Book of the Month

Ive been in a book club for 3 years now and it has been a really great thing for me. Since I don't love to read this has given me a deadline and others to hold me accountable. It started when the church we use to go to split and there were a few of us who wanted to stay connected but had chosen to go to different churches. Since then we have added and lost people but all in all we tend to have great discussions and its just a good time of being with the girls! This months book (LIES WOMEN BELIEVE and THE TRUTH THAT SETS THEM FREE) has been awesome. I am only half way through it but it has encouraged me and inspired me to live my life for the Lord with out believing lies about life (God, myself, sin..etc). I would HIGHLY recommend it if you are a believer and I would even recommend it to anyone who is searching for peace in their life. Really all women should read it. It will cause you to think good and hard about your purpose in life. If you do read it let me know. Id love to hear what you think. Also I think I'm going to list my book club books each month, so stay tuned for Septembers book!

As I was walking into Target today to buy underware...

there was another family walking towards the entrance from the other side of the parking lot. The mom looked about my age and she had 4 kids close to the same ages as mine...except that she had 3 girls and a boy. I smiled at her and she smiled at me as if we knew what the other one was thinking. But as I watched her 3 girls interacting I thought about my Kenna. Being the only girl in our family people often give her the "oh, your the only girl" look as if to say "good luck". Or she gets the "are you sad you don't have a sister?" question. Its to bad that grown ups don't do just that and...grow up. She is my daughter, my one and only and I praise God for her everyday. She will be strong, protected and loved by the men in her life and she will be a lady. I'm sure having a sister is a nice thing but this is the family God gave her...she is not missing out. And this is exactly how we will raise her. To be content with the life God has given her and to make the best of every situation even if the world says its not ideal. She has been blessed with girlfriends...she's not lacking in female companionship. And one day when she has sister-in-laws she will have sisters. I never had a sister and I never felt like I was missing out until people started feeling sorry for me. But that only lasted a few minutes...I'm not going to be sad over something I cant control and I want Kenna to feel the same way...Like God is in control, not her. The Lord has blessed my life with many sister-in-laws, some of which are now my best friends, and he has given me 3 other women in my life who are my "sisters". I praise HIM for these relationships every day. I am not an angry mom writing this...just passionate about the things we say to kids that can affect them for life. So the next time you want to feel sorry for a little girl who has all brothers or a brother who has all sisters try and look for the positive in the situation, because there situation is the way God planned it...who's going to mess with that!

Signed,
A mom who loves her daughter

The Cheesecake Factory

Yesterday, Jaxon & Hudson both had sleepovers so we just had Kenna & Ty. Kenna has been asking for 6 months if we would take her to the Cheesecake Factory...so we decided to surprise her and take her for her first Cheesecake Factory experience. I had a babysitter for the day so I called her and told her the plan and she screamed so loud my left ear is still ringing! The babysitter helped get her all dressed up so when I got there to pick her up she had a dress on with her hair and nails all done up! It was so cute! On the drive over to the restaurant she said "Mommy are you going to teach me how to eat at a fancy restaurant...you know...all the manners I need?" I cracked up! Where she ever got the idea that the Cheesecake Factory was fancy I don't know. But she was awed by the tall ceilings and all the cheesecake! It was really fun. She acted like a little princess the whole time and we played it up the best we could. She ordered a tropical smoothie for starters, chicken strips and fries for dinner (with all those choices she chose what she always chooses!) and cheesecake for dessert! She stuffed herself and said that next time she wouldn't eat as much chicken!!!! HA HA HA!!!

She sat by daddy for dinner....

And sat by Mommy for dessert!

The New and Improved!

I was tired of (and never really like it in the first place) the template that I use to have for my blog. But look out! I'm lovin' it now! And even if I didn't love it, I wouldn't fess up cause it took me tooooooo long to get it this way! hee hee! =)

Kenna's first Golf Class

Kenna is all about doing what her family does. And if its golf... then so be it! Missy Moo had her first golf camp this week and she is doing great! Jaxon is the Jr. Instructor for her class and she thinks that is the GREATEST thing in the world. I'm so proud of her for learning! Maybe one day our Party of 6 will hit the courses together!

Day One of Golf Camp!

Kenna & Jaxon swinging the club together

Good form for a 6 year old!

Kenna was so proud to be called Jaxon's little sister. All the Pro's know Jaxon and made sure they teased Kenna because she was his sister...she loved it!

Horse Race Tournament

Jaxon played in a Jr. Golf Tournament yesterday and Jay, Me and Kenna went and watched it. It was fun to follow him around and watch his every shot! Here are some pictures from the day.

Jaxon's fan club!

Cascade Camping Trip

This is now the 3rd year in a row that we have camped with our good friends the Moffatt's, Dykstra's & O'Hara's. The Smith's (our new family ministries pastor) came up and spent one day with us also. It was a lot fun! We rented wave runners this year and had a blast playing in the water. The Whites showed up with the Beaumont's boat so we got to water ski too! Lake Cascade was about 80 degree's which made it even more fun to be in the water. No camp fires were allowed so we sat around in the dark after the kids went to bed and talked...a little strange, but hey, you do what you can!

The Hughes at Lake Cascade

The whole group minus Howard & Carris

Ty "trying" to get to sleep in the camper.

Kenna & Mommy trying to stay cool in the shade.

This is David O'Hara swinging Kenna around. Linda (his wife) was out of town so he came up on his own! We called him the "Camp Pa" all weekend. He is so great with the kids but Kenna and Katy were at his side the whole weekend! He even let Kenna drive the wave runner. The first thing he said when they got back to shore was "this one's gonna be trouble!" She was driving at top speed the whole time!

