It's been almost a year since any one has posted anything! Maybe we are just busy with our own lives, also the Dale and Kent Berg families have gotten so big it's a production when we do anything together. In the next few days I will pull together a summer activities post.

Halloween Party!

Some of the Berg cousins at Kathryn & Charlotte's Annual Halloween Party!

CW ~Sydney, Ellie, Rebecca, Bekah, Brieanna, Maddison, Andalyn, AnneClaire, Josh, Carsten, Weston,Sophia, Porter, Ray, Mason, & Maylie
Samantha, Emma, Mac, & Brigham

Aunt Charlotte & Avery

Chad

Camille, Maylie & Sophia playing on the ramp.

Mason

Brieanna & Bekah

Sophie with her suckers.

fall break leaf fun

The Berg Cousins @ the Zoo!

Avery Berg

Susan finally had her baby GIRL !

She was born Sept. 9th, 2008

Tyler & Susan named her Avery.

She weighed 8 lbs. 11 0z.

Sydney, and Avery

Maddison, the new big sister, and Avery.

Fun at Liberty Park!

Carnival Fun!

Grandma (Ella) Berg took all her grandkids to the carnival at the fair this year. They all got to ride 3 rides. Here are Weston, Ray, Sydney, Maddison, Mason & Brieanna on the pirate ship ride.

Mason & Brieanna on the boat ride.

Ellie and Sydney on the Merry Go Round.

They both picked to ride on horses, of course!

Ray rode on the Rooster.
Maddison rode with her Dad, Tyler close by.

Bekah my little daredevil, talked Weston into going with her on this ride.

He was a little freaked out at first, but Bekah loved every minute!

Pioneer Day Dinner

Dinner at Kathryn & Charlotte's house went well. There were lots of people and lots of fun.

We got the kids to stop playing and pose for a minute to get group photos (thanks Ashley).

There was a surprise (at least to some of us) birthday party for Maylie also.

Thanks to all who made it and all who made it a success.

Pioneer Day Bike Parade

Here are the entrants to the Berg Pioneer Day Parade.

Here they are working on their bikes, scooters and wagons.

Here's grand marshal JuLee starting off the Parade.

Next are a few of the entrants in the parade.

Everyone had a good parade and there was no heat exhaustion was reported.

Here are the only two pictures Ashlynn allowed at the hospital. She did not want anyone to know that she was in the hospital and kept getting upset when I told anyone what was going on. I finally figured out that she was embarrassed and I assured her that it wasn't anything she did wrong or had any control over. The picture of her IV was taken because it was by far the worst part of the whole hospital experience! Anytime anyone even bumped her hand it was TRAUMA! We were very glad when they took it out.

Thanks again for everyone's love and concern for Ashlynn!

haley & garrett

Some cute pics of the newest Berg babies...yes, Garrett is already attached to Haley...who isn't? :)

Haley Berg

The coloring on Haley's birth announcement didn't show up very well but I hope everyone can at least get to see her. We are so glad she has joined our family! Thanks everyone for the well wishes and congratulations. Thanks also for all your love and concern for Ashlynn while she was in the hospital. She is doing GREAT! We love you all!

Zoo Fun!

Some of the Kent Berg cousin's at the Zoo.

L-R Sammy(not a cousin), Bekah, Weston, Brieanna, Sydney, Ellie, in front Maddison, Ray, Mason, Annelisa holding Sophie.

We got to see the big cats walking around, and a leopard that had been trained to roll over. The kids thought to was pretty cool.
We even played at the Discovery park for a little while.

Here is Ellie hatching Brieanna, Bekah and Mason.

We finished our day with a ride on the Zoo Train. I think Mason and Ray thought this was the best part!

maile's culinary arts academy

Anneclaire was delighted to join her four older girl cousins at "Maile's Culinary Arts Academy," celebrating Maile's 6th birthday. It was such a fun party, everyone had a wonderful time decorating cake boxes, making their own pot pies, decorating their own cake after a cake walk, playing "guess the kitchen gadget" and "pin the pocket Maile's apron." As you can see from the photos, Ashley, Janice, & JuLee even made each party invitee their own darling apron (which they wore the entire party of course)! They also took home a collection of Maile and her friends' favorite recipes.

