Anniversary Gift

For our 10 year anniversary we didn't have time to do much. I found a cute framed saying that I thought would be fun to make. When Jeannie came over she asked if I'd seen the collages of pictures people were putting on their walls. So I found a big blank space on my wall and started brain storming. My plan was to have it done before John got home but that didn't work. I couldn't get the letters straight enough and to stick to the wall so he had to help.

The colored papers underneath it are supposed to have pictures of all of us - I just haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe for our 11th anniversary!

In ten years we've had 5 kids! Earned two bachelor degrees. Moved into 8 different houses/apartments. Had 7 different cars (apparently we like to change cars frequently). Paid more in Dr bills than we'd ever like to acknowledge. Most importantly though we've been together through it all and we love each other more now than we did when we got married!

Rip 60

The kids wanted to exercise with John so he turned on the Rip 60 video he has. They were such troopers, they made it through 15 minutes of yoga. Jordan however got exhausted and had to take a little break. John was put to the test with an extra thirty pounds on his back!

Easter 2014

 At the city Easter Egg Hunt Madison found the golden egg! She was so excited to win a prize. She got a chocolate bunny!
John and I had just finished talking about how we weren't going to mention the Easter egg hunt when Madison walked into our room and said: 'are we going to the Easter egg hunt today?' When we asked her how she knew about the Easter egg hunt she said Diego's and Zoie's Mom told me! Obviously we ended up going.

 This is what the Easter Bunny left for the kids this year.

They each got their very own!

Madison was in charge of taking pictures at the Easter dinner hosted by Anne and David. These are the only two pictures that weren't too blurry to post.

Drew and Daddy with a Little Mix of Fire

 John and Drew were out in the garden area sitting against the fence together. I had to get a picture. Drew certainly looks like his daddy!

We had a bunch of branches from pruning the trees and I couldn't wait to start a fire. John was doubtful that it would work because they were still green but I was determined to get one going. It ended up working nicely. I may or may not have turned a couple of my children into pyro's. Drew & Jordan LOVED the fire. They kept running to get dry grass clippings to throw on it. Thankfully Drew is a cautious child so I didn't have to worry too much about him getting too close. Jordan on the other hand kept trying to give him mother a heart attack. Drew now says that this is his favorite family memory!

Team Trey

 A little boy, Trey, in the kids' elementary school has cancer. They decided to host a hat day in his honor and all the kids were excited to go get a hat, including Jocelyn. They ended up raising a lot of money to help offset the costs of running to Primary Children's Hospital and the medical bills! All the kids in the school were so excited to be a part of it and to do something to help him.

In church we let all the kids make cards for Trey. They were very creative. Some were funny and some were sweet. One kid told him next time he gets sick he shouldn't go to the Dr, then he wouldn't have to go to the hospital! Wouldn't it be nice if that was how it really worked?

Naughty Children

 Applesauce anyone?

 Jordan discovered a box of tampons. I snapped this blurry picture when he was nearly done taking out the entire box of tampons from the toilet.

Cassidy let Madison and Jocelyn babysit her egg and pinwheel. The girls didn't want any of it to get lost so they put it all in the fridge for her. Clever little ladies I tell you!

Happy 9th Birthday Alexis

 Gift #1 - a Taylor Swift CD

 Gift #2 - the stuff to make the rubber bracelets that everyone is in love with!

 Drew and Madison were so excited to help light the candles.

All of these pictures were so cute I decided to post all of them.

Alexis is getting so big! She loves to play with Ashley - all the time, every single day and they never get sick of one another. She's a great helper. She loves to play school with the younger kids and to babysit occasionally. She does great in school. She's a great reader and loves a good mystery, just like her mom! She hates when I do her hair and it looks like a baby, she prefers it to just be straight. She loves changing her earrings out and doing her nails. She can't wait until she's old enough to have fake nails like mom. She loves to dance and that is usually what she and Ashley are doing downstairs. If they're not dancing then they're probably in the pool or rounding up the little kids for school. We sure love Alexis and we're excited to see what the coming years hold for her!