the great outdoors...

 In another post, I will show you how many pictures it took to get this one with all of them smiling AND looking my way!

Nothing clears the heart and mind as well as a leisurely walk through the woods with the family.  Today we were waiting to hear about a bid we put on yet another house{still have not heard about that,} and our dear sweet dog Max is not doing well at all.  He had a tumor removed while I was in Colombia, and he now has another tumor, and we are afraid it may be cancer.  He is in a ton of pain so we took him back to the vet today and he gave us some stronger pain meds to make him comfortable.  So sad!  I have never really cared all that much for an animal before, but I absolutely adore Max!

 We thought we may be a tad late looking for morels, but Spencer was the first to spot one, and the next and the next...all together he found 35!!!

 I found a few, Lucy kept watching me stare at the ground, and bend over and pick up a morel so she would bend over and grab a few leaves and hand them to me.  I think she was totally confused as to what we were looking for!  Sweet girl.

 Jayden found a few too!

 Anaya kept saying "I found one!", but then she would say..."nope!"  Funny girl.

The boys were sucessful in turkey hunting this year, not the daddy though!!  He had his chance, but he just can't shoot straight!=)

 Jayden and his huge tom with a 9 and 3/4 inch beard!

 And Dylan shot this jake earlier in the season.

 The boys went out fishing and we had our first fish fry a few weeks ago!

Psalm 104:24 {The Message}

What a wildly wonderful world, God!
      You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,
      made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.

Yesterday, Anaya asked for doughnuts, so...

We started out the morning with home made doughnuts! 

{check out my table cloth...yep, that's life at our house, nice.}

 Easton and his sweet powdered sugar face

 Then for dinner, we had hot dogs and s'mores outside over the fire, I love this weather!

 Boys!

 Lucy loves the trampoline and her big brother Dylan...

and I think he is pretty fond of her too!

history lesson...

The boys keep asking if I remember when____________happened and if I was alive back then when__________, etc...I have to keep reminding them that what they are learning in their history books is, of course, RECENT history! 
{Uh, excuse me boys, I AM NOT OLD!!!}

But, um yes, when I was younger, I do remember...

Ugh, yes, I guess I am getting old!

Happy Birthday Anaya!!!

4 years old already, how can this be! 

We love you so much Anaya!

more stitches...

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here!  Last week Sunday, Easton needed 3 stitches.  On Thursday, I took Anaya in to the doctor for strep throat.  While there, the doctor also took out Easton's stitches.  Friday Luisa was at DeVos for some more bloodwork.  And, yesterday Anaya fell off of her scooter and needed 2 stitches! Thank goodness for insurance!  

She was so excited to get stitches, look at her grin!  Crazy kid!

 

 Who woulda thunk Anaya would get stitches before Spencer!?!  Certainly not me.

 Notice her fat lip as well, that happened earlier in the day when she fell off her bike!  She also started to get a tad nervous, as you can tell, the smile left her face after they put the numbing gel on.  But she never even cried or flinched when they did the shot and the stitches!

 Luisa kicking back and relaxing, happy she is not the one getting all of the attention this time!

She was such a brave girl, and she is happy to tell everyone that... "I am such a brave girl!"  She did just as well as Easton did, and had to let him know that too!

She kept asking for the doctor to come back in, and I told her she had to be patient and wait.  A few minutes later the nurse came and gave her a sticker that said VIP Very Important Patient.  She said, "Yes, that is because I am being so patient!"

Happy Gotcha day Anaya!!!

This is the cute little baby that I picked up 3 years ago today!!!

And this is the beautiful little girl she has turned into!

ANAYA

You fill our lives with your personality plus, plus, and can I just say, we love you so much! 

We love your giant brown eyes and serious expressions, you're just a little pipsqueak, but have taught us many lessons.  

You are highly animated and full of energy and most of the time, you are as happy as can be.  

You are super smart and a tad sassy too, but we just can't imagine our lives without you!

Today we celebrate 3 years of Anaya being in our family!!

      Psalm 118:23&24 (NASB)

²³This is the LORD'S doing;
         It is marvelous in our eyes.
    ²⁴This is the day which the LORD has made;
         Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Easter weekend...

Friday night we enjoyed a Good Friday service at church and then Ryan had a youth activity that night which the boys all stayed for.  Just as they were leaving the church, Easton fell and cracked his head open!  So, off we went to the ER at 10:30pm!  3 stitches and almost 2 hours later we were back home and in bed!

My brave little man!  The ER Dr. asked if I was his wife and he said yes!  So cute.

Saturday morning we had 3 soccer games at the same time!  {Wish we could do that every week.}  Then Ryan's family came over and we celebrated a few birthdays, Mothers Day, and Easter.  This is the first time some of the cousins ever met Luisa.

Everyone checking her out!

All kids ready for an egg hunt!

Lucy got the hang of it right away!

um, uncle Robb, it's supposed to be for the kids!

Stitches didn't slow him down! 

Everyone counting their eggs to be sure we got them all!

Back inside we emptied all the goodies from the eggs.  Luisa got bored watching the others open gifts so she decided to check all of the eggs and make sure there wasn't any candy left!

The birthday girls!
On Sunday we headed down to my parents house for lunch and did another egg hunt.

All dressed up on Easter Sunday.

What a blessing to be able to spend time with family, and celebrate the fact that we serve a RISEN savior!

Matthew 28:6

⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.