2010 Flashback

I can hardly believe that it has been an ENTIRE year since baby Zane was born! This year has gone by so quickly that I felt the need to think back on everything that has happened over this past year.

Jan. 2010 ~ Welcoming baby Zane to the family and trying to make it to all of those doctors appointments that come along with having a new baby. My mom and dad were here, staying with Aunt Virgina for several months. We got reconnected with all the Randall family -- yay!! Ben, Joanna (Pregnant with Micah), Elijah, and Jonah came to meet the baby for the first time. We have not seen them since January but they are planning to move back to AZ very soon, and we are so excited!!

Feb. 2010 ~ Zack's birthday was on Super Bowl Sunday! My little football boy!! According to my calendar, I must have been very into the Bachelor. I have it written down every Monday so I wouldn't forget to watch ... ha ha ha! Still enjoying my maternity leave.

Mar. 2010 ~ Kaelyn turned 8 years old!! Where did the last 8 years go?? I went back to work on the 1st after having 12 weeks off. My cousin, Kelli, offered to watch the baby for me which was the hugest blessing to Zane and our family. I was going through some very difficult times at work and it was such an amazing blessing not to have to worry about finding a daycare. My mom and dad went back to Indiana on the 10th of March. We are really missing them and looking forward to seeing them back in AZ really soon. Their house if for sale and its just a matter of time now! Can't wait. Baby Micah was born on St. Patricks Day! I still have not met him. I'll meet him for the first time in January ~ yay!! Soccer season started up this month for both Kaelyn and Zack. And finally, my lovely sister Jill and Caleb came out to visit me for a week! It was so nice to have her, but I was working while she was here.. ugh!

Apr 2010 ~ Mike turned 37 and I turned 33! Oldies!!!! Jill and Caleb were here to celebrate Easter with us at Polly's house. More difficult stuff going on at work, but I'm trusting God with all I have and holding on to the promise that His plans for me are good. Now that I'm on the other side of that "mountain" I have an amazing testimony.

May 2010 ~ School is out for Kaelyn & Zack. My CCS journey comes to an end, and we are looking forward to a great summer.

June 2010 ~ I was hired on with the Alhambra Elementary School District which as turned out to be a dream come true. I love everything about my job! I am confident that God has put me exactly where he wants me. Kaelyn attended Day Camp at Pure Heart Christian Fellowship (our church) for a week. Lots of good times!! We went to the Marriott for Father's Day! We had a blast, thanks Darcie! I took a summer Bible study at my church on the book of Esther. Good stuff! We went to Slide Rock for the first time with my cousin Jenny, her kids, her nephew, and mother-in-law.

July 2010 ~ Gramma Melody came for a visit. I don't know how she always manages to come for a visit and leave without me getting any pictures of her ... no more, I tell you!! The kids and I drove to California to visit my friend Stacie for a couple days. I started New Hire training classes (SFA reading program) the last week of July while Mike and the kids went to California for a week with Polly and Marlon. They got to stay in an amazing beach house and have the time of their lives. They made some great memories and I am so thankful that they were able to go (even though Zane and I had to stay home for my training).

Aug. 2010 ~ Kaelyn and Zack go back to school. Kaelyn's first day of 3rd grade and Zack's first day of Kindergarten. My amazing friend, Valerie, starts watching Zane for me during the day while I work. It has been such a blessing to us to have Valerie help take care of our baby boy. He is the happiest baby you could ever meet (SERIOUSLY) and I know that she contributes a lot to his happy little personality. I hope God blesses her tremendously for the gift she has given to us. Darcie turns 30 years old and we celebrate in Scottsdale .. still thinking about that restaurant .. delish!! Mastro's City Hall is outstanding!

