Happy Birthday Adam!!!

Happy Birthday Adam!!
Sixteen and never been sweeter;)
Wow, crazy to have a sixteen year old! He took drivers ed with school first semester and learned lots of safety and road rules; however, will stick to back seat driving! He is looking forward to taking the 4-wheeler test this summer though, as he might enjoy driving around legally. He only drives that about 9 miles an hour though, so luckily he has never bucked Luke off! Adam is a generous and thoughtful boy. We are glad he can take his first garage class next year, he has a natural knack for mechanics. He will be working VBS again this year too in the kitchen, his favorite station! Someday he'll be baking me a double layer chocolate cake!! Happy birthday, son, we love you and cherish you. May the Lord guide your year and hold you close as you continue into life and learning! Happy Birthday Adam!!

Happy Birthday Reany!!

Reany turned 9 on May 5th!! The lovely tatoo was her doing at family fun night, her choice to celebrate the night before her birthday. She is growing up too quick!! It is so amazing to watch her grow and succeed. Virtual twins, her and Libby have been together since 18 months and it is incredible to witness their love for each other, their bond and communication is really neat. Reany is an all star athlete! She is becoming so responsible, the other day we had a really late night and I hadn't told the kids but I was planning on bringing them to school, she got up on her own and was waiting for the bus when I got up to cancel the ride! I guess she is college bound! Yea!! She is a delightful and beautiful girl we are blessed to parent. Reany, may the Lord bless you and keep you all the year through and show you great things in the year to come!

Happy Birthday Libby!

Libby turned 9 on April 30th. Nine!! Seems like just yesterday she was a baby! Now she is growing up into a beautiful young lady. She wanted to wear her pretty dress for school, and was sporting her new shoes too. She wanted keens for "years!" She also was quite animate about wanting to go to Ihop for her birthday. I don't think it lived up to the expectation though, but we had a good time. It is interesting going to a restaurant with wait staff though, this crew is used to buffet and drive through!!
Libby is an amazing girl full of inspiration and imagination. She wants to be a doctor, hair stylist, and a teacher when she grows up. Not sure how that fits into a day, but if there is a way she will figure it out! I am leaning towards presidency myself:) She presented her first power point yesterday and is loves to read and create. We love you so much and we pray that God will continue to bless you in amazing ways. The last year of single digits, make it a good one!!

...cousins...

Easter Sunday. We call it Resurrection Sunday for what it is, we don't care for the extra fluff (aka Easter bunny and all the other rifraf materialistic traditions. We do hide a gift for the kids or do a family gift to their rising that morning. This year they all got something with wheels, the older kids got some sole skater boards (thanks shopko 80% off last year,) while Noah got rollerblades and Naomi the little doll stroller (thanks toys'r'us freebie when we bought her birthday dolly.) We wound up skipping church, as it was too rushed to make it over to the family celebration at Bridget's. We had a great time though and here are the girls up on a fort top, having a great time. We would love to have land someday, but in the mean time take what visiting that we can get!!



Man's Men: Noah and Henry, getting a little game on- these boys are so cute together!


Naomi giving her loves to Emmett. These are Ryan's adorable boys, who will be big brothers in November! We are so happy for them!



Emmett giving his loves to baby Lillie.


Lillie and Sophia (Jenny's baby) are 3 weeks apart. Probably because of the postpartum brains times 2, this was their first picture together, but there will be plenty more, so that's okay. They look about the sames size here even!

A brother and the baby in a bonnet is worth the shot.


Lillie is reading already!! We are so blessed with smart kids!!


Naomi and her friend Will on the little couch.
We splurged and got her a new little couch,
the other one balanced the cost
effectiveness because it
was $2 at a sale.

Naomi is such a love ham!!


These little strollers must hold all their owners,
good thing dad did a good fix job when it broke
shortly after her sitting in it on day one.

GOING PUBLIC:

We are expecting!!
A 12 year old boy. Shame on IA DHS for not giving him to us in the first place. Shame on the family that made his life worse and gets to keep a lone sibling. This is real people. There are THOUSANDS of kids in the US that do not have a family that wants them. I am so happy my boy is coming home, and life will be redefined as we know it. I am so glad God knows what he's doing, clearly I don't!! So don't pat my tummy, he's well and waiting for us to love and provide to him like he never knew. Thank you Jesus, once we didn't know if we'd see him again. Maybe I will write a book...in my free time!