Cousin JaCoby

Tennille and JaCoby slept at our house one night.  The kids had so much fun having JaCoby to play with.  We don't see them nearly enough!

Happy Birthday party, Honey!

Rick's mom gave him these boots for his birthday.  Too bad they are too big.  They did inspire this dance, though!  You will have to call Rick old fart from now on!

Everyday

I have to really monitor how much this game gets played.  We have neighbor kids coming over just to play Skylanders. 

Mudman

After Sunday dinner, Seth and Christian made a mudman in the back yard. 

The Three Amigos

Three cute cousins going fossil hunting together.

It wouldn't be camping without a horny toad!

on your head, apparently.

Camping Prep

Clearly I forgot to take a picture this day until the very late hour.  I decided to take a picture of our camping stuff piled up at the door.  Boring, but true to life, since I spent most of that day getting ready for our camping trip.

As adorable as they all are...

...this is precisely the reason why we usually do our dinner groups as just couples.  And this isn't even all of them!  This doesn't include the 3 babies, Ryan and Ian's kids, or an 11 year old who was way too cool to hang out with the little kids.

Lightning

I struggled hard to get a good lightning photo.  There was so much lightning as we were driving home that night, but it petered out by the time I had my camera out.  I only caught this tiny one.  OH well.  There's always next time.

Another Stormy Night

The kids all wanted to watch a movie in our bed on this stormy night.  Don't they all look so snug?

Future Rodeo Queen

Thanks to our neighbors, MaKaty has become obsessed with all things cow girl.  They have a ranch and horses and cows and do ropings every other weekend.  The dad practices his roping skills on the neighborhood kids and MaKaty thinks it's the coolest thing ever.  She uses this rope as her practice rope.  So cute!

Rainy nights

We have had a few thunderstorms lately.  Tonight it started to dump down just after Kate and Cru got their pajamas on.  We let them go out and get soaked in the rain.  THey totally had to change afterward, but it was worth it!

Dance party with Christian

Aunt Kathy, Jonny, and Michelle stayed with us for a night.  Everyone came over to enjoy their company for a time.  Seth and Christian showed off their sweet dance moves! (in Ninja costume, as well)

Unwelcome Visitor

Seth found this little guy out by the garbage cans.  It's a good thing he was already dead.  I am not wanting to start seeing these little guys around the house!

More slip and slide fun

Our yards have the perfect slope for slip and slides.  Between our house and the neighbors, the kids have done a lot of slip and sliding this summer!

New Neighbors, New Friends

We are so happy that the house behind us now has a family living in it.  Especially because they have 5 kids, 4 of whom play at our house often.  Hooray for new friends!

Besties

MaKaty and Grace.  Grace and MaKaty.  All Day.  Every day.

Hannah's Shadow

Shadow is the chicken that Hannah named and "adopted".  She notices how much she is growing and changing, and checks on her every time we are at Grandma and Papa's.

Trying them out

We made an attempt to try out the skim boards today.  The river was high and muddy, but it was fun to take out the new boards anyway!

Feeding Yoda

Yoda can get a little intimidating when he is eating.  MaKaty solved that problem by sitting on the chair and feeding Yoda this way.

Golden Eagle

Grandma got chickens!  The kids were so excited!  They had them all named in a matter of seconds!  This one is Golden Eagle.

Officer Friendly

Alison set up a field trip to the police station.  The kids enjoyed learning about the job of a police officer from this friendly policeman.

You have no idea what it is like...

to have Hulk, Batgirl, and Spiderman living under one roof!

Sunset

The nearby wildfires sure make for beautiful sunsets.  This was completely unedited, straight out of the camera.

Nicest Neighbors

We seriously have the nicest neighbors.  Our neighbor who paints tennis courts used some of his paint to make a key and part of the 3 point line on our basketball court.  Isn't he just the coolest?

Finally Finished

this project was nine months in the making.  we finally finished the skim boards.  Can't wait to try them out!

Sno Cone at the Rodeo

50 cent sno cones were the only things that got Cru through the Gunlock rodeo.  He was hot and tired and cranky.  But the sno cones were yummy!

Firework Accident

Poor Kate got a bad burn from a stray firework.  Here she is forcing a smile through her tears a little while after it happened.  A spinny firework shot about 25 feet uphill and burned the inside of her ankle.  Poor girl!

Beautiful

...and the scenery is not bad, either. ;)

Goodbye Moores

We had a party for our friends who were moving to Washington DC.  I decorated the cake myself. 

Folded

Now if only it would put itself away.