Sept. 2010 ~ Kelli had a Labor Day BBQ ... we always have so much fun at her house. Got to reconnect with more cousins ... such an amazing thing ... family!! Kaelyn and Zack started Awana (church group) and I started another Bible study on Wednesday nights. In the moms group we worked through a book called Tender Mercies. It was fantastic! I would highly recommend it for mothers. Mike got to go to a Raiders game (his fave team)!

Oct. 2010 ~ Lots of "busy" stuff going on this month. On Halloween Kaelyn dressed up like a soldier girl and Zack was Batman. I have pictures but I never posted them. My friend Valerie and her son came over, so did Polly, Marlon, Jenna, Pipe, and McKenna. Zack fell into a cactus while we were trick-or-treating. Poor thing! Daddy took him home to get the needles out while the rest of us finished trick-or-treating (which sounds kinda mean now ... why didn't we wait for Zack ... gross!!!) Zack met back up with us a few minutes later with a slight limp. Poor thing!

Nov. 2010 ~ JILL MOVED BACK TO ARIZONA ... need I say more???? She moved in down the street from me. We see her practically every single day (sometimes more than once a day). I can't even express how happy we are that the Wilson's are back in AZ! I wish all my siblings lived within a mile radius of me. Thanksgiving was great! We celebrated at Polly's house with her family, her dad and his wife, Melody's family, the Wilson's, and my friends Valerie and Rocco. So much food. So much fun. So much family! YES!!!

Dec. 2010 ~ Mike went out of town for work for a couple days. Lots of fun getting reading for Christmas at school and home! Zane turned 1 on Saturday and we went to Zoo Lights. Ohh, did I mention Zane is also walking? Yep, its true! AND, my e-mails from Baby Center now read "Your toddler" instead of "Your baby" sniff sniff. Looking forward to Christmas Eve with my side of the family and Christmas Day with Mike's side of the family. Oooohhh, and don't forget our trip to Flagstaff that's coming up. Yeah!!! Come on 2011, show us what you've got!!

Visit with Cousins and Mo Nay Nay Mo Nay Nay

The past couple weeks Mike's mom has been in town. Unfortunately, I have been HORRIBLE about taking pictures. Hopefully she will send me some of the pictures that she took while she was here to add to my collection. In addition to his mama being here, his sister's kids (Skyler & Logan) also flew in. Here are a few pictures that I did manage to take over the last few weeks. I realized after putting the pictures up that "Nay Nay" is getting way more attention from the camera than the other kids. Well ... he is just a baby:-)

Skyler LOVE LOVE LOVES baby Zane. She has been such a great helper with the baby. This is while we were at the Marriott.

Riding from the Canyon Villas to the resort pool. So many pools to swim in .. so little time.

Skyler carried Zane all the way from the bus to the pool. It was FAR away ... did I mention Zane weighs 23 pounds??? I can't believe she was able do carry him that far!!

My sister, Darcie, and our friends Jayson, Abby, and daughter Skylar, joined us at the Marriott yesterday for swim and lazy river.

More Skyler and Nay Nay ~ she barely put him down yesterday

Aunt Darcie w/ the kids

Pretty 3rd grade Kaelyn

Mo Nay Nay Mo Nay Nay

Polly, Skyler and Nay Nay

Some cousins playing wii

Tomorrow we are doing homemade Glamour shots with the girl cousins.

Stay tuned ..... he he he!

(Okay the baby is crying at me ... gotta go ... no time to edit. Enjoy!!)

Quote

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
~Teddy Roosevelt

Oh really??