Happy birthday Maile! Hope it was divinely delicious!

Sydney, the Clown!

Sydney got to be Soda Pop the clown's assistant for the Story time Circus.

She did a really good job and helped the clown by holding her wand,

and saying "abracadabra!"

She really liked to dress up and she liked all the attention!

She was an awesome clown!

a bit of family blog buisness...

Hello Berg World,

i just noticed that we have gotten a couple strange comments on Sarah's Blessing post. Thanks to whoever deleted the inappropriate comment, and as a "contributer" you can do this. If you would like to be a contributer, the family blog shows up on your "dashboard," which is nice if you don't want to remember another password etc. Writing posts is so easy that way. Leave a comment or email me (your preferred email) if you'd like me to hook you up as a contributer.

Also, if we want, we can always go private with this blog (does anyone know the Santos gentleman who left the comment?). Once again, comment if you have feelings either way. This should be a fun site where we share as a family, and we want everyone to feel comfortable with who reads it, etc. The only drawback is that sometimes people don't realize they have been invited because the email address invited may be old or no longer in use...so we have to be better about passing along new email, etc. to everyone and updating our address books :).

One last thing, if you do have a blog that you'd like to share with the family, let me know or another contributer, and we can list you on this site. Sorry, just can't keep up with all these blogs on my own...so much easier when your told its out there or invited, etc.

Loves to all and happy blogging!

Sarah's Blessing

Sarah's Blessing went well today. A big thank you to all who were able to make it out. A bigger thank you to those who gave up their spouse for the weekend. We had a good time together.
Paul was very kind to play with Charlie.
He (Charlie) enjoyed monopolizing the attention of his aunts and uncles.


Saturday evening we took a walk around the OU campus to loosen everyone up from their plane trip here.

We all had a great time together. Thanks again to all of you who made it.

Hide and Seek

Spring is in full swing here. Since Sarah isn't quite big enough for Charlie to play in the backyard with, he's had to find someone else to play with. So far, Charlie hasn't gotten the better of the squirrel. We're still working on what is an appropriate use of bricks.

Charlotte's 68th Birthday

For Charlotte's birthday, we all gathered at her house for cake and ice cream. This is all the nieces and nephews that were there.
Group Hug with the kids!Presents!

Opening presents with Carsten.

The painting Katrina made of Charlotte and Kathryn's house.

Charlotte loved it!

Ellie, Weston, Bekah and Ray singing Charlotte, her favorite song,

"I am a Child of God" for her birthday. She had good day, her favorite part was being with her family. We wish y'all could have been there!

More pictures of the Easter Party!

Aunt Charlotte and the kids
Pack the egg on the spoon race-little kids
Ray, Mickey, and Maddison
Big kids!
Weston, Ellie, & Ashlynn

In between kids
Bekah, Mailie, & Rebecca

Egg rollin' down the driveway!
We all had a great time!

Easter at Kathryn & Charlotte's

We're soo lucky to be a part of Kathryn & Charlotte's lives! They are always so good to cheer us on our latest adventure, acheivement, and give us support as we meet challenges. They love us all so openly and without judgement. And boy do they make each holiday fun and exciting!

The Easter Party last week was no different. It began in the front yard on the snow-free patio. Kathryn had come up with at least four different activities for the kids to do with hard-boiled eggs. They rolled them up and back the driveway. They walked with them on spoons, they held them in their necks...and i can't remember the other, but so very fun and creative.

The great hunt began and the younger ones (3 and under) scoured the front yard. The challenge was out back for the big kids. As always, lots of great treats and fun. Unlike last year, where it was very sunny and the kids were enjoying the melted chocolate, the back yard was full of snow. And where the snow had melted, there was deer droppings. And lots of them! Kathryn was very smart to send the older and wiser ones out back. I'm afraid many of the younger ones might have thought the deer decorations were chocolate too! :)

Back in the house, there were treats and snacks for everyone. As is the tradition of late, the older cousins snuck downstairs to their own retreat, the adults visited in the kitchen and living room, and the youngest of the kids were happily running up and back down Charlotte's ramp. Oh the fun!

