Reece Christine Hartley

Our neighbors (and friends) had their adorable baby girl, Reece Christine. Maria had an incredibly fast and drug-free labor and delivery. We were all very suprised and excited it was a girl. With all that hair, I wanted to get her started on the bows right away!

Mike, Reece and the proud Daddy
Congratulations Chris and Maria! Welcome to parenthood!

Bowling

One of our fun Thursday activities was to go bowling. The girls loved it but thought it would have been better if Daddy was there to bowl with them (according to Aubrey).

How cute are those shoes!

Carter is chillin' in his usual spot. The bowling place didn't open until noon so he probably would have rather been home napping but he hung in there like a trooper.

The group of kiddos that were old enough to bowl.
I was very impressed that each girl could carry their own ball. This helped the ball actually make it to the pins or Mom kicking it worked also!
We needed a pair of extra hands at some points. Sister helping sister.

Brooks was showing Emery which ball she should use. Mrs. Tuley was representing for all the moms. I think she bowled a STRIKE!
The Junods - It was nice to have them in town from Doha and able to join us for one of our playdates.
The Michaelis' - Shannon has been the organizer of all these great adventures over the summer and we really appreciate all her efforts.

Lily and Emery turn 2!

Our precious twin girls turned 2! I will never forget the day we found out we were having TWO babies...I went to have an ultrasound at the fertility doctor by myself and when they told me there were two I just laughed...when I made my phone calls to family and friends (including Mike), I started each conversation by saying "God only gives you what you can handle...right?!?!" He definitely had a plan for us and I am so grateful for my little red and blonde headed blessings.

We enjoyed a very relaxing day to celebrate their actual birthday. Since there are two of them I had to take twice as many picture and because Lily is the older sister by 11 minutes, I put pictures of her first!

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

One of the advantages of Daddy working for a gas company is that we can have helium balloons any time of the day!

We had yummy chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

We did not pass up an opportunity to light candles and sing "Happy Birthday" through out the day!

Aubrey was glad her sisters had a birthday so she could have chocolate chip pancakes!

Carter's breakfast doesn't look quite as delicious, poor guy!

That morning we went next door to our neighbors pool to show Nana our swimming skills then we came home, had lunch and took naps. After naps, Lily and Emery got to decorate their own birthday cakes.They had a great time decorating their cakes with icing and sprinkles and were very proud of themselves.

The girls spent most of the time Nana was here piled up on her lap. Emery was doing everything she could not to look at the camera and smile so Aubrey tried to help the situation by tickling her. This was the best picture I got!
We had Lily and Emery's favorite dinner, pizza and watermelon.
Happy Birthday dear Lily!
Happy Birthday dear Emery!
The girls waited patiently all day to open their presents so Daddy could be there to watch them.
Now we all have bug catchers and necklaces with our initials on them.

Fredericksburg

Mike and I went to Fredericksburg for a long weekend to celebrate our 9th anniversary. We stayed at his mom and stepdad's bed & breakfast, Abend Haus. MIMI stayed with the girls for most of the weekend and then Nana came later to help also. We brought Carter with us because of the feeding and sleeping situations. We enjoyed an incredibly relaxing weekend together, spending mornings and evenings sitting on the patio in the backyard watching a hummingbird eat from a feeder. It was also nice to get some one-on-one time with Carter.

Fourth of July

The Erickson's had their annual 4th of July party at their house with swimming, eating and fireworks. Here is some of the group cooling off in the pool.

Mary didn't have her twins there so she got to take care of our twins!
My little guy loves to kick his feet in the water.
Emery getting ready to jump off the rocks...
...Emery jumping off the rocks.
Aubrey getting ready to jump off the rocks...

...Aubrey jumping...
...and jumping off the rocks.

Lily is watching her sisters do all the jumping.

Thanks, Michelle, for this precious picture taken after we bathed the girls with the hose in their backyard!

Michael and Josh tending to the smoker. Emily made these very festive cupcakes.

Aaron put together this board with the fireworks holders bolted to it so we could enjoy an incredible and safe fireworks display. It is great that they live outside the city limits so we were able to shoot off fireworks.

This is just a glimpse at the amazing show the guys put on for us that night. We could hear cheering from all around the neighborhood when they were done.

Michelle and Mary...

...Christy, Eric and Emily enjoying the fireworks.

God Bless America!