Summer Staycation

 Our good friends, the Alexanders came to stay with us for two whole  weeks in July. We had a great time! All the kids got along great! We really miss them all! Clark got his black eye while at the park. He was pretty tough. He only cried for a minute and then ran off to play. Whenever the black eye is brought up he says he got it at the castle park and he got a slushy. All he really cared about was the slushy. 

 With 10 kids in the house there was never a dull moment. These boys picked right up as if they hadn't been separated for three years. This picture is in the Sacred Grove. We were able to see the Hill Cumorah pageant.

We went hiking at Ricketts Glen. It was a beautiful day for hiking. We only got to see half of the waterfalls. Someday we'll go back and hike the whole thing.

Aaron turned 8 years old while they were here and was able to be baptized in the river. Josh gave a talk and did a great job. While the Alexanders were here we also went kayaking down the Susquehanna River, spend a day in D.C., had a pinata, a parents night out, and lots of yummy food. We are so glad that they were able to come and visit us. We love and miss them!

June 2012

 Look familiar?! Clark is starting to love cars and he lines them up just like Ty. He is pretty proud of himself for it. Sometime he even sorts them, notice the buses and Lightening McQueens.

Andrew after a fun day in the sprinklers with the Jones kids.

First trip to Knobels this year!!! Josh and Andrew spent the whole time on the big rides. They didn't mind getting wet.

 Say Cheese! Every time I ask Clark to smile for the camera lately, this is the look I get. What a goofball! He loved riding the train at Knobels.

 Ty on the other hand is my most photogenic kid. He posses and had beautiful smiles all the time. We went to Knobels with our friends the Bugenhagens. You can see Wyatt in the seat in front of Ty. Paul and Lilly are sitting next to him. Ty love love loves riding the rides at Knobels. He could go all day!!

Curtis and I have been asked to be a Ma and Pa on the trek for our youth from church this summer. This means that we will be mom and dad to 12 kids agegs 14-18 for 3 days. We will dress up in pioneer clothes and try to have a pioneer experience which includes cooking in a dutch over outside. We don't know if it will be open flame or charcoal yet, but we thought we should try it out before testing our skills on the poor kids. Peach cobbler was our first attempt. I turned out pretty good in the end.

 Yummy! Check out the end results. Is your mouth watering!!

 Clark learned a new trick from Ty, swinging on the table. Tyson actually flips around and is always hanging around under there.

 

Our second attempt in the dutch over was bread. It looks beautiful, too bad we couldn't see the bottom to know that it was doughy. Oh well, we'll keep trying. 

 

To hear about May and April keep reading. I actually think I'm caught up.

May 2012

 Soccer season started in May. Andrew had a great season and scored 4 or 5 goals. his skills are really improving and he is enjoying getting to know kids on his  team. I don't have pictures of Josh playing, but he also started playing in the outdoor state cup. His team did a great job, but lost in the quarter finals.

Clark turned two! He loves being a big kid. He talks all the time and loves his big brothers. Because Ty's B-Day is so close we had a small party for the two of them together. Grandma's and Grandpa's took everyone to Hoopla's in March to celebrate while they were here, so we just enjoyed some yummy ice cream cake and did presents.

 Ty turned 4! He really thinks he is a big kid now and should get to do everything that Josh and Andrew get to do and not the stuff Clark has to do. He was really interested the the game Skylanders around his birthday and got a few guys as presents. He even got a guy from our friends the McKinney's. He was able to open presents with them. They, like us, think Ty is a pretty cool kid.

 Mom made ice cream cake! Yummy!!

 Ty was so excited when I pulled out this Monsters Inc. shirt for him to wear. Aunt Lanita made it for Josh and everyone has had a chance to enjoy it.

Andrew had field day at the end of May. It is a great day that everyone loves. I was able to go to the school and watch all the fun for a little while.

Can you tell which of my kids doesn't like to have his picture taken. Josh is doing well and enjoyed the last of the school year. He ended the year with over 900 mind jogger points for all the books he read. He was reading like crazy trying to get as many as possible. Now he is not reading anything for the summer that has a mind jogger test. He's saving it all for the fall.

April 2012

 I'm trying to catch up little. In April we went hiking at RB Winter Park one Saturday. We had a great time. The kids did a great job. Ty even walked quite a bit of it, then Curtis carried him the rest of the way. I carried Clark.

 The first year we were in PA we went hiking here with Curtis' dad. We took a picture at this rock. After hiking we played, climbed, swung, dug, and had lunch. It was a great day!

I have hated this tree for three years except in the spring when it looks like this!! I love all the beautiful colors we get in the spring. (I chopped off a lot of the lower branches on this tree since taking this pic, so we can now walk and more importantly mow under it. I like it much better now.)

A Special Day!

 We are so blessed to live in this beautiful area and have the Susquehanna River right here. When we were moving here we talked to the kids about all the church history places and events that took place close by to where we were going to live. One of those events was that Joseph Smith and many of the early saints were baptized in the Susquehanna River. Of course, we don't know the exact place, but it is the same river. The bishop in the ward when Josh got baptized asked if Josh wanted to get baptized in the river. Being the end of October, Josh said no, but Andrew was all for it. I tried talking him out of it. After all he was born in March and it often snows in March, but he wanted to do it no matter what I said. We had the most perfect, beautiful day you can imagine. It was 75 degrees out. He was so excited he could hardly stand still.

 As I said, it was March and even though the day was beautiful and even most of the week before was nice the water was still cold. As you can see in the picture he's trying to catch his breath. He said later that after he swallowed he was okay.

This is a picture of Curtis and Andrew's wet footprints as they headed back to the car side by side to change.  The Conformation took place right next to the water under a tree. It was such a wonderful service. We are so grateful to all the family and friends who came to support Andrew in his choice to be baptized. He is such a wonderful child. We are so blessed to have him in our family. He is a great kid and we are truly proud of him!

Random happenings

It's time for a bunch of random pictures! Enjoy!

 Sometimes they choose to do something nice and quiet. I just had to take a picture of it.

 Clark loves helping me take the recycling out

 Salmon yum!! I struggle getting him to eat. He was a total ham this night and loved the salmon.

 Happy Birthday, Andrew! He is such a sweet big brother and made sure to give everyone a big thank you hug.

 They have a great relationship, sometimes they are hitting each other to show their affection. Once in awhile they hug.

 Just a cute picture of my happy Ty.

Clark loves Bob the Builder. We have to sing the song each night before bed. He used to have his little Bob and Wendy figures to go to sleep. He was very excited when I found this great shirt made by Aunt Lanita. It's a little big, but that just means he can wear it for longer!

Warm winter

We had the best winter ever! Many days we were outside playing in 50 degree weather.

 Go 01 Cannons!! Josh's soccer team won the indoor state cup again!!

 Before Clark's first hair cut

 Clark didn't mind the hair cut too much and really enjoyed the reward.

Andrew is a great big brother! He really enjoys playing with and helping his little brothers.