Random things

My first attempt at a crocheted ski mask for Adam

chunk of icicle from our church building!

Adam's Crimson Cruiser (on left) came in 3rd place at the Pinewood Derby this year in our church's cub scout group (of about 25-30 cub scouts)!

Last single digit

We didn't take very many photos of his birthday last month, but he is loving his birthday gifts: games for our new wii, and Calvin and Hobbes comic books :) He even gets up early in hopes to play Lego Batman before school. He gets ready independent of me, breakfast and all. I hope he's getting enough sleep.

it's a box!

We opted to celebrate with doughnuts instead of cake...less work for me again, yea!

Adam's last year to be a single digit ;)

Back to School!

Impromptu family shot...my how our numbers have grown since we moved here 4 yrs. ago!

We've been trying to capture that sweet smile of his. Gotta love the double chin :), chubby cheeks, and peach-fuzz head, etc.

I love it when they giggle together.

K's first day of first grade. She looks like she's ready to conquer school. A's a 3rd grader now! When did they get so old? Last week was a breeze with no homework. Do you think they'll be ready to hit the books this week?

Summertime activities

Last night he attended the graduation dinner for the residents who have completed their residency. He'll be done next year! This year is going to fly!

Matt not only works all day, but also all night, too! He recently painted the downstairs! Yea for paint and determined husbands ;) I don't know if he took any photos of it.

Adam still enjoys his grandma-made cape :)

After playing at the park, the kids crashed...Kaitlyn eventually made it to the couch!

Adam enjoyed playing with his food and created a pretzel alien during lunchtime.

During our slumber party, we let the kids stay up to watch a movie. About halfway through, we glanced over at Raquel to find her asleep with her shirt on her head! It made us laugh.

A couple of years ago, we tried our hands at tie-dye with t-shirts. And we decided this time we'd experiment with different staining foods like berries. The kids had a blast and loved tasting the edible paint! We also used some food coloring. We'll see if it stains or not. I've put them in the dryer, but haven't washed or rinsed yet.

Slumber party!

Wrestling with Daddy or doing the "Superman!"

Reading library books and sleeping.

We've been told that rhubarb helps move pregnancies along, so I made a pie. It was yummy!

The end of school...the kids picked roses to give to their teachers, and Kaitlyn even made a book to say "Thank You."

This has been our best strawberry year thus far. We've picked two good batches of them from our little patch next to our house and made yummy milk shakes, and also cobbler. Kaitlyn probably did the most picking :)

As you might have noticed, I've got baby on the brain...Here's what the rest of us have been up to...

At the Memorial Day picnic, Sierra's posing on the left, prior to the water-balloon fight.

April---Easter and Spring Break

[These are a bit out of order. I can't figure out how to rearrange the photos!]

I just wanted to thank my mom and my mother-in-law for helping me during my solo period :). This past week was great. Thank you for being you and for all you do!

Grandma Ripp arrived Monday night.! Yea! Sadly, the next day Matt had to fly back to D.C. for the second half of his 4-wk. training. We miss you! Later we headed to my parents', i.e. Grandma Mac's house!

While in Indy, we had another egg hunt with Steve and Juli's family. I didn't take very good photos, but I think Steve probably did. And we enjoyed a yummy homemade pizza and bread sticks lunch that Steve made. And Grandma Mac's yummy apple crisp, too!

Grandmas read the best stories :)

Grandpa and Grandma Mac- they still got it ;)

Thank you for having us! We enjoyed our visit.

I wanted to get a photo in our church clothes; Kaitlyn had already changed and did not want to join us. Sierra was being antsy, too.

Outside the art museum, there are a bunch of numbers...thought it'd be fun to get photos of the kids by their ages. The younger two were asleep.

At the Children's museum, we got to see a new Barbie exhibit. The girls loved it. [Adam and Grandma Ripp went to the Science Works area instead.] The girls enjoyed designing, selecting, and putting the clothes on the dolls, as well as a stroll down the runway and talking on the phone.

We saw a show while at the museum, Jack and the Bean Stalk. I got almost everyone in the photo--Sierra, Steve and Juli, Cali, Eli, Grandma, Grandma Ripp and Adam on the row above, where I was sitting with Raquel and Kaitlyn.

Right before entering the museum...Adam monkeying around. R didn't want to be in the picture.

Raquel was so excited to go to the "Dinosaur Museum with Grandma"...here she is in the dino dig area, all smiles. The highlight of our visit to the museum for me was going down the slide (from level 2 to the main entrance level 1)! We also rode the carousel.

It's cousin Eli, with the same birthdate :)

I was trying to get a shot of her sitting on Grandpa's lap 'cause it was so cute, but by the time I got the camera she had already gotten down. S would come up to him when he was standing and just hug his legs. So adorable. Grandma, on the other hand, got more of a cold shoulder from S. I think S was worried that I would leave her there again.

Easter weekend, Matt was home! Yea! We had a fun ward activity with breakfast eating, diorama making (3-d scenes in a shoebox), and egg hunting. And it's always so wonderful to be able to listen to General Conference at home. Except for the fact that I was so tired, I fell asleep and missed some of it. Oh well. We also colored hard-boiled eggs and had our own hunt at home. Fun traditions. Some not-so-fun things were Raquel and Sierra getting sick. Luckily, it was short-lived and Matt was there to help!

Waiting with anticipation for Adam to join them and start hunting for eggs!

I think Adam enjoyed hiding eggs for his sisters more than finding them.

Kaitlyn's a great hunter.

I love the excitement on Raquel's face!

Sierra wasn't quite sure what was going on. She needed mom and dad to coach her along. And what sports the sickies were. I think this was before she emptied her bulging stomach onto the grass.

Sierra being a mooch, swiping some of her friend's candy

Raquel and Kaitlyn with some friends from church