More fun videos of the little ones

Here's a video of Savannah discovering her first taste of solid food. She is 9 1/2 months old and still doesn't have any teeth yet.

Here is a video of Savannah is scooting around on her belly. We think it is just too heavy for her to lift off the ground and crawl on her knees. At least she stays in a confined spot and we're not having to use gates yet.

Timothy really likes to color and is always asking, "What color this, mommy?" Here is his little demonstration of how well he knows his colors. Not too shabby for 2 1/2 years old.

He also likes to count. Here he is counting his chocolate chips - a reward for how well he did his colors.

Sarah turns 9!!!

August 21, 1999 ~ Sarah turned 9 and she celebrated with a sleepover in our tent in the backyard. The temperature dropped to a chilly level, but the girls stayed warm by cuddling up in mink blankets and heavy sleeping bags. Is it really 'roughing it' if there is a big extension cord running into the tent connected to a portable tv/dvd player so that the girls could watch a movie? Sarah recuperated the next day be taking a 2 1/2 hour nap on the couch!


Plain angel food cake with srawberries on the side - one guess who she gets this favorite from.


She's so excited, and she just can't hide it.....


Sierra, Kristy, Sarah and Melissa enjoying some beanbag time.


Snuggled in the tent.








We got a little crazy with the extra whipped cream.

Random glimpses of joy

I've got some catching up to do and I have been gently reminded that I haven't posted in a few days. Now I must admit that some people think I've got too much time on my hands if I am posting as much as I am, but seriously, this person - and she knows who she is :-) - must REALLY have time on her hands to keep up on her blog and remind me about my posting level. Ha Ha

Savannah enjoying her first biter bisquit

If you let it sit too long, it turns into a nice crusty layer of crumb cement that can only be cleaned by full immersion in a bathtub!

Timothy's funny (yet high tech) request one day....."Mommy, see your 'bog' please?" He loves to sit and look at pictures and watch videos from all the blogs. When Grammy comes to watch the kiddos in October, Timothy will show her how to check her email :-).

You know you have too many kids when you are one of the last families to walk out of church, get in the car and realize that no one grabbed Timothy. We both walked back inside and found him behind the drum set!

Timothy LOVES to spend time in the backyard. He spent about 45 minutes the other day washing his car, the teeter totter, the slide, the swings, etc. A bucket of warm water, some Dawn dish soap and a washcloth goes a long way.

Timothy thinks his new horse is very cool. He gets on and says, "Hi Cowboy!" Special thanks to Pete and Brenda for this perfect pet.

First Day of School in a Brand New Building

August 18 ~ Just hours after we finished celebrating Allie's birthday, reality came crashing down. The first day of school was upon us! Fort Caspar Academy had a brand new beautiful building that the girls were so excited to see and to finally meet their teachers. We parked one street from the school at our friend's house, The Huber's (without the 't'), and snapped a few pictures with them before walking to school. Melissa and Sarah were thrilled to be wearing the same outfit - a fluke, not planned - and everyone was in great spirits.

Sarah and Melissa

Allie and Lauren

Lindsay, Sarah, Melissa, Allie and Lauren

Allie and Maddy in Mrs. Elliott's 5th grade classroom.

Sarah in Mrs. Rapp's 3rd grade class

Lindsay in Mrs. Harkins' class (She is a new teacher and we were thrilled to find out that she goes to the same church with Jackie and comes highly recommended.) So far Lindsay has loved her!!

After the kids were settled, we mommies toured the new building and checked out the play ground. Teresa is never one to back down from a challenge and climbed right up and tested out that new slide.

Lunchtime - Kristy, Melissa, Sarah and Sierra

And after school - DQ baby! Here's Kayla and Kristy. Thanks Teresa for the yummy fries and icecream.

Allie turns 11 ~ August 17, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE REBEKAH

As unbelieveable as it sounds, Allie celebrated her 11th birthday on Sunday. She has grown into such a beautiful young lady and we cherish the time we have with her now, because if the next 11 years go as fast as these, she'll be grown in no time.

To celebrate her special day (which happened to be the day before the 1st day of school) we had a nice family breakfast and then went to church. She invited a few friends to play golf, rock climb and have some cheesecake. It was a beautiful, sunny day and everyone had a great time.

