Jaron's Summer Fun!

Summer officially starts for Jaron when he can get in the lake. He braved his first dip in late May, on a beautiful, sunny day. It took him a while to get in and he never actually swam, but he got wet and that's what he loves to do!

Jaron also LOVES cub scouts! He was able to go to day camp this year and learn how to shoot a bow and arrow and a bebe gun. He is a big kid which really helped him to be able to handle the bow.

He took right to it and hit almost every target. Guess we need to look into getting him his own bow. Maybe Ill put him in charge of hunting all the pesky wild rabbits that love to eat my garden!

Jaron and the Kelly Cup!

We have lots of good connections with Grandma Lynn and Uncle Brian who plays for the Alaska Aces hockey team. They won the Kelly Cup this year and Grandma was able to take Jaron on a very special flight with the Kelly Cup. He loved it!

It's not often that the kids get to do neat things by themselves, but Jaron had a blast with his Grandma Lynn on this memorable trip!

Easter!

Life gets crazier as our kids get older and this is the only Easter picture I got...on the way into church. I was proud that the little girls had matching dresses at least!

Dance Dance!

I know, I know...it's been forever to say the least since my last post. So much has happened since then I don't even know where to begin, but I am trying to get caught up before this year is over. So we go back to late May, for Brady, Jolee and Chloee's first dance recital. I don't have any pictures from the actual recital, but here they are all dolled up in their performance outfits.

They all did a great job at the show and have found what they love to do!

Darcy Did What With a Stingray??

We were lucky enough to be able to go on a week long Caribbean cruise in March for Miles' and Becky's 10 year anniversary. Weird? We didn't think so, any excuse works to go on a cruise. We had a great time in the glorious sun. The definite highlight of the trip for me was swimming with Stingrays in Grand Cayman. It is a well known fact that I am kind of a wuss when it comes to water adventures, especially when animals are involved. No one thought I was going to do this excursion, but I proved them all wrong!!

Yep, that's me holding a big ol' stingray!! The water was absolutely amazing, incredibly clear and warm. That made it easier for me to see the stingrays around me, which made me less nervous. I quickly realized that the fish would only come around if you had bait, and I found myself wanting to touch them long after the bait was gone.

Our guides did the customary "Stingray Massage", which was really cool, but kind of freaky. The stingrays actually reminded me a lot of halibut, and I used to play with halibut guts when I was a kid, so the stingrays were no big deal. I will admit though, that I screamed like a girl when Mario, our guide, put that slimy fish on my unsuspecting back.

Yep, that's me kissing a stingray. She loves me. I learned that the large ones are females and the small ones I thought were babies were actually the males.

Okay, I can't resist putting this in. Becky, you are such a wimp!

Happy Love Day

Happy Heart's Day!! In honor of Valentine's Day, I decided to have the family make their own heart shaped pizzas and for dinner. Nothing promotes family love and harmony like making a mess in the kitchen!

The younger kids really got into it. I don't remember where the two teenagers were in the process. Aaron channeled his old pizza boy days and cut all the dough into hearts.

Jaron's pepperoni man turned out so cute. Notice how their smiles match.

Chloee's ginormous pizza was just enough to satisfy her appetite...I swear she can out-eat us all!

Don't look now, but Haylee is showin some love to her baby sister. Haylee really loves her Jolee (they sleep together almost every night). We made mini fruit pizzas for desert and they were awesome! This was Chloee's orange man pizza.

Daddy, ever the jokester is posing with his pizza. That's a face only his mother and wife could love! We are so blessed to have so much love in our lives and try to remember that's what life is all about!

Birthday Girl

I have finally started blogging again...and we are starting off with Chloee's 7th birthday celebrations! She began her big day with a special pancake breakfast (a standard Saturday special around here). Jolee and Jaron were happy to serenade Chloee with their rendition of "Happy Birthday" and the wish was made and candle blown out.

Chloee had a few of her besties over to play for the afternoon, and as always, these crazy girls had a blast together.

We finished off the night at the Hansen's for a Super Bowl/birthday party. Chloee's birthday falls on Super Bowl weekend every year, a plus for us because someone is always throwing a party and we are happy to lump Chloee's birthday in there somewhere.

Haylee was kind enough to make Chloee her pink diva cake. Make a wish big girl!

Her favorite present was a pig pillow pet.

Chloee keeps our household full of energy and mayhem, but we love her for it. Her life currently centers around her friends, little sisters, dance, and moving constantly. She has a passion for life and is a great student. She is on the cusp of not being a little kid anymore, and we look forward to what the next few years will bring for Chloee!

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas 2010! What a great Christmas it was for our family. We started out with what is now an annual tradition of going to a local church's live nativity. It's worth braving the freezing temperatures and is really well done. Maycee had a blast, can't you tell?

There were lots of fun animals to pet like an alpaca, chickens, rabbits, and of course, the donkey.

We enjoyed having all the family down again and are so glad that both sides of our family love each other. Christmas seems to get more fun every year as the kids get older and the little cousins are really enjoying playing together. Jolee and Abbi are always inseparable, Maycee and Kenny are trying to be the big girls too, and Chloee is the ring leader of them all. Thanks again to Grandma Lynn for matching ballerina jammies, they are too cute.

The girls were loving their adoring audience as they put on their talent show of dancing and making a conga line.

Grandpa Ron shared his talent with us as he played "Silent Night" on the family piano. This was an extremely rare event, and we look forward to more caroling Grandpa! Now on to the presents...we were all spoiled again this year, but Grandma Pauline's favorite gift was a $3 dashboard Chihuahua that looks like her Beau. Oh man...

Jaron got lots of gifts from our trip to Hawaii, but his favorite was this Tiki mask.

Brady's big gift was a nice set of drums. He has great rhythm and we look forward to him developing his sweet beats.

It's the little things in life that bring happiness, and this year it was a can of SPAM for Chloee. This girl LOVES SPAM!

Nothing makes Maycee happier than her bottle...

knock yourself out little girl!

Another amazing year has come and gone and we continue to enjoy the blessings of family, friends, health and happiness.

Big Girl Walkin'

It's official, my baby is a big girl. It's always fun when your baby learns to walk and Maycee did at 15 months. She is all over the place now and really into climbing things. One of the first places she ventured to was our wooden staircase. She loves a good challenge, and while I was nervous at first, she has mastered the art of going up and sliding down on her booty.

Going up...

Such a proud, big girl...

She loves to play peek a boo through the railing, she would do it all day if I let her.

She loves to play peek a boo with her hands too...Where's Maycee?

There she is!!!

She is mastering the art of running, well the toddler version of running anyway.

She is so stinking cute, we can't help but eat her up. She has all 7 of us wrapped around her finger. She is starting to mimic sounds she hears and responds to requests like "go get your shoes", and "are you hungry". She says Mom and Dad quite well and Haylee just loves it when Maycee calls her Mom. She is also getting quite sassy and has a strong, but sweet personality.

She and Bruno are buddies, and is always looking for the opportunity to head out into the big world. We really enjoy her and are so happy to have her in our family.