Jeremy's Latest Passion

Jeremy ABSOLUTELY LOVED having Wes hunt with him while he was here. It was perfect conditions for great hound hunting. Just knowing that someone is interested and can understand what a good time it is was great. Jeremy's trained these dogs long and hard and feels he has a good pack, weather permitted. We're hoping the bobcat hides will have great value at the auction coming up. I'm glad he has a sport he loves and look forward to the opportunies I'll have to hunt with him again in the future. Thanks for going Wes!

2011 Christmas Memories

My Grandpa and his wife (Grandma) is so sweet. They look forward to our visits and since he's turned 90, I think he thinks each visit will be the last. I think that because everytime I go to leave he whispers to "have yourself a really good life". I love my Grandpa and am so glad he has such a loving wife to care for him. She is truely as sweet as my grandma who passed when I was 18....such a sweet loving lady who would do anything for anyone. I'm so thankful my Grandfather and I have become so close since Grandma's passing. He is a great man with a kind heart. LOVE YOU GRANDPA and GRANDMA (Nubia)!


Above (clockwise, starting from the top); Lairen, Aunt Julie, Phillip (Kelly's son), Devon, Vaughn (Rochelle's boys), Chase (Vicki's son), Thomas (our nephew), bottom right picture Phillip and Kelly (Jim's daughter) and of course our Sweet Ally.
Our Christmas Eve started at Aunt Dawn's (that is after I spend the morning making the most amazing orange rolls and watching White Christmas with my family). Many of Tom's side of the family were there. We had a wonderful time catching up and creating new memories. The food and company was fabulous....including the new set of puppies :) One of Ruby pups (Jewels) from over a year, had puppies...they are so cute!!!


Starting at the top; Toby (Julie's husband), Uncle Jim (Tom's brother), Grandpa Tom, our sweet Kaitlyn, Kaylee (Vickie's daughter). Bottom starting at the left: Rochelle (Julie's daughter), Grandma Jeannie, Vicki, Liz, (Julie's daughters)Valerie and Vanessa (Rodney's twins) and Thomas.


This picture is funny because it started with about 8 girls and ended with gathering all the girls in the house. It's fun to see how the family has grown and how much all the Great Grandkids of the family LOVE to play together. Dawn and Randy, thanks for making this happen....it was a GREAT time!


My side of the family (the family that's local) met at mom's. Kevin, Heather and Grandma joined us. We got there a little later than everyone else and unfortunately didn't have much time to spend with Kevin and his family. Kaitlyn did a great job getting her time with Mya. She was so cute and warmed up to everyone, especially when she got to play Santa and pass out the presents. I like seeing my dad and Kevin's humor in the pictures above. I wonder how many weird expressions I've collected of Kevin's face ;)


These picture of my brother and his wife are priceless, they are such proud parents. I love the twinkle in their eyes as they watch their son open his mickey mouse :)

Grandma had fun with her grandkids. Mya is at the perfect age to watch her excitement over the magic of Christmas. I LOVE the picture of Mya looking at Kaitlyn. the two of them admire each other so much. I have another photo of Kaitlyn looking at Mya in the same way. Jeremy and Ally are buddies these days. In fact, occasionally they call each other partners....that is something Ally started with Daddy when they would seek off and watch Pirates of the Carribean together.
At the bottom right, there's a great picture of Mom. She did a great job pulling everyone together, we are so thankful for she and dad's thoughtfulness and always doing what they can for everyone. Thanks Mom and Dad!


This picture shows the new theme in the girls room; horses of course. Mom and I had a girls day and found an amazing comforter with artwork for the girls room. It happens to have the pinks and green that already exist in their room. THANKS GRANDMA AND PAPA (from the girls)


Christmas morning was magical. First...I should mention that the girls actually slept in their beds on Christmas Eve. This is impressive, because in the past Kaitlyn has been scared of Santa and has slept in a sleeping bag in our room. The girls woke up at 12:30 AM...Kaitlyn would NOT go back to sleep, so we were up at 1:30 opening gifts, then back in bed by 3:00. For us, IT WAS PERFECT. We all went back to bed and slept until 8am. The girls were happy little campers and excited that the Elf's made something special for them, a horse stable. An elf even left a hair tie, by accident, in the stable. It was a little green one. They liked the fact that a girl elf helped transport the gift this year ;)
We started a new tradition this year. See Kaitlyn holding a picture of a baby? Well, that's our baby Jesus. Throughout the month of December we did acts of service for friends and family. For each act of service we, wrote it on a piece of paper which acts as a piece of hay for baby Jesus. The goal is to add as many pieces of hay, before Christmas morning, so Baby Jesus will have a softer bed to lay in. We love the fact that the girls asked if this could be a new christmas tradition.....ABSOLUTELY, was our response.


