Happy 4th Birthday Madi!

Yes, I am well aware that it is November, and this sweet girl had her birthday in July! (I'm such a bad blogger lately!) Anyway, I'm going to back track a few months and try to catch up. I wanted to give this girl her due... she was sooooo excited to turn four this summer and she loved her Barbie "Fairytopia" cake. She is very much a girly-girl and likes all the rainbows, sparkles, ponies, and princesses that life has to offer! This has been the quickest four years of my life ~ we love Miss Madi and could not imagine life without her :)

Destin, Florida '09

Back in July we took the most amazing family vacation to Destin, FL! We opted for a condo, rather than a hotel, and I'm so glad we did ~ lots of room for the six of us, plus my parents, to stretch out. We overlooked the Emerald coast, which was absolutely beautiful! Our days consisted of hanging out on the beach, swimming, eating, and Kristen and Clay even got to para sail. We drove both ways straight through which was looooong, but the kids did great as long as there was a video going :)
Pictures? I took TONS of pictures, but here's just a few...

















Now we are back to reality - school, ball games, .....responsibilities!

No.... More......... Braces!!!!

~ Before ~

~ After ~

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball!

Those three words pretty much sum up our spring/summer! Clay's team had a great season, winning the league championship. He's now gearing up for all-stars which will continue throughout July. Jake's team came in second in their league and he's now in the post-season tournament. Our family LOVES baseball (Russ coaches Clay's team and assists with Jake's).... so much to learn from the sport like dedication, teamwork, and never giving up no matter what! Here's some of my favorite pics from the season...

Father's Day....

Yeah, yeah I know it's July, but I am perpetually behind in posting and I need to post this pic from Father's Day. Right before Russ went in to preach, his two little ones came by his office to say "Happy Father's Day". He's such a great dad - our kids are very blessed to call him their dad. :)

Ahhh, Mother's Day.... so thankful for these four blessings....

This was such a fun day ~ we had a Mother's Day breakfast at our church and a few people had been asked to speak. To my surprise, my daughter was one of those people! Wow, did she bless my heart with her words - thanks Kristen! It will be a day I'll never forget..... later that evening we went to one of my favorite restaurants - Marketplace.... the chocolate mess was the literally the icing on the cake! :)

6th Grade Track Meet!!!!!

Here's some pics from Clay's 6th grade track meet - (he's in the red shirt).... he competed in three different events and had a blast! He's hooked on track now, and loved all the practices they had. Dad had great advice for him - "turn left and run fast" - ha! Being the "social" kid that he is, he also met a lot of other 6th graders and looks forward to junior high next year - cannot wait! Hope junior high is ready for him ;)