Weekend In Louisville

We had an opportunity to go down to Louisville for the weekend and we thought it would be  a great little getaway.  So we packed up and headed down on Friday night.  We started off the evening going for a walk around downtown.  We saw all kinds of neat artwork, sculptures, and fountains.  Here are the kids with a lion in front of Ruth Chris Steakhouse.  Riley’s eyes are closed because of the sun and Lily is roaring.  They are a mess =)

There were so many neat fountains around the area.  Riley tried to dive head first into this one.  Notice the tight grip Ricky has on him!

We ended up at Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner!

After dinner we had to walk a couple blocks back to the hotel.  I saw this and thought it was just a neat picture.

We found some interesting sculptures around the city.  The kids (and Ricky) wanted to touch and climb on them all.

I just loved this picture…

After a little rest at the hotel…

we headed out for a horse drawn carriage ride through the city.

Our horse Jessie

What Lily and Riley thought of Jessie…

The next day I took the kids swimming while Ricky napped.  The pool was on top of the roof and it was a beautiful view of the river.  The water was cold, but that didn’t stop them!

They smile the entire time they are swimming.  Especially Riley…

Spiky hair that Riley can’t stand!  He let Lily put it in a mohawk once and then smoothed it all down.

After swimming and a little rest, we were headed off to the Louisville Bats game.  We were headed out at 2 even though the game didn’t start until 6.  Ricky was excited to see everyone and throw BP.  What better way to get to the field than take a trolley ride through the city.  Right?  Don’t you agree?  Let’s just say that the Lord had a lesson in store for me =)

We missed the first trolley that runs every 12-15 minutes right by the hotel.  I forgot my phone in the room and had to run back up and get it.  So Ricky wanted to just walk the 6 blocks.  Nope!  We were taking the trolley and that was final.  It was going to be fun and I was determined.  So, 15 minutes later we get on the trolley.  All was well, fun was being had by all!  Until…

We get to the Louisville Slugger Museum Stop, which was about 6 blocks from where we started and now 12 blocks from the field.  Our lovely and kind trolley driver ( snicker, snicker) informs us that he is going on a 30 minute break.  Come on!  I just want to take a nice family trolley ride to the field.

Ricky is silent.  He gets off the trolley with our transfer tickets and goes to the shade to wait for the next trolley.  I smile and decide that it is a great opportunity to take our picture with the huge bat.  Make lemonade out of lemons, right?

I even convinced Ricky to come and take a picture.  Still silent though…

So, we take pictures and then stand at the trolley stop.  Then we watch the trolley drive right by us.  Yes, that’s right, it passes us.  We are now about 30 minutes into our trolley trip, 5 of which was actually spent on the trolley.  Ricky looks at me and walks back into the shade.  Not a word.  Silent. 

I take the kids to the bat again.  Walk around a bit.  Now it’s getting hot.  The kids are whining.  Ricky is still staring at me silently from his shady spot.  I just want the darn trolley to stop so we can get on and have our fun family trolley ride to the ball park.  Is that too much to ask?

After another 15 minutes in the hot sun with two whiny kids and a silent, staring husband…the trolley arrives.  It actually stops this time!  We all climb on and hand the new trolley driver our tickets. 

Now we are on our way.  We turn the corner to head back down towards Market Street and the 12 blocks to the field.  Until the new trolley driver pulls over.  She said she needs to take a 5 minute break to stretch her legs.  WHAT?!?!  You’ve got to be kidding me?  Where is the hidden camera?  Ricky looks back at me with his all knowing stare and turns back around.  Still no words… 

Soooo…over an hour after our journey began, we made it to Louisville Slugger Field.  What lesson did the Lord teach me?  That sometimes, and only sometimes, Ricky is right!  I said it! 

We were only there a few minutes when the Gortner’s arrived.  Bill, Becky, Christian, and Anna drove down for the game!  The kids loved running around the stadium since it was empty!  I loved watching Ricky get out there and throw for the first time since his seizure.  He threw a bull pen and it went great!  He had such a good time!

Lily and Riley now think of the Gortners as family!  Lily and Riley were all over them!  Every time I looked down from our seats one of them was climbing a Gortner =) 

Lily and Anna

We got to go down into the clubhouse to visit.  This was on the wall when we walked in!  I thought it was pretty neat!

Then we found the stash of costumes.  Here is Christian the Tomato and Lily Bat!

