Kindergarten Graduate!!

In May Ashlyn graduated from kindergarten!! Now I know that seem crazy to some to have a ceremony for that but let me tell you I cried no matter how ridiculous it seems!! Here are some pictures of her special day!!

Ashlyn walking in her cap and gown!

Alex and Ashlyn posing in their "cool" pose!


Ashlyn and her teacher Mrs. Josie!

I dont want to even think about 12 years from now!

Easter

Josh always goes to a Leadership Training for Christ Competition on Easter. So he did not get to join us at church but here are the three younger ones all dressed in their Sunday best!!

Adorable in their matching dresses from Grandma!!

These may be some of the cutest kids in the world!!

Eight!

That is how old my 2nd born Alex turned in March!! I sometimes wonder where that baby boy went and how did he turn into the silly joker, gappy toothed, third grade kid he is today!! We had a sleepover party for him in mid-March and celebrated his real birthday in South Carolina! Here are some pics!

It's Pinata beating time!

Flashing his digits!!

Opening some cards!!

Blowing out his candles and yes I made that cake I have some mad skills!! (LOL)

Spring Break in South Carolina!!

We took a two week vacation to drive across the country to visit my best friend in SC! It was the first time we drove through the night with 4 kids!! It turned out pretty good and we made good time! The kids got to play with their friends Pheoby and Trey and we even got to meet the newest addition...Baby Layla!! Who was about 6 weeks old at the time!

One of my favorite pictures minus Josh and Layla!!

Josh will rarely take a serious picture!!

Even here I threatened him!!

Alex is not as dirty as he looks...well mabye he is!!

Hope enjoying her pancakes!!

Hopie watching for the monkey!

Saying goodbye!!

No words needed!!

See you soon friends!!


Saying goodbye is always hard!! I miss them so, so much! I will see them soon though...Hopie and I will be flying there next month!! See you soon BESTIE!!!

Trip to Ruidoso

In Feb. on our time off we took my parents to the mountains in NM. We had a blast and got some cool pictures. We swam (indoor pool and hot tub of course), ate, went hiking, and bear hunting (not sure what we would have done had we saw one!!). Here are a few pics from our journey!

View from our balcony!!

Alex found his walking stick!

Hope enjoying her ride!

Ashlyn is all smiles!

The deer would come right up to us!! Josh actually took this photo!

Catch up!!

So I am beginning to realize that I am not a very good blogger! I mean seriously it has been 8 months since my last post and a lot has happened since then. So instead of just posting some crazy long post I figured I would break it up into more managable little posts.

Back in December we got our own "full time" cottage. We currently have 9 children under our care (four of those our own of course). They range in age from 2 - 14. They are great kids and we love them to pieces. We have Josh-14, Maggie-13, Dameko-11, Samantha-11, Carlitos-9, Alex-8, Serenity-6, Ashlyn-6, and Hope-2. We have been very busy with them this summer and cant wait for school time and fair time!! 2 more weeks! Yeah!!

Here 8 of our 9 are pictured at Maggies Birthday party. Some of those are her friends too. More to come soon!!

6 Years!!

So a while back I realized that Ashlyn's 6th Birthday was quickly approaching. So I told her that I didn't want her to grow up too fast and that I wanted her to just stay 5 for a while longer. Then I asked her if she would do that for me? Well in all her innocent sweetness she looked me dead in the eye and said "Mommy I would but I just don't know how!". Well I couldn't help but smile knowing that she was willing to prolong a Birthday (every kids dream) just to please me. Well she is right she cannot stop her growing older and neither can I. Against my will my little girl celebrated her 6th Birthday today!! I mean I love that she is growing up but what happened to that little tiny baby that I thought would break at any moment cause she was so little. Or what about that little pudgy toddler that would hug you so hard your head would wanna explode. I know that she is only 6 but I am going to blink and my little girl will be 16!!

I do need to brag on her for a moment though. My 6 year old daughter can read. She can write her name in CURSIVE!! She can almost tie her shoes. She is working ahead of her class in kindergarten cause she is so far ahead!! She amazes us daily with her knowledge of God and her spirituality. Ashlyn, you are an amazing young girl and we love you so very very much!! You make us so proud with your schoolwork and especially your faith. You are a huge source of joy in our lives and we thank God daily for your existence. Keep growing up girl cause we know you are going to do amazing things for God one day and we cannot wait to see what He has in store for you!