Bathing Beauties

So, Kristen may not have sisters, but she has lots of cousins and she loves them! We had many of her cousins over one afternoon to swim and she was very excited to wear her matching swim suit. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. They looked so cute.
The girls were happy to show off their muscles. I love how Julia's face is scrunched up in her effort to really flex that bicep! What fun to live so close to cousins!!

Idaho Fun

We had a great time in Idaho visiting family. The kids were thrilled to spend time visiting with cousins that they don't see often enough!
Jamie and her cuties, Maleah and Alise

This is the only evidence that I was even there, courtesy of Kristen.

Aunt Denise

Mom busy in the kitchen. We ate very well during our stay and Chris mentioned that he never felt hungry once on the trip.

Callie is such a cutie and always generous with smiles!

Beautiful Alise, also very photogenic

Chris and Gregg just hanging out

The kids decided to use the Jenga blocks as dominoes and built all sorts of things to watch fall.

My kids plus their Idaho cousins

Funny face time

On the way home, we ate at Burger King and Kristen proudly wore her crown the rest of the way home. I couldn't resist snapping a shot of her while she watched a movie.

It was a quick, but very fun trip. The kids really miss their cousins and it's great to see them get along so well when they get together.

Kristen Turns 5!!! (July 18th)

This birthday was all about Princesses and so Kristen requested a Disney Princess cake this year. This is just before her friends and their families came over for a swim party.

Kristen loves swimming and just recently has discovered the fun of the diving board.

Blowing out candles

Some of the kids enjoying the cake and ice cream

The next day, we celebrated with family. Kristen got this crown from her friend the day before and wore it around proudly for most of the day. It was pretty cute!

So..... here's 5 things about Kristen I want to share.

1. Kristen is persistent, and has been since she was born. When she wants something, she'll work on it, or bug you for it until she gets it!

2. Kristen loves to swim. She is my fishy and has loved the water since she was a baby. She swims around the entire pool and we have to force her to get out when it's time.

3. Kristen is sharp! She can already count to 100 and knows all her letters and phonetic sounds. She is ready for kindergarten!

4. Kristen has already lost 2 teeth! She is the earliest of all my kids to lose her first teeth!

5. Kristen loves her older brothers! She calls Nathan and Grant "my boys" and wants in on all the action that they get into. Consequently, she loves Star Wars and can burp quite well!

Happy Birthday Kristen Grace! We love you!!!

Sugar Bears Swim Team

The kids at a meet, hanging out with some cousins. Having cousins made it so fun!!

Nathan was too tired to be part of the picture. It was almost 110 degrees that weekend.

Nathan about to race backstroke. He can really cook doing backstroke!!

Grant ready to take off for his race!

Swimmers, take your marks, GO!!!!

Nathan Turns 10!!!! (June 26th)

It is so hard to believe that Nathan is 10 now! It means that I must be getting older, but I sure don't feel like it. Nathan had a small party with some of his friends. And of course, we once again had to have a worm cake. The kids love them.

So, in honor of Nathan turning 10, here are 10 things you may not know about him:

1. Nathan is very kindhearted. He gets along with pretty much everyone.

2. Nathan is very artistic and draws much better than I ever will be able to.

3. Nathan loves to cook and bake. He makes his own eggs, smoothies, and has recently started baking banana bread, cookies, etc all from scratch. And they turn out awesome.

4. Nathan is a fast swimmer and really improved his times this swim season. He is especially good at backstroke and freestyle.

5. Nathan still loves to snuggle up with his mom. I wonder how much longer I'll get to enjoy that.

6. Nathan is a pretty sharp guy. School has always come easy to him, and he's a great reader.

7. Nathan loves learning about animals and wants to become a vetrinarian when he grows up.

8. Nathan loves looking at and reading encyclopedias. No joke, he can look at them for hours when we are travelling saying things like, "did you know that state flower for such and such is so and so?" He finds such facts fascinating.

9. Nathan is a great big brother and likes to help his siblings, most of the time.

10. Nathan is learning piano and has a natural knack for it. When he practices, I'm amazed at how well he plays.

Happy Birthday Nathan! We love you!!!!

Nathan & Grant Finish School

The following week was busy with field trips and last minute running around for teacher's gifts, etc. It was a relief when school actually got out!! Grant had two great teachers in first grade.

Nathan finished 4th grade and had a great year with his teacher as well. I can't believe he's a 5th grader now. Time sure has flown!!

Going Back: School's Out!!

I've been so busy this summer that catchup is going to take a while, so let's start at what we consider the start of summer: School's Out!!

Kristen finished preschool a week before the boys got out, and she was very excited! It meant that Kindergarten was her next step in her education and she can't wait!! Here is pictures with Miss Veronica her teacher and Miss Shema the director. Both were awesome and we couldn't have had a better preschool experience!!