Goodbye to Pedro

Yesterday was a sad day at our house. Our little guinea pig Pedro passed away...It was a rough day, especially for Mckaleigh. We are not sure why or what happened, but we are sad that he is no longer here with us. McKaleigh spent most of the day arranging his grave site with flowers and stones - We buried him in the field right behind our house.He was such a cute little guy, and he will be missed - by the kids!

Cousins Come for a Swim

Here is a picture of the whole group! It sure was a busy, but fun afternoon with all those kids!Here is mom and Maggie, Aunt Katie and Alex, Uncle Dan, Mallory and Benji - sitting in the little end is so great!
Our buddy Colton tried to get Benji to come out and play, but he was a little nervous.
Here are Uncle Eric, Uncle Dan and Colton who took the little boys down the slide.
All three little boys in a row - what cuties!
Uncle Dan holding our newest cousin Maggie - Aunt Sheri calls her a giant baby - well, she is a big girl!
Mom and her two brothers taking the little boys down the slide. They just love it!
McKaleigh is such a great helper. Here she is trying to show Ellie how to squish her Otter Pop up.
Uncle Dan brought a bag of pretzles for all to share.
All three little girl cousins.
What a good looking group of swimmers!
After swimming, Mallory and Ellie sat downstairs and watched a Princess movie.
While McKaleigh and Uncle Eric waited for the Pizza!
And Aunt Sheri snacked on fruit and veggies...
After lunch all of the kids retired to the back yard and had ice cream bars.

And Maggie woke up and had some veggies!
Elliott really really liked Colton's big Nerf gun.
And when the day was done, Elliott gave Alex a big squeeze...
And Alex gave Benji a big squeeze.
It is so wonderful to have so many family members so close. It was a warm, but good day, and I hope that everyone had a great time!

Karate Girl

Well, this was definately one of those times when you wish you had both pictures and video of the events unfolding. As most of you know, McKaleigh has decided to give soccer a rest and has wanted to try karate for years. This Summer she began Karate classes and hasn't looked back since! She is the only girl in a class of about 10 during testing, but only her and another boy are in her actual class, and I have to say that I am very proud of the effort and practice she has put in.

This past Saturday she had a basic skills test to go up a belt, and had to test against the boys her age and size - and she was AMAZING! I could not believe it, and I don't think the boys could either. As they sat back to back on the mats, the boys against boys went around and around trying to pin one another, but when it came time for McKaleigh to fight and pin her opponent, she did not waste any time - she flipped them over, one after another and pinned them to the ground. Her instructer said that if she keeps her practice up she will be "a force to be reckoned with." She was thrilled and I couldn't have been more proud!

Independance Day - 4th of July

The Fourth of July...What a day! We were so lucky to be able to spend the day with so many family members and have such a great time! I spent some time this morning thinking about how fortunate we are to live in a country with so many freedoms and opportunities and hope to be able to always celebrate such a great day!

Our family had a relaxing morning and then went over to Grandma Deb's and Grandpa Rod's house for games with family, a wonderful BBQ, and later some spectacular fireworks.

We spent some time that afternoon filling water balloons for some fun activities, but the pile kept dwindling...I wonder why? Here is the thief caught red handed!

Here is a shot of all the kiddos ready to go with waterguns, spray bottles, and the biggest OtterPops I have ever seen in my life!
Here is a picture of our cousin Tyler - I think that he is very pleased with the size the OtterPops came in!
As many of you know, our little Alex just LOVES OtterPops, so he was in Heaven with his!
Cousin Rhiannon ready for battle!
Here is McKaleigh enjoying her battle with cousin Nick - Looks like she is having a great time, but I am not sure if Nick would say the same thing.
Cousin Wade taking a turn on the Slip and slide. Grandma has the BEST hill for that!
Here are McKaleigh and Colton enjoying a paddleball game out in the back yard. Its a wonder we were injury free, the way they swatted that ball around!
Our buddy Alex taking his turn on the slide! He could play outside in the water all day if we would let him.
Two peas in a pod. McKaleigh and Rhiannon had not seen each other in almost 31/2 years, but had a great time together.

Here is cousin Sam, running some races in the back yard.
Aunt Heather brought this bounce house over and the kids had a great time in it!

Daddy trying to explain "taking turns" to Alex. He thought that he should be allowed in the bounce house every time.

Grandpa Rod also tried to explain to Alex that his turn would be next...It is just so very hard to be 2 somtimes!

Grandpa Rod was in charge of the timer for the bounce house. Cousin Wade is watching to make sure everything goes smoothly and Grandpa is sure to make the changes as soon as the timer rings!
Colton absolutely loves Fireworks! He was one of the first to get a Sparkler and light smoke bombs with it. Grandma Nan had this great idea to put the Sparklers in playdough so the kids would not get burned by the hot metal!
Alex was just fine holding an unlit Sparkler, sitting in grandpa's lap - as soon as we lit it - He absolutely lost it! We could not get him to stop crying for a long while!
Cousin Rhiannon with her Fireworks - she was a little more cautious!
Our brave cousin Wade holding his Sparkler. I really think that he liked the smoke bombs and worms - but definately NOT the Whistling Petes!
Even our little cousin Tyler got in on some Sparkler action. McKaleigh kept everyone a safe distance from the Fireworks - she is not really a fan.
Grandma Nan taking a turn keeping Alex safe.
Aunt Verity and Cousin Wade lining up his worms.
If we would have let him, I think Tyler would have lit them all off at once!
Here are the troops watching daddy put all kinds of fireworks together - I think they were cheering him on to make some kind of large explosion! Notice Cousin Sam in the back - getting ready for whatever was to come!
I think we all secretely envied Uncle Matt a little bit...He did what I think we all thought about...
At the end of the night, around 10:00 we took all of the kids and walked up to the country club by Grandma's house to enjoy an amazing fireworks display. Thanks to Aunt Heather, we were able to identify all of the kids with their glowing necklaces.
This was a great day, but I have to say that I did not get one picture of Grandma Deb - who we have to thank for the whole event! She was running every activity, dinner, dessert, and show - thanks to her, it was all so much fun! Lets do it again next weekend Grandma!

Happy 4th to everyone!

Baseball in the Summer

Here are a few good shots of our usual evening (no kidding)! Dad, McKaleigh, Alex, and I are in the outfield watching Colton's game. Life Is Good!