3 for 1

We have all the cousin's birthday in the fall on the Self side of the family so we decided to combine our three in August/Sept into one. It was like a mini Christmas for them. They laughed and were so excited. We sang happy birthday three times...too funny. Jacob, Samantha and Ayana enjoyed the party and we ate great food!!!

Showing off my new 'Girlie" stuff!

6.....oh my!

They were all gracious and opened gifts together.

Such a cute trio!

His new passion...Legos.

Our family...once again impossible to get everyone smiling at the same time, but cute anyway!

Cousins playing dress up...could there be anthing better?

More cousins

Fracture

We finally have a child with a cast; we all knew it was just a matter of time right? Samantha recieved a hot pink cast for her left wrist today. 9 days ago she complained about hurting her wrist and after waiting it out a couple days, going to urgent care last week and finally the ortho doctor today since it has not gotten any better, we have a diagnosis. She has a growth plate fracture and will need to spend three weeks with her new hot pink club, (which of course she asked if she could use to hit baseballs). I have never seen anyone more excited to get a cast, which I actually think is all the attention it is bringing. Anyway, she has already let us sign it and now has filled in all the other spaces with her own doodling. She cracks me up!

40 yrs of wedded bliss

George and Cindy celebrated thier 40th wedding annivesary last weekend so we threw them a nice little party this afternoon. Is was an amazing feast and a great time together. We smoked salmon, made rotisserri chicken, roasted red potatoes, butternut squash casserole, mucho desserts...yummy! We played Wii and our new game, Sports Resort which is hilarious. The bottom pictures include George playing swordfight, and the group of them playing canoe racing...laughed so hard my side hurts, (and of course Scrabble). Congratulations to them, what a milestone!!!

My Girls

Look how much we are changing and so strong!!! This is my favorite time of baby stage...love her to death!

More of this sweetie on a morning when the big kids were in school!

And of course, this beauty had to get in some of the action. Could she be any more beautiful?

Fashion Advice from Ayana

Get the most current fashion trends from an amazing 2yr old with fabulous style! The latest fashions include using Barbie's purple skirt as a hat and a Princess necklace as a headband/earring combo.

Preciousness from a babe

This morning at breakfast we were talking about Shane's Great-Uncle who went to be with the Lord last week and when we love Jesus we get to be with him too. Ayana, in her innocent love said, "I want my Jesus to be my friend." We want Jesus to be your friend too sweetheart!!!

Durango CO part 3 (photo shoot)

Warning: Many, many pictures!!!

Durango, CO part 2

Kids enjoying the scenary passing by.

Just being silly, what a shock!

Nathan's best day ever...going on a train and falling asleep to the rocking motion, can life get any better?

Ok, so I am finally getting a few minutes to talk about our trip to Colorado. We left Fri afternoon and drove to Gallup, NM. We took our pop-up trailer and stayed at a KOA in Gallup. It had an indoor swimming pool which was perfect for getting out the car ride wiggles before bed, (hence the hot tub picture). We got up Sat morning and headed up to Durango. The kids did great in the car for the most part. It is hard to find something for 2 yr olds to do for 4 hrs since they are not big fans of watching movies, but we managed. We arrived in Durango early afternoon and enjoyed the 80 degree weather...ahhhhh! We stayed again at a KOA only this one was in a wooded area as opposed to just off the high way. The kids got to play on the playground and swim again. This KOA was amazing. They served a pancake breakfast in the morning and you could order pizza to be delivered to your camp site too. My favorite part about a KOA campground...the showers!!! I love getting clean from all the dirt of camping. On Sunday we took the Durango-Silverton Train trip. Nathan is currently train obsessed and was enthralled with the train and riding it, how it worked, the horns, etc. He watched the train engine for 3 hours straight. His eyes were intense with pure joy. It was 45 degrees when we got in the train but by the afternoon the weather was ideal. We of course did not complain about the cold once, because geesh, it is hot here. So I have a ton more pictures from a impromptu photo shoot with the kids in Silverton, plus Four Corners on our way home, but will save that for another post this weekend hopefully. All I can say is we cant wait to go back to Durango, in fact we plan to stop there again on our way to Colorado Springs for a Self family reunion next summer.

Just boarded the train and waiting to get going.

These are those intense eyes I was talking about. He is the most precious thing!

The girls!

The boys, of course being boys and getting very excited about everything on the train!

There are a few hairy places on this trip...

Ok, dont have any words...just stinkin cute!

I love this guy!

Picked up the kids about an hour ago and got homework all done. They both said they had a great day and made a few new friends. We are at a new school this year so both kiddos were new to the rules and other students. Samantha said her favorite part was the quiet music and rest time in the afternoon and Jacob said his favorite part a math game they played where he came in second place. I did shed a few tears when my daughter was walking into her class and waved back at me with a big a smile. I am so proud of how confident she is with who she is and had no anxiety about school today. Shane is off all week so we had Grandma come over and we went to a movie....heee hee, we feel a little guilty about that one. "Hey kids, you go to school, we are goin go to a movie!!!" Oh, I like this down-two-kids already! We hope everyone had an amazing first day of school!!!

Last Day of Summer

Where did the summer go? Shane and I were talking about this just this morning. When summer begins you think, "Wow, a whole summer to do whatever I want." Then school is getting ready to start and you say, "How did the days of summer disappear so quickly." I don't feel like I was as successful with the grand organization plans but it was a great summer none the less. It is hard to believe I am sending my son to 2nd grade and my dear sweet baby girl to kindergarten. Not only where did the summer go, but where did the time go...one thing I know for certain, these type of "milestones" are coming faster and faster. The journey of life seems to be learning to let go one step at a time.

Durango, CO part 1

We had a very memorable time in CO over the weekend. The kids did great and LOVED the train! We got home today, early evening, and haven't really began to unpack but I wanted to give just a taste of the trip with a couple pictures. I will post more soon.

3mths already?

Could she be any more gorgeous? I am having a blast with her these past couple of weeks. She laughs, smiles endlessly and started "talking" to me regularly. Not many milestones to report, but pure joy. We adore her and as our time with her is coming to an end I am so glad I captured these shots of her because they are her personality...exactly!

PS Same bow as 2mth picture, but she is growing into it.