Partying in style

Last night we enjoyed an evening out with some good friends. Our friend Alisha Clayson got a great deal on a limo and organized an evening of fun for this big group of friends. We met for dinner and then were picked up at the restaurant and went on an hour limo ride around Ft. Wayne.
Inside the limo...it was so fun to all be together and drive around like we were so important! We all felt a little motion sickness when we got out of the car.
Our group - 13 of us. Amy's husband was out of town and missed out on the fun. Maybe we should photoshop him in. Glad Amy still joined us! I think we could have still fit another couple in the limo. As Alisha always says, "good times!"

Baby Emily

Sunday we had the privilege of seeing baby Emily blessed in church. She was almost three weeks old and it was our first time to meet her on Saturday. From the time we arrived in Ohio, Madelyn kept asking when we were going to see Emily. She had Emily radar and knew the instant she arrived. What a beautiful baby! During church it was so cute to see Hunter and Megan take car of her while Jenny plays the organ. She has come to a family so ready to love her!

Our two families...what a crew! Madelyn obviously wasn't very happy about the photos. She was probably upset she didn't get to hold baby Emily.Here's our happy girl, Madelyn!

And don't forget about this sweetie, Naomi!

A big congrats to Aaron's nephew, Evan who graduated from high school this past weekend too. We were really lame and didn't take any pictures, but we are so proud of him. He's such a great example for his younger cousins!

Little Critter

Yesterday I was getting something out of our gym and walking back into our house when I saw this little chipmunk just sitting in the corner staring at me. He then started climbing all over the screen and running around inside. I thought about leaving the door open so he could go out, but I had to know that he was outside. I opened the door up and Bruce and I managed to get him outside. I can only guess that the kids must have left the door open as they often do and he came in. My friend called while all of this was going on and asked what I was doing. She was laughing at me when I told her I was trying to chase a chipmunk. What an adventure!

Company!!

It isn't often we get company (especially from my side of the family), so when we do, it's definitely worth posting! My nephew Kolton and his sister Bailey flew out to visit us from Idaho. We were so excited to have them for a few days!!
One of the first things Kolton realized is how quickly the weather changes here. He and Justin left to go on a bike road and it was barely drizzling rain outside. Five minutes later here they are soaked from a heavy downpour.
If you look closely, you can see that Naomi is holding Kolton's hand and running with him. Even the little girls warmed right up to him. Every meal we had to take turns sitting by Kolton because they all wanted equal turns. I asked Bailey if it's like that at home...does everyone want to sit by Kolton?
We laid down for a nap (yes!) on Sunday afternoon and this is what we awoke to. They were playing a nice game of Apples to Apples...and no one was fighting! I think we need company more often!
Saturday afternoon we all went bowling and after the kids played a few video games. They were more interested in earning tickets so they could turn them in for prizes (i.e. candy).
Here's a picture taken before church. This will be our last visit with Kolton for at least two years because he is going to be leaving in two weeks for a church mission in West Virginia. We know the people there will fall in love with him as much as we do. Bailey, hopefully we'll see you in a couple of months!

Exciting update!

Bruce's wish came true. He brought this home from school the week Aaron received his notice that his position was being eliminated. After many interviews and much searching, Aaron has accepted a position. He will begin working right away and we feel so blessed. We will be moving about an hour north of where we currently live so we will still be close to our friends in Indiana and family in Ohio. Elizabeth asked if we would be closer to our family in Idaho and I told her we would by about 30 minutes. We are now searching for a new home and will be busy preparing for our move. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Precious!

This little girl is so quiet around others, but she has so much personality at home! She is now into dressing up and is very insistent about what she will or will not wear. To top off this outfit, she was wearing Cinderella shoes that were about four sizes too big. Could she possibly be any cuter?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

We hope all the Mother's out there had a wonderful day. We are especially thankful for our children's grandmothers Peg Allen and Donna Power.

An "American" Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Elizabeth's 11th birthday at the American Girl store in Chicago. We haven't been there since her seventh birthday when Madelyn was about 3 weeks old and actually looked like one of the dolls! Last time we went the boys played at a park while we shopped so we didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted. This time it was just the girls (Mom, Elizabeth, her friend Anna, and Madelyn) and we made a day of it. Elizabeth and Anna were so excited to go that they were both up half the night on Friday. Elizabeth said she woke up about every hour, hoping it was time to get up!
We had brunch at the American Girl cafe and Elizabeth got a special birthday treat. The cafe was about as girly as you can get - lots of pink and flowers. Elizabeth and Anna got their doll's ears pierced and their hair fixed at the salon. We shopped around and had fun looking at all of the displays. Elizabeth loves all of their historical dolls and has loved learning about the different time periods they lived in from reading the books.

Madelyn just couldn't wait to see the Bitty Baby section of the store. She wanted everything, but was happy to pick out the ballerina outfit and doctor kit she has been wanting for her doll.
Madelyn crashed in the car on the way home. You can see that she did get her new ballerina outfit on her doll first. She was so cute. She insisted on carrying the shopping bag out to the car even though it was as big as her. I kept asking if I could carry it and finally she told me that I didn't buy anything so I couldn't carry it. I'm glad she is footing the bill for this one!
I kept having the thought go through my mind that Elizabeth may not want to go to the store much longer for her birthday. She is eleven now and is going to be in the teenage years soon. As much as she is a girly girl I think she will always love all of the cutsie stuff they have and I hope she will continue to enjoy it with her sisters as they get a little older. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. I get notes from her teachers at school frequently who tell me what a good student she is and how nice she is to others. She is very thoughtful of others and chooses good friends who share her values. We love you, Elizabeth!

Happy 11th Birthday, Elizabeth!

I plan on posting more tomorrow, but I didn't want the day to pass without wishing our sweet daughter Elizabeth a Happy 11th Birthday! We had a fun day celebrating her birthday and I plan on posting more pictures tomorrow so stay tuned...!

"R" is for rice

This week in pre-school we talked about the letter "R." Madelyn's favorite activity was writing her letters in this pan of rice. I left it out for a couple of days because she was so eager to "write" her letters and shapes in the rice. Most of the time the girls are eager to run off and play, but today Madelyn just wanted to stay at the table and write.

Works for us!

We use time out to disciple our kids some, but most of the time we have them run laps in our gym. Recently, whenever anyone has to run laps, Naomi gets all excited and likes to run with them. It's so cute to see her waddle around the room and try to keep up. Everyone always ends up laughing and having a good time. I'm not so sure that it's really much of a punishment, but it does stop the bad behavior and a little bit of exercise is good for everyone, right?

Justin's shiner

When I picked Justin up from Scouts a few nights ago, this is what he looked like. He was trying to be tough, but just wanted to get out of there. You can imagine the kind of comments he's gotten at school and church. It was just an accident. The boys were messing around shooting mulch out of a sling shot and one boy grabbed a rock that hit Justin. I think this is his first black eye ever. It reminds me of a much worse injury when he was five and had just learned to ride his bike:

Things could always be worse!