River Rafting FUN!

We had to do one last big fun adventure with Kristin and Neal before they moved. In all the 5 years they have lived here in California with us we have never taken them river rafting down the American River with Mark as our river guide. So we talked them into it, arranged babysitters for the kids, got a few extra friends to come with us and we were off for an adventure! Neal's mom Rodna, Kevin Anderson and daughter Caitlin and dear friend Kate all joined us for the fun and boy was it one CRAZY ride down that river!! The mountains had so much snow this year that the runoff into the rivers and lakes is amazing and Mark said he has never seen the river as high as it was and running as fast as it was. I got a little scared at that point and even more scared as we hit our first major rapids and nearly folded in half. Thank goodness no one fell out and our boat never capsized...I consider us pretty lucky. All-in-all it was quite a thrilling adventure and I'm pretty sure everyone ended up having a great time! It was super fun having Kristin and Neal and our fun friends join us for the crazy adventure ride down the river!!

Caitlin and Kate- These girls are a blast!!

The girls. Before we put in.

After the crazy rapids at the end of the river... it slows way down until the lake and we pretty much just relax and enjoy the sunshine and row ourselves in at this point! My favorite part :)

Our HOT river guide :)...oh wait that's my husband!

sisters :)

Rodna and Neal

Kevin and Caitlin

Love this girl!! Thanks Kate and Caitlin for coming and making our trip so much fun!! (yes Kate does have a swimsuit on)

Baseball 2011

Zach had a really fun season this year in baseball. This year it was machine pitched games and Mark even stepped in and assistant coached with coach Tony (we've known Tony since we moved to Lincoln 9 years ago). Zach had a great time playing with his friends Jake(Tony's son), Aiden and Ryan. The season ended up being a little longer then planned because of a lot of extra rain that usually doesn't happen this time of year but it was still fun. Zach really had fun and loves playing baseball. He's such a cute little ball player with an awesome left-handed swing. (You'll have to check out the video at the bottom)

Zach is #15 :) haha.

The girls loved playing with Alex (coach Tony's daughter) at almost every game. She was the best! Definitely made going to the games with 4 kids so much easier for me!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Madelyn!

Madelyn turned 3 on June 10th and we had a fun filled day celebrating this sweet little girl! When she woke up we all sang happy birthday to her and asked what she wanted for breakfast...she replied saying she just wanted pink cupcakes! haha! It was pretty funny how she said it. I hadn't even bought the cake mix to make her cupcakes yet so she got to go with mommy on a special trip to target just to pick out her cupcakes and frosting and also to pick out her gift with the money from Mema and Grandpa. She picked a Little Mermaid Ariel bath doll. Thanks Mema and Grandpa! She also wanted to wear her special birthday skirt that Auntie Sheila got her...actually she wants to wear that skirt everyday if I would let her :) Thanks auntie Sheila!
Later we let Madelyn pick what she wanted for lunch and so off we went to Chick-fil-A for chicken nuggets and of course ice cream cones! She was one happy girl!

We ended the fun day with a family birthday party at the clubhouse pool with pizza and pink cupcakes. We were so happy Grandma and Grandpa Stacy and the Hinson's and our good friends Dave and Ali could all be there to celebrate with us!










We love you so much Madelyn and we are so happy you are a part of our family!! You are growing up way too fast and turning into such a big girl!! Happy 3rd birthday sweet girl!!

And here are a few smiles from our sweet little Lilly... I can't believe she is 4 months old now!

LOVE this SWEET face!!

Kindergarten Graduate!

Kali's kindergarten had this cute little program on the last day of school and Kali did a great job! I can't believe I now have two kindergarten graduates and will have two in school all day next year! WHoohoo! Kali had a great year and loved everything about kindergarten! Miss Giannini was a great teacher and Kali learned and progressed tons! Kali is super excited to start 1st grade and asks me everyday when we will find out who her teacher will be. I love this girl's energy for life and excitement for learning and making new friends and trying out new things (unless it's food). We are so proud of our Kali-girl and what an awesome job she did in Kindergarten this year!! We love you so much Kali and what a smart and fun girl you are!

Kali and Miss Giannini

Kammy, Kinsey and Kali

3 months old.

Lillian is 3 & 1/2 months old and just so sweet. We love her to pieces! Madelyn especially loves her baby sister so much and requested these next few pics with Lilly. Madelyn's never looked so big to me. It's crazy that she's going to be 3 this week and is no longer my baby anymore. She is still as sweet as ever (most of the time) and loves being a big sister to Lillian.

Of all my kids Lilly is the hardest to catch a smile on camera. She seems so serious in all her pics. haha! Maybe it was her rough start. I promise she does smile, just not for the camera :) These are the best I could get of her the other day after trying for seriously 30 minutes.


She's got some pretty crazy hair with incredible volume on top that most girls spend hours trying to get :) haha! And as far as her hair color goes?... it does have a hint of red in it. And her eyebrows and eyelashes are super light with definite blue eyes, so I'm anxious to see if this sweet girl goes blond or even red. I think she's pretty cute :)
And this is why I refuse to take the pacifier away. Pretty sure she would suck her fingers just like Madelyn...and those fingers you can't take away. So for now, I will keep getting up in the night to give her the pacifier every time she wakes up and cries...even if it is four times a night sometimes.

She would NOT take those fingers out of her mouth. I tried so hard to get her to smile at me for the camera but she was way to serious about those fingers. Oh well. maybe next time I'll get some smiles to post. We sure love our sweet Lillian!!

Snails

My kids have this new obsession with snails. They go searching for them all over the back yard and collect them and put them all together where they play with them and "feed" them and well, just watch them. I think it's gross but kinda cute at the same time. :) Madelyn gets all sad in the morning when she goes out to look for the snails they had collected the day before and they are all gone...nothing left but a bunch of slimy trails all over my patio. Nice. Then the snail hunting would begin again. You'd think the snails would figure it out and go to another yard to hide. :)

10 Years!!

WOW!! I seriously can't believe it's been 10 years!! Where has the time gone?! Our anniversary was actually April 27th and we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate but go out on a date together and enjoy the alone time while Grandma watched ALL 4 kids! Thanks so much Grandma! I know the kids love every minute they get to spend with you!!

We do have plans to sometime in the next year go to Mexico or on a cruise together to celebrate :) Someday. I do want to express how truly grateful I am right now for the most amazing kids and husband that the Lord has blessed me with. I love my Mark and the amazing husband and father that he is and for ALL that he does to provide for our family and take care of me so that I can be home with our four beautiful children. Happy 10 years to us! Here's to an eternity more together!!