Taryn Turns 9

It is hard to believe that Taryn is 9 this year! She likes to tell us all how old she is getting and how tall she is too! There are so many reasons why we love Taryn!

*Her smile is contagious! Taryn wakes up smiling and goes to bed at night smiling! She is always happy and I don't just say that because I am her mom. She truly makes other people happy just by being around her. Her smile is beautiful!


*She is a great helper! She is always asking, "Mom, what do you want me to do now?" She loves to clean the bathrooms especially the toilets. She is a little bit weird that way. I think that is because she knows that I don't like to do it so she wants to make me happy!

*She is her oldest sisters biggest fan! She goes to all of Kali's sporting events and loves to cheer her on!

*She is a great little piano player! She doesn't like to practice but she does a great job learning the music!

*She gives the best hugs and kisses! She is so loving and kind. She has so much love to give and is such a great example to us all! I love you, Taryn!

For her birthday, she decided to take a few friends miniature golfing. It was hot but I think they all had a great time. She even invited her siblings who enjoyed themselves as well.

Taryn's friends

Hiding in the tunnel on the 18th hole! Trying to find some shade and being silly!

Sibling rivalry! :)

Brooke's great golfing form!

Happy Birthday Taryn!! We love you!!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July! The sun was shining and it was really hot early on so we decided to take the boat out for our first real skiing trip of the season. We had been out once before just to make sure that everything worked but this was the first time that the kids got in the water to tube, ski, and wakeboard. (I know this is really sad but our summers are crazy busy with softball so we don't have a lot of time for playing on the boat!)

We don't usually cram this many kids on the tube but for picture sake you get to see them all! Kali and Brooke are the die hard tubers of the family. Taryn likes it if we are going at a snail pace for a very short period of time! Oh, Taryn! Kyle doesn't want to waste his time on the tube because he would much rather be on the wakeboard. Hurry up girls, it is Kyle's turn to play!

Rob's favorite thing to do is surf behind the boat. We have to limit his time because he would spend all day back there! The kids love to just jump in the water and swim in the middle of the lake! They think that it is sooo much fun and I love to hear them laughing and squealing as the play with each other!

After a great day at the lake, we came back for a neighborhood barbecue. It started out really great and then the gray clouds rolled in! We thought that the storm might just blow over but 70 people shoved into a neighbor's garage to watch the storm ride it's way out showed us how much we truly love our neighbors. It was pretty comical! It wasn't just a little sprinkle but a monsoon type storm with huge rain drops and hail too!

(This is Kyle's collection of hail stones!)

Oh, the memories! After the rain, we pulled out the sparklers and fireworks. (Notice the water in the streets - it was a BIG storm!)

God bless America, land that we love!!