Anna, Riley, and Lily chillin in the big mitt

Christian and Riley.  Riley would not leave him alone! 

Lily and the Gortner clan.

Sweet Anna!  We LOVE her =)

Riley with Buddy Bat.  He stalked him all night.  Christian finally ran him down there to meet him!

First, Riley spied Christian’s ice cream. 

Riley then stared down the ice cream hoping it would leap from the cone to his mouth.  Christian tried so hard not to look into those puppy dog eyes.

Pleasssseee…..ice cream….come to me!!!  Notice the smirk on Christian’s face in this pic. 

I then took him up to get him his own ice cream.  Unfortunately, they were out of mint chocolate chip.  He did settle for chocolate though =)

July 2009

July was a month filled with lazy summer days at the pool and cool nights playing until dark.  The weather was mild so the pools were cold, but that didn’t stop the kids.  Here are some cute pictures of Riley being Riley.  He cracks me up!

He has become good buddies with the little boy next door.  They run up and down the sidewalk playing superheroes!

They enjoyed playing street hockey with the nieghbors.

Is it fair that I make my kids play street hockey from the grass?  Maybe not, but they didn’t care! 

Ricky was invited to play in a Celebrity Softball Game and thought it would be fun!  The proceeds went to a local park for special needs children.  They are trying to get the ground rubberized.  The park was built by Joe Nuxhall and the  game was the night of what would have been his 81st birthday.  Here is Ricky playing 2nd base.

The kids enjoyed the food.  Imagine that =)

The kids with Daddy after the game.  The game only lasted a few innings because there was  a huge storm heading our way!  Yes, Lily has cupcake all over her face and Riley has a mouth full of gatorade!  They are all about the snacks…what can I say?

Riley being silly!

July was a great month and I will post pictures from our weekend in Louisville in a separate post.  August, however, will be one full of changes for our family…

I have been praying about a job opportunity and whether now is the time to return to work.  I have been offered a Pre K class at The Potter’s House starting  on August 31.  It will be three mornings a week and Riley will attend preschool while I am teaching.  That will leave my Tuesdays and Thursdays open for doctors appointments andvolunteering in Lily’s classroom.  They are also so sweet to allow me off every two months to travel with Ricky to MD Anderson.  So….I am taking the job!!  I am excited and nervous!

I also will be going back to school this fall as well.  I’m not exactly sure what classes and where yet.  I am still waiting on a call from Miami University.  I need to take six credit hours this school year to renew my teaching certificate in June of 2010. Going back to school has me more nervous than teaching!  However, Ricky is on board 100% and is excited to support me!  It’s going to be a HUGE change in our household, but one that I know will be a good one!  We have prayed extensively about these two decisions all summer!  I’m just seeing where the Lord is leading me to take classes. 

As far as medical updates, Ricky starts round 9 of chemo on Monday the 1oth.  Then we leave on August 16th for the next MD Anderson appointment.  The MRI is scheduled for Friday the 14th and his appointment is on Tuesday the 18th.  Please continue to pray for clean scans with no regrowth. 

Ricky is looking great and feeling pretty good!   We feel so blessed to be able to share our journey with all of you!  We truly appreciate every single prayer!

Fish Fry

Ricky and his dad brought back a ton of fish from their fishing excursion in Mississippi.  Yes, I spelled that out loud as I typed it.  Go ahead.  Do it!  M I S S I S S I P P I.   Alrighty then…  So, we had 80 fish fillets to fry up.  So what do you do?  Invite the family to come and eat it! 

We have promised our friends the Gortners some fried fish all summer, so I hope that it was worth the wait!  We had a great time and ate a ton of fried food.  Fried fish, fried taters, fried hush puppies!  Oh my!  A little banana pudding to top it off and you’ve eaten enough calories for the week!  You’ll see Lily working on her chin ups in one picture.  No, I don’t have her do them at home.  I started P90X last week and this is my bar.  She just had to show everyone how good she was at it =)

Here are two of the four bowls of fillets ready to get battered and fried.  Unfortunately, the bowls have got a stench that won’t go away now.  I almost passed out when Becky stuck it on my head to take a whiff and the bleach after that didn’t help!  Fish stink!  Don’t put them in plastic.  That’s my tip of the day.

Ricky and his dad getting the fryers ready in my garage.  You might be a redneck if…

The men doing their manly deep frying thing.

Tyler, Riley, Anna, and Lily hanging out waiting for the goods!