Antoher neat thing about Christmas morning, is the girls chose to open their gifts from each other first. They got each other books and gave the sweetest hugs to each other. We each took turns opening a gift and Kaitlyn wanted to be last each time....she can show patience, when she wants to :)


Later in the morning; Mom, Dad and Grandma came by and had breakfast with us. We had the orange rolls I made the day before, sausage, apples and orange juice. We were in great company and loved the relaxation of the morning. That afternoon, we attended church at Mom and Dad's ward. Then headed to the Katie and Aaron's:


At Katie and Aaron's we opened gifts. Christmas dinner will be on Tuesday, when Kierstin and Becky's families get here. We all had fun enjoying each other company and visiting with Grandma. Mom and Dad are always so generous. We feel SO fortunate to be around so much family during the holidays.

It was a GREAT Christmas season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to our family and friends

This season, the camera hasn't been out much. So I'll share with you some of the traditions our family enjoys. The following is taken from an assignment Ally had, compiling a list of her own family's holiday traditions. She was able to share this with her class during her holiday party:

The day after Thanksgiving, our holiday season begins. We put up and decorate our Christmas tree and try to put out all our decorations; like our blow-up snowman outside and our Rudolph stocking holder and nativity set inside.

Me and my dad always beg my mom to make Christmas bread. It’s a delicious type of bread that is topped with icing. We try to get mom to make it as many times as possible.

Me and my sister ALWAYS dance and listen to Christmas music. Our family loves Christmas music!

On December 14th, we start our 12 days of Christmas surprise. Each day, until Christmas we leave a gift on a persons door step and cross our fingers they won’t see us. By leaving gifts, we hope the person or family will feel happy and enjoy the surprises we leave them.

On December 24th we get to see family; grandparents, great grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. We eat dinner, dessert and have lots of fun together.

When we get home it’s time to leave out cookies and milk for Santa and feed for his reindeer.

The next morning we eat orange rolls, which is a yummy tradition my Great Grandma started when my mom was a little girl.

Christmas is our family’s time to share fun, laughter and happiness.


Here's a pic of the girls and I....Jeremy can be a BIG GRINCH when it comes to getting his picture taken. He sure did look handsome in his sunday clothes...but I guess you'll have to take my word for it ;-)

Sydney's Baptism

It was a great opportunity to go to Idaho to Sydney enter the waters of baptism. It was wonderful to feel the spirit witness again, the importance of having this important blessing in our lives. Sidney, you are such a special girl, whom we admire very much! Thanks for letting us share the special day with you...and give your parents and siblings a special thanks too :) We had a great time visiting with each of you at your new home. It's so fun to create new memories...this is one we'll never forget!!! Love you guys!!!

The kids had an awesome time together, they were very sad when it was time to go....slthough smiles returned when they realize they'll get to see each other again right after Christmas...YEA!


And a special thanks to my in-laws who allowed the girls and I to "tag along" in the back seat. It was such a comfort to know I didn't have to drive in the "unknown conditions" and have the sanity of two extra adults to keep the girls in tact and entertained. We had a great time.....THANK YOU!!!

NOVEMBER (all in one post)

Happy birthday to Grandma:


Ally's field trip to the Rock Museum:


Kaitlyn's Fall leaves (artwork from school):


Thanksgiving with Jeremy's side/Kierstin, Wes, Westin and Jade visit:

Halloween

The Friday before Halloween, we were able to carve pumpkins at a friend's home. Stacy and Jeremy W. have a daughter named Ellie who is 4. She's on Ally's back in the picture of the carved pumpkins. We all had a good time eating goodies, carving and visiting. That same night Kaitlyn went to Addy's home....she's the little witch in the picture below.


Halloween + half day of school = more fun for us!!!
We made sure every minute was jammed full of fun. We stopped to see Elissa and Megan....Gary allowed us a sneak peak of the haunted house he was helping a young man in our ward put together.....the girls loved it and unfortunately the love of it leads to a story I'll have tell later...it's something I NEVER in a million years though I would have to address with my two sweet and innocent little girls.


