Memorial Day 2012

On our way to Benton Lake for our annual Memorial Day boating time. . . I'm pretty sure we haven't missed a Memorial Day Ski for Brandon since before we were married!  We even had our bachelor/bachelorette parties there over Memorial Day weekend!

It was a pretty warm day, so Grandma Susan & I went into town to get a small pool for the kids.  While we were at the store, I found some $1 water guns . . . what a great investment!  The kids had a blast playing in the little pool & with the guns (once Daddy showed them how to fill the guns up)!!

Uncle Jason joined in the water fun . . . but he used a much bigger "gun."

The kids loved it!

Grandpa got in on the fun too!

It was finally time to take the boat out & do some skiing/tubing!

Daddy took each one out on the tube and they both went one lap around the lake, which was about long enough! 

After the kids were done it was time for Uncle Jason & Daddy to have fun while the kids enjoyed riding in the boat!

My job is to wind the ski rope . . not a great picture (thanks Ken), but I wanted to show I was there & helping!

Look at the beautiful ski rope . . .

Uncle Jason & Melissa skiing together.

After boating was over, it was time for quick dip in the lake.

Look very close in this picture. . . what do you see?

Yep . . that's ME in the water (holding Caleb on the right)!

I know, I can't believe it either!  I'm pretty sure it's been a good 6 years since I've been in the lake. . . oh the things we do for our kids!

After swimming was over, it was back to the pool time to wait for dinner to be served!

I don't think the kids ever get tired of playing with the water!

A beautiful sunset on the way home.

Sarah's Softball

Sarah is now playing coach-pitch softball this year!  Brandon signed up to be an assistant coach; lucky him, he gets to catch at most of the games!!  Our coach got a new job and had to move after the first couple practices, so I became a coach along with another two fathers.  We have an all girl team with 8 players; they have really learned a lot this year!

Sarah's favorite part of softball is definitely hitting!

Caleb attends all Sarah's games and watches with Grandma & Grandpa Voss.  Although, I'm not sure how many or how much of the games he's actually watched.  I believe he spends most of the game at the playground with Grandpa!

An Evening at the Races

We decided to take the kids to Fairmont Race Park for Chick Fritz night.

It was a beautiful evening; the weather was perfect!

The kids loved looking at all the horses . . .watching them get checked and ready to go!

At one point one of the horse ushers (not sure that's what they are really called) brought his horse close to the fence to let the kids rub his nose!

The horses are absolutely beautiful!  Sarah and I had a great time watching the horses; Caleb enjoyed watching the tractor smooth out the track between races.

I'm pretty sure we didn't win any big money, but it was a nice evening with the family!

Mothers Day 2012

We celebrated Mother's Day at our house this year with a fun swimming party!

The kids had a blast, but I think Uncle Andy had the most fun throwing all the splash balls at the kids!

The kids always hate having to get out of the pool!

What a group!

Baby Bella even got to swim too!

We finished swimming just in time for a quick dinner and then off to the coach-pitch softball game for Sarah!  It was a fun afternoon and a great way to spend my Mother's Day!

MKL Kickoff

Another cold kick-off celebration, but it was fun!

Fredbird showed up and after waiting for the mob to die down a little, we got a quick family picture and he signed Sarah's hat!

Of course he didn't have a handy writing surface, but the top of my head seemed to work pretty well for him!

Did I mention it was cold?

It was a good thing Caleb got this awesome Cardinals outfit from Aunt Emily for his birthday!

Fit for a King

After 8 years, 2 growing kids and lots of crowded Sunday mornings,

we finally decided to get a new mattress.

Goodbye dear friend . . .

and H-E-L-L-O to a new world. . . 

A KING size bed!!!  Yippie!

There is so much room on Sunday mornings!

We got a sleep number memory foam mattress!

It's wonderful; we love it!

10 Years, Baby!

10 YEARS!!!

Yeah for us!

I cannot believe it's been 10 years;

time truly does fly by!

We decided to get some family pictures taken, so we could see a "then and now."

However, I'm only posting the "now" shots.

I love these fun family pictures. . .

Caleb loved getting his picture taken on his tractor!

These are a couple of my favorites of the kids . . . I love their big eyes!

So beautiful!

This is a definite keeper!

Their favorite things. . .

I think we look better today than we did 10 years ago!

Another favorite pose. . .

Aside from our wedding picture this is now my all time favorite picture of us.

My favorite family picture. . . this is just perfect!

I love the kid's expressions - my interpretation:

Caleb: are we done yet?

Sarah: take some more!!

Happy 10th Anniversary to my husband.  I am forever thankful God joined us together for life.  You are a wonderful man and an inspiration to me and our kids.  I love you always.