Ainsley's Birthday Party

We celebrated Ainsley's birthday on the Saturday before her birthday.  It was a hectic day, as Aaron and Uncle Nate decided to throw in a cattle show that morning.  Fortunately, we got all of our work done and we were ready for everyone to come over for supper, cake and birthday partying later that night.  It was a fast, fun, chilly day!

Jackets, fire pit....this does not look like a July birthday party.

Papa taking the birthday girl for a ride.

Peek-a-boo Lola Lou - I see you!

All the kids LOVED Si and Coco!

Time for presents!

YES!  New jeans! 

This little nut posed with every gift she got!

Ainsley got a new JD gator for her birthday from us, Grandma K, Grandma Sharon and Papa.  Aaron caught her in action, right when she saw it! Her reaction was GREAT!

Ainsley's new ride!

Room for everyone to ride!

Ainsley's Minnie Mouse cake

Us with the Birthday girl (Addysen was not cooperating for the picture)

Grandma Sharon & Pap with the birthday girl

Grandma K and Ainsley showing me their sweet face.

VBS

This was Ainsley, Anna and Peighton's first year at Vacation Bible School. All the girls had a blast!  They had a great time learning, coloring, singing and making crafts!  I know Ainsley was sad when it was over! Until next year....

American Girl Doll Trip!

In the middle of July, we took Addysen and Lexi to Chicago to get their first American girl dolls!  We had a BLAST! Girls trips are always the best.  We shopped, we ate, we laughed (a lot) and we bonded!  Such a great weekend!  I think Nici and I both spend a lot more money than we intended on spending, but we both felt it was totally worth it when we saw smiles on our girls faces and the twinkles in their eyes.  The memories that were made this weekend were worth every cent and will last a lifetime!

Grandma K trying to wrangle Frank and Ainsley on the train!

Lexi, Addysen and Morgan looking through their American Girl doll magazine.

We made it to Chicago, LETS GO SHOP!

We made it to the store and we found Julie!!!

Lexi and Addysen got the same doll.  Look at those smiles!

We got her! She's out of the box! And safe in her backpack!

Addysen, The Julies and Lexi

Julie (now in her cheer leading outfit) Addysen and me

HA HA HA!!  Erin was messing around with this hat.  We thought is was something to buy at the store and we thought it was funny on her, so we were taking pictures.  A couple of minutes later, once we were done playing with it, a little girl and her mom walked by, the little girl picked up the had, put it on and walked out of the store.  We all died laughing.  It was a great moment!

Back to the hotel to play a little bit.

The Julies need to change clothes again and get their hair brushed, again;)

Tammy & her girls at dinner.

Time for bed in matching PJ's from Nici!

Tammy was not ready for bed, because she felt pretty hot in her new dress! Mom and I agreed, so she modeled for us.

Ainsley, Morgy and Evan - waiting for our table at the Cheesecake Factory

Love this picture of the girls. After we looked at it, we laughed and laughed as it looks like Lexi it flashing gang signs:)

Me and my girls!

Grandma K, her girls and her grandgirls - minus the Baker's:(

Train ride home, all the kids were really good, but really loud...

So I'm sure the entire train clapped once we got off the train:)

Discovery Depot Donation

In June, Addysen and Peighton had a lemonade and cookie stand where they made quite a bit of money.  This is their second year of doing this.  They have a blast running their stand, asking people to buy from them, filling glasses of lemonade, handing out cookies and collecting money.  This year we decided to donate the money they earned from their stand to the Discovery Depot in Galesburg, since they both love going there so much!  So we planned a day to go there, donate our money and play! To our surprise, they made a big deal about the girls donating their money and thanked them many times.  They even took pictures of them and put their story on their facebook page.  It was great for the girls to see that what they are doing is really important and special.  We are very proud of them!!

Holding hands and walking in... Could they be any cuter?

Peighton and Addysen showing off the card they made and all their money.  ( & a Tate photobomb)

The girls doing their good deed and donating their money!

Morgan & Caleb's Birthday Party

Morgan and Caleb were in Florida for their birthday, so we celebrated their birthdays a week later.  Morgy turned 12 and Caleb turned 8.  They are awesome little kiddos - that we love very much!

Morgan and her french silk pie and Caleb with his 8 candles in one mini cupcake.

Time to open gifts! Both kids just wanted $$ this year, as they had their eye on something BIG!

Caleb showing the card that Addysen made for him.  On the inside of the card, she drew him with a football and she drew him with a basketball because she knows he likes both of those sports:)

Morgan showing off the card Addysen made for her - beautiful and colorful, just like Morgy!

Ainsley's Ouchie

We went to a party on the 4th of July & had a lot of fun hanging out with friends, eating and watching fireworks. Unfortunately, I did not take one picture.  However, I did get one picture the next day of Ainsley's nose.  She had a little accident, fell & got an ouchie.  Aaron and her were walking to the house and he had her hand and was swinging her up and down (something they always do). Except this time, she slipped out of his hand and landed face first on the gravel driveway.  :(  I'm not sure who felt worse, Ainsley or Aaron...  We cleaned her up, put ice on her and gave her some Tylenol and she seemed okay, so we stayed at the party. The next day, her nose was still pretty swollen, so I took her to the ER at Saint Francis.  The doctor saw her and said she was going to be fine. He said they do not normally x-ray children's faces.  He said that it could be broken, but if it was, they wouldn't do anything about it, unless she can't breathe or if it was deformed. After it initially happened, she never really complained about it, so I think that explains the face she is making in the bottom picture....she is such a nut!

Addysen & Coco

A fun afternoon on the 4th of July playing in the water with Coco!