After Elissa's, we stopped to see Grandma and Grandpa. We were so happy Kevin brought Mya and Brennen's costumes over, although I can't say pictures or little ones cooperated for pictures very well. Mya didn't even want to wear her costume. She was a little eskimo, but failed to wear the boots and hat that would make her look the part. She's still cute....we were happy to see the little monkey and eskimo dressed up for at least a minute :)


After grandma's we met the cousins in BG for the Main St trick or treating. Kaitlyn was estatic she got to see her Rodeo Queen from the fair.....wish we would have got the two of them in a picture. This nice police officer and Grandma and Grandpa stopped to say hello as well and trick or treat as well.


After trick or treating in BG, we picked up Jeremy and headed striaght for Aunt Katie's to do some neighborhood knocking and have a yummy dinner. It was another fun year of trick or treating with the cousins....glad that's a tradition, that so far, has never been broken.

Ally's 9 (family party)

Even though the post date on this is 10/25, I'm not getting to it until 12/21....playing catch up.
Here are the cousins playing Dough Girl....they had nothing but giggles, each HAD to have their own turn getting "stuffed"


It was another birthday full of love, laughter and fun. We can't believe our little girl is 9!

Mia's 1!

Our family was so excited to see Miss Mia on Saturday morning. We ALL loved singing to her and watch her (watch us)....being all excited about her birthday gift Mollie the Money....I think she was a little overwhelmed....we never could get her to crack a smile (in the moment).

Ally's "Friend Party"

Ally's friend birthday party (she's going to be 9 on Tuesday), was a BLAST! She has such sweet friends. Ally thinks the world of them and is so good at making sure no one is left out. It was great to watch them all have such a good time together and make such good memories.

The girls got off the bus and zoomed home. They had homemade pizza, carrots and soda awaiting them. On the table, each girl had a plate of "ironing beads" and a shaped tray to decorate between bites. Each girl was so creative in their designs (see bottom pics). After lunch and craft-time...it was game-time....

I LOVE kid birthday parties. It's fun to be creative and come up with new ideas for organized fun. I didn't think it would be possible to come up with a game that topped last years nail polish game, but after a little research on the internet this is what we came up with:

Dough Girl, balloon race!
The girls divided up in two teams (4 each), each team had 26-5" balloons in a bag, one girl on each team dressed in adult sized sweats. At "Go" the other girls have a race to stuff all the balloons in the sweats (without popping them), the first to finish wins. The best part about this game is the laughs. Since no one had played it before, all were histarically laughing and enjoying every moment (mom included). It's such a silly game, but definately one we'll play again and again....now let's hope the balloons stay inflated until Tuesday for the "family party"...I think the adults will get a kick out of it.
*****I give this one 5 stars :)

Blindfolded Makeover
I found some cheap make-up at the dollar store....each girl first washed her face. We then drew names to see who would be the first to apply (blind-folded) and the first to have the makeover. The girls loved playing both parts. None of them got bent out of shape if someone applied the make-up wrong. This game was a blast for the girls....but honestly was a little bit of a mess....some of the girls got carried away with the bright lipsticks all over the face, which isn't so easy to get off without make-up remover. This game was a hit from the girls point of view, they were full giggles throughout the entire game.
**I give this one 2 stars

Like I said before, Ally has sweet friends. They all write such kind thoughts and words in their cards. A couple even wrote little poems...so sweet! The gifts....very thoughtful too.

Pierced Ears

About 5-6 years ago Ally came to me and asked me if every girl who gets married has to have their ears pierced, cause if so, she's never getting married.

It's obvious today, her views have changed. Last night, we took her to the mall to get it done. She's been pretty determined, as long as they did both ears at once. Jeremy and I still had our doubts that she'd actually do it. You see, this is our third year taking her....usually she crys just before she gets to the stores entry, but not this time. She showed us the way through the store and sat on down, grabbing the bear on the chair. There were a couple looks of hestitation as we were signing the papers. When I finished, Ally knew there was no turning back and she had to be brave (her words to us after). This has definately been a decision of hers, a decision she's pretty fond of, at the moment....look at her smile :-) We've always thought, she looks pretty in pink....she went with daddy's choice.

Our Kaitlyn

Our lovable Miss Kaitlyn is a hoot to be around.

