Best Friends

SOOO thankful for Sarah's very special friend, Emma, who made this sweet scrapbook page for her today! I'm praying for many years of these 2 girls helping each other grow into all that God made them to be!

Birthday Girl!

Our sweet Sarah turns 7 today! Sarah, who LOVES to celebrate people on their birthdays (breakfast in bed, backrubs, special plates for every meal, letting them make EVERY decision ALL day long, ...) came out of her room this morning with the biggest smile on her face. She even thinks our puppy Jake is giving her special attention today, and we're going right along with her idea! This kid is soo incredibly precious to us, and we're thrilled to have a day set aside to celebrate her. She's so excited to take her bff with us to KC for the day--mixing work with fun, as we need to be there to see a summer team in from overseas, but we're also going to Chuck E Ch*ese for dinner, and getting a little ice cream later. Should be a fun day! You are loved, little girl! We can't imagine life without you!





Aren't they so sweet, sleeping together like this?
TOTALLY staged! They're a bunch of goof-balls!

Mexican Fiesta!

My sweet sister Staci just turned 40, and our family decided that was a great reason to get together and celebrate, so we had a Mexican Fiesta this past weekend. SO MUCH FUN!
Several of the men worked on getting my sister's new garage/rec room shingled, and the ladies cooked up a fiest and got the garage all decorated.
Sarah was a great help!
The kids were pumped about the fancy cups, yummy drinks and umbrellas to put in them.

My mom and sister Jody made these fun flowers for decorations, and for all the girls to wear in their hair.


After the meal we had our own "field day"--we've got enough kids for a real competition! The pinata was a huge hit! Our sweet nephew James kept yelling "Whack it! Whack it!" Then he looked at me and asked, "What's whack it mean?" Cracked me up!



Levi just hangin' out on top of the swing set...the kid is such a monkey!

I pretty much adore my family and seriously wish we all lived in the same town.
Love him!


A bad case of stripes

Sarah's choice of what to wear to her school's carnival. She was so excited to get a rainbow painted on her face and colored hair--pretty cute!

An evening of fishing and skipping rocks

We headed to a nearby lake tonight for some relaxing family time. It took a while to get everyone settled, and there were lots of tangled lines to help with, but we had a blast! I was the stickler and made the kids wear safety goggles after a fishing scare a few weeks ago, but they didn't complain and had so much fun!



Levi looks so tall in this picture! He's starting to remind me of his daddy every day lately, and I love it! He's got this fishing thing down--a great caster, doesn't need much help at all, and could do it for hours without getting tired.

After the fishing, we moved on to skipping rocks. Rob's giving it his all...
...and this is how into it Sarah got! Cracked me up--she'd barely plop the rocks in...she was much more interested in picking flowers and finding treasures!
The boys looking for the perfect rock-skipping rock...
I love this picture! Jason pretty much lives in this sweatshirt, or "hoodshirt", as he calls it, and these cowboy boots are his recent favorites. He told me he loves them because they're "black and brown"...is that special??? They're usually on the wrong feet--he hardly ever wears socks because I'm never caught up on the wash, so his poor feet get blistered, but he doesn't mind! He is just so gung-ho about life! The only thing missing is his favorite lime green t-shirt cape that he wears constantly...pretty much adore this kiddo!
See the 3 splashes from skipping that rock? The highest number for the night was maybe 7 or 8--Robbie was sooo good at it!
Gorgeous, relaxing night!

Neighborhood Easter fun

I absolutely love where we live! Here's a picture our of silly neighborhood kiddos and their lovely hats...just moments before they were turned loose for the annual egg hunt.
...and they're off!
Loving these action shots--you wouldn't believe how fast Levi was running! The child does NOTHING halfheartedly! And TWO baskets??? Who is this kid's mother and shouldn't she teach him some manners?!? :)
The look of sheer delight!

And to finish off a wonderful morning...egg dying. I got away with not doing any in our home this year, but I think we all missed it--we'll have to make sure we include that next year.
I realized once we got there that none of my kids had gotten their hair combed that morning! We're just not always the together-kind of family! Yikes...



Two of Levi's close friends and neighbors. He is sooo blessed to have several great boys who live within seconds of his house. I'm feeling very thankful as I look though these pictures. I didn't have my camera out to capture some other wonderful moments on Easter weekend...walking through the stations of the cross with our kids and closest family friends, a delicious meal with a house full of guests, an incredibly special Easter service at our church... Very, very thankful!

House For Sale!

So...our house is officially on the market. Kinda scary...I love our home and am a little sad, but we're hoping to sell it and build again in our same neighborhood to get our mortgage down a little. ANYWAY...just wanted to let me dear readers know just in case you hear of anyone looking for a home in a great neighborhood in the world's most amazing town! We have a website with pictures and details, but I'm not comfortable linking my personal blog with the house one...if you want more details, leave me a comment and we'll talk!