Thank you Kathryn and Charlotte for all of your love, thoughtfulness, and excitement. We all love you very very much!

Ashlynn the model

It's such an honor to have Ashlynn the oldest of the Dale & JuLee Berg Family cousins. She's truly and example to all of her cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Ashlynn is kind, thoughtful, bright, fun, talented, and has a beautiful testimony of her Savior. She loves to play with her cousins, and is always good to look out for the little ones. She is a a great listener and enjoys helping wherever she can. We love her very much! Here are some pictures of her in a favorite outfit and her confirmation dress. She was the perfect model and it was so fun to spend time with her. Darling!

snow at Dale & JuLee's

Dedicated to Chad, Melissa, & Charlie (per their request)...and any of the rest of you out of town & curious about the Heber snow...


It seems that everyone has been a part of the snow clean-up (up on top of the roof as well), even the neighbors, but the snow has continued to fall...
I've been told that this amount of snow is nothing new...that till recently, this was normal!

Many thanks to my beautiful & charming model, Miss Rebecca!

Thomas Pajamas

Charlie got a pair of Thomas the Train pajamas for Christmas from his Grandpa Berg. He's taken a liking to these and been having all sorts of fun with it. As you can see, he's also taken to climbing. The shelves he's in are in his bedroom. And no, the living room picture is not crooked, it's just the camera angle.

ryan & katherine's graduation

Congrats to Ryan & Katherine...hooray! Here are some fun pics from the big day. It was fun spending it with Katherine's family.

Christmas Party at Kathryn and Charlotte's

One, Two, Three! Open! Mikey is fast!

Ray and Weston's new trucks
The boys with their new dump trucks!
Bekah and Rebecca with their new princess necklaces.


Kisses for Maylie!

This Christmas at Kathryn's the kids, frosted and decorated cookies, then opened presents. The boys all got new trucks and then Kathryn and Charlotte gave the girls some of their old dolls that they had fixed up for them. I was so excited and amazed by the dolls that I forgot to take any pictures.

Christmas Time Remodelling

December has been a busy month down here in Oklahoma. We had an
ice storm that knocked out our power for 30 hours (we were the lucky
ones). We've got the trees and limbs cleared out of the back yard so
it is much more open.

favs from 2007

After gathering these for Heather & the 2008 calendar, I thought it would be great to share the pics with all of you too. If you double click on the slideshow it will take you to the album where you can save the pics of your kids at the original resolution. Let me know if you need help. Thanks for a great year. Love you all.

Texas with the Kidders

Ryan and I got to visit Fort Worth about 2 weeks ago for a job interview. The company kinda forgot about me and didn't plan anything for me to do. Oh well... much to Ryan's dismay there was a great shopping mall close to the hotel. (I had to do something "productive" with my time, right?)

However the BEST part of visiting Texas was the opportunity to spend an afternoon with Chad, Melissa and Charlie. They had been in Dallas for the weekend and stayed an extra day just for us! First we hung out in the hotel room and talked about all sorts of things. It was great to get to catch up with them (and to get to jump on the big hotel bed with Charlie).

After some downtime in the hotel, we opted to go eat at Riscky's in the stockyards, per Paul and Traci's suggestion.

(Oddly enough, the day before we went we were hanging out with both of them and when converstation would deviate from Texas food Paul would stop us all and remind us that we needed to talk about the "important stuff" - ie - which restaurants we needed to eat at. With their suggestions we could have stayed a week and never eaten at the same places)

Charlie loved the bread there ... he couldn't get enough of it!

Melissa was not very pleased with us when we gave him our four straws, giving Charlie a total of five straws... he did pretty well with them in his mouth, just not when he figured out how to suck on all of them at once.

It was wonderful to be able to spend some time with Chad, Melissa and Charlie. We are grateful that they were willing to sacrifice that day to be with us. Thank you Kidders!

Halloween at Kathryn & Charlotte's

Charlotte and little Maylie.

The annual Halloween party was alot of fun this year!

The kids loved the fact that Kathryn and Charlotte dressed up too!

They had a drawing and gave away some for the fun Halloween things that Grandpa Ray Berg had made and painted over the years.

All the kids got something special too.

The fun cousin picture, everyone looked so cute! What fun costumes.

