Henna

Rollerblade man.

Basketball with Papa B

Art

Ailia's first Goal!

Way to go Ailia! We are so proud of you for listening to your coach, for trying hard, and running after the ball!

Kayaking

So in our one week off together, the day we were able to secure a sitter for the kiddos (thank-you Bama and Papa B!) we decided to kayak. We spent approximately 5 minutes on the water before black clouds started rolling in, thunder rumbled, and we were caught in a ridiculous downpour! We were soaked to the bone! Good times, good memories, and definitely a good story.

Cousins at the Pool

Kayla, Kyle, Jaden, and Ailia. Summer 2011

Our little dancer headed to dance class.

Headed to bed with daddy.

Splash Park

It was a beautiful day in Geneva as we met Liz and her boys (Courland, Henry, and Peter) for fun. We spent the day at the splashpark and the playground on the beach. Ailia loved baby Peter and Liz even let her feed him his bottle! She mothered everyone and Liz and I were able to relax and talk knowing she had the boys under control (ha!). We enjoyed a picnic dinner and ended the day with a walk on the pier and ice cream. Henry had us all laughing as he clearly demonstrated his silly 2 year old personality.

Jaden

Jaden, your name means, "gift of God." Every day you are a gift to us. God has grown us so much through you. He is teaching us how to be more like Him every day. You are an enormous gift, you are strong, and competent, and challenging, and very bright. He has chosen to wire you differently than ourselves, and sometimes it feels like you are so much more. But in truth you are exactly right. We know you are the child for us, just as we are the parents for you. May you find Him and the path He has so clearly set for you in making you exactly as you need to be. May we shape your will without squashing your spirit. We love you.

Ailia

Ailia, your Irish name means "light" and you are exactly that to our family. You continue to bring levity and light to our lives every day. This morning during an argument with Jaden over who would sit where for breakfast you were able to break the tension and cause us to smile, diffusing the situation. You are such a gift, a precious gift. We love your imagination, your flair, your creativity, your sensitivity, your perception, your kindness, and your love. You continually engage and draw people (even complete strangers) to yourself. Our prayer for you is that you know the true Light. That you know He loves you more than anything and wants to be the light of your life.

Graduation

How do I begin to put words to my crazy first-born actually graduating from kindergarten? What an amazing year Jaden had at Little Lamb. We were so blessed to be able to give him this gift with such a strong foundation. His teacher "Mrs. T." was amazing. Spot on, she was organized, energetic, and on the ball! Jaden was reading by the end of the year and is in a great place to be starting first grade. But much more important to us than academics was the consistency and reinforcement of what we hold so precious as a family. The belief that these are truly Little Lambs for Jesus and it is our duty, privilege, and responsiblity to give them every opportunity to know Him and to love Him so they may be used of Him to glorify Him. We were thankful for someone coming along side of us in this journey to help direct Jaden on the path God has prepared for him.
Jaden we are so proud of you!

Little Lamb Pool Party

On the last week of school one of the Little Lamb families hosted a pool party. Many of the kids from Jaden's class (and siblings) were there. Here is Jaden with Owen (Sorber) whose house it was at. They fed us all lunch and we enjoyed a fun afternoon of swimming and fun.

Ailia and her shoes...

I love how she matches them and lines them up ~ I don't know why I get such a kick out of this but I do. I mean really, how many pairs of high heeled shoes does a three year old need?

Balloon Festival

In June we went to the balloon festival. This was the first year that the kids actually got to see the balloons take off. The day was full of fun, yummy treats, walking, rides, the playground and new friends (frisbee, tag, and catch). They loved seeing the balloons ~ Ailia could not stop laughing.

Love

Lacrosse

Another fun Lacrosse season ~ Jaden really seemed to enjoy it this year. A little scary at times, boys with sticks quickly turn into weapons but we had a injury free season and lots of fun.

Sunny Days and Popcicles

Fun @ Bama and Papas

Making Bread!

Shredding Zucchini

Helping in the kitchen

Pool Plop

Special Swimmer

Legos

Here are some of the latest lego creations that were taking over Jaden's room. Only after agreeing to take pictures of all of them did he concede it may be time to dismantle some of them (and thereby reduce some of the clutter...) leaving room for further inventions.

Jumping!

So thankful for my babies.

Shaving Cream!

Summer Fun

First Soccer Game

Twinkle Twinkle

Ailia continues to request "Twinkle Twinkle" from Mark every time she sees him. He is such a good sport and always complies. Today they had an impromptu "jam" session as Ailia took turns with her various instruments (seen here her tambourine) and he played an assortment of different songs with her.

Mommy & Ailia