You can always pause the music on the player to the right and you can also view pictures larger by clicking on them :-)
For 2 1/2 weeks I had the pleasure of having 5 kids instead of 3. My new clan included two 8 year olds girls, a 5 year old girl, a 4 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. We kepts busy, had lots of fun and enjoyed each other completely!
My two nieces - Abby and Ruby - were left behind when their parents headed back to ND after their visit here. It was such a treat for Madison and Isaac to have built in playmates day after day. I also enjoyed the extra activity - it kept me organized and scheduled (believe it or not). I found that having more to manage forced me to always be prepared and ready each step of the way. Hmmm . . . maybe I found a long term solution to things getting out of order and control - have more kids :-)
We are all flying high (literally in some cases) with excitement to have family come and visit. My sister
Bekah and her husband Dale and their four girls, Abby, Ruby, Violet and Georgia, came to visit for the weekend. The kids had a blast and we all enjoyed beautiful weather and had fun outside.
This picture is awesome!! Brock took it of Ruby jumping off a stone ledge. It is so cute how focused she is - even her tongue is sticking out :-) Isaac's look of amazement is so cute too!!
Isaac's turn to jump - Ruby must be concentrating for him because her tongue is still out :-) Next, everyone was supposed to jump at the same time. For some reason, Isaac and Ruby were the only two to made it off the ledge! Isn't that just like a big sister? Get two big sisters together and you never know what can happen :-)
Abby and Madison did take their turn too - just not with the "little kids" of course :-)
The kids posing on the perfect jumping ledge! Left to Right: Isaac, Violet (3), Ruby (5), Abby (8) and Madison. Notice the "M" on the hill behind them, that is where
Madison and Brock hiked not too long ago.
PS - I am still in catch up mode - these pics are from a month ago. Can you tell I am a systematic person?? Don't go out of order, don't skip ahead, don't breeze past anything, be thorough :-) Unfortunately, we have more snow today than this weekend one month ago, bummer!!
There was a little pond where we went for a walk/picnic and the kids loved it. They had fun watching the ducks and trying to feed them. Madison was the most daring and comfortably fed them many times. As you can see some of the others were more hesitant :-)
Hannah is trying to get in on the fun. She never did leave her hand there long enough to actually give the food to the duck.
Isaac showing the ropes to Violet - "you see that one is the boy and that one the girl" :-)
Ruby and Abby were hesitant to feed the ducks and were so cute when they finally did. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Ruby right after this one - it was so adorable. She was thrilled and had a huge smile! Abby was the last one to finally do it - you can see she was prepared for the worst :-)
. . . . FUN FUN FUN!
Brock, Madison and Abby wading out in the water. The challenge of making it across the river one leap at a time was too much for them to avoid. Looks like Abby decided it was just as easy to walk in the water :-) Violet, Ruby and Isaac opt for a little fun while keeping their feet warm and dry . . . rock throwing. Isaac could do this for hours. Each new rock and new splash is a thrill to him. He acts like he is seeing it for the first time! It is really cute.
I love this picture of Abby running - she looks so serious and focused. Violet got bored of the rock throwing but Isaac and Ruby are still going strong. It looks like Isaac is going to get clunked in the head if Ruby doesn't get a good throw :-)
Of course it isn't real fun when your mom's decide it is better for you to stay up on the bank and watch from a distance :-) Thankfully, Hannah and Georgia don't mind - they don't know what they are missing!
Our little cowboy and cowgirl in November 2006 visiting Grandpa and Grandma in MT. Madison had just turned 6 and Isaac just turned 2. Madison is wearing grandma's stuff and Isaac is wearing grandpa's. Yes, even the boots are grandpa's (or I should say were). Cute huh!!
Madison has always been very comfortable as a cowgirl!
In addition to always being a cowgirl, Madison has also been little miss photogenic
This one cracks me up. How quickly Madison's facial expressions change from when she is in charge, rope in hand to when she is captured because Isaac is in charge, rope in hand :-)
It was 80 degrees yesterday and the kids were running around outside all day - even without shoes! I took the kids on a walk and we all wore shorts and sandals. It was AWESOME!
Unfortunately . . . .
we didn't get to enjoy that today. Instead we . . .
are enjoying this!!
The flakes are huge and they are falling fast. Oh well, I don't like the SUN, WARMTH and the HAVING FUN OUTSIDE anyways! HA! This morning I finished washing all our winter stuff and have it ready to put in a tote. I refuse to put it back in service. If this snow doesn't go soon we will just have to be cold in our spring coats :-)
The kids out washing windows. More accurately, Madison out washing the windows the other two out playing! This is Madison's favorite job. She acts like it is a treat to be given this task! I don't mind a bit! :-) We have had a lot of company lately so have been on our toes keeping up with the house :-) It has been a bit lonely without guests and unfortunately I have started slacking on the house! In the past 5 1/2 weeks we have had 4 weeks of company :-) It has been awesome! We had our friends, the Strege's, from MN first, then my sister Bekah and her family from ND. She left two of her girls to stay with us for a couple weeks and then my mom came to visit and take them home. Lastly, we had my sister Nicole and her family. We love having company, especially here because there is so much to do! Hopefully we will have more soon :-)
All work and no play would be no fun so off we go to the park. These pictures were taken last month when there was still snow. We have had no snow for most of April but did have a couple days of it. Thankfully it melts quickly :-) We have had beautiful weather lately, especially the last couple days - high 70s. I love it - we have been out enjoying hikes and walks every day. I will post them soon so you can enjoy the beauty with us!
Hannah looked so cute so I wanted to take a few picture of her. She was sitting in the chair first and kind of smiled (top right) then I put her on the coffee table so I could see her entire outfit. She hopped right off the coffee table and ran to get her chair. Once she had her chair fully situated and in a perfect position for pictures, she ran to get a prop - a puppy. Now she was ready for her photo shoot and she smiled away.
Maybe someday she will be setting up her own photo shoots and making others laugh the way she makes us laugh! :-)
A few more pictures from our weekend with Nicole, Shane and family.
Bailey, Liam, Madison and I took the big dogs on a walk. It was a beautiful day! Isn't Nala huge??? We got a lot of stares walking down the road with her.
Shane and Brock spent Saturday riding dirt bike and had a blast. Bailey, Madison and Liam were wishing they could go for a ride too :-) Doesn't the sky and mountains look BEAUTIFUL! We really had perfect weather for the Easter weekend.
Maggie and Isaac dressing up. Isaac is a knight (without his shield pulled down) and Maggie is Bible Man :-)
June 2006 in ND visiting my parents. Madison was able to go to VBS with her cousins and had a great time.
Liam,
Lily, Madison and
Abby after a night at VBS
The kids loved the music during VBS, especially the motions! They did a performance for us one night. The cast from left to right includes Lily (4), Madison, Abby and Liam (all 5).
When we all get together it is A LOT of kids. I have 5 sisters and 3 brothers and all but 2 of us are married and having kids :-) As of right now, there are 23 grandchildren (25 by June). At the time that this picture was taken there were 16 total. Wow, that means exactly 3 years later our family added 9 children. :-)
Left to right: Isaac, Madison, Lily, Liam, Abby, Kiaran, Ruby, Maggie and Chloe
(For those of you who know our family and can't keep the kids straight I color coded it for you -
Bekah's,
Laura's,
Nicole's,
Levi's and
mine)
