First Birthday!

Brooklyn, I can't believe you are already one. It seems such a short time ago we found out you were coming to our family. The past year has been amazing for all of us. We love to watch you learn and grow. You are such a special addition to our family and make our home that much brighter. Every day I thank my Heavenly Father that I get to be your mom. We love you so much and look forward to another wonderful year.

Tanner and Kaden came up with the idea for decorating her cake. They are so into all this little girl stuff for her... it is really cute. I think they were more excited for her birthday than their own. Brooklyn, you are very lucky to have such good big brothers.

You were so cute when you saw your cake. You also thought the birthday song was very funny. We had to sing it twice just to see your reaction again. You couldn't stop laughing so we must have sounded either really good or really bad.

You were unsure about the cake at first and didn't like the feeling of the frosting on your fingers. You got over that pretty quick after a few bites.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We love you!

GO BANANAS!

We were doing something on the counter the other day and brooklyn reached over to grab herself a little snack. She loves bananas so I thought why not.

Mmmm... this is pretty good!

I think i'll have a little more.

How much do you think I can fit at once?

A lot!

Is there any more in there?

Oh... did you want a bite? Sorry.

Summer of Fun

What a fun summer we have had. I think Brooklyn describes it best with the look on her face here. Pure joy. We were very busy this summer, but have a lot of fun memories to take with us. There were countless trips to the park where as you can see Brooklyn fell in love with the swings. The higher the better... she is such a little daredevil. We also spent a ton of time at the pool soaking up the sun. It is our favorite thing to do on a hot day.

We were able to take a few trips to see family this summer. One place we went was to see Aunt Ashley, Uncle Jordan, Jackson and Tyler in Pittsburg. We got to see the new baby and help out where we could. You are such a cute family and we feel very blessed to live close enough to see eachother often. We love you guys!! We also spent a day downtown where there was this great little water park for the kids to run through. They were drenched..., but grinning.

After PA we went to Nauvoo to spend some time with grandparents and take in a little history. The boys had a wonderful time and will remember this trip for a long time to come. Thanks to G&G Lords for sharing your home and making the trip so special. Here are a few of the fun activities we did.

Go Kaden!

Faster Grandpa!

When Grandma and Grandpa came to visit we had a blast. They are always so much fun and so loved in our house. One day we went to the state fair. It was incredibly hot that day, but the kids

had a great time. I don't know what it is with little kids and stinky animals. They can't go by without making friends... I think they stunk the rest of the day.

First Elephant ride!

Alas, all good things must end sometime and give way to other good things. So we say goodbye to the summer for now and head off to school. Tanner in first, Kaden in Kindergarten and mom gets a little free time. Have a great year boys and we look forward already to making more memories next summer!

So our town has this amazing park where they hold 4th of July festivities every year. There is always so much going on for kids and music and of course great fireworks! It has become a fun tradition to go every year and make memories. We wondered this year how Brooklyn would handle the fireworks and being up so late. She was such a trooper and wasn't scared at all. She loved the bright colors and just stared at them the whole time.

Brooklyn had her first twizzler while we were there. What a jaw grip! We had a hard time getting it away from her. She must have a sweet tooth like her mom.

There was a water dunking booth for the local football team to raise money. Tanner and Kaden had a lot of fun trying (and succeeding) to sink the teenage boys. They thought it was the funniest thing to watch them fall in. I think they would have spent all their money there if we had let them.

However, Kaden quickly learned that he got the same result by quickly running up there and pushing the button.

Thankfully, it was a very hot day and the football players didn't seem to mind Kaden's method of getting them wet. They were good sports about it.

One of there favorite activities of the day was the rock wall. Tanner made it all the way to the top... with a little help from his belay.

I know it has been a while since we have updated you all. We have been without a computer for a while after a lightning strike. You really realize how much you depend on something when it is gone. Anyways, we hope you are all doing well and having a great summer. Here are some of the things we have been up to.

At the beginning of the summer, Tanner's school had a field day. The boys had so much fun joining in on all the games. Here is Tanner in his box car he and his Dad built. He was so proud of himself for coming in second place. Go Tanner!

Kaden was sure concentrating on that egg race. He never dropped it!

I think I have the sweetest husband in the world. We had our anniversary this past week and celebrated on Friday night. We were getting ready to leave and a big black limo pulls up in front of the house. He totally surprised me and had this whole night planned. We had so much fun. It is great to go out and remember that you are someone other than a mom once in a while. Thank you honey...I love you.

Little Kaden, you are growing up too fast. I can't believe you have already graduated from preschool. I know you are very excited to go to kindergarten next year and ride the bus, but I am going to miss you so much. You are the sweetest boy ever and leave a void whenever you are not here. I am so proud of you and who you are becoming. I love you.