Lauren Huber, Aly Scymczak, Allie, Maddy Reed

Apparently golf was a little boring and the girls decided to explore the rock formation.

I am not sure if they were supposed to be climbing here, but it made for a cute picture.

A little bit safer rock climbing with all the saftey gear.

Allie was thrilled to have a cheesecake with strawberry topping as opposed to a traditional cake. DELICIOUS!

Question: What is short and chubby with a big brain?

Answer: Our 9 month old daughter according to her last checkup. She is 18 pounds, 13 ounces (50%), 26 inches (10%) and her head circumference is in the 95%.



It's a common saying, but so true: Time flies when you are having fun! Here are some pictures of our little gal. She isn't quite crawling yet - Shauna gets the bragging rights in that area - but is happy as can be rolling around and playing with her toys. She is starting to baby talk and her face lights up whenever her sisters or brother come into her sight.





Sweet Savannah sporting a dress that Lindsay wore 6 years ago!



And here's the picture of Lindsay - my goodness, they resemble each other.



She is beginning to drink from a sippy cup.



Trying to find the toys she dropped out of the crib



Big toothless grin for ya.




She loves her baby dolls and cuddles up to them to go to sleep.


One thing she does not lack is an ability to laugh!! Listen here.

Camp Bethel 2008

Allie and Sarah had a wonderful time at Camp Bethel. The first thing they told us was about the bear adventures. Apparently on several different nights, a bear cub came close to camp and on one night the Momma Bear was with the cub. It sounds like the food they served the campers was also very appealing to the wildlife! Sarah shared her adventures of hiking and climing thru dark, damp caves. And as mentioned in the previous post, Allie loved her day trip to the natural slides. Both girls loved the crafts, singing, stories, devotions and activities. On their final night, they all dressed up in their finest (for camp, that is) and were treated to a some sort of a drama play and quite the banquet. Camp Bethel is definitely in our plans for future summer camps!


Fun in the cabin


Cabin Rules


The closing ceremony


Becky and her gals.


Banquet night

All the counselors and directors dressed up as part of the skit



Goodbye hugs from Allie


and from Sarah. We are delighted that Becky lives in Casper and we can see her outside of the camp setting!!

Paradise Valley

During the closing presentation at Camp Bethel, they played a DVD featuring the week's activities. One of the "out trips" that Allie chose was a hike into an area with natural water slides into pools of very COLD water. It looked like a blast so David got general directions and Allie led the way from there. We were told that the area was called Paradise Valley.



At the point this first photo was taken, we were walking through a fairly flat meadow. We had no idea what we would see as we came closer to the rock area.

As we came through the meadow and turned the corner, this is what opened up.

This is one of the shorter slides into water that was about 3 feet deep. Remember this is mountain snow run-off water. It was freezing!!!

From this point it looks like the girls could fall right off the cliff, but it was actually a gradual slope down into another very green valley.

Here are some videos to see the kids (and Uncle David) sliding into the water. The first is Lindsay going down the smaller slide.

Allie was the first to go down the bigger slide into a 11 feet deep pool.

Brave Meg took the challenge and slid on down!

And here's Uncle Dave showing everyone that us older folks know how to have fun too. Missi and I opted out of the experience - her because she is pregnant and me because the water was too stinkin' cold!!

Campin' in the Big Horns

We drove to Sheridan and then to the Big Horns to camp with the Sheridan Huberts and pick Allie and Sarah up from Camp Bethel. Dave and Missi recently bought a new camper that is big enough to sleep us all. They picked a remote spot in a beautiful valley and we were surrounded by God's amazing creation on all sides of us.


Savannah thinks the bed is pretty comfy!


Enjoying hotdogs and chips - is there any better camping food??


Meg is the epitome of "cool" in her oversized sweatshirt and her shades sitting by the fire.


Lindsay, Sarah, Savannah, Meg, Ella and Allie


There was a huge hill that seemed to go on forever. Down below you can see where we camped - great choice in campsite Dave and Missi!


Marguerite Rose


Ella Jayne


The butterflies were everywhere. All of the kids caught several of them with little effort.


Smores in the daytime because we were too stuffed to eat them the night before.


Here is a video of Timothy checking out the surroundings as Phil and Dave scout out the perfect spot:



Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Sandy bought Dave a homemade ice cream ball. We were a little skeptical but it actually worked. Here is a video of the girls rolling it around on the camper.