Picture #153

May 31, 2012

Picture #149

May 27, 2012

Picture #109

April 17, 2012

 Morgan is home from College for the summer .  The kids were playing in the yard, when Craig and Morgan drove up.  They all ran out to help bring in her luggage.  Then cam unpacking, of course that was also achieved with the help of her siblings!  We are all happy to have Morgan home.

Picture #101

April 10, 2012
6 bunny marshmellow bunnies all in your mouth...can you imagine!
Some of us played a disgustingly fun game of "Chubby Bunnies" easter evening. For this game you put a marshmellow in your mouth and then say "chubby bunny". Then you add a second marshmellow, say "chubby bunny". Then a third and so on. The winner is the one who can fit the most marshmellows intheir mouth and say "chubby bunny".First round Samantha got 4 marshmellows, second round she got 6. She was declared the winner.

First round Raeleigh got 3 marshmellows, and the second round she got 4. She barely got out "chubby bunny" before the marshmellows starting popping out of her mouth!

Jordan only played round 1. He got four marshmellows, said "chubby bunnies" and then started laughing. He lost his marshmellows and was out.

I also only play the first round. I too got 4 marshmellows in my mouth. Look at how big my cheecks are. They hurt for a while after the game!

Stuart played both rounds. Round one was 2 marshmellows, round two was 3 marshmellows. Laughter got the better of him for the game as well!

Picture #100

April 9, 2012

Addi got some time to hunt for eggs before the older kids came out. She was so funny to watch and she had a great time.

Jordan was in less of a hurry than everyone else, however he still found a good number of eggs.

Our nephew, Austin, had a great time. He said "I'm in heaven!"

Grandma and Grandpap watching the kids hunt for easter eggs.

Stuart grabbing an egg and ready to move on to find another.

Craig hung a few of the eggs on the spanish moss that hangs from our oak tree. Samantha got most of these eggs.

Raeleigh was moving fast to find as many eggs as she could. They all had a great time. Grandma and Aunt Joy thankyou for providing 236 eggs for the hunt.

Picture #92

April 1, 2012

Saturday and Sunday we went to the church to watch General Conference. I love conference. I will admit that it is hard to listen for four hours each day. I took this picture of President Monson while we were watching the last session in the Relief Society room. It was a great weekend!

Between the sessions on Sunday, Addi fell and hit her eye on a table. She cried for a while, she was hurting.

Craig and Addi took a nap before the second session started on Sunday!

Stuart had a great time stacking cards while listening to conference. He was excited that the cards were strong enough to hold up his cup!

Picture #91

March 31, 2012
Craig and I went to a yardsale this morning. I was excited that there was a sofa set for sale. (I have been wanting to replace our mismatched set for several weeks.) I really liked the set at this yardsale. After looking around at the yard sale, Craig and I sat on the sofa. I was ready to take it home then. The guy asked us what we thougt. Craig replied "we have almost talked ourselves into buying them". They guy said "I'll take $100", that was twenty-five less than his asking price. So we said we would take them. We went to the credit union got the money and drove right back and paid for the sofas. Craig gave the guy an extra $10 to deliver them.We quickly came home rallied the kids (they were mostly willing) to help move the old sofas out and clean the living room. (I think the above picture is fun with the old sofas on the grass and one of the new ones on the driveway!) It was tight fit to get the sofas out of the house. So we decided to take the feet off the newer sofas to get them inside the house easier. Stuart was happy to help.

The newer sofas look nice in the living room!! (I might replace the corner pillows, just to add some color.)

Picture #76

March 16, 2012
A family day is always a great day for pictures. These pictures were taken at the Gamble Mansion. Craig and the kids, it took quite a while to get everyone balanced on the log.This huge cast iron bowl was used in a sugarmill. We had a great time playing in it. I rocked Samantha back and forth until I was laughing so much I couldn't stand up!

That is a lot of people in one bowl. We did tip the bowl backwards!

There were these log benches by the picnic area, the kids had lots of fun trying to knock each other off.

This is a funny picture. Samantha and Jordan on cell phones. Craig and I reading brochures. Stuart and Addi playing hand games.

Picture #72

March 12, 2012

Monday evening we went to Casperson Beach as a family. We had a great time. Samantha took pictures of Craig and I. It is nice to be in a picture, rather than just the one taking the pictures!!

Addi was cold most of the time we were there. She did not like the water.

Jordan, Samantha, Stuart, and Raeleigh had a great time in the water. There were lots of smiles. It was a great evening with our family.

Picture #71

March 11, 2012

The kids playing Monopoly on Sunday evening. They like to play games with each other. However they are very competitive, so they rarely finish a game. Usually the game ends is grumpiness.

Picture #48

February 17, 2012

In January Craig asked the kids to come up with goals for our family. Raeleigh's goal was for our family to go to the temple more often. So we went on Feb 17, 2012. It was a great day. Samantha, Raeleigh and Addison stayed outside the whole time, enjoying the peace of the temple grounds.

Jordan, and Stuart got to do one baptism a piece for a family in our ward. This was Stuart's first time in the temple. He said that it was "good".

Craig and I did a session while all the kids waited outside. It was peaceful to be in the temple. Afterwards we took pictures around the temple. I love this picture of my boys, and Addi walking back to the car.

Picture #45

February 14, 2012

On Valentine's Day I put hearts on the kids doors. Written on the hearts are characteristics that I love about each person. Addi decided to take her hearts down as soon as I got them up! She is holding one of her hearts in the picture above.

Picture #43

February 12, 2012

Addi discovered her valentine chocolates before dinner!

Years ago I started having a family valentines dinner. This year we did it two days early, because I will not be home on Valentine's Day. I love to get out our valentine dishes and set the table pretty. Usually I put conversation hearts all over the table . This year I just did a box or bag of chocolate by each dinner plate. The missionaries were also here for the dinner. It was a nice meal.

Labor Day Vacation Day 1

A friend of mine had a vacation house she could not use. So she gave us the weekend for free! We left late Friday evening and drove for hours, getting there early Saturday morning. The house was mostly in good repair and right on the Itchtucknee River. Beautiful. We had so much fun.

Addi liked being upstairs and watching everybody downstairs!

This explains why I am so tired!

I decided to write down the kids activities. And now I have written proof of why I am tired most of the time. Thanks heavens for naps while the kids are at school. Here is the list:
Morgan - National Honor Society (includes: tutoring, habitat for humanity house, homecoming dress exchange)
-historian for book club
-weightlifting team
-french club
-peer mediator

Samantha - ROTC (unarmed basic drill commander, assistant supply officer, PT, drill practices, colorguart practices & performances, competitions)
-baskeatball team

Jordan- middle school band night (playing with the high school band at 2 football games)
-jazz band

Stuart and Raeleigh - Peer mediator
-band
-chorus

And we also go to Patrick's football games each week!

Whew!

Easter

Searls brought the tradition of Robin Eggs candy to our easter. They were his favorite easter candy. The kids devour these every year.

This year I put the kids names on buckets and put their goods inside. It was a great idea and hopefully it help with sorting their things in the storage room. It is different having an adult child. Craig and I know that traditions change somewhat when your children become adults. We are now experiencing that. We were unsure what to do for Tony for easter, but in the end we went with a book about the temple (in Spanish) and a chocolate bunny. The rest of the kids each got a book, flip flops, candy and gift specialized to them.

Morgan's flip flops and reading her book!


Addison's first easter! She loves this ball, it has a bell inside.