Birthday Girl!!

Lily is 2!! It's hard to believe two years has gone by already. She is a happy, healthy, loving, cuddly little girl. She's makes us laugh and smile every day! Think back to two years ago... Lily was only four days old and we had to bring her to the hospital because her temperature was 102.5 . The doctors weren't sure what was wrong and had to take lots of blood samples and do a spinal tap. It was awful being down the hall from her closed hospital room and hearing her cry while they did a spinal tap. She had to have oxygen and heart and breathing monitors hooked up to her for several days. She also had to have an IV hooked up to her three times a day as well as blood taken from her tiny body each day. (Trying to nurse a baby with all these wires was quite interesting!) It was a scary time for her mom and dad as well as brothers and sister. It was a very long seven days before she (and Mommy) were able to come home. Thank God she is now a beautiful and healthy two year old!!

Happy Birthday Sunshine!! We love you so much, you bring so much joy to our lives!!!

Funny things

Okay, I know, I went a little overboard with the posts today.....this will be the last one for a few days, I promise. Just had to post this cute picture taken on our last camping trip and tell you of the funny thing Leah said last night. We were on our way home from an outdoor concert and she had us laughing. We're driving along and all of a sudden she says, "I just saw a sign that says no hoola-hooping across the road." :) She's very imaginative!!

After further thought I think Leah must have seen one of these gag stickers:

What we're doing with our summer vacation

We've been enjoying our break from schooling and doing many things that we don't often have time for during the school year. We've been doing lots of fun things - spending time with friends and family, going on outings, painting, playing games, making pickles and jam, going to concerts, taking tennis lessons, spending lots of time outdoors and in the stream. Here are some pictures of our resident artist using oil paints. Their pictures are now on display on the fireplace mantle in the living room for all to enjoy.

Frogs!!

Our eggs have gone from eggs to tadpoles to frogs since May. Here's some pics of the kids with the frogs. We have released all but six frogs that we're raising as pets. As you can see from the pics they are very small frogs.

Concerts at the Clark

We've been going to free outdoor concerts on Tuesday nights in July. We bring our picnic supper and listen to the music by various bands. The kids really enjoy it and look forward to these fun family nights. There are plenty of people and lots of kids. It's great! We all enjoy it! Note: Lily is not really sleeping, she's just a funny girl.

Fun at the Circus

A few weeks ago we went to the Cole Bros. Circus. (Thanks Jidoo for the tickets!!) The kids all loved it. We especially liked the elephants. James watched the entire circus with his fingers in his ears. Lily dove for Daddy's protection when the very loud motorcycles came out to ride around in the metal cage.

Birthday Boy

He's 8 years old!!! Time is going by so quickly. Our baby boy is now eight years old. It's hard to believe. He has grown into a wonderful boy who is so loving, thoughtful, caring, and generous. He still loves fishing, nature, and hockey! We love you Cal!! Happy Birthday!!