It is so HOT!

It has already been in the high 80s for several days. 

This is how the kiddos are keeping cool.

Bug is not sure about this pool thing, but he does so love his sweet cloth diapers that double as swim diapers whenever we want.

Bean and Peanut were given the task of cleaning out the pool... it was NaStY after being in the shed for several months. 

Bug is not sure what the heck this is all about, but he knows he wants to be a part of it. Buggy really looks up to his older Sister and Brother.

They finally got him in and put him right to work. 

It is going to be a looooonnnnnngggggg summer, but we are ready!

Play Out Loud!

We have an amazing Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo. 

This year the festival took some older, slightly beat up pianos that were donated to them, painted them in really bright colors and then positioned the pianos in several public places around the city. The point was to get people out and playing. The pianos were left outside all of the time and the ones that survived this experiment were donated to several community orginizations. 

The children were dying to go and give these pianos a try, and although our goal was to get to all of them we only made it to these two. We did see one or two more on our way home, however I am not teriffice at these outings with four children and I was pooped by the time we made it through the Libraty and then to these two locations. 

Bean really loved showing off the things she has learned in Piano lessons. 

Zee and I were not looking too bad. I LOVE my Moby wrap!

Our dear friends joined us and their children really enjoyed the pianos as well, here is Peanut doing what he loves most.

B takes her turn, it was such fun to listen to them all. The children all really got a kick out of lifting up the top and watching the piano play. 

A. took her turn, obviously the others are still interested. The blue piano was not in very good shape, the pink one sounded MUCH better. The poor blue one had several keys that did not work. 

Bug was trapped in the stroller the entire time, but he really had a lot of fun too. Maybe when I get a handle on this four kid thing I will let him loose sometimes too... but not yet. 

I think they could have stayed here all day. 

D. finally took a turn, he looks like he is having a terriable time right?

This was a lot of fun. I hope that this is something the festival will continue to do in future years. 

Ella Gets Married!

Two days ago little Ella got married to Josh at the Detroit Temple. Our entire family made the trip over so we could be there to spend their special day with them. Today they had their ring cermony and we were blessed to attend. 

I can remember when Ella was Bean's age and it is very scary for Kev and I to watch her get married and realize that she is a grown up. These girls are one of my Best Friend's daughters and it really feels a lot like our own daughter is getting married. 

I cannot imagine what a wreck we will be when it really is our daughter getting married. 

These two girls looked amazing. What beautiful girls!

Ella and her Grandfather. 

In our religion it is common for weddings to take place in a Temple. The Temple is sacred and so only worthy members of our Church are able to attend. Because there are often familt members that are unable to attend, often couples opt to have a "ring ceremony" where they exchange their rings (Kev and I had a similar ceremony when we got married).

Ella and Josh before the ring exchange. 

I also love this picture because our dear friend Jim was the Bishop and officiated over this ceremony. We love Jim and his dear wife Robin, they are some of our best friends also and just like family. 

It was a wonderful weekend and a beautiful ceremony. 

These children grow up too fast!

I have some other pictures of Bean wearing A's high heels, but I cannot find it. I am hoping it is on the iPad. 

Sweet Friends

This is Bean and her sweet friend B. I love that Bean had such sweet friends. It makes my heart happy to see this sweet girl with her sweet friend. <3

This picture was taken by thier teacher at Church and sent on to me. 

Side Note: Little Bug is in love with B. Bean's teacher actually gave us hard copies of this picture and one morning I caught Bug kissing the picture. 

It was the sweetest thing ever. 

She is too old for you buddy.... so sorry!

First Post at My New Home

I knew that my MobileMe account was going to die, but I did not want to let my blog go. =( In January I wrote three months of blog posts and when it did not load them properly I knew it was time to make the move. I immediately opened up this account and then promptly left it sitting unused for several months. So, this is it. I am offcially making this my new home. I am going to try and move all of my old posts over, but if not then we are starting anew. My goal is to update this blog from January on and then print the books of my old blog and let it go (provided that I um unable to move the old blog over. =( My goal for today is to try and find an app for the ipad that will allow me to blog from the ipad. I have been using the camera more, I can upload pictures easily to the ipad and I always have it with me, unlike this big cumbersome computer.

Our life has changed a lot in the past 9 months, we have an adorable 11 week old boy. I am blessed with the feeling that our family is finally complete. Above is a pitcure of our new little guy, he is a sweet little blessing and we are so thankful to have him in our family. I cannot believe that 11 weeks has already passed, the time is sure flying by.

So... welcome to our new home. Hopefully I will figure this out and grow to love it.

12 Weeks

Our little guy is officially 12 weeks old! I cannot believe how quickly the time is passing with this baby. Little Zee is just growing and learning so much. I love that he will sit and have a "conversation" for  a lengthy period of time and he smiles all of the time at his family memebers. 

I love those cute feet and these cute sleepers! 

I am trying to hold on to the time that is passing so quickly and knowing that I am probably never going to have another baby makes me want to hold on to the small moments even more. 

I love the sweet smell of a baby breathing on my face, the soft skin snuggling close all of the time, the joyful smiles that light up their entire being and their soft fuzzy hair. I love each stage my children go through but I often find myself tearing up as I try to savor each moment with this little guy not wanting the time to go so fast.

Really wanting to freeze time right now and fully aware when I look at my other children that it is something that I just cannot do. I can appreciate each moment with all of them to the best of my ability, but I can't freeze time and that is heartbreak for a mother.

At least for a mother like me. 

Outstanding Service Award

 Today I had the opportunity to go to the 40th anniversary celebration for the College of Fine Arts at Western Michigan University. 

At the celebration two people were honored with awards. There was an award given for the Outstanding Instructor and for Outstanding Service. 

Kevin won the award for Outstanding Service to the College of Fine Arts. 

 I am so proud of Kevin, he is a hard worker and is great at what he does. It was nice to see him be recognized for all of his hard work.

I really love this guy and am so blessed to have him in my life!