Raspberry Pie

Great Uncle Terry and Aunt Carol came over today to bring us some of Uncle Terry's YUMMY mini raspberry pies! After warming up, Dakota and Bailey were all over them. At least they are not afraid of other people besides Dad, Mom, Zachary, and RyAnne anymore!

RyAnne enjoying her pie!

Aunt Carol reading to Dakota.

Yep. Uncle Terry got stuck with both of them on his lap. He had to read two different books at the same time (they are not into sharing)!

Dad and his Buddy.

Dakota has become a complete Daddy's boy. Mom can't even throw something away for him - Daddy has to do everything. Mom is not complaining!

Dakota and Daddy 'resting' on the couch.

Happy 5th Birthday!

Our first baby is growing too fast! She turned 5 on July 10th and is starting kindergarten in the fall. Just thinking about it brings tears to Mom's eyes! For her birthday Grandpa and Grandma Carter, Grandpa and Grandma Franklin, Great Grandma Huebner, Aunt Jennifer, and Cousin Dana came over. She had a lot of fun and was very sweet.

RyAnne blowing out the candles on her Minnie Mouse cake.

Cake and ice cream - yummy!

Aunt Jennifer, Cousin Dana, Zachary and RyAnne enjoying their supper.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, BUG! DAD AND MOM ARE SO PROUD YOU ARE OUR DAUGHTER AND LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Happy 4th of July!

We spend the 4th of July with Grandpa and Grandma at the cabin. We watched the boat parade in the daytime and fireworks at night. RyAnne had a blast laying on the pier with her two little friends and watching fireworks from FOUR different directions. People spend BIG BUCKS in Briggsville on fireworks - the show went on for hours - no kidding! Unfortunately, Dad and Zachary didn't shoot off their fireworks because of all the action so know we have them lighting them off every weekend at home!

Playground

Dad and Mom finally put wood chips down and put all the kids playground equipment on it. Boy, what a pain it was to move all that stuff when mowing!

When RyAnne went outside and saw it she was so excited. She tells everyone that Mom and Dad made a playground for her in the backyard.

VROOOOM!

Watch out - Ryanne can now drive her Hummer she got from Santa when she was 3. She loves to buzz around the yard and Bailey and Dakota love to be her passengers. Unfortunately, they both can not ride with her, so we usually end up with one chasing the car and often crying :-(!

Mosquito Time!

Those darn pesky insects love our kids.....especially Dakota! Maybe it is because he is so darn sweet :-) At least in this picture his eye was no longer swollen shut!

Two Wheeler

RyAnne has been begging dad to take her training wheels off her bike for months now. He finally did and she tried and tried to ride her bike to no avail. After getting very frustrated, Dad put the training wheels back on. We tried to explain to her that it takes practice - she thinks everything should come easy. Maybe next time!

Another Day at the Zoo

Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, RyAnne, Dakota, and Bailey spent their last day of summer alone (before Daddy and Bro got out of school) at the zoo.  Dakota LOVED riding on the merry-go-round (Bailey, not so much!), RyAnne enjoyed the playground, and Bailey liked seeing all the animals.

CRAB?

Last night Dad and Mom had crab and the kids had waffles.  However, on New Years Eve, RyAnne had her first taste of crab and LOVED it - so she decided that she wanted crab too!

"Ohhh.....I can't wait"

"This is going to be GREAT!"

"DELICIOUS!"

This kid will try anything and likes the strangest foods for a kid...broccoli, asparagus, and crab?! If we would have known we would never have let her try it!