My little cowboy

 

 

 

Good Times

 

 

 

 

Just some fun pictures of the kids. Annabelle spent the night last Thurs and I watched her and Jack on Friday. It was a lot of fun. We even went to the zoo, all SIX of us!! There were lots of baby animals to see: tiger cubs, giraffes, zebras and leopards. At nap time everyone did well and there was a 45mins period where we ALL were sleeping!

Baby Elizabeth Ann

 

Baby Ben

 

These are some of my favorite pictures of Benjamin's babyhood. I guess I should make one for Ellie and Micah too!!

I Love my Kids!

 

 

 

Being a mom is hard. I face challenges everyday trying to be the best mom to my kids that I can be. Today I feel like I fell short. I am strengthened by God and know his love for my kids never fades and I want my kids to feel that. I am thankful for them beyond words! I pray they will grow up knowing how much I love them and even more how much their Savior loves them!

Singing In the Rain

 
 
 
It rained rather hard this morning so I let the kids play in it. They had lots of fun. It was a little chilly and windy. Micah really enjoyed himself and was not happy when it was time to go inside.

Camping at the farm

Ah, 'The Farm'. What can I say? I LOVE the outdoors. I feel God's creations, I love the sites, sounds, and smells. This time it was a little different. As a kid I camped 2 or more times a year with my family. Those are some of my fondest childhood memories. I was pretty excited about our first family camping trip (Micah stayed home with Gramma Helen). We pitched an old tent, but a reliable tent. Remember it survived the massive rain storm in May :) It was not in my most desired location, but it worked. We had a campfire, made smores, watched some fireworks, and listened to the crickets. The best treat of all was the stars. Man, the city sure hides the vast sky full of trillions of stars, it was gorgeous. The kids went to bed without any problem. Rob and I went to bed a little after 11pm. Two hours later I was up for a bathroom break. Four hours later Ellie woke we up to be covered up. I was awake for the next 1 1/2 hrs!! I couldn't for the life of me get comfortable and the noise of all of the animals was out of control. Simple crickets, no biggy, but this was much more. There were coyotes, frogs, owls, cars, and just when I finally go it together to go back to sleep, a stinkin whiperwill. Really it was a fine trip minus the miserable sleeping arrangements. The next time I go camping I will have earplugs and a blow up mattress.
It was so cool waking up with the kids and having breakfast while the sun was rising and making the dew on the grass sparkle. We played, cut grass, went for walk, and even had a bowling game.
Benjamin, Jennie, and I decided to take Bracca (Jennie's yellow lab) for a walk to a cleaner pond since she jumped in the muddy one at our place. Ben and I hopped the Mulholland's fence and went on 2 paths before we found the right one. The pond was really nice, just a lot of tall grass to get there. Needless to say I feel like a bad mom as I did not reapply bug spray on us and we came home with MANY chigger bites. Benjamin even had about 40 seed ticks on him. Poor guy was miserable as we tweezed them off. I have more than learned my lesson. OH, the great outdoors.