This was Addyson's favorite part of Disney World, the castle. Ethan, not so much- he chose not to be pictured!

It took a lot of effort and constant words of comfort, "Addyson they are princesses, they are very nice and will not bite you" to get her to take a picture but we finally got pictures and autographs with Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle.

The days at Magic Kingdom were pretty exhausting!

Disney World

The resort that my brother stayed at offered some great activities, including songs and smores by a bonfire. We took the kids for a swim at the pool and headed over for some smores.

She got lots a great presents from friends, (which we still need to write Thank you's for). I took a risk and got her some roller skates hopefully I don't regret it when I am having to take her to the Emergency room.

Addyson's Turns 6

Addyson turned 6 on September 20th. She was so happy to get a special Birthday hat at school and a special gift from her Principal.

I love California

We had the opportunity to visit some friends in California. We flew out on Friday evening and staying until Sunday morning. We went to San Clemente on Saturday and grilled and ate lunch and then we spent the day playing at the beach. Dave and I were able to do some boogey boarding, which was awesome. I did a little bit of streaking out there everytime I got hit by big waves, but it was all good!

Me and the kids overlooking the San Clemente beach. It was such a beautiful day!

While we were getting ready to eat a fire truck drove by and gave the kids fireman hats and stickers. They were really nice, and the kids loved it!

Ethan didn't like the ocean very much, he thought it was too scary. He spent most of his time rolling in the sand!

Dave with James(an old mission companion) and his wife Katherine. Dave and James have stayed good friends after all of these years. James actually got Dave his first job here in Dallas at Ernst and Young and then when we moved here they moved away a month later.

Addyson has taken up photography! Addy always manages to get her hands on our digital camera and snap photos of her toys in different arangements. I have to go through our camera and delete them but I had to laugh when I saw this one of Dave's butt. Addy and I were hysterical, Dave didn't think it was very funny:)

Paige got her first tooth! Every one of our children has gotten their first tooth at exactly 4 months. She turned 4 months on August 29th and her tooth came through on Aug. 28th. A few days later her 2nd tooth came through. She loves to chew on everything, including her mommy.

Ethan started preschool last week. He is going to Kary's Korner just like Addyson did. He is very excited to be big and go, he wanted to go so bad last year. Every day he comes home and tells me how good he was. I can't believe my kids are getting so big.

Addyson started kindergarten! The first day was a little tough, she was really scared, but once Mrs. McCormack pulled her away from me she did fine. She loves school now, and is excited everyday that she gets to go.

Not leaving on a jet plane:(

We tried to squeeze in one more trip before school started. This is us in the DFW airport waiting to try and get on a plane to Portland, OR. We were in the airport for about 4 hours trying to get on a place, but it just wasn't meant to be. We didn't end up going to Portland, but our luggage did! Luckily we were able to get everything back the next day. It was a bummer we were very excited to see my brother and his family and my old friends:(

Paige is growing more and more each day. She is still such an angel and a joy to have around, not to mention she is SO cute! She loves to be outside just like her sister and brother, and she seems to really like the water as well. It is too soon to tell but I am certainly hoping that she gets my skin color and not Dave's because we love swimming!

I had the opportunity to visit my old stomping grounds in Colorado Springs, CO for the weekend. I brought Addyson and Paige for a girls weekend and left Ethan at home w/ his dad. I haven't been back to my old home town for almost 10 years and it is just not the same but it was fun to see. We drove around in the beautiful mountains and visited The Garden of the Gods where we had a picnic and did some hiking. I do miss the mountains!!

Fun with cousins! While in Nashville we went to the Nashville Zoo and enjoyed the great outdoors that Tennesse has to offer. I think the best part for the kids was being pushed on the tire swing by uncle Ken. I am still amazed that none of them got sick!

On July 29th Ken and Carrie blessed their newest girl, Kensey Mae. The kids and I flew out to Nashville for the week to hang out with them and be there for the blessing. My mom, brother and sister-in-law, and nephew drove out for a few days and Dave flew out for the weekend. I love hanging out with my family laughing, playing games, and just talking about old times! Kensey is very blessed to join such a great family!

Paige's baby blessing

We blessed Paige on July 1st. Ken, Carrie, and their girls drove down from Nashville and Dave's mom and Dad flew in from Calgary as well. We also had an old High School friend drive up with his wife and kids from W. Texas. Needless to say with all of our family that live Texas and the ones that traveled here, we had loads of fun! Dave did a great job blessing Paige and she looked beautiful!

Summer has begun

Summer has officially begun.  The kids took swim lessons and now they are set to go swimming as much as they possibly can!  They love to swim!  We are lucky enough to have a great community beach club pool with sand and a splash pad.  We will enjoy many hot days swimming.

Camping

We went on our annual camping trip with friends to Lake Ray Roberts.  We braved the outdoors with a newborn and we were so glad that we did. The kids had a blast catching bugs, eating marshmallows, swimming in the lake and sleeping out in the great outdoors.    

Dave has a Birthday

Dave turned 31 on June 7th.  We had a simple birthday celebration at home with the kids and my mom.  The kids helped decorate his cake and wrap his presents.