4th of July

We went to Arkansas this year and spent the weekend at Casey's aunt Sheila's. It was a lot of fun. We swam, played, ate great food, shot fireworks, and I actually got to take a nap or two! :-)doing some daytime fireworks...

Max was pretty impressed.

Night time fireworks

Grandad gave the kids glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets. They couldn't wait for it to get dark.

Alyssa's first sparkler!


All decked out and glowing!

Emily's a sparkler pro!

Anna wanted as far away from them as possible. :-) But still looks pretty in her bracelets and necklaces.

Eli wasn't sure what to think...it was two hours past his bedtime. (Eli loves to sleep.)
And Max, again, totally thrilled. :-)

Father's Day (June)

This year on Father's Day, both our dads decided to come with us to our little church.

We went out to lunch and took a few pictures. The kids sure are growing fast!

Holding Max

The girls LOVE holding Max...

and they really want to hold him while standing up....

they take turns passing him around....

Max doesn't seem to mind.

Summer Snapshots

Here are the girls! They went to Vacation Bible School at Southeast Baptist Church here in Muskogee. They had a blast and can't wait until next year.
All 5 on the butterfly!

Anna loves cupcakes!

Piano time!

Max's first bath (May 2009)

Wow...it' October now but these were taken in May. He has already grown so much. He is such a little sweet heart!

He has lots of hair - although it's thinning and changing colors now.

Visiting Tonya (May 2009)

The girls wanted to help feed.
Eli didn't want to help. Tonya was a little too big for Eli.

Wow! It's been a loooong time. No pictures tonight but my goal to have more posted by the end of the weekend. (Don't hold your breath, just in case.)

Splish Splash

A few weeks ago, I took the kids to a water pad (not sure if that's what it's really called) since we haven't opened the pool yet. They had a great time. Here is Emily getting dumped on. Last year she would not have stuck around. She's braver this year. Alyssa had fun but got cold quickly. Here she is shivering. :-)

Anna just giggled and giggled. Who knew water could be so fun!
And little Eli....he still isn't walking so I had to help him. However, it was just one week after little Max was born and the bending over to hold him up was hurting me. (and I didn't want to get wet) So he had shorter increments of water time and he LOVED every second.

In between Eli's water times, he sat on the bench watching his sisters just laughing and laughing.

We're planning another trip to the water pad later this week!

Alyssa turned 6!

I can't believe it but Alyssa is 6! Her birthday was May 26th. Here are all the kids with her cake on her actual birthday. Here is Alyssa at her party. (The cake is supposed to be a beach ball....just go with it.)
We are blessed to be the parents of this sweet and caring little angel. She is commonly known as Eli's second mom. Alyssa has a heart for the Lord and we couldn't be more proud of her. Happy Birthday, Alyssa! We love you!

Eli's Heart

Eli is checking out his new little brother. Well, it has been exactly one month since Eli's heart procedure. He is doing great. As a matter or fact, he seems to be feeling so much better...I can't keep up with him. :-) We are thankful for everyone's prayers and for God's healing hand. We are still praying for him to start walking and talking - but we feel like that day is coming soon! Thanks everyone!

Welcome Baby Max!

Maxwell Isaac arrived on May 12, 2009 at 8:57am

weighing in at a healthy 8 lb. 10 oz and 20 3/4 inches long.
Our first family picture!

All snuggled up!
More pictures coming soon!

Playing

The kids got a trampoline this year. Casey got it put together and the fun started. I think he had just as much fun jumping.

Anna got a new microphone this year. She wasted no time singing in it. (You will have to pause the music I have playing on the side in order to hear Anna) Sorry that it it sideways. I'm not sure how to turn it.

Some Assembly Required....

Time to put together all the new toys !

So, the adults spent a good part of the morning assembling all the new, fun, exciting toys!

No grandparent was exempt from the task.

"Some assembly required" means it may take two or three of you a few hours to get the toy put together.

Thank goodness for the instructions in pictures. And thankfully we didn't lose any pieces!

So while all the adults worked hard to put together all these new toys........

the girls used some of the old boxes to make...cars. :-)

Christmas!

Christmas Morning!

The kids were very excited. I didn't get that great of pictures...oh well.

Eli didn't actually open any of his presents...he just played with the tissue paper.
Emily just ripped through hers!

Anna really wanted this movie. She held most of her presents in front of her face.

Here's Alyssa! And earring holder! Now we won't lose them.