Peter's birthday!

Our nephew Peter turns 7 this week! So we had he, Caroline and Natalie over for a swim party to celebrate! Much fun was had by all...
Caroline, Logan, Peter, and Faith Anna. The cousins swimming in the pool while Beth is taking a nap....poor Beth.

Logan and his best buddy, Peter.

The kids all decorated their own cupcakes with LOTS of sprinkles....ha.

Caroline and Natalie. Such beautiful girls...

The birthday boy with a frosting-mouth.

Beautiful pose, Faith. :)

Beth made it for the most important part....

Lots of fun presents...

Logan played in his first Tee-ball game on Saturday. He did such a good job! He really loves baseball...





Our friends the Pittmans came over yesterday to swim and goof off with us. Here are my sweet friend Shawnee and her daughter Cammy.


Cammy and Faith Anna

Logan and Cole Pittman

Did I mention we love swimming? Ahh....these fun summer days!

Thankful

Today is Tyler Sheets birthday. Just thinking about him and his family this morning. I know they all miss him so much. It makes me so thankful for my family...and makes me realize how completely blessed I am. We have the three greatest kiddos who are just so much fun to be with...and I'm married to the most wonderful man who I'm more in love with today than yesterday. I can't believe we've been on this journey for 11 years now! And it just keeps getting better and better. We're never promised another day...so I want to eat each one up and enjoy it thoroughly. Just like Tyler did. Here are some fun pics that I thought I'd share from this past April...


These first few are from a trip we took to the Arboretum over Easter weekend. It was a chilly but beautiful day. We had a total blast just all goofing off together!




Beth is taking time to smell the roses... and Faith Anna too!

Chillin with Daddy

And here are our three cute Easter bunnies on Easter morning.

Looks like Faith Anna is up to something, doesn't it. She's so funny!



We took the family to a fun Fairytale Tale Ball that benefitted the local Arts programs for Children. It was called "Deep in the Heart of the Fairytale Jungle". We had a great time together dancing, riding in a horse-drawn carriage, and dressing up. It was a fun evening!

Showing off their balloon animals

Our friends, Shawnee, Cole and Cammy Pittman

Faith Anna as a giraffe....and Beth too!

Beth loved being out on the dance floor!

This last pic is of my sweetheart and I. Luke took me to New York for my birthday and we had the best time just being together and exploring this unbelievable city that stole our hearts! Such great memories...

Meeting the Twin Sheets!

We had some fun visitors this past week! The twin Sheets' boys, Will and Levi, went for their first road trip at only 3 weeks of age...and ended up at our house. We had such a fun time with Zach and Kara and these precious boys. Even Landon was able to come for a day....which totally made Faith Anna's whole year! :) We did lots of relaxing, hanging out by the pool, grilling burgers, playing Stratego(!), and oh yes, changing lots of diapers. Zach and Kara are amazing parents and it was a joy to watch them with their sons.

Meeting Will and Levi

William Cotton Sheets




Levi Blake Sheets

Did I mention that Logan loves babies?

Getting ready for bed...nothing cuter than wet hair and PJs.

Goofing off in the pool with Landon

Landon and Faith Anna (She has a huge crush on him...)

Luke and Zach chillin like a villain

Levi and Will trying to take after their dad

Kara loving on Will

Everybody loves Landon

The guys post-swimming. What a crew!

We can't wait to hang out with the Sheets' gang again soon. They are truly some of our very favorite people!

SeaWorld Trip

We had the wonderful opportunity to take our family to SeaWorld this past May. We had such a good time! The kids absolutely loved it....and so did Luke and I! Our favorite parts are always the shows...just fantastic. Here are a few pics from our adventure this year.

Logan and Faith Anna

The kids and I are waiting for the Shamu show to begin...

One of our favorite things was feeding the dolphins

The kids and Luke riding the Shamu Express...a roller coaster for little ones.

See Luke and Beth in the back there? And those hands in the car just in front of them belong to Logan and Faith Anna. They had so much fun....they rode this ride 7 or 8 times in a row!

Now did I mention roller coasters for little ones? WELL...Logan decided this was his year to try a big roller coaster...and he just made the height requirement! Look carefully and you will see those two arms waving down at me from the 4th car from the front. There are Luke and Logan riding the Steel Eel! Luke said that Logan's face was white as a ghost, but that he loved it. I asked him the next day if he wanted a chance to ride it again and he said, "No, I don't think so." I guess once was enough of a thrill this time!

Well once he tried the Steel Eel, I guess he got "roller coaster fever". So next, Logan and Luke decided to try the brand-new water roller coaster, Journey to Atlantis. They loved this one so much, that they had to ride it immediately a second time! Luke is giving the fist-pump while Logan is still trying to process whether or not it was fun. ha

We had such a great time! Can't wait to go back...

Austin Jacob Howard

My sister Jennifer and her husband, C.J., had their first son, Austin Jacob Howard, on February 28, 2007! These first few pics are from March 2007 when Logan and I drove up for a visit. He and I were actually having a date night that evening and Logan got to pick anything he might like to do....go bowling, get ice cream, watch a movie. And he picked going to see his baby cousin! Obviously, Logan is quite enamored with this precious boy. Actually, we all are!

Jen, Logan and Austin

Our cute nephew

Looks like Austin's maybe had enough loving for one evening.

A week or two later at my parents house...Jen with our Aunt Tag who came to town for a visit

Our sister-in-law, Natalie

Our niece Caroline, Brandon and Natalie's oldest, holding the little man

While we were all doting over the new baby, Luke and Beth were snuggling on the couch... some things never change! :)

These last few pics are the most recent. Austin is 3 months old now! Can't believe it...Discovering his feet!

C.J. and his camo son

Handsome boy

Proud mama and her boy. Isn't he so cute? More to come later...