Pink Balloons...a white dove...we hope you were smiling Abbey Mae!

As we all enjoyed a sunny warm July 27th, we were reminded of the same kind of day 4 years ago when Abbey Mae was taken to live in Heaven with Jesus. It is hard to believe that 4 years has passed since we said good bye to her....her memory still holds as strong as ever! We took some time on Friday night with our families to meet at the cemetary and reflect on Abbey's life here with us. Amy and Shane got 35 pink balloons and we each left a message on a balloon for Abbey. Together we spoke of our memories of Abbey and what she meant and still means to us. Brian then opened with prayer and anyone that wanted to lift up a prayer to Jesus had the opportunity to do so, and Amy ended with a closing prayer. We sang Jesus Loves Me, and released the balloons at the start of the chorus. The kids then released a white dove. We enjoyed a nice get together at Shane and Amy's afterwards. The whole evening was a very special time....we all know we would do anything to have her back , but are so thankful for what she has taught us, and how powerful her love was and continues to be in our lives!
So enjoy some pictures from our evening....always remembering life is short, and how powerful the words, I LOVE YOU really are! Blessings..

The Big Day!

Alright so as I promised....just a few of the photos from the wedding! I don't want to give too much away as I know Chad and Trina have access on the cruise to the internet, so I am just giving a sneak peak of this most incredible day! It seemed as though the slide show would be the easiest. The wedding was amazing, I can't describe in words how awesome it was, I am just so blessed to have been a part of it! So enjoy some shots from the day....and if you want to see more, well then you'll have to come see me, because I have 230 photos in an album already.....and I am more than willing to share 'em!!

Proudly Presenting......

O.K. O.K.....so now I am behind in the blogging world! I have yet to do a posting on Kelsey and Madison's performance, and now I have 230 pictures of Chad and Trina's wedding! Oh what to do! Well I guess I better go in order and dedicate this blog to the girls and their big debut! I will say, quickly, the wedding was amazing, a wonderful day and I just can't say enough good things about that, but I will get into that a little more next time!
So a couple of weeks ago the girls attended a two week musical theatre camp. At the end of the two weeks they gave a performance of Alladin. Now they did not have a leading role as this was their first time in the theatre world. But they still had a big task of being a part of a cast and learning a bunch of songs! I now know what Kelsey's knack is....she loves to perform, has no fear of "letting go" in front of people...she really enjoyed this. It took Madison a bit longer to get into it, she was one of the younger ones and it was a bit boring at first for her, but she came to really enjoy it and they both really shined! Of course, as their mama I was very proud. As a result of them being a part of this they have the oppurtunity to perform parts of the songs at a couple of local fundraisers this summer and at all 6 nights of the fair! It was so impressive how well all these kids did with only practicing 4 hours a day for nine days! So heres a couple of shots....watch out we may have a couple of up and coming stars, you better get their autographs now, it may be worth something someday...haha!!


They actually were Townspeople, so heres Madison playing the part....

She is so full of expression when she sings!

sing it girls!

Get down!

Do you see 'em?

Fun Fourth!

Hope everyone had a great 4th! We had a great time...saw some of the best fireworks of my life this year! It's been a busy week. The girls finished up a two week musical theatre camp with performances on Friday and Saturday night(more on that to come). Jake left for Ellensburg on the fourth for a baseball tournament, in which they did absolutely awesome in! They took 3rd place and were one win away from going to Regionals in Montana! Thankfully, everything worked out for Brian and Daisy to make it over there on Saturday, they were able to watch the game on Saturday and Sunday. Prior to that, we stayed updated on the games with calls and text messages from Amy....thanks a lot Amy, we appreciated your thoughtfulness since we weren't able to be there!! We also had Chad and Trina's bachelorette and bachelor parties on Friday night....so fun! Only 4 days until the wedding...we are so excited! So of all the activites, the only ones captured on camera was the girls' performance and the 4th....so this post will be of the fourth and the performance will follow!! Hope all is well with everyone!

We were invited by Chad and Trina to go to Guy Jansen's place on Lake Whatcom with Trina's family....it was beautiful and very relaxing!

Uncle Chad hanging out by the dock with grumpy Daisy!

Daisy and daddy going for a boat ride...

Of course...the love birds..

She's almost my sis.....I can't wait!!

My feeble attempt at taking a picture of the pretty fireworks!!

Trina loving her sparkler!

We are still here!!