Yesterday Zack asked me how to spell "haft". I asked him to say it in a sentence because I wasn't' sure what word he was saying. He said, "I haft to do something." I explained to him that it was actually two separate words "have" & "to" and he was pronouncing it wrong. He argued with me about whether or not "haft" was a word for a while. I told him that lots of people talk fast and say "haft" but if you were writing it down it's two words - have & to. To that he said, "mom you just don't understand". I assured him that I DO understand and he was just saying the words wrong just like when he says "duspossed to" instead of "supposed to" ... which I correct on a regular basis. Then he started to cry and said "I just want to know how to spell haft". To that I replied .. "h-a-f-t but its really not a word". Zack started crying in frustration. He truly thought I just didn't understand him. He said, "Mommy .. It's like .. I HAFT to go somewhere" ... Again, I tried to tell him that it wasn't HAFT. He went back to the computer and I heard what sounded like a swift punch to the keyboard. I called him out to the living room. His face was red with frustration ... I asked, "did you just punch the computer?" He said, "yeah, but haft is a word ... like, I want haft the apple." I wasn't about to start again. I told him "okay, but you don't get to use the computer anymore since you punched it."

On a happy note:

Kaelyn is going to Day Camp at church this week. She is making some new friends and learning lots about Jesus! She is having a lot of fun! It's from 830 to 430 all week long!

Zack is doing famously in swimming lessons! He is getting to be a great swimmer! He has a crush on his swimming instructor. He talks about her all day long. He told me yesterday that if "Miss Krislyn was my swimming teacher I would loooooooooooove her."

Zane is getting super active! He is rolling over like crazy. He's sitting up and starting to show beginning signs of crawling!

Mike is working hard, as usual:-) We have a surprise Father's Day weekend planned for him next weekend. I can't believe Kaelyn is keeping it a secret. I knew better than to tell Zacky:-)

I am starting a new Bible Study tonight. I don't know anyone else that signed up but I have really missed going this year so I decided to sign up solo. The study is on Esther.

Yuck!

Several months ago there was a weird comment left on my blog in what appeared to be Chinese. I was a bit annoyed at the time but didn't think much of it. I thought maybe someone accidentally posted a comment ... it sounds weird now but that's what I thought at the time. Recently, another comment from the same weird address posted a comment. I clicked on the address and it took me to what looked like an inappropriate website. My heart started beating really fast and I quickly shut off my computer. I didn't see anything disturbing but I certainly didn't want the likes of that on my blog! I immediately put my blog on private so that nobody else would see these comments and get offended. I removed the option to leave comments (Jill you'll just have to FB or e-mail me), just in case my "rude comment leaver" had plans to visit me again.

Anyway ... I got really mad at my blog over this little ordeal. I kinda don't like it anymore ... hmmm, perhaps we need counseling. I think I will change the background to see if that helps:-) I mean its not my blog's fault .... I think I just need a little more time .. ha ha ha! (But actually I'm serious.)

Kitty Kat Kaelyn Turned 8!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Kaelyn!

Kaelyn's birthday was on March 12th (I am just a bit late in blogging about it). We had lots of fun celebrating. For the 2nd year in a row Darcie took birthday treats into Kaelyn's classroom at the end of the day. Unfortunately being a teacher puts a damper on visiting my own kids' classrooms. It's a lot more fun for them with Aunt Darcie anyway:-) She took the kids to Burger King until I got off work. Kaelyn had a friend come home from school with her for a slumber party. I have not allowed her to have sleep overs until now. I figure if I let her do everything at a young age then what will she be wanting to do at 12? So for now, she can have friends spend the night here ... after a few more birthdays we'll see about her sleeping over at a friends house:-) I took the girls ice skating at Polar Ice and they actually did a really good job skating around. Kaelyn chose to go to IHOP in the morning for breakfast.

Kaelyn (Kitty Kat),

What a blessed mommy I am to have such a special daughter! There are many things that I love about you but, my favorite thing is your heart for people. I LOVE to watch you with your brothers, your daddy, your grampy, your grammy, your aunties, your uncles, your cousins and your friends! You have a special way of making other people feel SO special. You have such a gentle spirit but at the same time you are without a doubt a natural leader. I watch you play with your friends and I listen to you talk on the phone and can hardly believe how wise you are at the age of 8! You carry on long conversations with your grandparents and aunts and uncles. They are always amazed by your ability to have such deep conversations. You have always made it a point to form special relationships with each family member. You keep in touch with our extended family by phone, email, and to my surprise , you are even google chatting with your uncle Ben in Indiana!! It is so important to you to be close with your relatives and I love that about you!!

