We love to read

Our kids both love books and love to read. It makes me so happy! They beg to go to the library. I caught them in a "sweet" moment...Connell was "reading" to Emma and teaching her shapes and colors (which she already knows:).

MORE Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing. Actually, it's coming to an end soon for the bigger kids. Around here, school starts in the next few weeks. We are trying to stay cool since it's been so stinkin hot. We either stay inside and go CRAZY, or swim!
Friday night, the Jacobs took us out on their boat. My kids were on cloud 9. Emma had been on the boat last summer, but she doesn't remember. She was all about it! Connell surfed at the end of last summer with Mr. Chad, and he was definitely ready to do that again. At the end of the weekend, Emma included "boat time" in her bedtime prayers. She even declared that Mr. Chad is her friend, which is so cute, because she has been very timid and standoffish with him for the last year.

managed to capture this sweet moment while we waiting for the boat

Ian surfing, making it look too easy!

my little surfer dude:)

Me & Shannon with the kids

cool shot of the big girls

Emma's first time tubing! She is so brave!

We finished out the weekend swimming next door. The kids are loving the water this summer, and I am loving that it keeps them happy!

This posted out of order and I am too lazy to fix it. Isn't she a doll baby??? :)

Aimee & Nate's wedding weekend in Wisconsin

This post has been a long time coming. My beautiful cousin Aimee and her fiance, Nate were married in Wisconsin on April 2. Since we already know that I took a loooooong break from blogging, that sort of explains why this is so delayed. Also, we took a ton of pictures and it's hard to choose only a few! So I chose a bunch, and started to work on a slideshow as I usually do when I have a ton of pics. Only, I couldn't get my slideshow to cooperate so I decided to try some photo collages (click on collage to enlarge). Enough about that...
The entire weekend was perfect. We drove up (split the drive into 2 days) and Connell and Emma were great travelers. We stayed in a hotel suite and they shared a room for the first time. They really like that! We first stopped in Milwaukee to visit my Grandma and spent the night at my aunt and uncle's house.

On Friday, we drove to the resort where we would be staying for the weekend. It is a beautiful resort on Lake Michigan and has a HUGE indoor waterpark. Our kids were cRaZy excited as this was their first time to visit a waterpark.

after arriving in our suite

This is Emma with my cousin Mark (who I haven't seen since the 80s!) We had such a fun time catching up with family and cousins that we haven't seen in far too long.
I wish I had some good pictures of Connell and Chandler "rehearsing", but I don't. They were a little "skiddish" about the whole thing and I didn't want to push my luck taking photos! ;) Here they are getting "briefed" my Tim and Chris. In the end, they both did their walk down the aisle perfectly during the wedding. They are without a doubt the two cutest ring bearers I have ever seen!

Grandma and Emma before the wedding

waiting for the wedding to begin
Aimee & Nate
Their wedding took place at the prettiest little country church. It was cozy and Tim and I agreed, one of the sweetest and most beautiful weddings we have attended.

Mr. and Mrs. Charlton!!!
Mr. Ring Bearer
This is the best I could get...they weren't feeling cooperative!

This is the gorgeous view of the lake from the resort

Aunt Marge and Uncle Mike
The reception took place at the resort. Our kids had the BEST time! Emma finally passed
out at 1030!

Here are some pics from our time at the waterpark! We played Saturday morning since the wedding was in the afternoon. Connell and Emma still talk about the wedding, resort, and waterpark, and it's been months! What a wonderful weekend! We pray that Aimee and Nate are blessed with many many years of happiness and thank you for sharing your wedding weekend with us!

Parent's night out & pool fun

We had a fun weekend. Saturday night Tim and I went out with some friends that we haven't hung out with for a long time. Tim and Kelley used to work together. It was so nice to have an "adult" night out! I have some pictures on my phone but I am having a hard time getting them on the computer. Ugh!
Sunday was Taylor and Reagan's birthday so we all went swimming next door for the afternoon and then went to dinner to celebrate. They chose Red Robin, of course! :)

This is probably the last time you will see Connell with his floatie on (except for the ocean). He is officially a BIG BOY swimmer and doesn't need it anymore! Yikes!

swimming in the deep end

Connell was tired and not in the mood for a picture

Emma loves to be with the big girls!