Happy Birthday Alissa!

Our baby just turned 1 on Tuesday. I can't believe it. That year went by sooooo fast. Alissa has been such a good baby from the day she was born. She is so content to just be here. One of her favorite toys is a cell phone. She likes real ones, but if no one will share she will use one of the toy ones. She usually finds Blake's old phone, then climbs in her chair and sits there talking on it. It is so cute.

On her birthday my sister called to tell her happy birthday. I put the phone on speaker and handed it to her. She put it up to her ear and when my sister started talking she got the biggest smile on her face and just looked at the phone. Even after my sister hung up she still held the phone smiling for like 10 minutes. It was so funny. I don't think I have ever let her "talk" on the phone before and she loved it.

Alissa isn't walking yet, but she'll take one or two steps sometimes. She can balance really well, but after a few steps she gets scared and sits down. She loves playing with Remi and Broden and tries to follow them everywhere. She is the first baby I have stopped nursing before they were one. So she had formula for a couple months and now just drinks water in her "ba ba" when she is going to bed. It is amazing how much easier it is to get her to sleep without having to worry about when to nurse, or where or for how long. I can just give her the bottle and lay her down. Her dentist isn't complaining about her sleeping with a bottle, so it must not be too bad. I think as long as it doesn't have formula it is ok.

Anyway we are so blessed to have Alissa as part of our family and even more blessed that she is such a good baby. We love you Lissa.

May camping trip

A little glimpse into our busy camping trip.


We caught fish-for pets. The raccoons loved the midnight snack we left out for them in the buckets, but the kids weren't too happy to find their "pets" missing in the morning.




















Catching frogs in the rain!!!


These were our other camping "pets"
They hid in the mud by our tent and we couldn't find them after that.









Blake was more afraid of the frogs than the kids were.











Remi and Broden love cooking and eating marshmallows.









Our camping trip was 2 nights and tons of fun. The first day was rainy, but we still went fishing. Then we went for a drive and saw tons of frogs jumping across the street. So we stopped and Blake and the kids caught frogs.

The next day we went for a bike ride, then fished for a while. Then we got into our swimming suits and went to the beach for a while. Alissa loved the water. She is definitely a little Remi when it comes to the water. That night Blake fished and the kids and I went to the playground. Then we built a fire and cooked smores.

The next morning we fished then loaded up and headed home. It was a fun trip and nice to stay 2 days so it wasn't all unpacking and packing.

The next morning we fished then loaded up and came home.