We ate donuts, and another treats and drank the tradional hot cider, and hot chocolate, and had a fun time just visiting.
This year someone beside just Heather dressed up too!

We all had a GREAT TIME and missed all of you that couldn't be there!

Happy Halloween!

While we won't be able to go trick-or-treating with y'all this year, we thought we would share some of the holiday spirit. We made a Jack-o-Lantern for FHE Monday. Charlie had lots of fun. He was a bit disappointed because he couldn't help with the knives.

Worms!

I was digging the carrots in the garden the other day and Bekah Susan, Maci, and Rebecca decided they wanted to collect some worms. So they got cups from Grandma JuLee and borrowed the shovel from me and set out do dig worms. Eventually they just looked in the dirt I was already digging cause it was too hard to dig by themselves. They colleted quite a few worms each, and had a fun time!

Maci, Bekah, and Rebecca
No girly girls here, these three are true tomboys!

leaf fun

Leaf fun at Grandma's house Sunday afternoon. And by the way, Josh is eating an apple I pulled from the tree...not one that had already been eaten by various critters and on the ground. :)

Maylie's Blessing Day Fun Sept.16

Beautiful Maylie in her dress that Camille and Grandma Berg made for her. I made the kids sit on the couch for the cousins picture, it turned out good! Everyone is looking at me. After the blessing we went our to The Kolher Farm for the luncheon.The kids had a blast playing on the zip line and riding the man powered carnival ride. The kids conned most of the Uncles and Dad's to give them another push. It was a fun time.

Charlie riding the red rocket!
Carsten and Ray in the blue rocket. Carsten only stayed in for a little bit, but Ray didn't want to get out. You can also see Rebecca and Ellie in the pink rocket.
Weston in the red rocket and Bekah in the green one!

My kids keep asking when we can all go back to Uncle Brad's Grandma's and play again!
What a great day!

Love ya, Heather

rock cliff with cousins

It was a pleasure meeting Chad's mom, Christine, (sorry if I spell her name incorrectly). she is a wonderful grandmother and I really enjoyed spending time with her, Melissa, Charlie, Carsten, and Anneclaire. Amazing that it was the first visit for the kids and I to Rock Cliff on the East side of Jordanelle. What a beautiful area. It seems that other than Melissa's previous co-worker and naturalist, we were alone in the big wetland world. We parked, walked onto the boardwalk, and immediately Melissa spotted a deer in the tall grass. As she caught up with her friend, Christine and I I enjoyed watching the boys explore in the nature center. There were all sorts of animals to meet in there. Again on the boardwalk, another deer was spotted. Overall, the campsite and wetland was very well preserved and the trails really allow you to enjoy the area. We had plenty of opportunities for "rock breaks" which I'm sure were the boys' favorite stops. Anneclaire enjoyed the stroller ride. At the end, Charlie was ready to trade her and Christine was good enough to carry sweet Anneclaire as Carten and I took turns pushing Charlie in the stroller. Just at the end of the trail the boys excitedly observed what I think was their first live caterpillar. Pretty neat. As Carsten, Charlie, Anneclaire and I enjoyed the last moments together in the nature center, we saw several birds and a chipmunk scurry nearby, eating birdseed. A wonderful morning. Thanks so much Melissa!

Wasatch State Park

It's always fun to go feed the ducks...especially when you have wonderful family with which to share the experience! We're soo glad to have Melissa and Charlie around for a couple weeks. Maci, Charlie, and Carsten enjoyed feeling the large ducks at the pond. Charlie and Carsten chased the ducks and tried to scare them back into the water. Charlie had a sort-of "bread dance" that he would do each time he threw a piece in the water. The bread must have been good, because they were not shy. Maci was being cautious, staying by we ladies. We think one might have even bit Carsten. That didn't slow him down however. After a while the kids were ready to play on the playscape. Maci impressed us all on the monkey bars...first with help from Grandma, and then all by herself! Anneclaire was in heaven chilling on Traci's lap. Charlie and Carsten followed eachother all over the playscape...doing a fine job climbing. Soon it was time for something new, so off we went for a stroll down towards Warm Springs Road. Melissa pushed Charlie, and Maci and I pushed Carsten and Anneclaire...that is, until Maci was ready for a ride and Carsten was ready to get out. At this point Grandma was pushing the two girls, Traci was carrying Carsten, and I was pushing Charlie. What an adventure, and what a gorgeous day. We all enjoyed the air, sunshine and the changing of the leaves in the mountains.

