Birthday Party at Fin and Feather

We had a birthday party for Brady and my dad the first night at Fin and Feather. Since we were at the lake, we had a wakeboard themed cake.

The little girls had a ball trying on Gramps glasses.

Dillon International 5k

The boys ran another 5k with me this summer. It was almost 100 degrees when the 5k started at 8:00 in the morning. Needless to say it was HOT!

Father's Day

Father's Day was definitely different this year. Since the massive tornado had destroyed much of Joplin, our church organized groups of men to go up and help with the clean up. The weekend we were assigned happened to be Father's Day weekend. Nick, Steve and my dad were all in Joplin on Father's Day so we missed them! But we were so grateful that they were able to go help and serve the people of Joplin.

Brady and my dad share a birthday and it fell on Father's Day this year. We celebrated later that week at Fin and Feather, but we couldn't let their actual birthdays go by without a little celebration. Brady just wanted a big cookie.

Dad and Nick right after getting home from Joplin. Filthy and tired!

Birthday Boys

Sweet Anna

All of us are just in love with our sweet little niece Anna. She is such a doll. It's a fight to see who gets to hold her.

Drew builds some kind of contraption out of legos or k'nex every day. He's so imaginative.

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

I finally got my Mother's Day present from Nick...this beautiful piano. I seriously love it so much. It was definitely worth the wait. I've played so much this week that my wrists are actually sore. I love, love, love it!

The kids are going to start taking piano lessons in July. I might be slightly more excited about that than they are, but I think they'll enjoy it. Actually Grant really wants to take piano...it's Brady that needs to be convinced.

Party at the Lake

The boys had a blast at the lake. Nick and I plus our friend Mollie took all 12 boys out on the boat by ourselves. They were really hilarious.

Don't these pictures make you want to send your kid to the lake with us? Yikes!

Nick cranked some tunes on the boat, and it turned into a dance party. I was cracking up at these boys' moves.

Brady showing off his wake boarding skills

Grant harassing "Captain Nick" as the boys nicknamed him

Grant hopped in the water for a quick ride on his board too.

Brady's 10th Birthday

Brady celebrated his birthday by having 12 boys over to have cake, play for a couple of hours, then we took them all out on the boat for some tubing and swimming. It was probably the best birthday party ever. It lasted 8 hours! Those boys had so much fun!

Summer Nights

On Tuesday nights, Grant and Brady have a soccer clinic they attend, while Drew and the other little brothers play at the splash pad. We love to go get snow cones with our friends after soccer. Nothing like sitting in the sticky Oklahoma heat while enjoying an ice cold snow cone. Yum!

These are the kids from 3 families. Poor Julia is the only girl!

Brent was with us this day. Drew and Brent have been bouncing back and forth between each others houses all summer. It's so great to have a cousin your same age. They're best friends.

Camp Russell

Brady went to cub scout camp this year without Grant since he was too old to go. This was Brady's first year to go without him. There were 14 scouts that went from our ward. I think it's the biggest group we've ever had. They are such great boys! I'm glad Brady has so many awesome friends.

Zipline

BB's

Fishing

Projects

More fishing

Hanging out with his buddies

Archery

These boys ate an astonishing amount of candy while at camp. Can you tell? I'm surprised their lips didn't permanently stay blue.