Happy 7th birthday Samantha

Samantha turned 7 on July 17.    

  We were at the river so we celebrated her birthday at the campground.  We sent her on a little scavenger hunt to find all her presents.  She had a great time.

 Her favorite gift was a new bike.  She learned to ride without training wheels in the spring and was too big for her old bike. 

 We went to dinner at a Mexican Food restaurant, Samantha's choice.  

 When we got home from the river she had a few friends over for a swimming party.

Samantha is such a happy girl and keeps us all laughing, we are so glad she is in our family!

Summer 0f 2013 at the River

We spent most of the summer kayaking and camping at the Nantahala River.  Jacob competed in the National Freestyle Championship.  He placed 6th among all the junior men in the nation - super placement for his first time competing!  James, Jacob and Kathryn made a quick trip to Canada to play on the Ottawa River.

Kathryn learned to roll her kayak this summer and got really good at surfing.

 Emily ran the entire Nantahala River several times this summer.

 Samantha got her own kayak and started going on the easy parts of the river.

 Sarah ran the entire river for the first time this summer.  She loved it!

Jacob doing some of his tricks.

Samantha lost her first tooth

In April Samantha lost her first tooth.  Still super cute with a little gap in her teeth.

Happy 11th Birthday Sarah!

Sarah turned 11 on April 22.  She had a super birthday.        

 On the Saturday before her birthday we took some of her friends to the YMCA to swim and play on the water slide, then we came home for pizza and cake and ice cream.  It was a lot of fun!

 All she wanted for her birthday was a white dress.  A friend of mine made a beautiful white dress for her doll to go with her new Sunday dress.

  We had a family party on her birthday with a kayaking cake and spent the evening riding bikes and playing outside.

Sarah has taught herself to ride without hands, this is a huge accomplishment for her.  

Happy Birthday Sarah, we love you!

Fishing for Family Night

The weather was beautiful today so we held Family Home Evening at the Tennessee River and did a little fishing.  Kathryn taught a great lesson about faith and we had a picnic dinner.  It was a relaxing, fun time.

Happy 9th Birthday Emily!

We celebrated Emily's birthday on April 8, then had a friend party on Saturday.  She had a super day.  

Emily was so excited about the thoughtful gifts she received.  She got some really cute clothes, a couple of dolls, a light saber and a camera.  

One of her favorite gifts was from Aunt Audre.  Audre finished the blanket that Annie was making for Emily before she died.  What a treasure - thanks Audre!

She had a great time roller skating and riding her bike all afternoon.  As requested we had ribs for dinner.  She asked for a surprise for her cake so we made her a Hawaii cake, complete with beach towels and umbrellas, a sand castle, fish in the sea and a light house on a cliff.

For her party with her friends we went bowling.  We had a great time with her cute friends.  

A bowling cake to go along with the fun party.

Emily is a brilliant, happy girl with a super sense of humor and we are blessed to have her in our family.  Happy Birthday Emily!

Happy Easter 2013

We had a great, peaceful Easter.  The kids had a great time searching for eggs before church.  It is always a blessing to be able to go to church on Easter Sunday and sing praises that remind us of the great gift of the atonement and the resurrection.  I am eternally grateful for both.  Happy Easter!