You are a great big sister to Zack! I am proud to the point of tears at the tender way that you take care of him and look out for him. I was watching you guys through my bedroom window one day. You, 3 of your friends, and Zack were playing duck-duck-goose. I watched several rounds of the game and Zack was not getting picked to be the "goose". You noticed this immediately and every single time you got picked you picked your brother. As I type this, the memory brings tears to my eyes because you are just THAT SWEET! When you get invited to a friends house, you always ask if Zack can come too. You truly want him to do everything with you. I know as Zane grows bigger and bigger you will be just as sweet to him!

I am amazed that you already have the gift of listening to the Holy Spirit. Many times you have come home from school or play and told me that you "didn't think that Jesus would want me to do that". One time you told me that some girls were "sexy dancing" at school and you "didn't think Jesus would want me to do that". Then you asked me what "sexy" meant. I was so proud of you because even though you didn't even know what "sexy" meant, you listened to the Still Small Voice inside of you. You weren't sure WHY you shouldn't do it... you just responded to the feeling inside of you! If only everyone could be like you!!

Mommy and daddy could have never imagined how much you would change our lives! When you were born 8 years ago EVERYTHING changed. You have challenged us to be better people for the simple fact that you deserve it! You were such a good baby and you always wanted to be held. As you grow you are becoming more and more independent which is both exciting and scary. Exciting because you are so much fun to watch grow into the person that God created you to be. Scary because the last 8 years have flown by and you are not a baby who depends on us anymore! I know that as you grow up you will always make good choices.

Thank you for coming into our lives and changing us forever! You are our only daughter and hold a special place in our hearts yesterday, today, and forever! I pray that you will always make God a priority in your life and your heart for others will grow and grow. I look forward to what the future has in store for your life.

Love,

Mommy

Some facts/faves about Kaelyn:

*Color - orange

*Song - So What

*Best Friend - Emma

*Hobby - play outside

*TV Show - Fan Boy and Chum Chum

*Likes to play Club Penguin

*Likes to talk on the phone

*Plays soccer

*Loves her family

*Loves her teacher

*Loves school

*Loves drawing

*Loves to write stories

*Has written many books

*SUPER smart

*SUPER kind

*Loves playing with brothers

**LOVES TO PULL FACES (amazing how such a pretty girl can look so so .... well, ugly I guess)

*Nicknames: Kitty Kat, Smelly (because you smell so GOOD), Smelly-Jelly-Belly, Dootie, KaelyBee, Sissy, Dit, and Sissy Sissy Sue, I love you!

Beth Moore: Good Stuff!!

Beth Moore is my absolute favorite Bible study teacher! I have taken several of her in depth Bible studies at church and they have absolutely changed my live. I was looking through my old Breaking Free study guide and felt compelled to type some of the things that really spoke to me when I was taking the study and also as I look back through my notes today:

1. Christ was like a root out of dry ground so we could be a planting of the Lord.
2. Christ's beauty was veiled so ours could be revealed.
3. Christ was despised and rejected so we could be FAVORED and ACCEPTED.
4. Christ became a man of sorrows so we could become people of gladness.
5. Christ was oppressed and imprisoned so we could be released from prison.
6. Christ was crushed by our iniquities so we could become His righteouness.
7. Christ suffered so that God could be satisfied and we couuld be saved. This is the GOOD NEWS preached to the poor!
8. Christ remained silent so we could proclaim His great salvation.

EQUATIONS THAT TOTAL LIBERTY

* Environmental influences + experiential influences = My personal truth
* My Truth + 0 = Imcompletion
* My Truth + Satan's lies = captivity
* God's truth > My Truth
* My Truth + God's Truth = FREEDOM

How can we know this awesome God??
1. Through the study of God's word!
2. Through the lifestyle practice of prayer!

