Hope everyone is doing well!  We have had a nice, relaxing summer so it's been great!  It's been a while since I've updated so I've got a lot to catch up on.

Emma is our big 10 year old now...we heard for months "You know I'm almost 10, that's double digits".  She is growing like a weed, so tall and skinny, her legs are so long :0)  Her summer started with a 10 day road trip w/ my parents.  They went to Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, a tour of Laura Ingalls home and ended in Minneapolis.  She had a wonderful time and took a lot of great pictures.  She got pretty homesick when they started heading back, even missed her brothers :0)  She and Mimi made Papa's cake for his 60th Birthday and it was so yummy and she decorated it all by herself!  She will be starting 4th Grade on the 1st and is getting excited.

McCoy has had a big summer.  He learned to ride his bike w/o training wheels...he rides all over and loves that he can ride w/ Emma and the big kids!  He lost his 1st tooth while eating a nectarine and swallowed it...we wrote the tooth fairy explaining what happened and he wanted to make sure the tooth fairy knew he was eating fruit and not candy! He has learned to swim w/o his water wings and again thinks he's pretty big stuff being able to swim in the deep end w/ Emma!  He will be starting Kindergarten on the 8th and is so excited because he gets to eat lunch at school 2 days a week.

Wyatt is now 4...can't believe it!  He continues to be the family clown and girl crazy!!!  He loves all Emma's friends at the pool and totally flirts.  He is swimming w/ only 1 water wing...aka his muscle and loves going under and having us count how long he's under. He's very upset that he hasn't lost a tooth like McCoy and everyday tells us he has a loose one. He is excited to start Prekindergarten in September and will be going 4 days a week this year.

We are all enjoying Henry...ok some of us are enjoying him more than others :0) The kids are loving him, McCoy drew a picture of what makes him happy and it was a picture of Henry.

I have had a wonderful summer with the kids. We have been going to the pool a lot and I have made some great new friends.  They are ladies from the gym that I have had so much fun getting to know more.  They all have kids so it's been fun for all of us!  Jimmy and I just celebrated our 17th anniversary!!!  I am blessed, he is an amazing husband and father!

Jimmy is doing well at work, staying busy so we are thankful for that!  He planted a garden this summer and it is thriving...we have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries!  The kids love helping him with it.

Well I think that's all the news, I hope everyone has had a great summer! Enjoy the pics!!!

Love to all!
Karen

Hello All and Happy New Year!!!  I have no excuse for how long its been since my last update, so I'll warn you early that it's going to be a long entry.

We had a wonderful summer, had beautiful weather and enjoyed using the pool at Bally's ALOT!  The kids loved swimming and I got to sit in the sun :0)  Jimmy and I celebrated our 16th anniversary, hard to believe it's been that long, I am still amazingly happy and feel very blessed to have him!  Our niece Isla Mae Brown arrived October 24 and we love her to pieces!!!  Our niece Missy moved in with us in October, and will be staying with us while she finishes up school, the kids are loving having her here.  We had a great Christmas with family and a fun New Year w/ friends.  I have so much to be thankful for over the last year!

Emma turned 9 in August...WOW, but she's going on 16! She did her horse camp again this summer and was the ONLY camper so she got to do a lot of riding and had a blast.  We went on our first hike this summer, it was 7 miles round trip and a lot of uphill, she was a real trooper but not sure she wants to do another one soon. She is in 3rd grade this year and enjoying it, she comes home a lot of days saying her brain hurts!  She is enjoying her Christmas break, spending most of it at my folks, her and Mimi have been crocheting and watching old movies, they are also addicted to Cake Boss and Say Yes to the Dress.  She continues to be a blessing to us and a great big sister!!!

McCoy will be 5 on Wednesday and so looking forward to his birthday!  He had so much fun swimming this summer and going off the diving board, his move was the "crazy cowabunga cannonball"!  He is loving Pre-K this year.  He has started a collection and you can't walk in our house without getting hit up to donate, he has raised quite a bit and he wants to "adopt" a Starfish kid (if your interested in what that is you can check it out online).   He went to 2 Beaver games with us this year and LOVED it, especially that he got to snack and drink Mountain Dew!  We've discovered that he is very artistic, a great little artist and loves to build things.  He is the most caring, loving little guy!

Wyatt turned 3 in August and is finally potty trained...he's starting preschool on Monday and so excited!!!  I'm not sure they are ready for him!   What to say about Wyatt...he is such a clown, always making us laugh!!!  He is definetely the most challenging of the 3 but can't imagine what our life would be like without him.  He is very athletic and competitive at 3, not sure how good that is :0)  I swear I could write a book with the things he says.  He loves to sing, he had so much fun this Christmas singing all the songs. 

Jimmy and I are going well.  Jimmy received a promotion in November and is now the Location Manager for the Portland office.  He continues to amaze me with what a wonderful Dad he is!  I still love my dream job of being able to stay home with the kids.  I'm not sure what I'll do with the 3 hrs I'll have by myself M-Th. I guess I'll work out longer...doesn't sound too fun, I'm sure I can figure out something else :0)

We are looking forward to 2010 and all it will bring!!!

Love you all!!!

We have had some beautiful spring weather lately, it hit 80 on Tuesday...it was beautiful but we are all suffering from the pollen!

We had a wonderful Easter.  Had a great service at church and then had everyone over to our house for lunch.  It was nice having everyone together!

Not a lot happening here but are excited about going to Georgia in June, Emma has the days counted down!!!

Enjoy the pictures!!!
Love to all,
Karen