It's amazing to look at the differences between our two sweet daughters, each so unique. I've already discribed Ally and some of her recent changes. As I think about Kaitlyn and her own traits, I can't help but think about a comment Kaitlyn's 1st grade teacher (Ally kindergarden teacher) made, "it's amazing how different your girls are". I was taken back by the comment and do realize she didn't mean it in a negative way. Watching Kaitlyn in the classroom and at recess, I realize what a social butterfly she is. She's kept and made many friends and will have fun, she is not shy or reserved, in any way. She's vocal in her ways and could care less what others think of her, she knows what she likes and there's no changing her views. She loves her teacher and will make it known....the other day, she screamed "I love you" as she walked out of the school for parent pick-up....it was loud, I could hear it from the car. Organization is a must for little missy...she also sticks to task, getting every-bit of her work done without any dilly-dally. The picture above shows her putting her head down, showing she's finished eating, cleaning and ready for recess. She has not been the picky eater I anticipated....she's happy with having the same this everyday, if needed. She's also a big helper, she not only cleaned up after herself, but also cleaned up after the other kids at the table so they can all be the first to go to lunch recess....they were the first to go too. Our sweetie has a deep desire to do whatever is asked of her and do it well. At home, Kaitlyn is such a lovebug. She desires lots of attention and wants to held or touching a family member (almost) all the time....she's lucky she's our baby because we'll hold her as long as we can (even though it looks ridiculous holding a 6 year old in public). Kaitlyn is our early to bed, early to rise little girl; she will always be in our room, prior to 6:30am and make sure her little face (including her gorgeous hair) is in my face, giving kisses and asking for cartoons and food. As I try to get her to go back to sleep, her little legs will remain on mine, making it well known I better not go back to sleep....this may sound like a complaint, but I'm realizing how much I'll miss this in the future. Kaitlyn is taking after her sisters' study habits, she is determined to learn and be a good reader....she's on-to chapter books and I have to do my best, not discourage her...it definately takes time and patience. Kaitlyn is dedicated and patient. Aunt Lairen and a couple other people gave Kaitlyn some birthday money last March, she saved every penny of her earnings and was determined not to spend a dime until she saved enough for her nintendo DS, she did it last month! We are so proud of her... and amazed that our 6 year old daughter had the will-power to do it...amazing! Kaitlyn is incredible with small children. Mia and her cousins are so lucky when Kaitlyn is around, they know Kaitlyn loves them because of her kind actions. A couple other unique things about Kaitlyn:
She's willing and able to read a talk in the upcoming primary program AND she pulls a few funnies out of her hat with her own spunk at times. Recently she was in the back seat of the car and decided to change the beginning sound of all her words to "ZZ". One of the sentences: "Z'M ZOING ZRAAAZZY!" It's about how I was feeling at that moment and changed my reaction very quickly when I heard what she was saying....it was SO funny!!! Kaitlyn is a hoot, so much of the time ;-)

Like I said, Kaitlyn is lovable....you know you are loved by Kaitlyn when you look into her bright-blue eyes, see her adorable smile, feel her tight hug, hear her fun giggles and sense her admiration for you. She is such a sweet, sensitive girl, who really wants to please everyone, including herself, ALL the time. We love you CupKait!

Our Ally

Ally has taken on a whole new role of spunk and responsibility.

I say SPUNK because Ally is not nearly as quiet and reserved as she used to be. She's hilarious and throws out SO many funny remarks most of the time. One of the most recent is Ally's comment to Jeremy and his whiskers. Jeremy gave her a kiss and the kiss must not have felt the greatest, because Ally's comment was "Dad, if your whiskers get any longer, I'm going to have to start brushing my hair with your face!" many giggles followed.

Ally knows what she wants and will do what she can to get it in her own cute ways. Last weekend, My Mom, Grandma and I were discussing arrangements for the primary program next Sunday (the girls were with us). I mentioned to mom and Grandma that I would provide lunch afterwards. Grandma volunteered to bring dessert and wondered what to bring. With no hestitation, Ally said how much she LOVES grandma's pumpkin pie....there's no way anyone could resist, making anything but pumpkin pie, because of the way she said it. She said it with definate desire and passion for grandma's dessert. Us adults laughed and I think embarrased Ally. Once Grandma was home, I helped Ally realize what a wonderful thing she had done. She made Grandma feel so good with her comment, Grandma has a wonderful talent for baking...she loves to bake. If Ally wouldn't have spoke up, I probably would have prevented Grandma from baking, not wanting her to go to the trouble. Ally helped me to realize how important it is to show appreciation and love for the talents and things that other people do.

