:  Legos

color:  orange

sport:  baseball

sports team:  Twins

car:  Honda

animal:  turtle

superhero:  Quicksilver

game:  Monopoly

school subject:  I don't like school.  I guess Symposium (read-alouds and poetry)

indoor activity:  Play with Legos

outdoor activity:  play with G.I. Joes

with brothers:  baseball

with sisters:  play board games or cards (Sleeping Queens)

with mom:  go shopping

with dad:  go to breakfast

activity:  I wish I did Lego Club in the Summer

outing:  Goose Gang (toy store and fro-yo)

day trip:  the zoo in Fargo

vacation:  OBX

this next year:  I'm looking forward to going to the beach again. 

dream vacation:  OBX

career aspiration:  working at a toy store

my life in 25 years:  I'm going to work at a toy store.  I'm going to have a dog.  I'm going to live in Perham in town , next to a park.  I want a Honda like dad. 

likes: snacks, riding my bike, going to the PACC, OBX, Goose Gang, going to Mall of America to look at Legos, soft blankets, Chick-Fil-A, going to the park, going to the zoo, playing with friends, playing the piano, computer games (Minecraft),

dislikes:  when my little sisters and brother play with my toys and Legos, onions, mushrooms, my big brothers picking on me, making my bed, chores, school, sitting still, taking the babies to the park, Almond Milk

For this awesome 10th birthday, and for our incredibly excited, super sweet, and very easy to please guy:

french toast casserole

Mass at St. Henry's 

picking up brothers from Boy Scout camp

bacon, cheese, and tomato toast

dad home from Chicago

take-out Zorbaz Pizza and Wingz

Dairy Queen Reece Cup Ice Cream cake decorated with Army figures

gifts (hot wheels and tracks, Lego Star Wars, Minnesota puzzle, Lego Chain Reactions, G.I. Joe, PJs, sport clothes, Nerf Gun, Lego candies, Dog Man book)

evening of Lego Building and Hot Wheel playing with siblings

*Just in time for his 10th birthday, Kolpin moved into a new bedroom - Kolpin moved up to the second floor to share a newly painted bedroom with Dukes.  He's thrilled to have a room shared with just one other sibling and very pleased to be upstairs with an entire walk-in closet to store his special toys (previously he'd been sharing a space in the basement with Burke and Davis).  It's been great to give our 5th boy a chance to be the "big boy" - this was a positive move for Kolpin.  

We love our Kolpin!  

We are so proud of him - so thankful for his fun personality, sweet nature, and high energy - he's a special one :) 

 

XC - Time Trial

Last weekend, Yellow Jackets cross country hosted its annual early morning pre-season 2-mile Time Trial.  We have high expectations for another amazing cross country season with the boys team pre-season ranked 1st in state for Class A and girls pre-season ranked 3rd.

It was so exciting to see the runners back at it, running together and pushing themselves, and showing off  the result of hard work running all summer long - it's for good reason this program is so highly regarded.

This year in the Time Trial, our top runner and anchor from last year, again led the pack - he's currently ranked number 2 in the state . . . and our boy Tesfaye finished #4 overall!!!
Tesfaye finished with a time of 11:02 and securing his spot on the varsity squad for the start of the season.  (There are only 7 varsity spots, with the top 5 runners finish numbers counting toward the team's score).

Tesfaye worked so hard his 8th-grade season to earn a spot on the varsity squad.  This year he's hoping to be one of the team's top five runners, helping to achieve a three-peat team Class A State Title. 

Milesplit MN "2019 Class A Boys Pre-season Watch List:"

"Perham left no doubt last year in taking home their second consecutive State championship as a team, and their seventh championship in Class A since 2006. The perpetually-reloading Yellowjackets only graduated two runners from that team, and have plenty more depth to draw from too . . . But the key for Perham to potentially taking their third championship in a row will be the incoming freshman Tesfaye. Last year, Tesfaye participated on Perham's championship team, and during the track season, he dropped performances of 4:48 and 10:28 in the 1600m and 3200m respectively. If he can come close to accomplishing as a freshman what Mccleary did last year, combined with solid depth that includes five more runners who have gone under 19 minutes already, Perham could easily claim their third championship in a row." 

It's going to be an exciting season!

*Photographs 1, 3, 10, 11, 14, 16 by Kristen McMartin Photography