Tyler, Mike, Ganny, Nana, and Hannah!  Bring on the good stuff!

All the fried stuff.  Fried fish, fried taters, and fried hush puppies!  The fruit was just to help us feel better about all the grease =)

Lily showing off her skills on my pull up bar! 

The best part…

PS  After I posted this it got me thinking about the fish fry we had last summer when we got home from Taiwan.  Click here to read about our fish fry from July 20th of last year.  My, how things have changed in a year!

How Does Ricky’s Chemo Work?

Okay, so I have had a ton of questions about Ricky’s chemo and how it works each month.  It is much different than traditional chemo that is taken for most types of cancer.  Since Ricky’s cancer is primary brain cancer, he must take a special type of chemo called Temodar.  It is an oral chemo that is  known to pass the blood brain barrier, which IV chemos do not do.  Here is his arsenal for the next five days.  These came via fed ex today.

That is approximately $6000 dollars worth of medicine.  For 5 days worth!!!  The pills on the right are his chemo pills.  There are 4 boxes with 5 pills in each one.  Every night at 10 pm, he takes 4 pills which equals 400 mg of Temodar.  He will take 4 pills every night for the next five nights.  Does it make him feel nauseous?  Absolutely!!  That’s where the other pills come in handy.

Each pack contains 2 pills called Kytril.  This is a new medicine for Ricky this month.  He did take Zofran, but unfortunately that stopped working for him the last round.  We are praying that these little guys work much better.  He will take the first one at 9 pm tonight which is one hour before the Temodar.  He will then take one every 12 hours for the next week.  Even though the Temodar’s last dose is Friday, he will stay on the anti nausea pills for a few extra days.  The days following the treatment tend to hit him pretty hard.

So, tonight is round 8.  We thought it was round 8 of 12, but it looks like we may be in for a longer treatment than expected.  We won’t know more until our next appointment in Houston.  We are praying about this decision, as it is ultimately up to Ricky and not the doctors whether he continues to go more than 12.  He said that he is tired of feeling sick and fatigued, but is not sure if stopping treatment is the right thing to do.  So, please pray for wisdom on our parts for that major decision heading our way.

As for now, we are enjoying the summer!  The pool has been a second home for the kids and I.  Not so much for Ricky, as he must be very careful in the heat.  Here are a couple pictures of the kids with some friends at the pool.  Oh, I can’t forget that Lily and Riley both passed their swim tests at the Y last week!  They told me today that Riley is the youngest to ever pass the swim test.  He gets his athletic ability from me… =)

In the Middle of Something

So I heard this sermon the other day that really hit hard.  I’m sure most of you know the story about Moses and him leading his people out of Egypt.  They made it to the bank of the Jordan River and sent spies ahead to check out the promise land.  The spies came back with stories of “giants”, but the land flowed with milk and honey.  They were scared and turned back. Not to mention this river that they needed to figure out how to cross. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  Sounds like fun, huh?

Then after 40 years Joshua is going to lead them to the promise land.  He knows that he has the river to cross with all these people.   The river was in his way.  River=problem.  So what does he do?  He sends the presence of the Lord before him and the people.  He sends the Ark of the Covenant before them and lets them know that the waters will part once it enters the river.  How many of us can say that when we are faced with a problem, we send out the Lord’s presence?  What about praying for a problem instead of trying to “fix” it ourselves.  I am so guilty of trying to fix my own problems.  However, God wants us to trust in Him and let him fix them for us.  It might not be quick.  It might not be easy.  But if we trust in Him and give them to Him, he will take care of them.

So this “problem” of a river is before them.  Joshua and the people praised God for what he was about to do.  They had faith that the Lord would solve this problem for them.  Did they moan and complain?  Nope.  Did they sob and ask why?  Nope.  They praised and worshipped for what they knew would happen.  The priests carrying the Ark dipped their feet into the water and it parted.  There they stood on dry land.

Problem solved.  Right?  The people walked across dry land and the priests stayed in the dry part of the river with the ark.  When all had passed, they could have stepped up and out.  The problem was over.  How many of us pray for a problem and are happy when it is solved.  Then we tend to forget about it.  We may whisper a quiet, “Thank you Jesus” and then go on like it never it happened.  Not Joshua.

He then placed twelve stones in the center of the Jordan river as an alter.  He continued to worship and praise God in the midst of this “problem”.  He also ordered that twelve men carry shoulder size boulders out of the river to take to town and build a memorial.  He wanted everyone to see the smooth river rocks as proof of what the Lord had done to get them there. 

