Happy Birthday Joshua!

Happy, happy 16th birthday! I can't believe what I just typed. 16??? Where does the time go?

Just the other day we were bringing you home from the hospital.



Just the other day you were 6months old, content sitting in your swing with your up-side-down paci.

okay... i am so NOT going to make it through this post without crying!




Just the other day, you were 11 months old, and loving life at how fast you could crawl, get into the laundry, and scatter it all around the room.



Just the other day you were 1, giggling with the goats at the petting zoo.

i loved those cute little bells on your shoes!




Just the other day you were 2, thrilled to be at one of the best places in the world... Bapa and Granma's house, hanging out with your best bud Gibby.



Just the other day you weren't much taller than the couch and you thought it made a nice pillow.



Just the other day, you knew life didn't get any better than riding on a real train for the first time while slurping down a Hi-C juice box.



Just the other day, you thought there wasn't anything greater than sliding into your little pool while wearing your favorite goggles.



Just the other day, you were 3 and oh so proud of your new soccer trophy.



Just the other day, you were 7 and busily building leaf piles with yours brothers and then jumping into them.



Just the other day, you turned 16 and your mother realized that she had ONLY two sweet years left and that you had grown into a young man.

told you i would make it through with out crying

Happy Birthday Noah

10yrs ago you came into the world 9 Lbs and 1 oz.



This is one of my favorite pictures taken at the hospital. They had just finished making your footprints. Daddy thought it would be cute to have a picture of your feet with ink all over them.

and he was right. I love it!!!



Here is your hospital picture. Look at that round head!



Here you are at about a year old.



What a cutie!



Love the curls!



I can't believe that you are double digits now. How the time flies. The Lord has truly blessed us with a wonderful gift!


You thoroughly enjoy all of life...

AHEM, well except for when your mom makes you stop playing the video game to pose for pictures to go on the blog FORTHEWHOLEWORLDTOSEE!!!!!!!!! SHEESH

Noah's Birthday Party

This year for Noah's birthday party he wanted a cake from Baskin-Robbins.

yum!



He had several of his closest friends come to help celebrate this special day.



Time for presents. Yeah! A nice new football.



And a few Halo action figures and legos.



Now for the big one from mom and dad. What could be in such a big box?



Another box of course! Look at that paper fly. And what do you think could be in that box?



You guessed it... a third box.

pay no attention to the wrapping. This was a last minute idea and I ran out of paper. I just had to roll with what I had!



Okay, back to the boxes. Surly, there is a present in this box. Right?



NOT YET! But finally there is something other than a box.



What is this?... A note from the TOOTH-FAIRY???? Evidently, the tooth-fairy has been slack on her job of collecting Noah's most recently lost teeth and has decided to make up for it by leaving a birthday present under his pillow.



WOW! How did she know you really wanted a rip-stick. Happy birthday, Noah!

Summer Fun

Summer is finally here and we are enjoying the break from school.



The boys saw this ball at Costco and begged me to buy it for them.



I thought it was kind of a waste of money and rather silly, but what do I know?



Well, I do know that they have enjoyed this ball a lot... and with it only costing $30 I like it too!



They have had a lot of fun rolling down the hill in our backyard.



Here is Joshua and Noah pushing Seth down the hill.



They convinced me to get in it and boy do you get dizzy in that thing!



There goes Joshua.



And last but not least Noah...aka...Mr. Dramatic!

strawberry picking

One tradition we always try to do in the spring is to go strawberry picking. We go along with another family and it's always a lot of fun.

Noah looking for just the right strawberry.



Joshua found three perfectly shaped strawberries...



for juggling that is!



Hey, he's pretty good at that.



Seth and Noah combining theirs.



We filled our bucket...


so now its time to go.

That might look like a lot of berries, but half of those will be gone by the time we make it home.

See told you so!

Seth's Spring Recital

Here are a few pictures of Seth's spring piano recital. I love the recitals. I love hearing Seth practice and practice his music for the recital. I just love to hear him play!

Here Seth is waiting for the recital to begin. He seemed a little nervous this time for some reason. He played wonderfully. The piece he played was "Our Detective Agency".

As usual Seth rearranged the piece to make it his own. I love that his teacher gives him the freedom to make a few changes here and there.

Seth also has composed several songs himself. I especially like to hear those songs.

We are extremely proud of your hard work and dedication this past year. Keep up the good work!

It's That Time Again

I started my garden last week. I'm a little late due to moving my garden to another location.

I still have a 2x2 box on my deck and three 4x4 boxes in the middle of my backyard. My 4x4 boxes no longer get sufficient sun for most of the plants I want. because of that I plan to add additional 3x6 boxes in my side yard. I've been busy clearing the area and hope to get at least one box constructed within the next week.

In the meantime I did plant some herbs in the 2x2 box.



I planted Cilantro, Basil,...



Oregano and Thyme. I can't wait to have fresh herbs again!



I also planted some early spring crops to see if they would grow in my shaded 4x4 box. I planted radishes, bush beans, onions and spinach. We'll see what happens.