Pup-date.

Yesterday I took Zipper to the vet to get his Bordetella shot so he can safely stay at a kennel while we're on vacation in a couple of weeks. While we were there, the vet did a check-up on him. He only weighed in at 6 lbs. 1 oz., and he's pretty much full grown. I was kind of surprised; I thought he'd be around 10 lbs. What a cute little fur ball. Sammy is worried about how he'll be while we're gone and I hope, for his sake, that everything goes alright. I'm not sure I could deal with how sad he would be if anything happened to his little "Ga", as he calls him. (I think he calls him that because that's how Nicolas used to say "dog", and it kind of stuck.)
Here's just a cute picture of Nick watching t.v. I couldn't resist grabbing the camera.

Way to go, Jaeddenn!

We just returned from attending our nephew's baptism. These are the best moments in life and we're all grateful that we were able to be there to enjoy the spirit shared by Jaeddenn and his sweet family.(All the cute little cousins together.)

Sophie-isms.

Those of you who are familiar with our funny girl, Sophie, know how verbose and animated she can be. Here's a good one from this morning. I was outside sweeping the front porch. She came out to see what I was doing at the precise moment the garbage truck pulled up in front of the house and proceeded to pick up our trash. She said: "Wow, mom! This is the first time I have ever seen the garbage man this close up; I LOVE that guy...can I have an Otter Pop??"

Early Summer at Palisades.

We just returned from our Memorial weekend camping trip. It rained a lot, but the temperatures weren't too cold, so it was bearable. We were able to do some fishing, although we didn't catch anything. At one point, I asked Noah if he was having fun, since he didn't seem to be, and he said: "I would be if you would just tell me exactly where the fish are and how to catch them!" Well, wouldn't that be something.We also spotted some wildlife: bison, antelope, elk and lots of deer. When we arrived at the campground, the camp host told us that just two days before, a moose had walked right through our campsite, but we never caught a glimpse of him, unfortunately. I was hoping we'd see some newborns, since it's that time of year. Maybe next time...

Sophie's big day.

Congratulations, sweet girl, on making it through Kindergarten!

(In case you couldn't hear that, her teacher said Sophie wants to be a nurse and live in Michigan when she grows up. After the presentation, Sophie informed us that her teacher left out the best part - she wants to make the world a better place by recycling! How very green of her.:)

To sleep, per chance to dream...

Call me crazy, but I'm beginning to believe that this little boy isn't getting enough sleep at night. This is him at around 5pm, while eating his dinner. After I took this picture, I carried him up to bed, where he fell right back to sleep. It's now after 8pm, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's out for the night. Maybe I need to rethink his nap frequency.

Birthday celebrations.

Today is Chris' 32ND birthday. It was such a great day! He didn't have to work, or go to school, which was such a nice change. While the three older kids were in school, we took Nicolas and went to lunch, then went to Costco. After the kids came home from school, we celebrated with giant cupcakes, courtesy of Costco:) It's kind of nice that our birthdays are close together (I turned 34 last Friday), because we can always figure out a way to combine them whatever way we need to work around our schedules.
Hmm...I wonder where Noah gets it?