This is the part that I like best.  When the priests stepped out of the dry river bed with the Ark, the river returned to normal.  This “problem” was no longer there, it was then a miracle.  How many problems in your life have turned into miracles?  How many times have we looked at what could have been a disaster but turned into something so good?  Do you praise God before, during, and after all of these times?  That is the hard part.  It’s hard to praise Him when things are tough.  It’s hard to praise Him when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But He deserves it!  He can turn your problems into miracles.  The people of Israel stood and looked forward at the Jordan and saw a problem but looked behind them at the Jordan and saw a miracle.  It all depends on which direction you are looking.

I know that through the past 11 months we have had plenty of problems.  Ones that seemed like they would never end.  Ones that we are still in the process of getting through.  Ones that are no longer problems, but miracles.  I have tried so hard to praise Him throughout.  When I heard this story about Joshua, I couldn’t help but relate our own situation.  When we found out about Ricky’s tumor, we were crushed.  However, we used the power of prayer and sent the Lord ahead of our situation.  He helped us find the right surgeon and then the right neuro oncologist.  Even though we were faced with speech problems, radiation, chemotherapy, mood swings, sleepless nights (I could keep on going), we tried to find even small things to be thankful about. 

Were we disappointed when Ricky came out of surgery and couldn’t speak?  Absolutely.  However, we praised God that he had all of his motor skills.  Were we disappointed when the doctor said he could remove 100% of the tumor, but only got 90%?  Yup.  But we praised Him that it was operable because so many are not.  Were we disappointed when the tumor was a very rare Grade III Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma when they thought it was a Grade II benign tumor.  YES!  But we praised Him that it was not a Grade IV Glioblastoma that would have been even worse.  I could keep going on and on, but I think you get the point =)  Praise Him in every situation. 

So, this cancer diagnosis is the river in our lives.  We are 100% positive that God is working a miracle in our lives. We try hard to praise Him even during this difficult time.  God is the same now that He was before the cancer diagnosis.  He deserves the same praise that he did 11 months ago.

 Remember that on the other side of every problem is a miracle.

Houston Trip 2009

Our trip to Houston was amazing!  I tried a new way of posting my pictures since there are so many and it wouldn’t let me order them the way I wanted.  So, they are kind of mixed in together in no certain order.

Our trip started at the Ranch and it was beautiful.  Our week included horseback riding, spotlighting at night for animals, lots of swimming, fishing, a trip to the Jersey Farm to milk cows, a visit to the neighbors “zoo” where there were lemurs, and a tour of Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery. The pictures of Riley at the jersey farm cracked me up.  He had his nose covered almost the entire time.  Way to stinky for him =)  However, he couldn’t wait to see a horse poop and was thrilled that he got his wish.  All boy…that’s all I can say about him.

Ricky did some welding with Josh and had a great time.  Josh had a couple of projects and Ricky spent the afternoon helping him out.  He then worked on welding a cross for his mom made out of railroad spikes.  They are amazing!  Speaking of Josh, he was amazing with the kids.  They loved riding the horse with  him and getting thrown into the pool.  He took Lily and I spotlighting and we saw a ton of animals.   Lily has what I would call a tiny crush on Josh and enjoyed every second with him =) 

Nana Baker was amazing and just loved all over the kids.  They were spoiled with ice cream after every meal and cuddle up rest time every afternoon.  Teresa and Lily hit it off and you can see them working together in the kitchen.  Ricky did have a couple of sick days while we were there, but he had the bunkhouse to rest in while we were at the main house. 

After a week at the Ranch, we headed to Tyler Texas to visit the Brink Family.  Rebecca and Andy have four children and one on the way.  They have two boys who are totally into jousting and sword fighting.  Riley now has a new love of sword fighting and came home with The Armor of God helmet and sword set.  They also have two girls that Lily just adored.  The three of them were like peas in a pod all weekend.  Ricky was sick on Saturday and slept most of the day, but he couldn’t wait to go do the prison ministry on Sunday morning.  He said it was amazing!!  He got to share his testimony with over 100 prisoners and said that it was something that he will never forget.

Then we headed to Houston for a week with Roy and Nicole and their two little girls.  Once again, we had a great time and the kids enjoyed a lot of swimming and indoor play.   The kids set up a lemonade stand and enjoyed selling lemonade to…us!  They live in a cul de sac and there weren’t a whole lot cars!