Cowboy Party at the Library

Story Time at the Library had a kick-off Cowboy party celebrating a new season of stories. Heather and Ray came over and went with us, Rebekah joined us all after she was done with school.

Miss Sally and the Library crew truly outdid themselves: great cowboy songs, and stories, a real cowboy singing cowboy songs to his guitar, cowdog Banjo dancing and doing tricks, rootbeer floats, snake tatoos, cowboy paperdolls to dress from die cuts, sack races, and carriage rides (or climb-ins). There are no pics of Anneclaire because she was on my back during the photos. She also enjoyed the party...especially the staw h'ordeurves.

Charlie's first Sooner Festivity

here's a great email i got from Chad tonite...

This weekend was the first OU football game of the year. For those of you who have not lived South of the Mason-Dixon line, you'll have to experience it some time. All the festivities around the football game are loads of fun. One of the nice things about living close to OU is being able to enjoy the activities that occur around the school. Saturday we took a bike ride up to the school to enjoy it all. Half the fun is watching everyone else as they go to and fro. We watched the drum line perform before the game. Charlie really enjoyed it. We had to strip him away from it.

The picture of the three of us is the second one we took. The first one you saw the back of Charlie's head as he was watching the drum line. The Institute here has an activity on game days. They have the "Sooner Family Fun Zone". We go sometimes to hang out with friends. They have a bounce-house there fore the kids. Charlie had lots of fun in them. He's turning in to quite the little climber. He had no problem going up the front of the slide. We hope that you all are doing well. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

--Chad Kidder

Celebrating Dale's birthday

A wonderful dinner at Paul & Traci's, a visit to Dale's grave, and cake & ice cream back at JuLee's. A hard day made better with family. We love you Dale.

I've decided to start recording as many memories associated with those I love. Here is one I've recently recorded about Dale and his truck:

A few days after Dale passed I found myself in Traffic Court appealing to the judge to send me to traffic school. I had been driving along Mill Road at 32 in a 25 mph zone. Incidentally, Stuart (in Sowby & Berg’s office) knew the cop that had been staking out that portion of the road. The officer was doing a traffic study on the street. So yes, I can say that I have been part of that study: physically and monetarily.

A month later our dodge had broken down and Carl was driving his father’s truck. Carl was to stay home with the kidos as I attended the dreaded traffic school. He suggested I take his dad’s truck in case he needed to go with the kids anywhere. I hopped into Dale’s truck and realized there was no way I was going to reach those pedals. The seat and everything connected to it had molded itself to Dale’s frame over the years. I tried to move the seat forward. It wouldn’t budge. If I didn’t get going I would be late for the class and then maybe I’d have to pay the ticket also! Saying a quick prayer in my heart, I yanked on the seat with all of my might. The seat flew forward. I looked down at my legs. My calves were squarely resting on the edge of the seat. They were not going to reach the floor. But I could barely reach the pedals with my toes. I could also barely see over the steering wheel, and out of the mirrors, but that was workable. So off I went.

As I drove into town I couldn’t help but thinking about Dale and that he must have had quite a chuckle watching me prepare to drive his truck. It was then that I had the impression that he must have helped me move the seat :). After the class, I stopped by JuLee’s. As I was telling she, Brittany, and Tonya the story, JuLee started to laugh and said that she had tried to drive it once and could not move the seat either, that Dale had to help her and that Dale must have helped me move that seat! We had a nice laugh together.

Duke Family Reunion

Congrats to Aunt Kathryn, the reunion was a hit. She'll tell you the official count...there were many Duke decendants, great food, lots of fun, the park looked wonderful, and the weather was great. Here's just a few pics...

baby Maylie & Camille's shower

Radiant as ever, the beautiful and gracious Camille enjoyed family and friends showering she and Maylie with gifts. The company was wonderful, the food great, and Camille was darling. We love you and are soo excited for you and Brad!

happy 4th of july

Another quality 4th at Whiskey Springs!

