Kenna's first (and hopefully only) piercings!

This is what she wanted for her 6th Birthday...to get her ears pierced. She picked red rubies as her studs for the next 8 weeks. She said the pink ones you couldn't see enough. There's no doubt my girl loves the "bling".

Here I am showing the lady my I.D....Why I had to show my I.D., I'm not sure. Anyway, Kenna is in the back ground anxiously awaiting getting her ears pierced.

I thought they would have done both ears at the same time since she was so little but they didn't. The first ear was done and I thought I was going to cry! Kenna didn't even bust one tear...I was so proud of her! She didn't look to thrilled about doing it again but she squeezed her eyes shut and got through it. So brave!

The finished product.

When daddy asked her how she was doing she said "I'm just glad its over." And then she wanted us to adjust the rear view mirror in the car so she could check out her new jewels on the way home.

The last day of school!

We hosted Jaxon's 2nd grade class at our house for the last day of school. Mrs. Liimakka is being swarmed by her students who are eagerly awaiting for her to open their presents.

Jaxon got her a pair of earrings!

We love Mrs. Liimakka, she's the best 2nd grade teacher ever!

KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION!

Mrs. Merkle called each of her students up in front of the class and said something very sweet and thoughtful about each student. She also picked a verse for each kid that she thought would be encouraging. She made it through the first few OK but when she got to Kenna she started to tear up. This is what she said about Kenna: "She never sought to be first or to have the best. She let others go in front and pick first, but she doesn't go unnoticed. I noticed that she is attentive and focused in class and really comes alive during recitation time. She is accurate on her work and an excellent math student. She said the worst part of kindergarten was getting up in the morning." The verse she picked for Kenna was Proverbs 22:1 "A good name is more desirable than great riches: to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."

Our sweet little graduate!

Ty and Huddy were thrilled to be there! (I have no idea what he is doing here)

We were crammed into this tiny tiny room! Good times!

We've been out of school for 1 day and Kenna has cried three times about how much she misses Mrs. Merkle and has emailed her twice already! Mrs. Merkle said that Kenna reminder her of her granddaughter who lives in England who she misses very much. That made Kenna feel special!

Upclose with Tyson

The littlest little boy in my life is the cutest brown eyed boy in my life (they all have different colored eyes!). He will be 15 months old on the 28th but he thinks he's 3 and that he should be able to do everything his older siblings do. He has big eyes like his mama and big lips like his daddy (my favorite part!). He's been a little cranky lately but he's getting his one year molars so he has the right. In the picture above you can actually see that molar trying to come through! He's stingy with his kisses so when you do get one from him you feel special!

We are the Party of 6!

I have wanted a personalized license plate for 10 years, I just never knew what to put on it! But finally I came up with something I like, and can live with and something that wont embarrass Jay!

Scrapbooking in McCall

We Moved the kitchen table to the middle of the family room so we could be close to the Tv and the fire!

The Itinerary:

Friday May 18th (Day One)

4:30pm: Leave Jay with 6 kids for the weekend and drive to McCall with my friend Stephanie. (Isn't he an amazing man!)

7:15 pm: Arrive in McCall & eat dinner at Chapala's.

8:30 pm: Let the Scrapbooking BEGIN!!!

12:00pm: Go to Bed.

Saturday May 19th (Day Two)

7:30 am: Get up, Eat Breakfast, Let the dog out, don't even shower!

8:30 am: Time to scrapbook again!

12:45 am: Break for a quick lunch at the pizza & salad bar place only 5 minutes from the house.

1:30 pm: Scrapbooking continues!

7:30 pm: Dinner time (head to Subway for a quick bite) Stephanie tells me to remind her to get gas before we leave. We are on empty!

8:00 pm: Back to the table for the night!

1:30 am: Go to bed.

Sunday May 20th (Day Three)

8:00am: Get up, eat breakfast and again don't take the time to shower...there's to much to be done!

9:00am: Settling down for the morning at the table to scrap again!

12:30 pm: Another quick lunch

1:00 pm: The last bit of scrapbooking begins.

2:30 pm: We pack it up and head back home to Boise.

