Happy Birthday Zoe!

One of the things Zoe wants to be when she grows up is a chef. So for her birthday she got lots of baking stuff, including everything she needed to make her own 3 layer cake. It turned out very cute! She also made cupcakes for everybody else. Yum!

***Happy 10th Birthday Zoe***

24 hours of Zoe. stitches, braces and a tornado!

Okay, so all of this happened about a month ago and I am just getting around to posting it. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.

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We had a crazy night! I had just dropped off Paige and Zoe at A.D.'s when a friend called and told me that a tornado was headed straight for Justin. So I quickly went back and picked up the girls. By the time we got home, the tornado sirens were going off, so we hurried up and took cover in the pantry. :) The crazy wind and rain didn't last too long, but it did knock out our electricity. And it was hot! So we made sure that the bad weather was gone and then we headed to Tads house. They still had their power on and by power I mean air conditioner! So we got over there, and we were so happy to have survived our tornado scare. Unfortunately Zoe's chin didn't survive its collision with the tile floor. So off to the E.R.

4 stitches later.
The next morning....... Now brace yourself for this next picture.
(she wanted me to include it)
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All done, and look how cute!
And here she is with her fun new haircut.

Miles is such a good teacher.

I'll be in trouble for this one in a few years!

Sorry Miles and Gray, but I couldn't resist.

Miles has a new love of relieving himself in the fresh air.

(I don't know if I would have 4 kids if my first was a boy. :) He is sooo different from his sisters! Tons of fun, just way different.)

I think this picture is so funny because Miles has a few cousins out here that are potty training this summer, and every time he's gotta go, he has an audience. I think it's peer pressure with the little boys. When Mom was out here if one of the boys said they needed to go, then it was a race! Four little boys would take off running to be the first one to the bathroom. They would each take a turn, and then hang out in there for a while comparing unders. Who was wearing Lightning McQueen? Who was wearing Mater? "Cars" is totally the happening thing in unders these days! Poor Mom. But it was really funny.

10 Years!

Ten years later and I'm still the happiest and luckiest girl in the world! Craig is so good to me. He is seriously the best! I was so in love on the day that we were married and never could have imagined loving him any more would be possible. Since then, our family has doubled, we have been sealed together and our now married eternally, and my love for this man has grown immeasurably! Not only am I so lucky to have him in my life, but our kids are so blessed to have him for a dad! I miss him every day that he has been away from home working in South Dakota, and I can't wait until he can come home and I can have him full time again! I love you Craig!

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I love this picture because in the background,look how happy my mom is! Despite the mustache, big gold chain, and Texas belt buckle on her new son-in-law, she is still so happy. :)

My dad is happy too, but for him it's all about bringing some height into the family.

I had to put this pic in there because my girls were laughing so hard at their uncles. They didn't even recognize Bobby. :)

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary
It's been TEN years----You made it
You stuck it out
You held on tight
Your not the least bit jaded

Happy Anniversary
Were now at number TEN
So stick it out for TEN more years;
And I'll send you this poem again.

I LOVE YOU

Craig

Shout-outs!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

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Grandma Charlotte was nice enough (or crazy enough) to fly out to S.D. on Friday, so that when we drove home on Saturday, I wouldn't have to do it alone again. That is a looooong drive! The kids were totally good on both drives, but it was really nice to have another adult. Thank you Charlotte!

"king of the mountain"

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And a big, big thanks to our good friends/good neighbors for their help in getting Grandma Charlotte to us!

South Dakota

WARNING! Lots of pictures :)

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Paige and Zoe being silly

This place was paradise for my little rock collector!
teeter-tottering with Grandma

there were cool little caves all over the place

Paige left some cave drawings to be found by the next explorers.

They all had so much fun with Dad.

Do you think they all made it all the way across?

Sisters..... I love it!

We were at Custer state park, looking for gold in a stream. Next thing we know, Zoe is floating away down the stream. :) The water was just a little bit chilly!

They still allow the fun metal slides out there. The kids loved them!

Seriously.....

I have the best brothers ever!!!

And they do have the greatest shoe/sock fashion sense too. :)

Since Craig has been gone, my yard hasn't suffered at all. In fact, I think it's much improved. (sorry Craig :)) Cody and Tad have been taking care of everything without any complaint. I've never even asked them either. They just do it on their own. Cody get's out there despite his fear of mosquitos and fire ants, and Tad comes over with weed killer and new trash cans. Actually I think Tad just comes over so he can have another driveway to hose down. That is definitely one of his favorite things to do! Thanks Tad and Cody. There are some fresh baked loaves of bread coming your way!

We miss this guy!

After a very long month we decided that we missed him too much, so we took a spur of the moment road trip. 18 hours later we were happily united!

We had such a great week! Lots of sightseeing; Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Black Hills....... The kids were just happy to be with their Dad again, and so was I! Stay tuned for lots more pictures and some fun little stories. :)

Zoe's Braces

before:

during:
after:
Confused?

Well..... in the first picture you can see that nice little cold sore that she has. Her ortho was afraid that with all of the stretching around in her mouth that her cold sore would split and be hurting Zoe pretty bad. So another tortuous three weeks to go until she gets her braces for real. Poor kid has been waiting forever! :) She was a little nervous this morning, but totally excited too. When we were leaving her appt. I told her that since she didn't get the colorful rubberbands on her teeth like she was expecting, I would take her to get some colorful polish on her fingernails. She loved that! She even got some cute little flowers painted on each thumbnail. She was happy that she would have something fun to show her friends when she got back to school.