Sophie turns............

Time just seems to go by faster and faster. I am finding it so hard to keep up on anything these days, like this blog, laundry, house work. But my kids seem to have no problems with GROWING UP way too fast!!! 

Happy Birthday to my sweet little baby

Sophia LeeAnn.

My tough little hikers

As a farewell to Summer, Scott took Sarah and Caden on a back packing trip. He was originally going to  take just Caden, but Sarah insisted on going. Because she is such a tough kid, Scott let her go. They found a nice little hike that was supposed to be 7-8 miles round trip.  

Well, 11 miles later, and 3 hours past their estimated arrival, they got home scraped up and extremely tired!!! 

They hiked in 4 miles the first night and camped (a huge heard of elk trampled by the next morning , shaking the ground). The next day, however, a very steep and trick terrain forced them to go off the trail   to find an easier way. What they thought would be a quick change in plans, added 3 miles to their trip!!! So the poor kids hiked 7 miles the 2nd day. Scott said they were really good and carried their own bags for about 5 miles of it. 

I am so proud of my little hikers.

Caden loves that survival show where the guy gets dropped off in remote areas and has to survive off the land. (I think the guys name is Bear Grill?)

He pretended to be him on the hike.

These were the very steep and rocky cliffs the kids had to hike. Caden kept getting worried that they were going to encounter a mountain lion because he studied those in school last year and he knows they live in rocky cliffs. 

BEAUTIFUL!! The thing I love about back-packing are the beautiful things you can only see if you hike into them. You won't see this at a campground. 

Sarah kept saying to me. 

"Mom, you can't even imagine how beautiful it is there.....it is a miracle.....that was the best hike I have ever been on, it was even better than camel's back...."

Scott thought that they were going to have to stop and sleep one more night because it was getting dark and because they had wandered off the trail a bit he didn't know exactly how far they were from the car. But, his phone was dead, and he had no way of telling us this so he told the kids to just keep pushing and make it out of there so we wouldn't be worried at home. 

Troopers!!!!

Our schedules are a little more open now!!! 

Since school began, our Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were dedicated to football and soccer. With our kids growing up so fast, we have now entered the world of juggling time and schedules between two kids' sports. CRAZY! where Scott and I used to both go to every one of Caden's games, now we have had to take turns going to each, and with Scott coaching Sarah's it got even trickier. But now we've got time to relax  bit til the next wave of business hits. The kids are very sad about their sports ending. Sarah wants to get back out on the soccer field and Caden can't wait to score his next touch down. 

Caden did an awesome job this year, scoring in almost every game. He is incredibly fast! 

After 2 years of trying dance, Sarah has found that her true calling is out on the soccer field scoring goals! That girl is a runner and needs to be doing something where she can get that energy out. She got on a team where she was one of only 2 1st graders, but she kept up with the big girls really well!

Isn't she adorable?!?

Sophia LeeAnn

Sophie is 10 month old now. She is such a spunky little girl full of personality!!!! 

Here's what she has been up to:

• She loves to clap.  She often claps for herself when she thinks she has done something funny.  The   other day however, when we were at scouts Caden got an award and she clapped along with everyone else. 
• She loves the dogs (Shy and Shy's best friend Bogey).  She likes to lay on Shy and play with her toys. Sometimes she throws shy the ball then claps when she gets it.
• She gives high fives now.
• She really likes to point at things and says "dat" and "dis"
• Loves to eat!!! She really likes, pirate's booty, my canned peaches and pears, bananas, peas and carrots (from a can, not baby food), toast, and especially, ANYTHING we are eating!
• stands by herself for short periods of time with out holding onto anything.
• pushes the stool around on the hardwood to walk.
• LOVES her daddy.
• Throws her head way back so that we will tickle under her chin.
• GROWLS
• Gets very mad if she doesn't get her way. The other day she screamed so loud while pointing at Hannah because Hannah was in her stroller.
• Gets hiccups when she laughs, just like Daddy
• Very good sleeper.
• Very happy and easy going (as long as she is getting her way)

We love Sophie!!!!!

Then and now

I found these pics I took of the girls 2 years ago on the same bridge. Fun to compare.

Farewell to Summer

We've been trying to get out and enjoy the nice weather because I keep thinking that any day, Fall will hit and we'll have cool weather. Luckily this really nice weather has hung around long enough to give me time to finish the girls skirts AND use them in a photo shoot. 

Here are some of the pics we got on our weekend outing.

Sarah LOVES to get her picture taken. She stops along our walk many times and asks me to take her picture.

Hannah is our goofy little girl........

.......as you can see in this shot. I love it though. I am so grateful for cameras that can capture and freeze in time the little moments/things that make our little ones so unique. 

Sarah just lost her first tooth a few days ago.

I know this is not great lighting because the sun is in the kids eyes, but I love the way the light looks on the kids that aren't being blinded by the sun.