5:00 pm: The Truck starts to lunge in the road! We cant believe it! We forgot to get gas! Only 1/4 of a mile down hill to Horseshoe Bend were there is a gas station. We are praising the Lord for getting us this far. We coast into the gas station and are sure we made it on the Holy Spirits fuel!!!!

5:30 pm: We make it home and Jay and the kids are happy to see us! The reality sets in....BACK TO THE REAL WORLD!

Spring Time Romance

The things I love about Spring:

1. The fact that my house doesn't look deserted anymore.
2. The kids cant wait to play outside each day, getting sunshine on their little white faces, making them look healthy again.
3. The coolness of the mornings.
4. Watching the mama robin making her nest.
5. The sound of our baby bird robins chirping in the morning.
6. The fragrance and colors of the flowers.
7. My front porch.
8. Planting flowers and watching them bloom.
9. Opening up the pool and swimming when its 80 degrees and not 110.
10. The days are longer and more is accomplished.

The spring time always reminds me of new life...the flowers the baby birds, color coming out of the brown ugliness we've seen all winter. But more than anything it makes me thankful for my new life in Christ. How my life was like a winter, dry and drab, before he became my Lord and Savior. And how kind of him to remind me of his love for me by giving me beautiful things to witness, like the spring.

I really do feel my energy come alive in the sunshine and again how that reminds me that if I walk in the Light (being Jesus Christ) I can have that energy always.

In the spring our home also comes alive. We have more people over (which I love and almost crave by this time of year), fellowshipping with those that are close to us and getting to know those we don't know so well. We BBQ a lot, feeding who ever wants to come over. We spend so much time outside that its therapeutic.

The picture below is of my front porch, one of my favorite places in the spring. Notice my beautiful hanging baskets (my Mother's Day gift). I love them! But I do hope Jay will get a drip line connected to them soon...it does get old watering them everyday! All of the other pictures below are of flowers around our property. I just wanted to share the beauty with you all!

Happy Mother's Day

The day started with breakfast in bed...of course I had already gotten in the shower so I had to get back in bed and pretend I was asleep!

My fabulous 4!

The sun was a little bright for Jaxon

Flowers and a special sign made by little people makes a mom feel special!

Mommy Bridgette with Levi & Emme Cakes.

Mommy Stephanie with Avery & Mitch

We spent Mother's day with 2 other great mommies that I know and love...Bridgette(my sister-in-law) and Stephanie (a great friend). We ate lunch at the park and the kids all played. We later went back to the house where Bridgette and I laid out by ourselves for a little while and then were invaded by the little ones who could hardly stand to not be in the pool. It was a great day. Jay & Chad also made a video for us titled "what happens when mommy is away"...it was pretty funny!

The American Goldfinch

Kenna wore this mask of the Goldfinch in front of the entire school. All by herself she recited a paragraph of information about the Goldfinch. We were so proud of her. Of course she felt right at home up on stage!

Kenna's Own Photo Shoot.

Here she is gasping in disgust!

This is her American Idol/belting out the song look.

I don't even know what to call this!

Dancing with the stars! (no we don't let her watch that)

Again....no comment.

What can I say? The girl is hilarious! She loves to take pictures, its something she does quite often, but this "photo shoot" cracked me up! She so enjoys to see what she looks like and looking in a mirror just isn't enough! She's gotta take pictures of her self to see how funny she really its! How can you not love a child like this?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its off to work we go!

TAKE YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY

Jaxon making a phone call to Mommy with Daddies cool ear piece.

Kenna's workin' hard on them there papers!

What Jay would look like everyday if he REALLY had to take the kids to work with him!

Last Wednesday was "TAKE YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY"...so that's what Jay did was take his kids (only half of them) to work for a few hours. So off to work they went at 7:30am. First stop: Fred Meyer to buy donuts and juice! Second stop: First Horizon to see what daddy does all day. And what does daddy do all day? "He works on papers and has meetings!" said Kenna. After eating their donuts and drinking their juice they emailed me and other family members, waited anxiously for emails to return, sent a fax, wrote on the white board and "worked" on papers. After being there for a few hours Jay took the two kiddo's out for a bite to eat and then back to school for Jaxon and home for Kenna. "Thank you Daddy for working so hard each day so we can have lots of fun stuff"...Jaxon