Evie

Evie was all dressed up for church a couple weeks ago and I took a few pictures of her. Here are a few of my favorites. She seems like she is really growing up right now. She is such a firecracker and I love her dearly.

Addy's 5

Addy turned 5 on the 9th of July. It feels like we have been partying for a month. The Monday before her birthday we went to Organ Stop to celebrate. Jamie had to go to scout camp that week and was going to be gone on her birthday so we wanted to celebrate while he was here.So we had a fun dinner, the kids danced and Addy got to open her presents.

On her actual birthday, we made butterfly cupcakes instead of a cake. I let the kids decorate them and they had a fun time.

Then yesterday we had a swim party with the Espersons to celebrate Addy, Zach and Denise's birthday. The kids had so much fun in the pool.

Addy was a little bummed that I hadn't made her a real cake on her birthday so I had promised her I would make her one for the swim party. She decided that she wanted a Hello Kitty cake and that Hello Kitty should be pink.

I can't believe Addy is 5. She will start school in less than 2 weeks. She is going to be in all day kindergarten. We had planned on putting her in half day but the school district changed the location of the half day program and we just didn't feel good about sending her that far away. So I guess she is going to all day. I am struggling with it. I thought I would have one more year with her here at least part of the time. I am going to miss her. She is pretty worried about going to school, but she will do great! She is such a happy girl and has so much heart. She will do awesome! I love her so much and am so grateful to have her in our family.

60

My mom turned 60 on the 5th of July so we threw her a little party while we were up there. All 6 of her sisters were there and one of her brothers. So we had a pretty good turnout and I think she enjoyed it. Some of the decorations...

The cake - not my finest effort but I think she got a kick out of it.

The people. My mom has an amazing family. Including her, there were 8 of the 12 siblings there. They are very supportive of each other and are a great example of what family is all about. I think my grandparents would be proud of how they turned out.

My mom truly is one of my best friends. She would do anything she could to help make my life easier. I have not always been the easiest child to raise, and I am grateful for her forgiveness and patience and unconditional love for me. I love her dearly.

4th of July

Nana bought the kids cute clothes for the 4th of July so we had a little photo shoot in them.

10k

I decided that I wanted to do the 10k over the 4th in Taylor. The longest I had run in a race before this was the Tillman and it is only 4.2 miles, a 10k is 6.2. I also knew I would have a harder time breathing in Taylor and it isn't near as flat as in the valley so I was a little apprehensive. But I decided I was going to give it a try. I asked the kids if any of them wanted to run the 2 mile while I ran the 10k. Addy and TJ both said they wanted to run it with me. So I told them they had to be able to at least run a mile without stopping before the day if they wanted me to sign them up. They both trained and ran over a mile without stopping so I signed them up. Jamie said he would run with them so I could do my race. TJ ran the 2 miles in 18:47 and Addy ran it in 20:22. I was so proud of both of them. The age group was 9 and under and they separated it into boys and girls. TJ was second in his age group and Addy was first. TJ told me  he wished he would have won 3rd instead of 2nd because 3rd place got yellow ribbons:) I ended up running it in 52:41 which was about a 8 1/2 minute mile average so I was really happy about that. I ended up 3rd for the women and 2nd in my age group. It was a good morning and fun to get to do with the kids.

Pierced

We told Addy she could get her ears pierced when she turned 5. She was a few days away from being 5 when we were in Taylor so we decided to let her so my Aunt Oona could do it. Marking her ears.

The before.

During.... She was pretty scared. But they had 2 guns and they did both ears at the same time which was really nice. It was over before she even knew what had happened.

And after. She was pretty excited to have it done.

I told her we could go for ice cream afterwards but she chose an icee instead. It was fun for me and Jamie to just get to go with her by herself. That doesn't happen very often and we had a good time with her.

A Country Boy Will Survive

We went to Taylor for the 4th of July and my mom's 60th birthday. While we were there Papa took the kids horse riding. Rook and Evie weren't sure about it. I don't know if I have ever taken Rook before though.

TJ had told me a few days before we left that he had decided what he wanted to be when he grew up. I asked him what and he said, "a cowboy." He did a great job riding and didn't act like it intimidated him at all.

 The kids also just enjoyed being outside in the cooler weather.

While Jamie and I were gone taking Addy to get her ears pierced, Wyatt told TJ he would give him a dollar if he ate a worm. So TJ did it. Wyatt got it on video. This is a picture taken from the video so it's a little grainy.