** Fill in the blanks with your name:-)

My child, _____, I loved you before you were born. I knit you in your mother's womb and knew what your first and last words would be. I knew every difficulty you, ___________, would face. I suffered each one with you. Even the ones you didn't suffer with Me. I had a plan for your life before you were born. The plan has not changed, _________, no matter what has happened or what you have done. You see, I already knew all things concerning you before I formed you. I would never allow any hurt to come into your life that I could not use for eternity, _________. Will you let Me? Your truth is incomplete unless you view it against the backdrop of My Truth. Your story, ___________, will forever remain incomplete ... until you let Me do what only I can do with your hurt. Let Me perfect that which concerns you.

I remain,

Your Faithful Father

Happy 5th Birthday Zack!

Zack turned 5 on Super Bowl Sunday! He has been anxiously awaiting his 5th birthday and was sure that he would wake up bigger on his special day! He has a couple of good pals at school that turned 5 before he did so we were counting down the days until he could join the ranks of the other 5 year olds. Zack got to spend his "Birthday Eve" with Aunt Darcie, along with his sister and cousin Elijah (one of his favorite things to do). They had a great time!! Then we celebrated Zack's birthday at Aunt Polly's house along with the Super Bowl party.

I remember 5 years ago on February 6, 2005 daddy and I were at a Super Bowl party. You were in my tummy still and 1 day overdue. We were waiting for you and couldn't wait to meet you. Daddy kept teasing me that if you were born on the Super Bowl we would have to name you after the Super Bowl MVP. I didn't like the thought of that one single bit since I have had the name Zack picked out since I was a very little girl. I was hoping that you would stay in my tummy for one more day to avoid being named Deion or Branch (2005 MVP). As the obedient little guy that you have grown up to be, you cooperated with me and waited until the following day to make your grand entrance into this world. When you were born the nurse at the hospital said, "there is nothing little about this baby". You weighed in at a whopping 10.4!! I was so proud to have such a big strong baby boy. You had bright red hair when you were born but it lightened up a lot to the strawberry blond color that it is now. I am declaring it now ... in about 20 years I think you are going to be the Super Bowl MVP yourself (what a great b-day present for yourself)!!!!

You were such a wonderful baby ... always happy and content no matter what we were doing.

Dear Zacky,

I love you SO much!! I am so happy that I get to be your mommy. You are the sweetest little boy in so many ways. You absolutely love your sister and would do anything for her. You guys are the best of friends. You are such a great big brother and love to smooch your baby brother until he can't take it anymore:-) Your teachers always tell me what a great kid you are and how sweet you are to the other kids. I can't believe how well you are reading BEFORE you even start kindergarten! You are as smart as they come!! Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you. You are such a great snuggler!! I love that you are always willing to sit on my lap and snuggle with me.

I love that even though your friends "don't think love is cool" that you still give me a hug and kiss in the car when I take you to school. You have such a sweet heart and hilarious sense of humor. You can make the entire family laugh uncontrollably when you imitate things people say, or how they act, or with your amazing dancing skills. You have so many wonderful things inside of you and I promise that I will do my best to nurture your God given talents and abilities and help you discover who God created you to be.

No matter how big you get you will always be Mommy's Little Zacky!

Love you so much my sweet boy!

Love Mommy

Pack Rat

Kaelyn has always been such a pack rat. She never wants to throw anything away or donate any of her old toys or clothes. Here are some of the examples of odd things she has BEGGED (even cried) to keep:

1. The plastic bag that her bedding came in.
2. EVERYTHING that she brings home from school.
3. ALL of her coloring pages from home.
4. Once I cut the bottoms off of my pants because they were too long. She pleaded with me to keep the scraps of material off the bottom.
5. She keeps her old underwear and uses them as dresses for her Barbies.
6. Candy containers
7. Box containers
8. She uses shoes that don't fit for Barbie cars.

