One already!

Adria turned 1 on the 25th and I can't believe how fast this year has gone! She started really walking good last week and is just adorable. I have pictures from her birthday party this past weekend, but haven't gotten them downloaded to my computer yet. I will have to post those later, but I had these from the lake. She has been such a blessing to our family. I can see a little of both Janae and Brenna in her, but also a lot of her own personality too. She's so much fun and I love her bunches. Happy Birthday (a little late on the posting of it) Adria!! Uncle BK and I love you!!

Good Friends

Anitra has been blessed to get a job at the church this past year, helping in the children's department. She is getting to work with Sonya, who was also Anitra's basketball coach when she was at Bethel. It is a great job for Anitra because she is not only doing what she loves, but also can take the kids with her to work. Sometimes Sonya's girls are there and entertain Senica and Ty. Senica LOVES the time she gets to spend with them. I know it's sometimes frustrating, trying to get people to help teach the children at church, but Sonya and Anitra do a GREAT job! Thanks to the both of you for your dedication to the kids!

**The pic on the left is Sonya and Anitra. No, they didn't plan to dress alike...just shows you how alike they really are! The other pic is the girls at the fair after Hannah's game.

Prayers needed...

Please pray for Tom and Alison. Tom was in my class in high school. Thanks to the blogging world, I have gotten in contact with Alison sometime last year. Alison was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine cancer in 2006 and has had every -scopy that you can think of. She has been through so much. Her spirit has been amazing and her faith in God is always evident and their love for each other is beautiful! She is currently in the hospital and is in a great deal of pain. You can get the whole story by reading their blogs. Their links are on my side bar under their names. Please keep them in your prayers and also their families. Thank you to all you prayer warriors!

On a side note - Anitra was teaching Senica yesterday that God doesn't think we are beautiful by our physical appearance, but what our hearts look like. When I was thinking of their conversation on the way to work today, Alison was the first person that came to my mind. Not only is she physically beautiful, but has an even more beautiful heart. Tom does too. And mine breaks for the both of theirs.

Dear God, I pray for Alison's pain to subside and for her to be able to wake up and talk with Tom, just the two of them. I pray that together they can feel your arms wrapped around them. Let them not only feel your love, but the love of their family and friends.

Bedtime

Aren't these the cutest pictures?? One night when we were watching the kids, after bath time, they laid on the couch together. So sweet!!

Mom and Sadie

We took the boat to dinner one night and on the way home in the channel a train had stopped on the tracks above us...Sadie was showing it to mom. I thought that picture was adorable...then the one where Sadie has such sleepy eyes! We were all ready for bed! :)

Our captain

Our little captain! Papa let Sadie drive the boat...she loved it and was trying to push all the different buttons on the panel. When Papa went to take the boat out for the first time after Sadie left, it had a dead battery...one of those buttons drained the battery. Too funny! We miss her!

Have alien's landed??

Mom yelled at me to get my camera....this is what I found. Mom said Adria looked like she was an alien. For some reason, she loved that bowl on her head!

Mom and Adria

One day last week, mom took care of Adria and Sadie during the day. I helped a little...with lunch and naptime. It was neat to get to see mom with Adria. Not very often do you get just one of the kids to spend the day with. Adria woke up from her nap before Sadie, so mom had some time to play with Adria. I can't wait until mom can play with my kids. I love the top right picture. I don't know who was making who laugh harder!

The crowd

From the concert...my cousin's daughter, Kaytie and her boyfriend Jordan and then Roger, Rose, Krista and Ben, (not pictured - mom and Bobby and Brian and I)

Fair Food!

One of the first things Ben wanted to do when he got to Indiana was go the the fair to get some pie. :) We went almost every night. Of course, in between we had all the other delicious (super healthy) fair food!

Concert

Brian and I after the concert.
Brian showing me his pic he caught at the end of the concert. (It actually hit him in the head first)
Me, so happy after the awesome concert!

LBT...not lettuce, bacon and tomato

Every year my mom stands in a LONG line to get us really good tickets for the fair concerts. In past years, she has got us tickets to Brad Paisley, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood, Randy Travis...all within the first 5 rows! This year, she got us tickets to see Little Big Town and we were in the third row! :) We had great seats!! Brian and I had gone to see Little Big Town at the Venetian Festival 2 years ago. They were good then...even better now! They have such great harmony.

Thanks mom for standing all those years in the rain and cold weather to get us great seats! Brian and I really appreciate it!!

Enjoying the lake

Just some random shots from the week...

How NOT to dismount...

Embracing the Difference

Anitra is working on embracing the difference's in her children. Senica loves gymnastics and cheerleading...we grew up in a family where people played basketball, volleyball, ran track and threw the shot put...not exactly cheerleading. If you have read Anitra's recent posts you know that she is trying to embrace cheerleading. So, she was the base for the kids to do some stunts on! How cute are they!?

Guaranteed to make you laugh

The girls gave an impromptu, free, lake-side concert for us! We got to see a dance and some cheerleading stunts. Doesn't Brenna's facial expressions crack you up? She's a ham!

Uncle Benny

I love this series of pictures! Janae's reaction to Ben...knowing he is gonna really spalsh her. The kids had such a great time with Ben, Krista, Roger and Rose and OF COURSE, Sadie!

Party-time

Here are some pics from the party on Saturday...

Kisses anyone?

Friday Anitra and Seth headed to Michigan for a coaches retreat and Brian and I had Senica and Ty from Friday night until about supper time on Sunday.

My brother, Ben got here Friday from Connecticut along with my sister-in-law, Krista, their little girl, Sadie and Krista's parents Roger and Rose. We are so excited to have them in town!

Friday night mom had us over for dinner, along with April and her girls. We had dinner at mom's then headed over to the fair. The kids got to see some animals and Janae got to see some of the pagent. We had some ice cream and pie and then headed home! It was late and we had kids! :)

Saturday it was rainy all morning so Brian, Senica, Ty and I made a trip to the grocery store and then back home to rest before our party. Jeff and Tiff, our friends from church are moving to Maryland and so we were having a party for them (those pics to come later) and also a shower for Sara and Scott, our friends that have already moved! We had a lot of fun!! Thanks to Barnes' for hosting us!!

Sunday we got the kids up and headed to church. Senica did an amazing job going to her class like a big girl with no hesitations!! Ty on the other hand...knew as soon as we got to the door what was gonna happen and just clung to my leg, crying! Oh my!!! Now, I normally don't mind his crying if I help Anitra and drop him off when she is there, but I knew by Sunday morning he was missing his parents and my heart just broke for him!! I showed him some of the balls and walked out and he was SCREAMING!! Brian could hear him in the sanctuary!! Needless to say, I stood in the hall and cried too! How will I ever be a parent?!? It broke my heart!

After church we headed to the lake where Ben and Krista are staying this week. We had a nice time and great weather! The kids loved the water and it was nice to just sit and relax. :)

Sorry this is such a long post...I hadn't posted in awhile!

Oh yeah...the pictures. Sadie is such a lover and wants to kiss everyone! Ty wanted nothing to do with the kisses at first...but then he warmed up to her!

If you're happy and you know it!

Isn't Adria the cutest? We were singing "If you're happy and you know it" to her and she was loving it! She is just too cute! She started really walking good this past week. It's fun to watch her toddle around. Ty was walking behind her and it looked like he was making fun of her and how she walks. Poor Adria!

Swim lessons

Janae has really done a good job listening to her teacher and how she is supposed to hold her hands when doing the backstroke. Now, we really know nothing about swimming...but we think she looks good! :) Way to go Janae!!