Today is my sweet Lela's birthday!!!

She is the big 20!

Dear Lela~

Today should have been a very exciting day for you. So long to your teen years! And yet I know that it was a hard day and that you missed your mom terribly. She always made each and every one of your birthdays special and I am so sorry that your day just wasn't the same without her. I know that she is probably watching over you now and wishing that she could spend today with you. If only we were granted day passes to Heaven......now that would be a great birthday present.

I want you to know that we love you so very much! And wish the very best for you. You are such an amazing girl. I admire you for the way you have stepped right into your mom's footsteps and have been there for your siblings. You are so strong! I love watching you interact with them.You are so caring and so loving with them. They look up to you in so many ways. And you can tell that they idolize you. You are a perfect role model for them. What would our family do without you? You are defiantly something else:)

I hope that this year brings nothing but happiness to you! You deserve it:)

I love you!

Shari

My Poor Boys

Tanner and Carter both had their tonsils and adenoids taken out last Friday. Since the same doctor did both of their surgeries they had to take turns. Tanner decided that he would go first and get it over with. Funny thing is: he was excited to have surgery. He may feel different now that it is over with and he is left with a sore throat:)

Carter was a little scared in the morning, but the longer we were at the hospital the more relaxed he was. He let us take tons of pictures of him:)

Here is Tanner just minutes after waking up. He was trying hard not to cry. He said that he wasn't in pain, but that he felt funny. I can't believe I got him to smile:)

Here is Carter just after waking up. This little boy was trying so hard to be brave and cried for just a few minutes. Then he realized that he could watch cartoons and everything was great:)

They were lucky enough to share a room!

They both are doing so well. Carter has completely bounced back and we have to keep reminding him to take it easy. Tanner on the other hand is having a little harder time. He is asking for his pain meds every 6 hours and really hasn't left the couch. We have watched a lot of movies and have had tons of Popsicles around here. Hopefully in a few days they will both be well enough to go do something fun! I love you boys!

Eclipse

Ariane, Laurie, Angie, me

Angie (aka Hostess with the Mostest), once again has outdone herself with another wonderful party!!! This time we got together to have a

ECLIPSE party!!!

She invited 30 + people to come party it up with Edward, Jacob and Bella! She transformed her basement into Twilight City! It really helped the setting with everyone wearing black, red or white.

Check out the table decorations!!!

Simply amazing:)

Each girl got to take home her very own Eclipse gift bag full of goodies!!! Check out the plastic teeth being used as napkin rings......clever girl! And the chess pieces in the middle of the table are made out of white chocolate. YUM!

(thanks Laurie for all of the pictures)

Angie~ Thanks so much for the fun party! We had such a great time:) I wish you would have let us help you out with it. Do I see a Breaking Dawn party in the future????? I hope so!

Camp-out with Cousins

Food for a BBQ= $15

Glowsticks= $10

Having fun with cousins= PRICELESS!

Baby Kenli's Shower

My mom, Emily and I decided we wanted to throw Wendy a baby shower to help her get ready for baby Kenli's arrival. She should be here in about a month!!! We can't wait for her to join our family:) Emily graciousness let us have it at her darling house. Thanks Em

Check out this amazing cake! My mother-in-law's co-worker makes cakes as a little side business, but soon hopes to do it full time. What a talent!

The cute favors Emily made. This is what the poem said:

"WITH TINY HANDS & TINY FEET

I HOPE THAT VERY SOON WE'LL MEET

AS FOR NOW PLEASE STAY AWHILE

SIT BACK, RELAX & SIMPLY SMILE

AND ALTHOUGH TODAY I CAN'T BE THERE

HERE'S SOMETHING SWEET THAT I'D LIKE TO SHARE.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIFTS & WISHES

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR HUGS & KISSES.

LOVE, BABY KENLI

Emily and I made these decorated balls to spruce up the place....then thought they would be cute in Kenli's room so we sent them home with Wends:)

Wendy and her sweet mom

"We love Enda"

Blakley was showing off her walking skills!

Cami and nana

Where's Christina?

At least Carli was ready to smile for the camera.

Aunt Jo and Cyd

Lindsey, Aunt Leslie and Blakley

Wendy got so many darling outfits for Kenli. I can't wait to see her in them:) We love her already!

Look who's walking....

BLAKLEY GIRL!!!!

She has finally mastered it. Way to go sweet girl!

13 months old

13 1/2 months old

14 months old

Clint's Big Marathon

Clint ran his 1st marathon on June 12th.

Mile 20

still going strong

He did it!!!

Chip Time 3:39:04

Clint set a goal for himself of 4 hours....and he killed it!

Way to go Babe!

Troy and Tanner are two of Clint's biggest fans! They were so excited to watch him cross the finish line. I was trying to get Clint to smile, but this was about the biggest smile I could get. He was exhausted.

Clint and Brent (co-worker)

still exhausted

After the marathon, Clint changed his clothes and then him and Tanner jumped into his friends car and they drove 12 hours round trip to pick up a car he bought! He realized that it wasn't the smartest thing to do after running 26.2 miles:) Poor guy was sore for days!

Welcome the newest member of our family, Jetti!

Wonder what he will want after his next marathon?????

Who knows:)

Troy's Field Trip

Troy's class had their year end field trip scheduled to go to the zoo. He was so excited to go! When he brought home his permission slip, he just kept asking me if I would go with him. I took full advantage because I know before long he will be hoping that I don't go. Carter, lil' Clint and I meet him there. I also let Tanner sluff half a day from school to come with us. Troy was so happy to see all of us there waiting for him when he got off of the bus.

I just love the next two pictures...

Here they are waiting for the gigantic elephant to sneeze.

Check out Tanner's excited face:)

Ahhhhhhh-Chew!

Ewww Gross

Carter was a little skeptical to stick his head inside of the lion's mouth to get a drink!

Let me tell you a little about a day at the zoo with Carter. When we were sitting down eating our lunch, I got distracted talking to Clint on my cell and didn't notice him wonder off. Next thing I know I look over and see Carter climbing down the back side of a 12 foot fence. YES 12 Feet!! Not only was it tall but there were spikes on top of it. Seriously I think I had a mini heart attack! I yelled for him to climb back over which he did in all of 2 seconds. He definitely is a Spider Monkey! When he was safe on the ground next to me I told him that he could have been attacked by a bear or something. I forgot I still had Clint on the phone until I heard him laugh and ask "Did you really just tell your 5 year old that he would be attacked by a bear if he climbed over that fence again?" No words! I thought I got my point across to Carter until I caught him trying to climb some more fences to get a closer look at the monkeys. Later that night, while I was putting him to bed he said "Mom, I just want to work at the zoo liff (with) the animals when I grow up."

Tanner and Clint acting way to cool for a picture.

What good-lookin boys!

Troy~ I am so glad that I was able to go to the zoo with your class. It was so nice of Grandma Sue to help me out and watch Blakley. I wanted to spend some time with just my boys. You boys were so much fun to hang out with. I love you all so much! xoxo mom