Farewell to Charlie

Just had to squeeze in a little more fun before Charlie got on the big plane ride. We love you Charlie and will miss you till next time!

happy 24th of july!

cobblestone park

A fun park day with Tonya, Rebecca, and Josh. Tonya and I rode with the kids in our bike trailers. We got hit by the sprinklers each way as they are doing far too great of a job watering the sidewalk!

Melissa's 30th birthday celebration

talent show highlights

The talent show was quite the production! Ellie Jo and Maile danced, Rebekah Susan, Rebecca, Maci, and Ashlynn sang, Weston gave peotry, and Kathryn joined all the kids at a little "hokey pokey." There are more pics on Heather's camera and I'll add them when I get copies. Thank you everyone for making Kathryn's birthday such a special event that we will all remember for years to come. The book of memories will especially be a treasure. We love you Kathryn!

good eatin' at Kathryn's party

she's here!

playin' & waitin'

While waiting for Kent to bring Kathryn and Charlotte to the party, everyone enjoyed hangin' out together.

awaiting the suprise

Kathryn's suprise party was fun for everyone. And the waiting was even more exciting. The kids were all so excited to suprise Aunt Kathryn. They found some great hiding places and did their best trying to be quiet and patient.

blanket fun

Just a fun afternoon in the Dale Berg Park. It's hard to enjoy the great outdoor space without thinking about Grandpa and wishing he were here. Rebecca, Josh, and Cartsen wore Tonya and Carl out pulling them all over the yard. When their arms could do no more, Rebecca gave it a shot. The boys were a little nervous :).

Easter Fun with Kathryn & Charlotte

It was a beautiful afternoon celebrating a treasured tradition of the easter egg hunt with Kathryn and Charlotte. We are so blessed to be a part of their lives. The kids just adore them and love the parties thrown. Thank you Kathryn and Charlotte. We all had a wonderful time!
After the hunt the highlight was the stream in back. The older cousins found a rabbit and played horses/pegasus' as they enjoy doing in that beautiful yard. The younger ones had a blast throwing leaves and sticks in the stream or over the fence.

southfields

A couple days before Charlie went home Rebecca and Carsten visited the park with him. We miss you Charlie!

photo madness

It doesn't seem that the photographers at the mall were prepared for these nine busy kids. Mikey, Carsten and Josh took turns crying, as Charlie tried out different chairs. Maci and Rebecca tried their best to keep the boys in line. It was a riot. Here are some pics of the happy kids after it was all over as well as a sneak peek at the shoot.

grand-daughter greats

Here's some fun pics of the girls at grandma and grandpa's house...enjoying the nice weather and being together.

Gruetzi! (that is how you say "hi" in Switzerland) This is Abram! I miss all of my cousins back in the USA so much! Here are some pictures of me with some of my cousins. Love, Abram Berg
Andalyn and Abram at Christmas time!

Rebecca and Abram on Halloween!

Anneclaire and Abram when Anneclaire was just a few days old.

Picnic with all of the cousins after Abram's blessing.

Kent and Ella Berg Family pictures in August 2006. Brieanna and Mac are looking at 1 week old Abram.

Andalyn and Abram - they are buddies!

Just a lil' hors'n around with Scarlett and Pokey at Tonya and Scott's. The kids had a blast riding the horses, 4- wheeler, and tractor. Maddison was quite the entertainer, pulling funny faces for Anneclaire and making her giggle. We sure miss having Sydney and Maddison in Heber. Such darling gals!

cousin fun

Life is just so much better shared with cousins. The kids have enjoyed all the extra time together lately. We will all miss cute Charlie being around and will look forward to his visit this summer.

Ice Cream treats

Hi there. Here is our first post. Thanks to all for suggesting this blogspot and for Jacob and Jessi for inspiring us all :). A special hug to all as we think about our beloved Dale. Thanks to all for being together as a family. We are so glad that you came.

After a wonderful day celebrating

the life of Dad, Brother, Grandpa, and Uncle Dale, Kent felt everyone needed a little ice cream cone. Here are some pictures of the grandkids enjoying their treats.