the oldest and youngest...

Cailey pretty much takes showers now but one night we put her in the tub with Ephram and I came in on the sweetest moment and just had to sneak a picture. This was definitely NOT posed and melted my heart. She loves her baby brother so much and continues to be so helpful and sweet to him. He is so blessed! We all are!

reading him "Rainbow Fish" which i read to her EVERY time
she took a bath when she was his age:)

she made the team!

Cailey decided she wanted to do swimteam this summer. She's been taking lessons for a few years but since we don't have a neighborhood pool and don't belong to a club we decided to look into the Y. They have a swimteam but when I first talked to the coach I wasn't sure Cailey was going to make the team. The coach made it sound like they were very strict on the strokes and you had to be super good...we were just looking for a recreational fun kinda thing, NOT competitive.

Cailey had tryouts last Friday night while I was at a farewell dinner for Sonja (which was REALLY fun, by the way) so she couldn't wait to talk to me about it. Brian had her call me and give me the great news...she made the team! I was in shock but thrilled for her. (I really wish I hadn't talked to the coach ahead of time). Brian said that lots of kids had to re-swim some laps but Cailey was just signed off for everything the first time! YAY!!

When I got home from the dinner she was asleep in the hall because she couldn't wait to tell me:).

the next day we used our coupons to celebrate with CFA milkshakes for everyone!
we are SO proud of you, Cailey!

Baby Dedication

introducing our sweet boy

with our senior pastor

ephram LOVED playing with and trying to eat my
necklace!

one leg of his pants just wouldn't stay buttoned
and I fixed it right before we went on stage. i had
no idea until i saw the pics that it fell again! oh well...

On Mother's Day Ephram was dedicated at our church. We dressed him up in the hanbok that Mrs. Lee gave us for him and he was just the cutest thing- I wish I had thought of that when we dedicated Braden! He did great on the stage...he talked some, pulled my necklace and hair some, nothing we didn't expect him to do (especially considering it was naptime). I had always dreamed of Brian's dad dedicating all the kids but God had another plan. We were surrounded by our church family and felt so loved.

I had a couple friends who took pictures for us (one I didn't even know about until I got an email with the pics:). Thanks so much for staying to take pictures for us, girls!

more eatin' than pickin'

annual fruit lunch, i mean strawberry picking!

so is just SO cute!

he needed in on the fun too!

working hard for yummy berries

brian was horrified to see him covered in
red...i let him eat more when he was just in
a diaper at home:)

hands stained from eating, i mean
picking so many!

my champion picker!

braden was SO excited for me to take a picture in the strawberry
and couldn't wait to be done picking so he could pose:)

GREAT smiles!

After Cailey's last soccer game we headed out to pick berries. It was pretty hot that morning but overcast for most of our picking time so it wasn't bad at all. The kids had a blast running up and down the rows, eating, picking, eating, and eating. I think this year is the most they've eaten from the field...we SERIOUSLY got our money's worth! We've enjoyed eating yummy strawberry muffins, bread, syrup, and just plain berries!

my girly monkey

Kinsey's ALWAYS been a climber so it didn't surprise us at all when she was the first one to pick up the monkey bars. Braden and Cailey love to try and get across but usually jump off after about 2 or 3 bars. It's HARD! You gotta have great upper body strength to do the monkey bars...and not be afraid of falling:). Kinsey has figured out the combination and zooms across just like a monkey! Great job!

Trophy Day

she's been on the same team with some
of these girls for three seasons!

trophy talk

Cailey had her last soccer game and celebrated with cupcakes and park time with her teammates afterwards. She truly LOVED playing soccer this spring and can't wait to play again. She's had Coach Rick for three seasons and is hoping to have him again but since she's moving up in age groups I'm not sure that she'll be able to. He really makes it SO fun for the kids and is super encouraging to them. He is always great about cheering on opponents when they do well also.

Not sure what it is about a trophy but I think all kids get excited about them. I can remember getting excited about them as a kid too. I had a ton because I was involved in SO many sports but I wasn't really good at any of them. Still....I participated, tried my best, and got a trophy. They sit in a box in my parent's basement collecting dust. Funny how I couldn't wait to get one!

boys will be boys

Brian LOVED Star Wars and Transformers when he was a little boy. He loved them so much that he even saved some of the ones he used to play with. Braden got some great Transformers and Star Wars 'characters' (not sure what you call them) for his birthday from Nonny and Poppy and has loved playing them with Daddy. They can spend some serious time with these things! I just love watching them together because Brian is just as excited as Braden is:).

AWANA awards night

I've helped out with AWANAS the last
couple of years but this year was the first
"official" year I helped. It was so neat getting
to serve and watch the kids learn so many verses.

my two sparks and a cubbie!

Cubbie Time!

she was SO excited to get a cup and a bear
just like Cailey and Braden had!

Sparks Time

cookie time with friends

braden said the CUTEST thing to Dave as he was leaving.
he said, (in a sad voice) "well, I guess I'll see you when I see you"

Braden did such an amazing job this year finishing up in record time and then helping other children learn their verses. The leaders would joke around with Braden about him teaching Green Meadow (devotion) time. He couldn't wait to go each week and share his verses. He was able to learn many of them just by reading the bible. We are SO proud of you, buddy!! He went through both of his books earning everything he could as a first year Sparkie. We LOVE his leaders, Dave and Tricia!

Cailey did amazing during her last year of Sparks. She completed both books and in the three years she's been in it Cailey has earned every jewel, pin, and patch that she could earn. She also finished up VERY early and helped several other kids learn their verses weekly. I had the privilege of working in her class and saw kids go to her and say, "Cailey, will you help me learn my verses?" Great job, babe! We are SO proud of you! It was great being with Melissa and Clint for another year!

Kinsey was THRILLED to be a Cubbie this year and looked forward to going every week. Sometimes during preschool she'd sing the days of the week song and accidentally substitute "Cubbie" for "Wednesday". She truly was excited to go and asked about it DAILY. She did a great job learning her verses and always tried. Some were harder than others, but she just tried her best! We are SO proud of you, Kinsey!! She adored her teachers and will be sad to not see them at AWANAS every week. Good thing we'll still get to see them at church!

We are very proud of all three of our kiddos for learning verses and hiding God's word in their heart. I feel like we're blessed to have a program like AWANAS for them to be involved in and they just have a blast there!