Freedom Shirts

My cute sister, Brenda, makes shirts for her kids for all different occasions and I always THINK about making shirts for my kids but never do.  I finally made Samantha, Brenna, and Braelynn (Veronica and Tyler didn't want one) cute shirts for the Fourth of July and then FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF THEM!  No big deal, I was going to have them wear them for the 24th of July festivities, also.  The 24th rolled around, we got all ready for the parade in the cute shirts, even took the camera and then, once again, forgot to take pictures AGAIN!  Really?!

So after we got home I made the girls pose for a picture.  They were starving, wet from the downpour that we got stuck in waiting for Samantha to finish singing at the park and generally not happy about taking a picture before they could eat lunch.  I snapped a few pictures then quickly realized I was not going to get them to cooperate and gave up but was able to get this one.

Camping Trip 2012

We used to go camping quite often, but the older and busier our kids (and us) get it seems like it is harder to get away. As I mentioned in my last post, for Samantha's birthday she wanted to go camping so we took off for a night. We had to be back Saturday morning so it was a quick trip but we left home early on Friday so that we were able to spend most of the day Friday on the mountain. I love Beaver mountain and it is my very favorite place to camp and it is so close, taking just over an hour to get there.
We discovered this particular campground when Brenna and Braelynn were one year old.  Joe was going to school full time and working full time. We hadn't been camping in a very long time because of them being so young the summer before.  He had a week off of school so we decided to take a much needed night away and go camping.  It started off awful, we got away later than we had planned and then on the way there it started pouring rain with no signs of letting up.  We decided no matter what we were not going to go back home after working so hard to get everything packed up, even if we had to stay in a hotel!  We just needed to get away and have fun.  We said a few prayers and headed up the mountain after we got to Beaver.  We drove around a bit and found this campground that had a little lake with canoes that you could use.  Just after we pulled in it stopped raining and cleared up until just after we left the next day.  It was such a nice trip and created so many memories that, in addition to it just being so pretty up there, it has a special place in my heart, a little reminder of how much our Heavenly Father loves us.  He knew how bad our little family needed a break and blessed us with that then, as well as countless times since.

Birthday Time

Our cute Sam turned 11 this week.  She decided to go camping up Beaver Mountain (My very favorite place to camp.) to celebrate. She invited her friend Addy to come along with us.
It is always fun to go camping and even more so when we don't get to go very often and then especially to celebrate a birthday.  She wanted to make cupcakes and then decorate them on the mountain for her birthday cake.  It started raining on us halfway through opening presents so we retreated to the tent to finish up and play some games.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

T-Ball

Or just a lesson on lack of attention span....

Brenna

Brenna

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Braelynn

Brenna

We decided to let Brenna and Braelynn try t-ball this year instead of soccer. They had fun and I realized that we just are not baseball people. They had no idea what they were doing because I had forgotten to teach them that and none of their siblings play baseball that they could watch. I need to remember to get out a bat (I think we have one somewhere in the garage!) and work with them in case they decide to do it next year!

Brenna

Braelynn

Happy 15 yrs!

Wow.  Veronica turned 15 years old this last week.   That means she will be a sophomore this year.  That means that she has 3 more years of high school.  That means she has her drivers permit and next year she will be 16.  Wow.  It all just seems to happen so fast.  We are proud of her and the person she is, she is talented, beautiful and driven.  Happy Birthday, Veronica!

Photo Shoot

How does emptying the dishwasher turn into a photo shoot?!
Model: Braelynn
Photographer:  Samantha

Nap Time...Daddy Style