Fourth of July

We celebrated the 4th of July at home this year with lots of friends, family, great food, bonfires, swimming and fireworks. Even the puppy had a great time :)

Chewie hoping to get some leftovers

Alyssa, Emily and Ryan trying to see who could swing the highest

Me & Natalie

Nick & Chewie

Marina & Emily sporting glow necklaces and sparklers

Nick & Dad hanging out

Emily copying Dad and cracking us up :)

4 Kids & A Puppy

I don't think it can get much cuter than this :)

Two cousins fresh out of the bath and in their jammies.

Almost makes me want to have another one.

Such a good helper!

Two of her biggest fans!!!

On top of getting a new puppy this weekend (who still doesn't have a name) we also had our niece Natalie stay with us while her parents enjoyed some much deserved time away. She is 9 months old now and so fun :) The kids had a hard time choosing who to play with between her and the puppy.

A New Addition To Our Family

5th Grade Recognition

So proud of our 5th grader!!!!

The whole family

Nick getting his "diploma" from Mr. Fizzell

Nick's 5th grade recognition program was wonderful. The kids looked so nice all dressed up. They filed into the gym behind a bagpipe player and then went in pairs up to the front where all the teachers from each grade were there waiting to pin a corsage/boutonniere on them. They sang a few songs and then received their "diplomas". I made it through the whole thing without any tears (which is pretty impressive for me) until Nick's teacher Mr. Fizzell read a poem that he wrote for them. Here it is:

Tonight's the night that we've all come to recognize what you have done. You came to Neff on our first day with eyes open wide but little to say. Through the year you've learned a lot just don't forget what we have taught. Maniac McGee and homophones, bar graphs, fractions and mouse bones. Magnets, division, explorers deeds, voice, pure editing and journals of seeds. Denominators and objects in space, grammar, spelling and the value of place. But the end is here your finally done your time at Neff has been and gone. You were the biggest fish in our small pond but now you'll see what lies beyond. No more math and science too your finally off to middle school. Ms. Harwood and I have enjoyed every minute it's hard to think of Neff without you in it. So congrats, bravo I'll say it loud for all you've accomplished we are so proud.

As soon as he started talking my tears started flowing.

We are so proud of you Nick!!!! It seems like just yesterday we were dropping you off at preschool and trying to get out the door with you screaming and holding onto our legs :) We are constantly impressed by your compassion and kindness to others at school who may not have any friends. Your ability to make them feel liked and accepted always amazes us. Every teachers conference was a joy. You were loved by every one of your teachers in elementary school and we know you will continue to blow them away at middle school.

Good luck buddy!!!!

Field Trips

Nick and Ryan each had field trips at the end of the school year. Nick's class went to Greenfield Village which I had never been to. It was pretty interesting. We are looking forward to going back in the winter around Christmas.

Ryan's class went to Binder Park Zoo. The highlight of the day for all of the kids was feeding the giraffes.

It always cracks me when all the kids want to do is go to the gift shop on these trips. The fifth graders were no exception. We had all boys in our group and the only thing they wanted to do was ride the train, get ice cream and shop.

Nick and his friends riding in a Model T at Greenfield Village.

Ryan could hardly contain his excitement over feeding the giraffes. The girls in our group thought their black tongues were "disgusting".

Ryan found the MSU Spartan horse :)

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was busy at our house. We had Josh's birthday, our niece Lauren's birthday, a bonfire with the Alderman's and camped out in the backyard. It was a great way to start our summer!!!!

Emily helping her cousin Lauren blow out her birthday candles on her butterfly cake

Ryan our "expert" marshmallow roaster at our first bonfire of the summer

We camped out in our backyard for the night. The kids loved it!! Josh and I loved it because there was no packing involved :)

He still loves to snuggle with his mom!!

Josh and I made it through breakfast before going back to the house. The kids played in the camper all weekend.

New Sidewalk With Old Rocks

A few years ago the basement of my Grandpa's barn started caving in. After getting a few estimates on rebuilding the wall he decided to have the barn torn down instead of fixing it. Josh spent a few long days taking all the stones out of the basement for him and while he was doing this my Grandpa said he thought they would make a pretty sidewalk. Josh brought them home and they have been in our backyard since then. About a month ago he decided to make the sidewalk and ended up doing it in just a couple days. Some of these rocks were over 100 lbs. and I think his wrists are probably still hurting but we really like the result. We still have to decide how we want to landscape around it but for right now I just like looking at it thinking about how much my Grandpa would have enjoyed knowing that the rocks that held up his barn for so many years are now leading to our front door.