Time for an update, I'd say! Well you see we kinda had to start all over with our computer. We had a little liquid accident that disabled our hard drive....luckily our computer was still under warranty so we got a new hard drive at no cost. However all my pictures and programs are on the damaged hard drive, we are hoping that good ol Best Buy can get at least the pictures off. So I have been busy getting this new one loaded back up, so my computer time hasn't included blogging.
It has been a great summer so far, and the weather has nothing to do with it, because quite frankly, it hasn't been anything worth bragging about. The kids seem to be enjoying it, and thats whats most important. I, on the other hand, have had a bad cold for nearly two weeks, I am just getting over it, and I decided to fall last night and I rolled my ankle....yea, that really hurt! So, hopefully things will look up for me, but how thankful I've been that my husband has been around! We just had Jake for almost a week and a half, it was so nice to spend that much time with him. He did a basketball camp in the morning during the week,and he and his dad made some time to go golfing! Kelsey and Madison have been involved in a two week Musical Theatre Camp, in which they are performing Alladin Jr. That takes up most of their day. Well I guess thats enough for now, I'll try to be better with updates...hope all is well with everyone!

We went to Meenderinck's gazebo on the Hampton for a family bridal shower for Chad and Trina...Jake, Chad and papa Jimmy fishing...

The kids enjoying one of the nicer days we've had.....
Do you remember... how fun it was to put your butt in the sprinkler?!!

Or act like a superhero while jumping right through the center?!!....

Or crouching down close to the sprinkler as to not get wet?!!.....

Or picking up the sprinkler and spraying your siblings?!!.....

Or simply just practicing your golf in the sprinkler?!!..... O.K....maybe not this one!

"What? You want me to get WET??"

DIVA!!

Celebrating Father's

Our father's day celebration with gifts for Brian actually happened on Thursday. We have to do things a little different around here, if you haven't figured that out yet!! Of course, the girls are gone this weekend, but they didn't want to miss out on showing their love and appreciation to Brian so we had ourselves a little party Thursday night while we were all together! We went out for mexican food with my mom and dad and Chad and Trina and came back to our house and opened gifts. Today, Jake had a baseball game in the morning and he and Brian were back by noon and the rest of my family came over for lunch to honor our dad! We had a nice time together....as always! Love my husband for being such a great dad, love my dad for being a great dad, and I love my father-in-law for being a great dad to both Brian and I....just wish he wasn't so far a way so we could spend some time with him!! Hope everyone had a great day!



Daisy reading her card with her daddy....

Jake giving his dad a couple new golfing shirts...

The girls made their own cards for Brian....


Kelsey insisted on getting Brian a pair of Crocs....she succeeded and got a pair for herself, oh yea....and the rest of the family!!

Chad and Trina got dad a shrimp cage for when we go boating...YEA!!!

I made my dad a collage and wrote him a poem....I worked pretty hard on it so I was pretty excited to give it to him....

I made him read it out loud...

This was the poem I wrote.....

A Dad to four of us you will be
For two of us, you had to set free
A Pa Pa to four
That’s a guarantee
Will there be more?
We will have to wait and see

You have opened your heart to the ones we love
Looking to the Lord above
You have taken our burdens through the years
Drying our eyes as we shed our tears
Always lifting our heads up high
While praying for wings to fly

You have had to plead silence
Even when it’s been tough
But your wisdom and guidance
Has brought us through the rough
You always know the right thing to say
We know we can count on you day after day

A Dad like you is hard to find
Your humor is one of a kind
So on this day and those to come
Please know we have so much fun
Someone special you will always be
And we really want you to see
That our love for you we have vowed
And hope that we will always make you proud

Happy Father’s Day!

Trina's first bridal shower!

I, along with my mom, had the honor of putting on a bridal shower for Trina on Sunday! I really enjoy planning these get togethers, especially for my soon to be sister! I will only have one, so I truly did feel honored to be able to do it. It so happened that it was the first bridal shower that Trina had. We had fun...well at least I did! Not long to go before the big day....oh wait, it's exactly one month from today! I'm sure thats why I waited to do this post!! So enjoy a couple of pictures from our day.....

The set up....

My mom was clever and had a cake decorated like the stamp on the RSVP's that Trina had specially made. It's a picture of a heart in the sand with C+T written in it that her and Chad did in Mexico when they got engaged.

Trina with all her sisters and mom!!

The paper clip and rice game....with eyes closed and 30 sec pick out as many paper clips as possible...harder than it sounds!!

Trina's twin sister, Treva....

The girls were such a big help!!

"Oh, this will look so nice on my counter in our apartment...thanks grandma!"

Trina received many nice gifts...she won't need any coffee pots though! hehe

Thank you Grandma for opening your home for us to have the shower...we so appreciated it....we love you!