She regularly finds items that I have put into the trash when she wasn't around. When she finds such items she will get them out of the trash can, come to me with the item (hand on hip), and request and explanation as to how I could possibly throw such a treasure away. Ha ha ha! It almost feels like I am in trouble as I scramble for an explanation that won't break her heart. Sorry to say, most of the time I just play stupid and act as though I have no idea how an old shoe box (or whatever else it may be) found its way into the trash. To which she would respond, "Mommy, I know you put it in there." I have gotten better in my old age! Now I either bury the item in the trash can or take it to the outside trash.

Usually I pick my battles with her "special condition" and throw things away when she is next door at the neighbors house. Yesterday I was shocked to see that her condition actually was getting carried over into school. Apparently her teacher had just used the last Clorox wipe and was getting ready to throw the plastic cylinder container away. Kaelyn immediately came to the container's rescue! She asked her teacher to please let her keep the container to use to put her small toys in. Her teacher said she could have it but needed to rinse it out first. She was so excited to reveal her treasure when she got home yesterday. You would have thought she had just won the lottery!

Love you Kaelyn!

Baby Zane!

Zane William Harris

December 18, 2009

9 lbs. 3 oz.

I am so excited that our baby Zane is finally here! He is an awesome little guy and we are all totally in love with him. He is a very mild tempered baby, just like Kaelyn and Zack were, and sleeps most of the time so far. We thought that after 2 good babies were were sure to get a pistol but to our surprise we have another sweet little angel! I have lots of pictures to post but here are some of the pictures from when we first brought him home.

Zacky's & Kaelyn's first time holding their baby brother.

Seeing the baby for the first time.

Here are a couple pictures of Zack and Kaelyn before Zane dominates the rest of the post. One of their favorite things to do is take pictures of each other posing around the house. Here are a few of the shots they captured! I'm not sure what's up w/ the props in Kaelyn's pictures but maybe she can be a Price is Right model when she grows up .. ha ha! Kaelyn's teacher asked her, "Does your mom have you practice smiling at home because you always smile so nicely in pictures?" To that all I can say is .. what's wrong w/ having your kids practice smile? And embarrassingly, I have to admit we do practice smile at home while snapping pictures and immediately checking the camera screen for the results.

Okay .... let's talk baby:-)

I was originally scheduled to have the baby on Dec. 21st. The doctor said that baby was getting a bit large and didn't want to risk any complications in the delivery room. When I went in for my doctor's appointment on the 17th, the nurse said I was dilated to 5 and should probably go straight to the hospital since I have a history of delivering babies in under an hour:-) Don't be jeolous!! I told the nurse that I had not given my students at school their Christmas presents yet and asked could I please do that first. She said it was my choice. I rushed back to school and gave my little treasures their gifts and said I'd seem them later. I had a couple kids that were so sad and cried really hard ... it really blessed my heart! How sweet they are in 1st grade!! I didn't want to admit it to the nurse but I also had to rush to Babies R Us to buy a car seat .. ha ha! I was planning to get one over the weekend, but I guess God had other plans. When I called the hospital to let them know I was coming they said all the beds were full and I'd probably end up in a triage room. They said I would wait until I went into active labor or come in the next morning. I ended up going to the hospital at about 8am on Friday (fully thinking I would not make it through the night). I opted for an epidural this time (first two kids were born w/o one .... what was I thinking???) and relaxed in bed until it was time to push. I really liked the epidural for taking away the labor pains, but I HATE HATE HATED not having control over my legs. I felt ... I don't know ... kinda panicky. It was agonizing for me while I waited to get my legs back!!! I guess it comes with being somewhat of a controlling person:-)

Mr. Smooshy face!

Good Morning Baby!