Another funny thing Ally said on the second day of school. Jeremy had just got home, the two of us went to get the girls at the bus-stop and here is what Ally had to say; "Guess what my teacher taught us today?" Jeremy and I were intrigued by her excitement. "If you feel like saying a bad word, replace the word with a name of a fruit!" We all were roaring laughing...nothing at all, what we expected!!! We could sense she felt those words of advice were very cleaver. Luckily, she doesn't have the need to replace any words....but she did realize the need for a few of her classmates to use the teachers wise counsel ;)


Ally has been a very responsible girl. Hitting the 3rd grade has been a big transition for the whole family. Being 2 months into the school year, Ally now calls her teacher strict, but she still thinks of her as a great teacher too. Ally recognizes that her teacher doesn't put up with much sensitivity...lucky she didn't have to learn a personal lesson on this one, she observed a scenario with a classmate crying in class and the teacher commenting on how they are in the "third grade, it's time to be responsible and accountable for actions" basically stating that its time to buck-up and stop being a little kid. Ally took a mental note and we haven't had to deal with many sensitive moments since.
Ally comes home from school and has piles of homework. We don't have much spare time on any weeknight. She has at least an hour to hour and a half of homework every night. Ally is great at getting it done and putting her best efforts into learning. An example of this: she writes spelling words and vocabulary definitions (separate lists) more than required AND reads independently (more than required) difficult books to challenge herself.

We are proud of Ally and her efforts. She is growing up to be a splended young lady. We love being around her, she can certainly brighten anyones day :)

Nature Play

Nature Play is a project thats been in the works for a while at a local park. Jeremy needed to participate and work on a Saturday for any volunteers who wanted to donate their time. Ally, Kaitlyn, Mia and I were available and happy to participate and watch Daddy work (if you call operating an excavator work). We planted many flowers and bushes and the girls got to build/decorate a few bird houses too. It was a good time, it was nice to contribute a little community service.

Harvest Days

Wheatfield: the field behind us started out as a raspberry field, 2 years later a strawberry field which lasted for 3 years, now we have a wheat field which was finally harvested on 9/7, I have to say the golden colors sure are pretty, but gee we miss the berries!

Zach and Tawny: so much fun to be around and provide lots of entertainment for the girls.

Harvest 2011 was pretty good! The busy summer ended and boy was I happy we had a late harvest! Most of the canning was done while the girls were at school most of the day. At first, I didn't plan on doing much canning, just salsa. Mother motivated me as she pressed on with her own efforts AND lack of invites for me to participate...I was getting pretty jealous of all the gals she invited over to teach...lucky I turned my attitude around and learned from her thoughtful and generous ways. I also realized that if I ask, mom's always willing and wanting to help in any way she can :-)

So back to the harvest:
- 45 ears of corn, very yummy and in the freezer. Used Grandma Mary's recipe ;-)
- Lots of peas, fresh pickin and eatin
- Loads of cucumber....it a shame, many were wasted...happy I just picked the last 3 today 10/18
- Tons of green beans....ate them all fresh. Note to self, do more next year and can them
- Piles of tomatoes, bell pepper, jalepinos and hot peppers = SALSA!!! This year, in additional tomatoes came from Elissa's garden. I have a total of 48 quarts of salsa...a record!!!! Half of it I did myself...a nice pat on the back
- Italian Prunes; 2 batches of jelly for Miss Kaityn
- Grapes; 10 quarts of grape juice (with help of Joyce and her amazing steam juicer!) and 2 batches of grape jelly

Other items purchased/canned/froze:
1 box apples; Applesauce
2 boxes pears
25 lbs. pickled cucumbers....garlic pickles are the best!
35 lbs blueberries
40 lbs strawberries; froze and made jam

All our jars were filled, added 3 dozen more to the collection and just got a few more for smaller jars for canning chicken, which I hope will happen in the next month or two.

What's funny about all this harvesting/preserving, are the reactions that come from my family. They see my excitment/finished product and seem to think that canning is my passion and my most favorite thing to do. I'm glad they see my joy in all of it, but realized the need to set them straight and explain the reasons why it makes me so happy.
It is hard work family; my hands, back and feet get tired, but all those aches and pains go away when I think of the ways our family can benefit from the efforts. I feel pleasure knowing that I utilized Heavenly Fathers creations, to prepare for the future needs of my family. I feel peace, knowing that we followed the prophets counsel to plant a garden and work towards our families food storage goals. Isn't it a comfort to know, we have food, in the event of an emergency? One of the most peaceful feelings for a mother/father is to know that their children's mouths will be fed because they did what they could to be prepared. We want that for you, Ally and Kaitlyn....we love you so much and will work hard and do whatever we can to care for you and provide what we can. You mean SO MUCH to us and are our greatest blessing!!!

