Spoiled Dog..

Just look how cute they are together. Gussy just thinks he is one of the kids. He enjoys being pushed in the doll stroller, and the shopping cart. He has to sleep snuggled up with the girls. He thinks he is neglected when he has to go outside for more than a few minutes. The girls are so good about taking care of him and they feed him, give him water, and clean up after his messes. I never thought we would be a dog family, but he sure fits right in.

Marissa Turns 15..

Yes hard to believe but my little girl is now 15. Not old enough to drive or date, but old enough to have an opinion about everything! She had a big party with her dad's family. At our house we had a low key celebration and she went shopping and for dessert with Grammy.
15 things that describe Marissa are:
1 She is beautiful on the inside and the out
2 She is a hard worker
3 She is loving and helpful with her siblings
4 She has a fun personality
5 She hasn’t missed Honor Roll ever.
5 She is a beautiful dancer
6 She is sensitive
7 She is thoughtful
8 She takes things to heart
9 She is DRAMA
10 She takes things to heart
11 She remembers everything you ever promised
12 She is ditzy
13 She is a perfectionist
14 She loves to shop.
15 She is looking forward to dating and driving. Ugh!!!
Happy birthday baby girl. We love you so much and are so glad you are such a part of our family.

Back to School..

..
Yes the inevitable day arrived. Marissa is now a Sophmore. (Crazy I know!!) She was excited to get back to see her friends again. She was a little stressed over her schedule, she is taking many Honors classes. She is pretty sure she has the meanest teachers in school, becuase she already heard rumors.
Hannah is now in 3rd grade. The anxiety of school starting again is always so hard for her. We went from crying the entire first month of kindergarten, (No lie!) to first 2 weeks of 1st grade, to the first week of 2nd grade. This year she allowed me only to take a picture of her outside the door. She then went into the classroom and bravely sat down and whispered the words goodbye to me with only a glimmer of a tear in her eyes. It still breaks my heart. She did great after that and loves her teacher!

Ashlyn started 4 year old preschool. This year she is doing a double session as she stays with the preschool teacher all day on preschool days. Her teacher offered to watch her so we can keep her in preschool and she can play with her friend Izzy, the teacher’s daughter. Thanks Jonna. She loves packing her lunch like her sister’s do and loves having homework. I am pretty sure that may change later in life.

Escaping the Heat....

We also had the opportunity to visit a friend’s cabin this summer. We love to get up North and our kids always have so much fun. On our way up there we visited the Cardinal’s Training Camp. Tim loved it and the kids had a great time at the activities they had to climb on. We had some dear friends Tony and Amy come and visit us for the day while we were at the cabin. They have 2 beautiful girls and loved visiting with them. While there we took the kids fishing down the road. This wasn’t the fun, relaxing trip most have when going fishing. Ashlyn and Wesley wanted to walk along the narrow embankment, eat snacks and throw rocks into the water. Hannah was very upset at the rocks being thrown in and the noise level as she takes her fishing sport very serious. Aidan wanted to get in the water and also walk along the embankment. Needless to say at the end of the afternoon we didn’t have any fish, but did get a few bites. J Daddy and Hannah had their own special fishing trip the next morning while Aidan, Ashlyn and I had fun at the cabin. One evening we went into town and got to see a real Wild West Shootout. It was the highlight of the evening.
It was a wonderful weekend and were sad to leave. Thanks Cole family for offering up the cabin. We ALWAYS love going up there.

The Lake...

After a couple of very busy weeks we spent some time at the lake with our very good friends the I’Ansons. Tim and I took Ashlyn and Aidan and had a great time. (Marissa had plans and Hannah was still in California) It was Aidan’s first time on the lake and he loved it. He was even lulled to sleep watching Ashlyn, Erica and Nicholas on the tube. Tim and I even went out on the tube while Eric was determined to knock us off. Needless to say I stayed on so long my arms hurt and a lovely monsoon storm moved in. I really didn’t want to fall off in that choppy, dark scary water!

Nationals....

Well as Dance Recital ends the need to get ready for Nationals begin. This year the Troupe traveled to Anaheim, California to participate. It is a great team building time for the girls. This year there was a little more down time than we have had in previous years. We were able to go to the beach and bowling together. So the girls were able to make it a vacation too. The Troupe hadn’t competed in Regionals this year due to cost so we had a competition night of very few other participants against us so we could compete Nationals. We took our 3 top scores for each Troupe to Nationals. The girls did great at Nationals and even took home a few Judges’ favorite awards. Marissa's group were a bit frustrated as last minute several of their teammates did not go to Nationals for one reason or another. The girls had to spent a lot of time doing last minute changes to their dances. It was hard on them but in the end they took home straight Gold awards and one judges favorite for their lyrical dance. Great job girls. I am so proud of you!

My Baby Girl Graduated... from 3 year old preschool to 4 year old preschool.

A huge day in her life. It was very cute. She got dressed up and had to have make up, nails painted and hair curled. I am not sure if she realizes that is not all necessary when graduating from preschool, but I was happy to oblige. I think she was feeling left out as it was the same week as her sisters dance recital. During the graduation she sang many songs and was thrilled to receive the “Ashlyn movie”. (pictures of their preschool year on a DVD to songs) Congratulations baby girl I know you will do great next year too! (at the same preschool)