Camping

Parker's 1st Birthday

No No No!!!!! I deleted all his Birthday Party Pictures! Why oh why!? I'm hoping that they will spring up somewhere. In the meantime, Mom, Beth, Kari, and Meredith - send me what you have on your phones. PLEASE!!!

Christian Turns 8. What in the world?!

This Birthday freaked me out a bit. I have an 8 year old. My son is 8 years old. I just gave birth to him yesterday. What happened?

He is our Lego maniac. I suppose most boys have an engineers mind but he is bigger and better. Well, I may be bragging a bit. Let me restate: He seems to have a natural talent and desire to build, construct, and test limits. We are continually impressed with his structures. So of course he wanted to have a lego party...at the skating rink.  Can I just be frank here?  I get grossed out at our local skating rink. It smells. It has low ceilings. It is old. And it makes me feel dirty. Our children LOVE it. Oh my word! Why?! I get it, we live in a small town. It's all we have. I know I know. It was hard for me to agree to this. He loved it, and so did all the other kiddos. I'm hoping this means we never have to do it again, ever. 

Enough of the gross skating rink, let me tell you a little about this sweet soul we have been entrusted with. 

He has remained responsible, and caring. A new side of him has developed. Christian has become the household prankster. Just yesterday morning he was telling me about how he set booby traps all around Jacks be while he was sleeping. Isn't that mean?! He turns all the lights off and leaps out from closets, corners, or under furniture to get a scare. He enjoys sneaking around and spying on us. He laughs a lot more than he ever has and his laugh has changed. It's hard to describe but it's more grown up. He gets wise cracks and sarcasm now. I've caught him using it too. He loves loves loves Parker. Oh my goodness he is going to be the best Daddy ever!  He is still a sharp shooter and has received awards for his long bow competitions. Christian, as mentioned above, is constantly looking to build. Not just legos, he will use anything. I've passed out all our old sheets to be using as roofs for forts and a Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Often, he asks for nails, hammers, or scrap wood. He enjoys his pocket knife and carving wood. Oh, and he would spend an entire day painting or doing crafts. All in all, he is a pretty cool kid and fun to be around. It's been a new side of parenting that I've enjoyed.

Summer Beach Trip

My Darlings

I remember taking naps on my Daddy. Making memories.

He was sooo excited about this tiny piece of sea weeed.

This is Christian's Signature Smile. You will see it often.

No vacation is complete without miniature golf.

This is the influence of Beth Cole.

Haha! This look cracks me up!

Being silly in front of the swamps. Although I may look carefree, this truly terrified me. I have a death fear of alligators. They eat children. No lie.

Thumb sucker!!!

...and Aaron's eyes were closed. Shucks.

We (Aaron) spends hours upon hours on the the beach creating "stuff" This was one of the last ones he did before we left. I didn't get pictures of the others. The spiked head was my idea. :)

4th of July