Happy 7th birthday Morgan!!

Morgan Rae you are seven!! We had such a fun birthday celebration this year. You had a great year and grew so much!! Here are a few hilights! 

This picture was taken at our snow outing over New Years. You loved this day and were a trooper with the cold wet snow. You would still choose to be home with mom over being out with friends. Actually you like it best when our whole family is home:)

You two have such a polarizing relationship. You love being together and have so much fun... Yet you fight like enemies... I think this is normal, but we are working at choosing love every time!

This night gown belonged to my grandma, Nana gave it to you soon after grandma died and it is your favorite thing to wear to bed. I love to see it on you.

You my girl are my noticer... You found this rock on a hike and had to point out the heart. I love that you take the time to notice things and tell others. You aren't too concerned about structure and details, but you love to arrange and set up things for dolls.

Cleaning day with your sister. You two have a lot of fun together. The fighting has increased as you get older, but you love each other for the most part. You love to set up your room with a tattoo shop, space for your American Girl doll or  whatever you feel like setting up.

You gave golf camp a try again this summer. You liked it ok, but didn't love it. You did gymnastics for a few weeks this spring and loved it. Otherwise you don't care much for sports.

You still love to be creative and crafty and have a blast creating. It makes you happy!

And a style all your own. I love your independence  and confidence with your clothes. I hope you keep that confidence!

You love to be a big sister cousin!!

You love playing with your cousins. I'm so glad you have them to grow up with!

You got to go to the American Girl store for your birthday. It was just you and me and Nana. You loved the rare one on one attention and had a super fun day.

I'm so glad God gave you to us sweet girl and I can't wait to see what year 7 had in store for you. I love you!

Brooklyn turns five!

Hard to believe my dear that you are five! Your birth five years ago changed our lives and we wouldn't have it any other way! You are a unique one and I love the confidence you wear!

You are confident and you KNOW what you want to wear and how you want your hair done. We have had plenty of tears this past year over your outfits and your hair. I pretty much don't fight this battle... But sometimes I have to put my foot down!:)

You and your cousin Audrey still have such a blast together. You are buds and it's super fun to watch.

You took a ballet class this past spring and loved it! Hopefully there will be some more dance in your future. You love it and  music changes your mood. There have been a few times this year that you were in a grumpy mood and you told me you just needed to listen to some music. Sure enough your mood was lifted. You loved VBS this summer and did such a great job with the songs and the motions. You are a natural!

You are still such a mama. You love your babies and you told me when you grow up you want to dance and sing and take care of babies. Sounds like a mom to me:)

You gave golf a try this summer and you actually have a pretty nice swing. You had fun, we will see where it goes.

You still love craft time, especially with your sister. You too have been blessed with a creative gene!

You love to be a big sister cousin to Andrew. You love to sit and hold him.

We are giving soccer a try this fall. You and Hudson get to be on the same team. You two get along so well. I'm glad you have each other to go through all the changes this year of kindergarten will bring. You will always have each other to go through changes with and I think that's pretty special. My prayer is that you will always have the special twin bond.

You finally figured out a two wheeler the last weeks of summer. You love to ride your bike, especially with our new neighbor. 

Brooklyn, daddy and mommy love you so  much. We love your spunk and fun-loving personality. We love how you laugh and sing and dance. We love your determined spirit and we pray that it brings you places in the future. Have a great 5th year love!

Hudson is five!

Oh my little boy, I can't believe you are five! You have certainly had your mama wrapped around your little finger since you were born. Something about that smile gets me every time! It's been a fun year watching you grow. Here are some highlights.

Of course you love the beach, especially throwing rocks and climbing. You love everything outside really. You loved our camping trip this summer and were super content to run and climb and play outside.

You boys have lots of fun together. You have had a few intense wiffle ball games out in the back yard this summer as well as lots of golf, basketball and soccer. You all love watching sports together on Sunday afternoons.

