First Day of SchoolOn

Last Thursday was our first day of school! Wow I can't believe summer is over!

I also can't believe "my baby" is in school. They are ALL in school. I have nobody left at home. How sad is that?

Beck was so excited about school. He did great and went right in without a single tear (by him that is).

This handsome boy is now in 2nd grade!

This beautiful girl is in 3rd grade!

...and last but certainly not least Gates is in Kindergarten!

Many of you know but many of you don't know that we will be moving to Cheyenne Wyoming. Josh has accepted a job there and will start September 7th. We are so excited! This is a BIG change for us. We went ahead and started the kids in school here while Josh makes his way up there and settles in. The kids and I will follow once we figure out schools, living arrangements, etc.... Say some prayers for us and our BIG adventure.

Dog Bath

Holley was bathing their dog Buddy and he didn't like it! He was so sad. It was cracking me up. Look at that poor face.

He refused to look at me because he was so imbarrassed.

I love the water coming off his chin.

Some pictures from the lake....

My nephew Brock and my cousin's little boy, Wyatt, found this ugly guy on their trotline......

He was a good five foot long!

Our friends came up for the weekend. I snapped this picture of their little girl. Her sun kissed cheeks were just beautiful.

...and I just love this little face!

We had a fun filled weekend at the lake. The kids were completely worn out everyday. Kayaking, paddle boat riding, knee boarding, wake boarding, jet skiiing, fishing and swimming will do that to you.

Family Reunion

After twelve days of traveling, I am finally recovering from our LONG adventure to Michigan. Josh and I packed up the kiddos and headed north for about thirty hours to attend a family reunion for his side of the family. It was also his grandmothers 80th birthday and we all got to celebrate with her. Here's Josh's family. (On a side note....we live in very south Texas where it is super humid and hot.....In Michigan, it is nice and DRY and a bit cooler...my hair never looks this good at home!!!)

There were 114 of us there.....Can you count them?

This sweet lady....had these six girls.....

Those six girls....married these six men.....

....and they ended up with 114! I mean really....RABBITS!

The trip home was quite eventful as our 30 hour trip lasted a bit longer than expected. After a stop in Chicago to go to the American Girl doll store and the Lego store, the air conditioner in our car broke. It was something we had already fixed this year and the local Ford dealer, here, repaired very wrong. We had to spend two days in Kankakee Illinois to get it repaired. So frustrating! I went up the food chain and the local Ford dealer is paying for our expenses in Kankakee. I am now enjoying a vacation from our vacation! HA!

The Land

We live on 6 acres and there is tons to do as long as you don't get to hot. The kids end up in their bathing suits most of the time. Here they are on the trampoline they got from grandma and grandpa for Christmas.

Do you see those dirty little piggies! Ahhh...life on the farm.

I had to include this picture. Our house came with this awesome super old horse cart. It has such history behind it. You can see the layers of paint and the fabulous craftmanship from back in the day. It is such a cool piece of history! Back behind this picture you can see our barn. It too, is original to the house. Built in the 30's. It has such character. If only the walls could talk.

Here's Elisabeth taking Beck on an adventure through the land. One of our fields was covered in these purple flowers this spring. They were so beautiful. I counldn't believe my eyes. I love that the kids can go explore and see up close God's fabulous creations. It gets really dirty here, but I like it.

Of Bunnies

We were given four baby bunnies right after we moved into our new house. They were so cute. Several have passed on and now we only have one left. Her name is dust bunny. I was totally impressed with Elisabeth's choice of names. I mean really impressed until I realized that my eight year old knows what a dust bunny is. That means this momma is not a house keeper! I know I admit it. Cleaning is for the birds (or the bunnies)!

Elisabeth loves her. She is really sweet, but I have to admit her poop and pee stink. We have relocated her to living outside.

More Updating

I'm on a roll. ok I wrote all these posts at the same time and now I'm just posting them one a day. What can I say...... It's the best I can do. :)

This is a terrible picture but the only one I have of our family on Easter. But here you go, the most current picture of what our little family looks like.

My new favorite love is Matilda Jane clothing. Their clothes are so cute and so comfy. Here are all four kiddos sporting their MJ duds.

Hogan played baseball this spring. Beck loved being the bat boy. He also loved chewing piece after piece of bubble gum. $1 would get him 10 pieces and they would all be gone by the time the game was over.

Here's Hogan at bat. His team was the Bruins and they did a fabulous job. They lost in the championship game giving them 2nd place status and a trophy. Baseball kept us super busy. Practice twice a week and games twice a week. Mix that with all the other kids activities and Josh and I running in a relay marathon. It was a crazy spring!

Of Updating

Here's a quick pet update. This is Jett. Look how big he is. He is an awesome dog. Very calm and sweet. He is very obedient and always willing to please.

The puppies are now a year old.

This is Lola. She is a very sweet girl. She is a little stubborn but not bad. She is also a fabulous hunter. She has brought us several animals, including a couple of bunnies and birds. Very proud of herself. Me. Not so proud. One of the bunnies was still alive!

I can't believe our cute tiny little puppies from last summer are full grown. Wow! Time has flown. I must say, I highly recommend buying two dogs at once. It has been one of the best dog purchasing experiences we have ever had. They completely keep each other company and so we didn't have the destruction that we had with other lab puppies. Not to mention, my children love them to death and they get tons of attention.

We love our uncle David.....

....and Sara, too!!!

David gave the boys camo Aggie hats for being in the wedding. Here they are putting them on their heads without messing up their hair.

The girls got charms for their charm bracelets. Tiaras to be exact. They couldn't be more fitting for these two princesses.

The whole clan of six kiddos. The program for the wedding referred to the boys as a pack of little dudes. They were just that all walking down the isle together. I loved it.

Congratulations David and Sara. The wedding was beautiful and we can't wait to see you again.

Wedding Bells are Ringing.

At the wedding, there was a beautiful courtyard. It was where the reception was. In the courtyard was a large bell. They boys thought it was awesome to ring. Our ears did not think it was so awesome.

I entertained the kids with video games to keep them from messing up their tuxes. Beck does his mouth like this when he is concentrating. lol

I couldn't not have a picture of Gates and his uncle Stephen. He is who we named him after. Gates "Reno"

This is the picture of Beck that I could not include in the last post.

David's Wedding

Can you believe it?!?!?! I'm blogging! Well, this spring has been a doozie. We moved. I don't move well. My parents still live in the house they bought just before I was born. So all the times I have moved have been with Josh. This lack of experience does not make for easy moving. However, we are settling in and the house is becoming a home. We bought an old 1934 farm house. That was added onto in the 50's. It has such character. The previous owner had made done the major updates but we still had lots of panting and decorating to do. The house is on six acres and we have been having loads of fun on the land. The land has come with lots of work, though.

But enough about that, this post is about this.

The kids and Josh were asked to be in a friend of ours wedding this past weekend. The were so precious! I can't believe how extremely blessed I am. It was so fun to them all dressed up. I still can't believe just how big they have become.

This is Elisabeth Anne. She is 8. Really 8?!?! Wow, where has the time gone?

This is Hogan. He is 7.

This is Gates. He is 6.

...and last but certainly not least is Beck. He is 4.

Well I'm not sure why, but the pic of Beck is not wanting to upload. I'll try again on the next post. I might even include some picks of our new house. We'll see how busy I get.