Ali's Sixth Birthday

This year we celebrated Ali's sixth birthday with a trip to Universal Studios. Grammy and Papa watched Ryder for the day so we could all go on the big kid rides!

What a fun day celebrating our sweet Ali!

The next day we played at the Fun Spot

Well, some played and others played harder.

We topped it all off with a pool party at our hotel.

Ali had asked all of her family members to gift her with money she could use to buy her very own American Girl Doll. Grammy got very creative and made a dress out of dollar bills for Ali's gift. 

Ali, you are such a bright light in our family. Your silliness brings so much laughter into our home. We love you to the moon and back. Happy Birthday!

Father's Day 2012

SCAR Adventure Race 2012

Steve and I ran the SCAR adventure race last July and had a blast. It was the first one for both of us. Since then Steve has entered a few more and even Brooke has competed. The SCAR is held just minutes from our house and Steve wanted to enter again with a team of guys this year. He put together a great team of friends including Jeremiah, Selby and Blake.

The guys got together only once or twice to practice together, but they are all very outdoorsy or athletic types so we knew they would do well. HOWEVER, they did VERY well... as in first place!

Here are some pictures of them racing..

Plotting their course

The paddle down the Wekiva 

Biking in the Florida heat

The winners and their biggest fans!

Ali's Dance Recital

Ali performed in her very first dance recital after completing a whole year of ballet and jazz class. I was very proud of her for sticking with it! She did a great job and we loved watching her on stage. She is a natural performer. She said she was nervous but did a great job remembering all her moves.

Ten Sentences

Our summer has been really great so far. The girls are getting along well, Ryder is getting full naps, mommy is yelling less.. But we're not perfect. The other night the girls were in an all out battle to one-up each other. Mommy's ears were starting to blow steam so I sent them to separate rooms to write ten sentences about what it means to be part of a family. The result was enough to get me laughing and cool the steam off. Here are some of Brooke's sentences. Like I said, we're not perfect.

Ali, The Encourager

This note is stuck to our fridge and I can't imagine ever taking it down. This is Ali in a nutshell. She loves to encourage people and point out others' strengths. No matter how terribly I may fail to meet the high calling to be the perfect mother my kids deserve, they still see the best in me. I love imagining how this quality will manifest itself in her adult life. She is an amazing kid and I am blessed to call her mine.