My Care Bears

We went to the park on Tuesday morning and had a great time playing all morning because the weather was perfect. Well Ryan and Renee went exploring in the rocks and near the bushes and Renee busts out in a scream that you could tell instantly that she was in pain. My first thought that something bit her (since every stinkin bug out here in AZ bites) so I rush over to her and whip her up and immediately look at her feet. Well it wasn't a bug bit, but 20-25 of those little round poker sticky things stuck in her feet.

So I'm pulling them out and she is still crying, and Kaylee comes over to her and this is their conversation:
Kaylee: "Nee Nee, you ok"
Renee: "OWIE!!"
Kaylee:"Oh no! Sorry nee nee. You Bink?" (Bink is her pacifier)
Renee:"YA, blah da da blah blah blad da"
Kaylee:"I know!"

The whole time Kaylee had a very concerned look on her face and stroking her head. It was the sweetest thing, and the fact that they do have their own language is amazing. It was really sad though having to pull out all those stupid stickers with my fingers. :(

Our New Pet

With Sammy gone, it was time for us to get a new pet. I know what you are thinking...why would the crazy life of the party of five want something else to take care of right now. Well, that's what we were thinking too, so we decided to get a very low maintenance pet. Let me introduce you to "Flybird". A few weeks ago, a bird decided to build a nest on top of our sun shades. We thought this might help the kids forget about Sammy so we told them that Flybird was our new pet.

Ryan got the job of naming our visiting bird and decided to name him Flybird because "he flies all the day" He really cracks us up everyday. After our return from Illinois, we woke up to a few more "pets" to look after. Yes, Flybird is a "she" and she had three little flybirds. It was pretty cool and the kids really got a kick out of it. Here are some pictures and videos to share our fun experience.

The sunshade that houses Flybird.

The kids discussing Flybird and his whereabouts.


The discussion continues....:-) because there are actually 2 fly birds. Hence the babies!


One of the baby flybirds.

You might want to fast forward to about the 30 second mark on this video. That is where all the good footage of Mommy Fly bird feeding her babies starts.

The three baby flybirds flew the coup.

Easter Sunday and our Farewell

Easter Sunday was a joyous one, not only were we Celebrating the Ressurtion of our Lord and Savior but we were able to be with our family and friends in Illinios. Church was great, seeing family and friends, and having the extra help with the kids durin ght service was awesome!! Thanks again Erin, Mandy, Sarah and Patty! It takes a village to raise a kid you know! haha We don't have any pictures of us at church with the firneds and family there, but of course there are plently of other pics from the day!!



Daddy showing Ryan Grandpa Joe's grave, and spelling out Joseph, and explaining to him that that is where he got his middle name. FYI it's not after his own dad like many of you may of thought.




Then after naptime we stopped by Uncle Dan and AUnt Judy's home, where we were pleasantly surprised to have the whole family gathered. It made the visit wondrful seeing everyone and meeting new members of the family. We had a BLAST visiting with them, our time flew much to quickly, but was so glad we made the stop! Love you guys!





Then off to AUnt Patty's for an easter egg hunt and dinner. The kids and BIG kids all had a blast Easter Egg hunting! See videos



Joe and RYan hunting in the "front yard." Amazingly Beautiful isn't it!

The little ones gathered together at the table for a brief moment.

Eating at the kids table. They had space issues as their plates were too big for the table once all set down.

After dinner the guys all gathered together for brandy and smokes....jk

While the girls and kids headed inside to lounge and play

Grandpa joe made this, and Joe remembers playing with it as a kid. He was amazed to see it.

The kids busted out the playdo.

Here we are with Isaac (Joe's cousin) and his wife Emmie, and their daughter Taylor (7)
It was nice to see them and talk to them in person! They talk a lot online while they play

Kaylee was so intruiged by the picture frame that Aunt Kathy was looking at

The kids got along so well with all their 2nd cousins they just met. Heartfelt goodbyes shared here.

Autn Kathy getting a goodbye hug from Ryan

"I'm gonna getcha!"

Us with AUnt Patty, Thanks patty for the awesome weekend! IT was so good seeing you, thanks for watching the girls so we could enjoy the wedding, and the dinner and easter egg hunt was so wonderful! Your the best!

