Let it Begin!

Summer! Let it begin! Bring on the summer activities!

Last weekend we made our first trip of the season to DeAnna Rose Children's Farmstead. We just love that place. I'm excited that both kids are old enough to enjoy it this summer. (I felt a little bad always dragging Reese with us last year.)



A friend recommended that we visit Orr Family Farm on our trip to Oklahoma City in June. I'm not sure, but I would think it's a similar concept to Deanna Rose. Unfortunately, they were hit very hard with the recent tornado. The stories and pictures that emerged after the storm are definitely heart-wrenching. But it's so refreshing to see the way people respond in the wake of tragedy. People reaching out to help those in need. God is definitely using people to help make good out of something horrible. Prayers for Oklahoma.

Dr. & Mrs. Birt

Busy month for this bride and groom. Mitch became a "Dr." and Christy (Matt's sister) became a "Mrs."

It was a wonderful wedding weekend in Omaha celebrating Christy and Mitch!

Christy was sweet enough to invite the kids to all be a part of her big day. Bless her heart.

Here Reese is getting a feel for the church at the rehearsal. She loved going up and down the rows of pews rearranging all of their handouts.

Heading in for the rehearsal dinner.

Hotel life, gotta love it!

The hotel had some waterpark equipment with their pool which may have contributed to wiping the kids out even more than the wedding festivities! They couldn't get enough of it!

Christy and Mitch had very thoughtful gifts for everyone at the rehearsal and organized a wonderful weekend of celebrating!

These two cuties were in charge of carrying these boards down the aisle...but you may have missed it since they kinda flashed by in a blur.

The only half-way decent pic I got of the kids together in their wedding outfits. I was not on my A-game with the picture-taking. (And for some reason all my phone pics are still blurry on here--what is going on?!)

Reesie did great. I may have had to kinda yell her name from the front of the church to get her to come down the aisle to me...but I think it was ok since the bride wasn't in there yet. Yes? No?

Matt was honored to be a groomsman. We (the kids) started to melt-down a bit so we (the in-laws) relocated to the hall with all the cute kids for most of the wedding.

Some post-wedding party bus action with Dr. and Mrs. Birt.

Reception fun!

Whew, the kids were all wiped after all this wedding action! Cousins Lukas and Lawson stayed at the dinner and dance but crashed in the corner. Reese and Cade had a sleepover with G-Mom, Papa, and MaKenzie in their room but were still tired for days after the big event!

Congratulations to a wonderful couple, Christy and Mitch! Now the best part is that this married couple will be relocating to KC very soon for Mitch to begin his residency at KU Med. Yay for seeing a lot more of "The Birts!"

Cade's 3rd Birthday

We all had a blast celebrating Cade's 3rd Birthday with his Spider Man-themed (indoor) party. It was so fun seeing Cade's excitement build as his party drew nearer. Many of his best-buds (and our best-buds) joined us to celebrate.

Birthday banner time, duh. (No idea what's up with the blurry pics.)

Reese was dying for cake. I really wouldn't have even thought to serve her a piece had she not DEMANDED it.

Other very important people with May birthdays were in attendance--Grandma Sauder and Gentry! Many guests were under the age of 5...but it all went very smoothly. I enjoyed just visiting with everyone while the chaos kind of just swirled around us.

We had hoped to have a party filled with outdoor-fun...but the unseasonably cold start to May kept us indoors. So we improvised by using the bounce house inside. Here we tested it out in the living room but actually moved it down to the basement for the party. There were only a few times that all the adults looked at each other and realized that all the kids were downstairs in the bounce house unattended. It's fine. Everyone survived.

Happy Birthday, Cade! What a wonderful three years it has been. Now I will spend hours reading old blog entries and lamenting over how fast the time is flying by...

Journey back:
Cade's First Birthday
Cade's Second Birthday

Goodbye, April!

Welcome, May! The pics on my phone tell the story from the month.

Time seems to fly from Reese's birthday to Cade's birthday.

Next stop, summer? (After our predicted 1-3 inches of SNOW on Friday, of course).

Loving the outdoor toys when we get the chance to be outside!

A trip to the Arboretum--not many flowers going on yet--but the kites & trains were cool!

We flew our kite approximately one and a half times before this happened...

Winter coat in April?

Yes, when your forecast looks like this!

I felt like these verses we've been studying can really apply to my job as a teacher. Motivating the lazy, encouraging the shy and timid, and above all PATIENCE.

Who did this?

This guy.

All of the sudden our sweet Reese has started giving us the "stink eye." Hmmm...

Looking forward to a weekend of celebrating Cade's 3rd birthday...hopefully not in our winter coats! May?!