Mid-July

Kaitlyn has discovered that she loves to be in the tractor with daddy.....and she hates to be left behind when someone else gets to go. She allowed me to take this shot, said, "goodbye, mom" and slammed the door in my face before I could possibly have time to grab her and take her inside. Here's my little farmer boy at it again. Somedays I hardly see him since he's often with dad and grandpa.
Before we left for Minnesota, we spent some time at the local state park. The kids enjoyed the water so much I was sure we'd have a great time on vacation.
Kaitlyn learned to float. Once she figured it out, she didn't want anyone so much as touching her! Miss Independent wanted to float on her own! Here she's enjoying the water with her buddy "Ad'lyn".
Napping with daddy. If she "naps" with him she can be sure he doesn't sneak out without her noticing. :P

Lost Fairy?

This little fairy was found wandering around our area. She must not be very old because she has her wings on sideways.

Happy Fourth of July

Here's our crew during the parade. I think Kaitlyn had already started filling her goody bag with gravel before we left the house. This was Kaitlyn's first Fourth of July as an American citizen. An idea both awesome and humbling.
She enjoyed sharing daddy's chicken dinner after the parade but needed her own bowl of ice cream afterwards. :D
Can't have a parade without the bagpipers in their kilts. Festive, eh?
Thank you to those who have given much for the freedom we now enjoy. Happy Fourth of July!

Jamison had a birthday!

Jamison turned nine this week. Yes, that is correct, even though the cake only has eight candles. I miscounted them somehow.
We had a picnic lunch and went swimming at Tolliver Falls with the Hittle kids.
Thus ending birthday season at our house! Woohoo! Now I don't have to remember anyone's birthday until November. Of course, I have to start hearing about birthday season(March - June) as soon as Christmas is over.

Ear piercing, Duplos, and Rain

Megan got her ears pierced for her birthday. Of course, her birthday was back in May, but soccer season and the no earrings rule meant that she had to wait until the season was over. When she started asking we said that she had to wait until she was twelve. She talked about how she couldn't wait until she was twelve to get her ears pierced. It finally occurred to me that she's fully competent to care for them and therefore there really wasn't a good reason to not let her go ahead and get them. She's certainly shown a lot of responsibility in dealing with her new sister. :)
Kaitlyn attended her first parade the other night for Grantsville Days. She loved it: waving, clapping, candy collecting, and candy eating. She's also learned to stack duplos. This new skill hopefully means that she will play with her siblings instead of destroying their creations.
This is what happens when it rains hard. Want to guess where the low spot is? That pathetic flower bed is a work in progress....right now we're raising kids. ;P

Milk Dud Report:

Kenton finished planting corn yesterday. Kenton's Dad, Carl, finished spreading fertilizer today. Hey, hey, hey, that's two and a half weeks ahead of last year! Kenton actually came in this evening around 6:00. He played checkers with the kids, watched Ryan and Friends, and put the kids to bed-Kaitlyn, too. Woohoo! I could get used to this.

Why Foster Care Matters.

Kaitlyn was in foster care through Grace and Hope for Children. We are forever grateful to both the foundation, her sponsor, and her foster parents who kept her happy and healthy until she could join us.