It was HOT in Houston!!  They had record temperatures that week.  We got to go watch Roy pitch one night and that was a lot of fun.  The roof was closed at the stadium so the temperature was perfect.  We got to go out to dinner and enjoy catching up!  I also got to see my friend Cara’s sweet new baby girl, Abigail.   She is so precious.

Ricky is doing great although he is a little tired.  He is leaving to go fishing with his dad on Friday, so he is trying to get in plenty of rest.  His dad goes on a fishing trip every summer and Ricky has never been able to go. Ricky always said that when he was done with baseball he was going to go.   His dad usually goes to Canada and does the whole backpack and carry your own food and canoe, but this year they are going to stay in a cabin in Mississippi.  I am much happier with that than I was with Canada =)

The top picture is what happens to your garden when you leave for two weeks!!!  We were stunned to come home and find a jungle out there.  Mental note,  next year plant less =)

Enjoy the pictures and thanks for checking in!

Great News!

Okay, so sorry it has taken me so long to update!  The MRI was clean and showed no regrowth.  We continue to praise God for such great news!  We go back in August for his next check up!  I am so thankful that round 7 of chemo is almost over.

He is currently on Day 4 of chemo, and unfortunately today was not so great.  We went on a tour of Blue Bell Creameries to see how they make ice cream and boy was he miserable.  When we got back he took one of his strong anti nausea pills and slept for 4 and a half hours.  He did feel better when he woke up, so that was good!

The ranch has continued to be such a blessing.  We have enjoyed the company of the Bakers and Teresa so much.  They are all truly family to us!  The kids just love them to pieces and will be so sad when we head out tomorrow!  We are so thankful for their kindness!

Tomorrow we are headed to Tyler, Texas to visit with Pastor Andy and his family.  Ricky is going to visit the prison on Sunday morning with Andy to share his testimony and then we get to hear Andy preach at his church.  Please pray for Ricky to feel well as we travel this weekend.  There is nothing worse than driving on these country roads and feeling sick to your stomach.

Andy and his wife have four children with one on the way, so I know the kids will enjoy having so many friends to play with this weekend.  Then we are headed to Houston Sunday night to stay there for the week!  We are staying with Nicole and Roy and their two little girls and Lily is so excited!  Ricky can’t wait to visit with Roy and go see everyone at the field.  He hasn’t been to the field in Houston in a couple of years, so this will mean so much to him.

Okay, I better jump off here before they come and find me.  I am hidden on the only computer in the ranch in the back of Mrs. Baker’s closet!

The Ranch

We are so excited to be here at the Ranch.  The kids have enjoyed every single second of our stay.  We got in Friday night around 10:30 and they were out!  So our first full day here was Saturday.  We started out the day by taking a jeep ride.  They loved sitting in the back of the jeep and spying all the animals.  We topped out at 10 mph and they loved every bump we hit!  We made it down to the horses and we were in for a surprise.

Josh had already saddled the horses and Elvis was ready to take Lily and Riley for a ride.  Lily went first and was a natural.  She was steering the horse all by herself!  She had a smile from ear to ear!  Then Riley got on behind her and she took him for a ride around the arena.  What a great time!

When we got back they couldn’t wait to swim.  So swimming was first and then lunch by the pool.  Daddy rested all morning and then went to do some welding work with Josh after lunch.  While Daddy worked, we took a rest with Nana Baker in the playroom, had snack, swam again, and ate dinner.  When Ricky got back he was starving!  Working at the ranch is hard!  Nana Baker served us all some ice cream for dessert and then we just hung out and chatted.  Ricky and Riley said goodnight at 9:00 and Lily and I stayed up for our next adventure.

We went spotlighting in the jeep with Josh.  You can’t go until dark and you spotlight the land and look for reflections from eyes.  We saw 13 raccoons, 2 beaver(yes, beaver), 1 coyote, 1 skunk(Lily’s least favorite!), 1 wild cat, 1 deer and 1 rabbit.  Lily giggled the entire time and enjoyed every minute!  It was so sweet of Josh to take us out to do that.

Sunday was spent at church and the pool.  It was such a relaxing day. 

Today we got up and decided to go fishing.  The weather here right now is HOT!  High 90’s to 100.  Today started out cloudy and overcast, so we headed out to the pond.  Lily and Riley both caught a fish and Ricky caught 7!  I stood back and helped and got bit by fire ants!  Ouch!  Better me than the kids.  We went back home and the kids and I swam while Ricky napped.  Another beautiful day in the country!