You caught your first crab this summer! 

And you got your first whole in one at Peter Hay in Pebble Beach. Unbelievable hand eye coordination little one. We were very excited and proud of you!

You are my game player, especially UNO and you think you only have "good cards" if you have a hand full of +4 and +2 and skips:)

You and Brooklyn love each other so much and still really have your twin bond. You especially depend on her in big social settings. I pray you hold on to that sweet relationship! You are giving soccer a try for the first time this fall and loving it so far!

You got your boy cousin! You two are going to get into lots of mischief together!

You currently are obsessed with Legos. It is fun watching your brain work to figure out the directions as well and work to make your own creation!

Your daddy and love you so much buddy. We are proud of the tender-hearted, full of life big boy you are becoming. We love to watch you play sports and work hard on school work. We love watching you love others and work to be an obedient boy. Have a super year bud!

First day of school!

So hard to believe it is finally here....the first day of school! We had a fun, full summer and made lots of memories but it was time to go back. Time for routine and schedule and playing with friends everyday. The end of summer is pretty intense now for Kevin in his new position so in a weird way we were ready for scho to start so that things slowed down for him. No matter how on top of things you are there is always last minute stuff when you work at a school. Everything was ready though and everyone had a great first day. I know the younger two will crash this week... But so far everyone is doing great. They all have fabulous teachers this year and are excited for what this year holds.

This was the pose Morgan came up with to show their backpacks too:)

First day of school selfie!!

We had to park in Timbuktu so by the time we parked Ethan was antsy to get on his way. We didn't get him to pose with daddy this year.

(Apparently it was too bright for Hudson!)

We are praying for a great year for our kids. I'm excited about our schools theme "Don't conform, be transformed" based on Romans 12:2, a good reminder for all of us!

Random early summer pics

Family fun festival horse rides.

Blue berry picking fun!!

My Morgan who notices things.... A heart shaped rock on our hike.

Crazy first graders with their teacher who is retiring this year. I got to help with their field day.... Lots of fun, and lots of energy!

VBS craft. I got to help Ethan's age group this year. We had fun!

Movie night fun!

Pebble Beach 2015

We had an amazing week in Pebble Beach this year. Our kids are at such sweet ages, easily entertained (mostly) and able to get themselves mostly ready in the morning and for bed at night. We did the usual stuff but it is all tradition and hard to give any of it up. We had perfect weather all week and truly didn't want to go home at the end of the week!

Eric and Kara overlapped their trip with ours one afternoon. We had a great time with cousins at the beach and playing at the house.

Just like daddy!

Beach fun this year... Making towers and cheering if they survive the waves!

Hudson caught this little guy all by himself!

Beach selfie with my girls.

We spent a long day at the Boardwalk. Everyone went on a lot of rides... I think the Log Ride is still the favorite. We even ran into friends from home that were vacationing in Santa Cruz. Ethan got to go on rides with their son for a while and they invited us over for dinner that night. It was a fun day.

The boys hit Peter Hay several times during the week. And Brooklyn got in on the action one day too.

One morning Kevin told me to take the boys since I hadn't seen them golf yet. Hudson teed up first on the first hole and he sank a hole in one! 104 yard drive. Pretty incredible fr a four year old. He is very proud of himself!

Kevin had craft time with the girls while we were golfing.

Bag piper fun! One of my favorite thing about watching the bag piper is meeting people at the fire and watching my kids chat with them as well. Such a good skill for them to learn. 

One of the best surprises of the week, was running into our friends who now live in New Zealand. We randomly ran into them in Santa Cruz. We invited them to come for dinner later in the week. We all had a great time catching up and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Our new favorite walk down #1 at Spanish Bay and on to the boardwalk by the beach.

New family picture at Pebble Beach.

Love these kiddos!

We bought some boogie boards this time. Ethan really enjoyed using them in the water and the other kiddos "surfed" on the beach:)