The 4th...Fun, Friends, Family and Fireworks

In 2006, so 9 years ago, our 4th of July tradition began.  

The twins were born, but other than that no babies were in the mix.

Fast forward to this year, 2015, 

a lot is still the same.

Our friendship continues to be so special.

Each of these girls were bridesmaids in my wedding.

Some things are the same,

but a BIG change since 2006 is...

we have MULTIPLIED! 

A total of 15 kids now call us Mom.

It melts our hearts when we see our kids 

bonding with each others kids.

We pray our kiddos will have Godly, dear friendships forever,

just as we have been blessed with.

The Fourth of July never disappoints. 

It is just wonderful, family fun!

Jed and Austin 

 My cousin Luke and his adorable family

 My brother and his wonderful family

 One of the silliest boys I know.  :)

 Auntie Blair with her favorite niece and nephews

 Our family of 5!

 Dad's club

 See...I told you he is super silly.  

I said give me a pose and this is what I get. HA!

 Jesse and Jed

 Blake and Austin

 Dinner time!

 Cousin time!

 My favorite three fireworks.  :)

Our favorite 4th of July crew...

HaPpY HaLLoWeeN!!!

Here are our two Halloween cuties.

They picked their own costumes

and they are so, so...them.

Happy kids.  Happy parents.  :)

This girl loves anything princess and I really mean anything!

She loves it.

She actually picked this princess dress out last year for Halloween

and she still loves it!

 Oh this little Lightning McQueen...

you melt my heart.

 He insisted on holding two Lightning McQueen cars.

One in each hand.  :)

Four of my absolute favorite little people.

My kids and my niece and nephew

The cutest nephew and firefighter ever! 

She is just the CUTEST strawberry I have ever seen!!

 LOVE you Riley girl!

For a look back on some of the fun we have had in previous Halloween's,

click HERE!!

Cousin love

I absolutely LOVE watching God's plan come together.  

These are my two kids and my brothers two kids.

God planned for Blake and I to have a girl, then a boy

and for my brother and his wife to have the opposite.

A boy, then a girl.

When I see them together,

playing together, 

loving on one another,

I can't help but praise the Lord.

It sure is fun to create so many memories with family.
Slurpees with Uncle Gaga!

This past weekend they officially had their first sleepover.

The surprising thing was they slept in later together 

than they do when they are in their own beds!

Missing, yet enjoying...

Today we are missing two things...

Oma (and Opa) as they are away in Canada.

 and also the preschool routine of walking to school in the morning. 

These pics were taken the last day of Aubrey's school.

But, we are enjoying the extra time together.

Just the three of us...

The month of May

May brought some fun relaxed memories.

We still enjoy our walks to drop sissy off at school.

Sometimes it is just the kids and I,

 other times it feels like a mini party!

Those are our favorite times!

The month of May brought sweet family time...

with the Smittcamps,

and the Penner's...

(More on the family trip to Alameda is on Allie's blog HERE.)

Some work at home...

and at The Peach Tree (our fruit stand)

More work at home.

A broken sprinkler leads to this...muddy fun!

Our sweet friend Brooke visited for a week.  So thankful for her!

We got a cute pic of Austin with his favorite Opa

 and his favorite cousin Jedidiah at the park.

Mother's Day fun...

And some good ole frosting fun making cupcakes for...

 one of our favorite girls, Julie.

 Aubrey Rose loves to find new friends in our yard. ;)

Her worm she named Muddy.

She named her frog Swimmy.

Her caterpillar thing (I don't even know what this was!) was named Hairy.

Her grasshopper was named Amber.

(The name Amber through us off a little bit.  

It was the first normal name she gave one of her friends.  HA!)

And we managed to fit in a little bit of play as well...

June has come too quick.  We are looking forward to all the swim fun ahead, with not much scheduled.  :)  Well, besides peach season of course!  As much as we love peaches, it also brings a very busy season for Blake.  Time to gear up for it!  It is almost here!