Tonight we plan on going swimming.  The kids want to swim when it’s dark and we thought that would be fun.  The Bakers are back in Houston until tomorrow, so it’s just up here! 

Tonight is also the start of round 7 of chemo.  We are leaving here early tomorrow for Ricky’s appointment at MD Anderson.  The kids are staying here at the ranch while we go.  I will update as soon as I can with the results.  Please pray that Ricky has a smooth chemo week.  This is the first time that we have traveled while he is doing chemo but we couldn’t pass up this family trip!

I will update tomorrow!

Tying Up Loose Ends

So, we leave tomorrow for our trip to Houston.  Bloodwork and MRI were done today.  Bloodwork looked good and we won’t know about the MRI until Tuesday.  Oh, it kills me to wait that long!!  Ricky has had a stomach bug the past couple of days that they were a little worried about, but he feels much better today.  The upset stomach fatigued him even more than he has been, so he is upstairs snugged up with Riley taking a nap.

Chemo starts again on Monday.  This is the first time that he has traveled while doing chemo, but it is the only time that we could go.  Not to mention that his appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, so it just seemed to all work out.  We are taking the kids and staying for two whole weeks!  Please pray that his treatment goes well with no sickness so we can enjoy our time there!

In other news, Lily started her new gymnastics class this week.  It was all conditioning and in her own words, “It was AWESOME!”  It is amazing to me that a 6 year old can be that excited about conditioning for 9 hours a week, which is what she will do this summer, but she is.  They won’t start routines until the fall.  She also is officially on summer break and started it out by sleeping in until 9:30 this morning!  Woohoo!

Riley forgot to read the memo about sleeping in now that summer is here =)  He is excited about going away and can’t wait to hang out with the boys. I have no idea who the boys are that he keeps talking about, but hopefully he’ll find some to hang out with in Houston!  We are trying to decide what sport to let him try in the fall.  I am looking for a fall t ball team, but have yet to find one.  I am most likely going to put him in some type of karate, because the boy loves to do some karate!

I have been doing well.  I have to admit that I haven’t even begun to pack and we fly out tomorrow.  I have to leave in 15 minutes for a three hour sit at gymnastics and I am blogging instead of packing!  I work better under pressure =)

Enjoy some pictures from the past couple of weeks!

Lily at field day!

So much fun!

A tea party in Lily’s room.  I know, Riley’s in his underwear.  Hey, at least he wasn’t naked =)  It’s hard to keep clothes on him!

A night at the drive in with friends.

I will update on Tuesday, hopefully, with the results.  We are staying at the ranch, so I don’t know if I’ll have computer access or not!  Check back on Tuesday night!

I Love Summer!

I love summer!  I love the warmth of sunshine on my face.  Sitting on our deck and watching the kids play.  Hearing their screams when they hear the ice cream man.  Watching the ice cream melt down their chins as they try and eat it before it melts.  Grilling out.  Eating watermelon.  Catching fireflies.  Kings Island.  Swimming. Late summer nights.  Sun kissed faces.  All of it!  I love it all!  Here are some pictures from our first taste of summer this year.  There will be plenty more to come…

Lily is quite the little fish.  She loves the water and has been a swimmer since she was 2.  However, this year, she can really have fun.  She can finally touch!  She is so excited.

Swimming with her cousins.

Riley hanging out on the noodle.

Getting the courage to let go.  He can swim and finally touch in the shallow end!  Woo hoo!   Mommy gets to sit on the edge this year and just dip my feet in.  Love it!

Swimming to Justin

Getting braver

Super Riley!!  Jumping in and swimming to the steps.

He loves goggles. 

Snack time with Luke!

End of the soccer season party with Lana.

Yummy ice cream from the cone.

Everyone on the team got a medal.  Coach told her she was small but mighty.  She would face any girl, no matter the size.  Then one of her teammates said, “And she was always falling down!”  HA  So funny and so true.  I think she fell at least 10 tens in the last game.  Coach said, “But she always got right back up!”  Too cute!

Here is movie night in our cul de sac.  Our neighbors have a movie screen they attach to their house and they put on a kids movie every Friday night at dusk.  It is so much fun and the kids love it!

Finally, here is a picture of Ricky and I from date night.  It doesn’t happen often enough, but it was so nice to have a nice evening out with him.  We had a really good time!