I give thanks to mom, who motivates, teaches and helps me be effective with my small increments of time. Thanks to Jeremy for always encouraging us to plant a garden, he's the one who plants, tils, waters and tells me and the girls when it's time to weed :) He's also so supportive and loves that I strive to preserve the families most favorite foods.

What a wonderful gift to have the ability to work hard and utilize the talents and abilities Heavenly Father has given.

Now....
Hopefully, my dear husband will bring back a deer to freeze, he's got 3 days over East, to get that assignment filled....we shall see :)

First Day of School (2011)

Both girls LOVED (understatment) the first day of school and couldn't wait to attend the second day (they still lost sleep and woke up WAY too early). They (we) got the teachers they wanted and were very happy making new friends and starting the "school routine" all over again. These pictures look a little dark, because they were taken at 6:30 in the morning! Jeremy is usually able to go to the bus stop with us, but had a busy day and was unable. The girls desired to have the traditional picture taken so they woke up, got ready and was in our room by 6am (they are not allowed to come in before that, unless its an emergency). Can you tell how happy they are?? Their smiles were just as big when I picked them up from school. PHEW!

Bob & Sue's Visit

Jeremy met Bob and Sue on his mission. They are from PA and decided to stop here for several days before boarding a cruise ship in AK. We had a great time "catching up" and talking about "good times" from Jeremy's mission and the previous visit we made 10+ years ago. They are great people with good hearts. We had a great time and are so glad close ties have been kept through the years.

Here are some of the stops we made while they were here:

Mt Saint Helens (like how I captured the moon in the picture...love it)


Rose Gardens (just the girls and I took Sue...Jeremy and Bob went hunting)


Columbia Gorge, scenic highway viewpoints (Jeremy had to work this day)


Several waterfalls

Miscellaneous Summer Pics

Girls were nothing but smiles, going to the salon to get haircuts the day before school...the bangs are finally grown out!

Ally had a blast at Activty Day Camp and was thrilled her friend Kylie from school was there. They had their first 3-legged race...they stuck it out even though they were one of the last teams racing to the finish.

Cowboy Kaitlyn....at last years Rodeo. SO FUNNY! Great posture, don't ya think?

First lemonaid stand, lots of support from neighbors, a bikerider and of course Grandma and Grandpa who happended to see the advertisement on Facebook.

My little Divas were practicing their school fashion....scarves, hats and backpacks.

Ally LOVED checking dad's mole traps. There was always such a big smile when "they" caught one. Each time she would text daddy and tell him so.

Mia...we all loved the sad and happy faces!

Helpers....stacking wood. So happy to have children who like helping mom and dad (most the time).


Grandma/Granddaughter dates....a end of summer tradition they LOVE!

Mia's standing and found Ally. I love the look on Ally's face! She and Kaitlyn love Mia like a little sister. There's usually nothing but smiles when Mia around.

Ally surprised us one afternoon. I went outside to check on her; I found her kneeled down beside Tawney and Zack and doing something. When I went to check on her I had found that she picked ALOT of greenbeans and was snapping them for dinner, so that I wouldn't have to. She transported them in her shirt ;-) SO DANG CUTE!!!!

Went camping with the Berry's at Rod's place. The guys had a blast shooting things. The girls had fun relaxing and playing by the creek and on the slide. Note to self: bring inner-tubes next time and throw Jeremy in the water.

SWIM LESSONS...a big success! See those HAPPY faces???? Ally's a little tad pole and does nothing but wade in the deep end of the pool....this pool was 12 feet deep!


Kaitlyn 3 days before her session was over, finally had a light-bulb go off and realized that she COULD hold her breath and swim under water. She can now swim in the deep end without a floating device, not confidently though.

Rachael turned 7! The girls LOVED attending the party and going bowling with cousins to celebrate.

WEDDING RECEPTIONS! One of the girls favorite things is to see BRIDES! Amanda and Amy got married on the same day. They both are beautiful and such fine examples for our family. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Wilson!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Leifson!


Ally hanging out with Hannah...neighbors granddaughter.