My sweet little guy is 6...really?? Six? Where has time gone? I am constantly learning from Jake every day. He is amazingly insightful, kind-hearted, thoughtful, polite, loves his family and God, and the list goes on (I'm not bragging...just amazed at the great little guy he has become).
Daddy's little clone...Eric had to get his Jakey Boy waders just like his!

This year Jake REALLY wanted to have his birthday party at Charl1e's Safar1. It was a fantastic party with lots of his buddies! They all had fun jumping, crawling, sliding, and playing together. Thanks everyone for joining in on the fun!

Very Important Person...that's Jake!

Jake was the very first VIP in his class this year and he did a great job! Mimi, Daddy, Mommy, & Ava all joined him for school and celebrated him and who he is to others. It was such a special day!
He was the class leader and led them through calendar exercises and the Pledge of Allegience.

He (we) made a special poster of some of his greatest pictures and the things and people who are most important to him. He had a lot of fun explaining it to the other students in his class!

All the kids did a cheer for Jake! The V.I.P!

Ava joined in and sang songs with the kids too. You are such a sweet little guy Jakey Boy, and have grown so much in the last year. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Another year, another year younger! Happy Birthday to a wonderful mom and "mimi." We love you!

Ballerina At Last!

Today was Ava's 1st day of dance and she absolutely LOVED it! She actually did much better than I thought she would...she loved all the other little girls. Everyone was so patient with her and she did her best to follow along. Too cute!

Ava and her instructor, Miss Heather

Into the Sunshine!

The kids were so thrilled to go to Palm Springs as they haven't been yet this winter. We kept them very busy and had lots of fun. Needless to say I was pretty tired when we got home.

Jake & Ava...after a not so child friendly dinner! We tried a new restaurant with gorgeous grounds, but they haven't quite perfected the menu! It wasn't a very good choice for anyone with gluten allergies! We had to get a little creative when ordering for Jake. I can't even remember the name of it! It was nice though, since it was so close to the house!

My little munchkins!

Jake swimming with Conner! We had a special brunch after church one day and invited some friends to join us. It was great to see Jenny & her kids (and her parents too!).

Little Lou... enjoying the 82 degree weather! We were blessed with unusually hot weather. It was about 10 degrees hotter than normal!

One night we decided to go to the go-cart place in Cathedral C1ty. They had these amazing go-carts that could accompany a child too. We still got to go fast and race each other, yet we knew Jake was still safe! Maybe Ava can try in the next year or so. Grandpa & Jake were pretty speedy with that go-cart!

Our little water dog! Jake had so much fun swimming this time! He gets braver with every trip and LOVED being in the pool. He swam around with his "boats" (floaty chairs). It was so great to spend so much time outdoors.

Ava loved the water too, but not quite to the extent that Jake did. She would usually stay on the first or second step and throw all the toys in the water. She's quite the character!

We enjoyed lots of golf carts and this time Jake drove! He's kind of a scary driver and only came close to getting in a couple of accidents. Mimi is much more patient than I. He was doing pretty well by the time we went home. Next time he will probably master it!

Just the Girls!

It was lots of fun to get to spend some time with my friend Rachelle and her newest addition (and only girl) Lauren! We (at the last minute) decided to leave all of our boys at home (and Ava) and go spend the night in Bellevue! We had lots of fun hanging out, shopping, and of course eating at the Cheesecake Factory! We took a few pics of Ava and Cameron holding baby Lauren when we got home. Thanks for a fun time Rachelle...sometimes it is so nice to get away, even if its just for a night!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Here are a few shots of Christmas morning....every year we seem to go a little overboard on gifts, but the kids sure had fun! What a great time to keep the real meaning of Christmas in check though...we had to explain it to our children several times and hopefully it stuck!