PS - Mike, my doctor, and I had bets going on how much Zane would weigh in at .... I would like to state for the record that I guessed EXACTLY right ... right down to the ounce! 9 lbs 3 oz! My logic ... Kaelyn was 8.2 .... Zack was 10.4 so naturally Zane would have to be 9.3, right in the middle!

A few hours before Zane was born.

Here are some pictures of my baby shower (close friends and family). The girls at work threw one for me too -- SO SWEET -- but I don't have the pictures yet.

My little family! Actually I should say my Big Fat Greek Family ... Mike said that we are now officially "inconvenient" for people to invite over for dinner anymore because there are 5 of us. But for those of you considering it ... don't worry, our kids eat off the floor so they don't need space at the dinner table! Ha ha ha ... just kidding!

Good Friends .. Jenna, Mike, and McKenna

Sister Darcie and Kaelyn

Good Friends Bryce, Missy, and Trenton

Oops ... just deleted their picture! Sorry! ... they are a really handsome couple .. ha ha! I will try to post it later ....

A Good Dream

This morning Zack woke up crying. When I asked him what was wrong, he said "I had a really GOOD dream". I snuggled him up to me and told him I was so sorry that he had a bad dream. In the saddest little voice, he said "it wasn't a bad dream, it was a good dream". To which I replied, "then why are you crying"? He said that in his dream he had lots of dogs with "smooth paws" and "smooth fur" that could talk to him. Then he started crying harder saying that he wants those dogs in real life. Poor Zacky:-)

See ya later Warner Family!

My friend Stacie's husband is in the Air Force and he got orders to Alabama! They leave next weekend so we got together on Saturday so that we could see them before they left. The kids had fun playing and, as usual, Stacie and I enjoyed chatting for several hours. I will miss her and her family but I know we will see them soon!

Here are Kaelyn, Mia, and Zack

Kaelyn and Mia

(Sorry to post this picture Kaelyn, but Mia looked really cute)

All 4 kids - Zack, Ryen, Mia & Kaelyn

It's weird that Stacie and I have 4 (almost 5) kids between the two of us!

We met about 10 years ago and had lots of wild/fun times together before starting our families. Now we are a couple of dedicated mommies ... who would have thought .. ha ha ha!!

NOTHING COULD BE BETTER:-)

We'll miss you Stacie! Can't wait to see you guys again!

Family Fun Night

On Friday night Kaelyn's school hosted a Family Fun Night. We took some pillows, blankets, and lawn chairs to the school's cafeteria to watch the movie Polar Express. The kids did not really get into the movie, but they sure enjoyed the friends, hot cocoa, candy, cookies, face painting, and pictures with Santa. We had a good time, here are the pictures that I took:

This is our little next door neighbor Jenna with the kids.

Boys Camping Trip

Mike and Zack went on their first camping trip last weekend. They had a really good time with some of our family and friends. Zack has been talking about the camping trip all week because he had so much fun with the boys (he also seems to enjoy rubbing it in Kaelyn's face). Here are the pictures that Mike took while they were camping.

Here are Zack and the 2 other little boys that went camping with them. These 2 boys are Paul's kids (Mike's high school buddy). Zack really enjoyed playing with them.

The boats
Camp

Smores!

Zack shooting his first BB gun (very little power on this one:-)

Exploring w/ flashlights

Fishing

Zack had just met the boys ... Mike said he had to stare at them for a while before they became friends. This is Zack staring them down.

Zacky

Mike and Zack in the water.

Zack diving/belly flopping off the boat into the water. Zacky was the only little guy to get into the water (such a brave/tuff little man)!

Uncle Marlon, Zack, and Carson

Kaelyn and I stayed home and had a fun girls day. I didn't get any pictures of our day because Mike had the camera. We went to a place called Color Me Mine to paint, then we went shopping at several different places, out to dinner, and ended the night with a movie that we rented from Blockbusters. The next morning we cooked French Toast for breakfast and made cupcakes for the boys when they came home.