Aaron's Birthday!

Aaron turned one! I can't believe my Aar bear is one!  

The cake decorating didn't turn out exactly as I wanted, but it tasted good.  

We made the cake for Aaron and Jenny.  Jenny turned 31 and Aaron one so Aaron could blow out the one and Jenny the 3.  ha ha

Aaron seemed to enjoy the cake as well.

Aaron is a climber.  He is so strong, so I decided to get him a slide.

He loves it!  He climbs up the slide, and then goes down all sorts of ways.  He got some other really great gifts too.  It was fun to hang with family and celebrate with everyone.

He is waddling around more.  

He sure does make life interesting.  He has great balance and is so strong.  He can climb fences and couches.  He climbs up onto beds.  He has the stairs mastered now.  He loves people.  He loves when his brothers and sister play with him.  My older kids are so good with him, and play with him frequently.  He will light up when around a group of people.  

We start school tomorrow.  Michael made this for our anniversary.  

For our Anniversary we went on a Harbor cruise on the lake.  It was fun.

The weather was so perfect for Texas in August. Michael said he is ready for a cruise on the ocean now.  ha ha 

Busy Week!

My new niece Sariah was born.  I had the privilege of being there for her birth.  Jenny did awesome!  I am excited for the time I get to hold her.  

I also watched her boys for most of the week.  We had a good time and they definitely kept me busy.

Aaron wants to play with the big kids.  He crawls up on the window seal and dreams of one day being out there.  ha ha

Michael made me these cool lockers!  I love it!  It will be perfect for when the kids go back to school.  He made it for our anniversary.  As of today we have been married for 12 years!  Crazy.  I have booked a harbor cruise for next Friday to celebrate.

We also had a back to school gathering with neighbors last week and we had kids over for night games one night.  I didn't take any pictures, but we all had fun!  Next week will be busy too with Birthday and Meet the teacher night.  

A little bit of August

I think i mentioned that Aaron is crazy.  He has scaled this gate many times.  I finally got a pic.  You can hear him grunting and using all of  his force to pull himself up and over.  He has also started to take steps.  He has been standing for a while now. Now he will walk across the living room, but still prefers to crawl when in a hurry.

The kids all wanted a watch that keeps track of steps.  I happened to be in the 99 cents store and came across these.  They have loved watching their step count and telling the time.  They love competing with us and how many steps we take.

Also great news my my Mom just got hired to teach 2nd grade in Dallas!  I am so excited for her and her new students to be.  

Finishing up July

After Evan found his painted rock, the kids decided it would be fun to paint rocks too.  They each painted several rocks.  They had a good time.

Leah and I had our one on one time this month.  I took her to get nails done.  She was really shy but enjoyed it.  She surprised me when she picked blue sparkles instead of pink.  Aunt Jenny came too, because what pregnant lady doesn't need a pedicure.  ha ha

Aaron is always unloading bookshelves and cupboards.  He is scaling the baby gate to go up the stairs.  I just get nervous with him going down the stairs.  I think he can come down safely but I get nervous.  If he is determined to do something, nothing will stop him.  He doesn't forget or get distracted from it either.  It should get really interesting as he gets older.  ha ha

I find him in the oddest places.  He loves to explore.  I found in sitting in a roasting pan, and ever so proud of himself.  He is standing on his own and will take a few steps here and there.  He has not decided to walk yet, but it shouldn't be too long.  

Earlier in July Joshua got a pallet expander put in.  He wasn't too excited about it, but he is doing great with it.

There are three key holes that I have to turn twice a week.  I am grateful that they don't bother him too much.  

DC West Reunion

We went to Maryland and stayed in a hotel for a few days. Jennifer fed us on Sunday and Monday night.  We had great food all reunion. On the first day of the West Reunion we parked at Arlington Cemetery and walked over to the monuments.

We headed over the FDR first.  The famous Elanor is over there.  

Joshua and Dallin have both done projects on the WWII memorial so they were all excited to see it in person.

Evan was dancing with the duck.  It was so cute.

FDR posing with the dog.

WWII memorial posing by Texas.

WWII memorial posing by Idaho.

Martin Luther King Jr monument is really neat as well!

We made it to the Lincoln Memorial.  

Proof we were there.  It was so hot and sweaty.  lol

Great view and the kids did pretty good with all of that walking.

One night we had dinner at one Jonathan's house.  They set up a slip and slide.  We had snow cones and face painting.   

They also did laser tag.  My kids were in heaven!

Evan loved all of their toys!

We headed to Baltimore on the third day.

We went to the National Aquarium.  It was really neat.

I took three with me.  It was dark and crowded in there.  I was afraid of losing kids so we went ahead a little bit.

We caught the dolphin show.  It was super neat!

We checked our the sub.

 Proof we were all there.

This actually happened on the second day.  The kids were tired of walking so they opted to go on the bounce house.  

 The kids had a great time playing with their Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.

Later they went on paddle boats.  They enjoyed them!

The final day we did picnic in the park.  The kid had a blast.  It was sad leaving all the cousins, but we left with great memories.  

Happy Birthday Dallin!

We celebrated Dallin's birthday at Kira's house.  We got him a ice cream cake.  We ate pizza and donuts for breakfast.  We went to the zoo and Air and Space Museum.  It was a great day!

Dallin is a great athlete.  He has determination and competitiveness that is very admirable.  He is thoughtful and speaks his mind.  He can be shy and needs his breaks from crowds and people.  He always listens to his teachers in church and school.  He may complain about his chores but he will always do them and do them well.  We are so glad he is a member of our family.  We love you Dallin. Happy Birthday!

Visiting the Browns

We arrived 5 minutes before I told kira we would.  We had to wait for her to get home, so we played with her outside toys.  Aaron muscled his way up the slide.  I am amazed by his determination and strength.  

It was so nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

We finally got to meet Calvin.  He is so cute and even let me pick him up on first meeting.  ha ha

We got a tour of a battlefield.  It was hot, but we enjoyed the tour.

This wall is the original wall still standing for the Civl War.

My boys and their guns.  They are very interested in history especially the battles.

We had to stand in front of the cannon.  

We went to the zoo.  The kids had a great time looking at all of the animals.

The kids loved to take a break in the shade.

We got to see the pandas.  I have never seen the pandas so it was fun!

We rode the Metro to the Air and Space Museum.  

The kids love their airplanes.

They loved the Metro.  They thought it was pretty fun to be so far below ground.  We don't have basements here, where we live, so it was neat for them to go below.

We played some Uno, and ate lots of yummy food!

We checked things out at the National Mall.

Evan found a painted rock at church.  He was so proud of it.

All of us outside Church.

We did a rope climb.  It was so fun!

I loved watching my kids work together and overcome their fears.  Thanks Kira and family for such a fun time!