Ballet Camp 2015

 My friend did her ballet camp again this year and Rebecah enjoyed participating.  There were 6 hour long classes and then a short recital one evening.  Rebecah really enjoyed participating in the classes and having something special just for her.  On the last day of class the moms were allowed to watch the girls do their warm up exercises so I snapped a few pictures.

 

 

 

This year the recital was outside on a stage at one of the local parks.  The poor girls were facing the sun, but it was still fun to watch them.  Rebecah is the ballerina on the far right as you look at the pictures.  I admit that these pictures aren't great, but I was trying to keep my other three kids happy and Joseph was out of town.

Kimball's Baptism

Kimball was baptized on Sunday.  It was a wonderful service and it was very exciting for all of us to witness this big step in his life.  Here are a few pictures we took of the big day.

The day wouldn't have been complete without a few baptism presents...new scriptures, True to the Faith, a scrapbook and a journal.

    

Joseph invited one of his co-workers to the baptism and he was thoughtful enough to attend and bring Kimball a very nice journal.  Kimball has already written quite a few entries in it.

Trip to the Syracuse Zoo

Joseph is currently on a 9 day trip to Guatemala.  That's a long time to have him gone.  I tried to plan a few extra fun things to help keep the blues away while he has been gone.  I took each of the big kids out on a ice cream date and then one day we went to the Zoo.  We hadn't been to the Zoo in Syracuse.  I just hate to pay for the zoo when we can visit the St. Louis zoo free of charge.  We finally went though.  A woman from church knew I was on my own so she offered to take the kids for a day, instead of doing that I invited her to come to the zoo with us.  It was fun having this lady along and it gave me an opportunity to get to know her better.  The weather was nice and it is a small enough zoo that we took our time but saw every animal in less than 2 hours.

Outside the zoo.  Our "waterfall" for the week.

The babies with Sharon May.

Kimball and the flamingos.

This baby elephant was so cute.  I just love seeing baby animals!

Riding the elephant.

I don't remember what these were, but they were kind of cute.

We felt very lucky that this tiger decided to take a nap
where we could examine him closely.

Posing in front of the red panda.

I had a great time at the zoo.  The babies were so good.  Kimball was disappointed he couldn't pet any of the animals.  I told him if he had been able to pet the tiger, the tiger would have eaten him.

Kimball Turns Eight!

Kimball turned 8 years old yesterday.  Where does the time go.  Sometimes I feel like he should still be my sweet little buddy that's two years old.  Joseph missed Kimball's birthday, again.  He missed it two years ago when we were in St. Louis and Joseph was in Syracuse.  This year Joseph is in Guatemala.  Sorry, Kimball!  We did get to skype with Joseph so that was nice.  Joseph was "with" us as Kimball opened his presents.

For breakfast Kimball wanted cheese danish.  This has become the standard birthday breakfast that my kids request, although, they request it anytime I mention a special breakfast.

For our anniversary I bought Joseph a bunch of his favorite foods/treats; at the time Kimball mentioned that he wanted me to do that for his birthday too so we gave him some chocolate and gummy bears. 

Kimball still really loves soccer.  This year he wanted a soccer jersey for one of his favorite players: Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  These next pictures capture his excitement as he opened his present.

 

  

Joseph is always working on projects around the house so Kimball now has his own tool box with tools.  He and Joseph are going to plan a special project to do together.

 

Kimball also wanted an "engineering set" so we thought he would like this Invention set as well.

At Kimball's request we had carrot cake for dessert.

   

Birthday boy with his mom!

I really loved these pictures of Kimball.  I felt like I captured some really good smiles instead of the "fake" smiles that he usually gives me when I'm taking pictures.  I loved his excitement as well.  We are so grateful that Kimball is part of our family.  We love him a lot!

10 Months Old

Lincoln and Annika hit the 10 month mark yesterday.  It has been an exciting month for both of them!

Lincoln is doing great.  He has 6 teeth and is a good eater.  He loves yogurt, but will eat just about anything.  He is starting to be a little more mobile and inch here and there on his tummy.  He moves the most if I'm not in the room so I try to stay out of sight when he is moving.  He is sweet and fun to snuggle.  I love making him laugh.  He is "talking" a lot and making more of the "ma-ma" and "da-da" sounds even though he isn't talking to us or about us. I love hearing him make sounds and try to sing along to songs.

Annika is still our little fireball.  She has such an active personality.  Lincoln is so chill and Annika is always on the go.  That is just the way Kimball and Rebecah were as well.  Annika decided to start climbing the stairs this month.  She is really good at it, but she makes me nervous if someone isn't behind her.  She fell once, but I don't think she was too high up.  She climbs on anything she can and she cruises along the furniture like a champ.  She is still pretty little, but I decided to move her up to 6-9 month clothing just so I could have more options.  I was ready for a change.  She is becoming more of a "mama's girl" and usually prefers me to feed her. Annika likes to make herself heard and has a big voice.  I love hearing her vocalize.

Both babies make me so happy and bring smiles to my face.  I couldn't imagine life without them.