Joe, his cousin Angie, Erin, me, Uncle Brad, Patty

One more addition in this pic,Angie's husband Robey

Then the next morning we packed up and headed back to the airport. We xouldn't believe that we were there again already, but we were ready to get back into our own routine of life and oh ya, joe had 3 finals to take still! We do wish we could of stayed 2 more days, there was more we would of loved to of done and people to visit with. We appologize if we didn't get to see you while we were there, it was a busy but WONDERFUL trip!!

The Big Day

For those who didn't know why we packed up all the kids and headed out east, it was to attend the wedding of Joe's friend from high school, Jeremy. He had asked Ryan to be the ring bearer for the wedding and we were thrilled. At first, Ryan was hesitant to be a "ring bear" because he just didn't understand the concept. Shortly after we went to the tux shop to get him fitted, he was excited to wear his "costume" as soon as possible. The wedding was wonderful and beautiful and Ryan did such a great job. We were honored to be part of it, and hopefully Ryan will always remember his "cousin Jeremy", as he refers to him.

The big day had almost arrived, and Ryan's "Costume" was ready to be worn. The day before the wedding they picked up the tuxes and Ryan got to finally wear his "ring bear costume." He was so excited but didn't feel it was complete until he had a hat. So Grandma Jane hunted around her house and found a hat of her fathers for him to wear. It turned out that he really loved the hat so much, that he rarely took it off after that.

Doesn't he look dapper! Well a Michael Jackson look a like maybe, but thanks to Grandma Jane and Lois' sweet sewing skills they fixed the pants!

So at the rehearsal he wanted to wear a costume, so naturally he chose to wear his Batman costume. Jeremy was pleased and said that he was glad that he had a super hero there!

Joe cuddling Renee who was still lethargic from being sick. The only pro to having a sick kid is the cuddles!

"Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married!"

The church was beautiful, out in the country, with 7 stain glass windows covering both sides.

The big day had finally arrived and Jeremy was nice enough to help Ry get dressed, since the wedding party had to be there at noon for pictures and Joe and I stayed back to get ourselves ready and put the girls down for a nap. Ryan was really excited to be a big boy and really bonded with Jeremy during that time.

Jeremy: "I'm sorry Ryan, there is just not enough room for a cape"

Jane and her "boys." Jeremy and Joe were best friends in high school and Jane took Joe in and treated her like her own when Joe returned home from the Army for the year until we got married. She is "family" to us and we all love her so much.

Pictures before the wedding with the boys.

This is a video of Jake Braker (Jeremy's cousin) practicing his guitar solo for the wedding, right after pictures that morning. Ryan and Hunter (the other ring bearer who became Ryan's new best friend instantly after meeting) sat down next to Jake and and listened to him practice. What is so funny is that Ryan noticed Jake tapping his foot to the rhythm of the beat so he started to do it too. Soon after that, Hunter joined in the tapping and we just had to record it.

The 2 Ring bearers...Ryan and Hunter.

They were having a conversation about Jesus...Ryan was telling Hunter that the Jesus statue behind them was saying "Stop!" We all laughed out loud when he told us that.

In position and ready!

This is a video of Ryan walking down the aisle. He is in the first 30 seconds of the video and then Amber, the bride, walks down the aisle in the next 2 min or so. We kept it long because so many people wanted to see the bride. She looked beautiful!

Then his big moment came! Look at his smile!

The bride with all the boys

Love the expression on Ry's face in this one. They made him hold the flower girls hand to help to stay for the picture, they look so cute!

The whole Bridal party

The father, mother and step mother of the groom. Roxie, Jane, and Bob

This video was taken right after the wedding. Joe was just telling Ryan how good of a job he did, but he didn't care. He just wondered where his baby sisters were.

They rode away in style wouldn't you say!?

Party of 5 at the reception having dinner. The food was delicious!

Misty and Doug, we spent a lot of time visiting with them this weekend, they are a lot of fun

Their beautiful wedding cake

The grooms cake...can you guess why Jeremy and Joe were such good friends?

Grandma Jane with her "Ring bear"

Daddy with his 2 princesses. Renee is the one with the pacifier that doesn't look happy.

Kaylee kickin it on the dance floor

Mother dancing with the Groom


Grandma Jane with the girls

Renee showing a little sign of life at the party.

The kids found stairs and attempted to play their new learned game!

The first dance, it's only part of it but it is worth watching! Notice Kaylee dancing along in the left corner. :)