Huddy didn't like the water so much...anytime waves came up on shore he would freak out! He thought they were going to knock him over. He warmed up to a little but he preferred to be playing in the sand.

Me, Jaxon & Jay on the wave runner.

Tyson, digging in the sand.

Carris & Howard and the Dykstra's. Howard and Carris were great with the kids too! I think we hired the right couple for family ministries. They really ministered to us this weekend!

Even Ty wanted on the wave runners!

My Handsome Huddy is 3!

Its so hard for me to believe that my little blue eyed boy is 3! And a big 3 year old he is. Just in the last few weeks he has decided (since he's 3) that he should do more big boy things like going potty in the big potty! Yippee...did you hear me? YIPPEEEEEEE! And he is doing so good! Like most things in his life HE has to decide HE's going to do it...there is no persuading him otherwise. But thank goodness he decided sooner than later that being potty trained was something HE could do! He also started putting his shoes on, clearing his plate from the table, cleaning up his room with out help from mommy, and sleeping without a shirt on...he said "that's what big boys do!".

For his birthday we got him a "manly" jeep (he's been driving Kenna's pink Barbie jeep...so Jay wasn't opposed to getting him a boy one.) He LOVES it. He gets up each morning, eats breakfast and is out the door before I can wipe his mouth off...He rides it each day until it runs out of batteries! We went camping with the Moffatt's and Dykstra's, O'Hara's and Smith's for his B-day so we brought party supplies up to the lake and celebrated there. It was great fun!


I just love this little guy...he tugs at my heart in such a special way. I feel privileged to be his Mommy and to have him in my life. Happy Birthday my Handsome! Mommy Loves You!

The Manly Jeep!

Hudson with his Lightning McQueen Cake....or "liking the Queen" as Huddy calls him!

Hudson couldn't wait to go "camping with the Moffatt's" for his birthday and here is the proof!

The kids singing "Happy Birthday" to Hud.

Hudson got more "CARS" for his big day...he played with them all weekend!

Vacation Bible School

Jaxon, Kenna and even Hudson went to Vacation Bible School last week at our church. They had a great time learning about he "hero's" in the bible. Our church has so many 2 & 3 year olds that they even had a class for them. Huddy loved it! He wanted to know when he was going to see the "dogs" again...I finally figured out that he was talking about the puppets in the puppet show. I'm thinking he didn't get that one of them was David and one was Goliath...just dogs! I helped with registration and music so I was around the whole time watching my kids interact with others...that is such a fun thing to do...spy on your kids when they aren't looking! you learn a lot about them.

Here the kids are singing their little hearts out!

Jaxon spinning around 5 times with his head on the bat during games...he managed to not fall down!

This picture was not on purpose. The kids were praying at the end and I took a picture of Kenna and the sun beamed in on her has I was taking the picture. The Lord really must be hearing her prayers! Actually, she is so sensitive to the Lord and her prayers are ALWAYS heartfelt and meaningful. No, "thanks for my family and the food"...there's always more to her prayers.

This is the 2's & 3's class...Huddy is against the door on the right side of the picture (green shirt).

The Days After

The morning after the 4th the guys saddled up and rode away for a 3 day motorcycle ride get away. They headed east and rode through Yellowstone. Here they are with their bikes and the glorious Sawtooth mountains.

The morning after mom and I cleaned up the 4th of July mess and took the rest of the day off. But the next day we met up with the other wives of the bikers and headed down town to 8th street. 9 women...13children...it was best if we kept our activities outdoors. =)

They had many meals together...just the guys

We had one meal together...just the girls
Their "Old Faithful" ...the geyser...not my dad, although he is faithful too!
Our "Old Faithful" The kids had a blast cooling off in the 100 degree weather by running through the downtown fountain.

Its always fun to see the guys ride off...what a fun thing to do together each year...but its ALWAYS good to see them come home safe and sound...and to hand the kids off to them immediately! Just kidding! Till next year!

4th of July

I have to TRY and keep up with my brother's artsy fartsy-ness!

An all American Boy!

April, Me & Steph (two of my greatest friends in the world!)

Little Levi...I love this little sweety pie!

Ty Ty all decked out in his patriotic gear. (Jaxon & Hudson both wore these shorts!)

What's the 4th of July with out LEMONADE! Kenna and her friends made sure everyone had enough lemonade to last the whole day!

Hoops anyone? How about a short game and then a dip in the pool!

Time to Grub!

I think this is Tyson's 4th piece of watermelon!

Coolin' off in the pool

Don't shoot!

Another sweet nephew of mine...Jaser's! (sweet goggles!)

My little brother Josh and his bitty girl... Ella Bean.

He looks like he's having fun but this didn't last long...a bit of sparkler landed on his foot and made him cry...I know...why didn't this kids mom put shoes on him first?

Everybody loves sparklers...even the mommies!

Jaxon does everything with intensity!

Mommy & Moo Moo enjoying the show!

Since I am 100% relational, I have officially decided that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday! What more could a social girl want...sunshine, family & friends, BBQ, music, a swimming pool and fireworks to end the day! I love it!

This year we had about 55 people at our place to hang out for HOURS! I so carefully put together a play list of fun summertime songs that we listened to and some of us danced to the entire day (we only got half way through too...I guess I'll have to save the rest for next years party!). We BBQ'd beef and chicken skewers and we had a spread of sides to die for. Very delicious! We played fun games in the pool with the kids and we even had a chicken fight (Hughes vs. Moffatts)! Once it got dark we headed to the front yard and did fireworks in the street. Mainly sparklers since the tanks that the Crockers brought were shooting AT the crowd instead of away from the crowd! Some of our neighbors bought the "good" fireworks so again this year we had an awesome firework show in our own back yard. There was even some patriotic singing near the end...GOOD TIMES!