4th of July - The Party

After lunch and a really good nap we were ready for some more fun. We headed to the Hadley's house for some more fun. We were joined there by the Malech family, Bobby Breaux (our children's pastor) and his family, the Thompsons (our senior pastor) and his family, and the Fairchilds (outreach pastor). We filled our time with swimming and a BBQ.

A very tired family photo.

Daddy and Jack at the pool.
Slidin' down the slide.
Brett Malech, the resident funny man, thought it would be funny to make an "onion cupcake". He sliced and onion in half and covered it with TONS of frosting to make it more appealing to an unsuspecting kid. Can you see which one it is? Phillip Breaux was the lucky winner.
The fireworks were incredible. Lake Wildwood puts on quite a show! Man were we tired, the kids were pooped and so were we.

4th of July - The Parade

We started the day out right with a good ol' fashioned parade. My friend Christine was good enough to save us some sidewalk in downtown Grass Valley.

"We are so ready."

Patriotic Jack
Christine and Caroline are "two peas in a pod"!Caroline enjoying a straberry bar.
Christine and her mother Grandma Bobby, and Charlie
This was the moment when Caroline got the most excited. She clapped through the whole parade but when the school bus went by she went wild.
Charlie marched in the parade with the Union Hill Marching Band.

He did an awesome job!

This is our new friend TJ. This was his first parade too!

Swim Lessons

Caroline has just started swimming lessons which is a huge accomplishment. Until this week she has been terrified to even get water on her face. We were given the opportunity to put Caroline in the Sea Turtle class. We took a leap of faith and "jumped" right in! She started a little slow but we are at the end of week one and she has improved tremendously. I expect by the end of next week she will be swimming under water.

All ready to go!

Where she spent the majority of day #1

Jack even enjoyed himself.
This was day #2. They made a train by hanging on to eachothers "noodles." I was about ready to cry because she was having so much fun and showed little or no fear at all. My little girl is growing up!

Being brave for her teacher.

I am so proud of my little girl. She is so excited to be able to go to swim lessons every morning. She can't wait to put her suit on. She even reminds me to get the sunscreen!

A Little Visit With Little Lexi

My sweet sister Leah and her husband Mike make frequent visits up to see us to get away from the insane pace of southern California life. And now that Lexi is here their visits are even more frequent. This last visit was especially fun since Lexi is now starting to smile.

Mike, Leah & Lexi

Caroline can not get enough of her baby cousin. She loves to play and sing to her. I know she can't wait for Lexi to start playing dress up.

Snuggling with Grammy One afternoon Leah let us come along to visit with Lexi's "Auntie Regan". We had such a great time playing in their beautiful yard and getting to know their dogs.

"Which way did he go? I know I saw a puppy somewhere."

"AH! I found him. Maybe if I close my eyes he won't see me."

Getting some snuggle time in with Lexi
All three cousins happy as can be.
At the end of the day, Lexi had had enough. This was taken their last day with us. She fell asleep with her hand on the booth we were sitting at.

"I can't take another minute!"

We are always sad when they leave, but we know we will see them again soon. The hardest part is missing all the growing that she does. We will see her again at the end of the month.

Jack & Uncle Curtis

I love it when my brother comes home from school. He is about enter into his senior year at Biola University in southern California as a film student. He is so talented and one day, if he lets me, I will post some of his short films. Uncle Curtis is crazy about his niece and nephew and they are crazy about him!

Weighing down Uncle Curtis.

He's going to kill me for this, I think my little brother is HOT!
Hey baby! I know you think I'm cute. How about a kiss?
Double trouble. Watch out when these boys are in town!
Ok, for those of you who have seen Spaceballs, I think that Curtis looks like the little guy with the big helmet! OWWW! Hot stuff!

Curtis will be spending most of July at home so hopefully we will be able to get some more fun pictures.

Just Some Fun Pictures

I am not sure where to put these pictures. They are pretty random but they are so sweet. My kids love eachother. Caroline can't get enough of her brother and Jack saves his biggest laughs for his sister. Here are some of the best ones from hanging around the house.

Caroline and Jack on Papa's motorcycle.

Just as I was walking in the room to put Jack down for his nap and I found Caroline giving Jack a "hair-do". It was so funny and he sat so well for her. (And yes Annie, that is a Gator pacifier in his mouth!)
It's almost done.
When I am cleaning in the kitchen I usually put Jack in his booster seat with some random kitchen toys. Today was a measuring cup and large wooden spoon. This kid loves to bang his toys on his tray...he is all boy!
" I think this is the part that goes in my mouth. hmmm I

wonder if I can stick the whole thing in there?" Trying to master the sippy cup.
Hey there Mama!
One of the funniest moments recently; My good friend Shawn was over with the girls and we were busy talking the livingroom, basically we were ignoring the girls. Time passed and Caroline came running in the room and exclaimed, "Mom! You have to come see the REALLY BIG BUBBLES in the sink!" I died laughing. I had really just ignored my child and she and Angelena had flooded the bathroom sink with soap and bubbles. Thank goodness for the overflow hole in the sink.
That same evening, Isabella went for a ride on Jack! He was not as amused as we were.

Little Isabella is very flexible. She is known for eating her feet and even being able to put her feet on the dinner table while eating. HA!

I am not proud of this, but man he looks great in pink!

Sonforce Kids - Special Agents.

Friday will conclude our Summer Day Camp (VBS) called Sonforce Kids. They are agents on a mission from God! Caroline has been looking forward to each new day. She wakes up and is ready to get dressed and go to church. This kid loves church. As you can see, Caroline and Zoe are on a serious mission....making it to the ice cream parlor after the final program.

Bobby Breaux and some of the volunteers for VBS. There are tons of them.

Special Agents, Joshua, Caroline and Zoe.

(Watch out Tom Cruise. There is a new team in town!) It seems as though they made it!

Both girls enjoyed a scoop of mint ice cream.

Caroline had sprinkles and Zoe had chocolate chips.

yummmmmmm." This is serious stuff sir. May I see your ID?"
Caroline was so excited to learn new songs for the program. She practiced almost every day. The cutest thing was to hear her go in her room to play and pop in her VBS CD and start singing along. I could hear her singing along up there and I know she had to be watching herself dance in the mirror. She is so sweet.

Caroline & Zoe

The other night we were blessed to hang out with our little friend Zoe. The girls had such a great time playing with bubbles, play house, in the bath tub etc... They even had a great time brushing their teeth! They both did not go to sleep until 11pm! Crazy girls!

Crawling on Father's Day

Jack starting Crawling on Father's Day! We are so proud! This is my first attempt at a video so it runs a little long.