Camp Lebanon's Women's Retreat

These past few days have been nothing but beautiful and memorable.  Nine of us moms from Legacy have started building our own friendships without the children.  This weekend we adventured north to Camp Lebanon's annual Women's Retreat.  Amy has been going for years and raved on how much fun we would have, and she was not exaggerating.  We laughed so hard, ate delicious food prepared for us, worshiped our heavenly Father, and deepened our friendships.  I am so thankful for these women and this past weekend.  It was what I really needed right now.  I have a great feeling we will all be returning next fall too!

Special thank you to Dad (Nate) for stepping up and being an amazing father and husband so I could get a way for a while and come back home to a clean home and happy kids.  Love you!

Kendra, Chriss, Kristen, Mandy, Talisha, me, Amy, Melita, and Faith

First Baby Tooth Gone

Kallen came up to Dad asking him to pull his tooth out, but within 30 seconds he twisted it out himself.  First baby tooth out, so many more to loose.

Family Palooza

Today was our church's annual "Family Palooza".  The kids look forward to this day as soon as September hits.  It's a huge event that ran from 11:00-5:00 PM with inflatables, food, tricycle rides, pumpkin launchers, archery, car show, and petting zoo all for FREE.  The day hit record highs with heat index in the upper 90's but that did not stop us or many others from having a full day of fun.  

Mane Event

On Saturday, the kiddos participated in their school's annual "Mane Event".  It's a fundraiser to raise money for the school where the kids, staff and parents can run a 1/3 mile or 1.5 mile obstacle course.  This year Ian ran the Cub run (1/3) and did great.  My favorite part was instead of going under the ropes like you are suppose to, he decided to be the only kid and go over so he wouldn't get wet, haha!  Elyse, Caleb, Kallen and Dad participated in the 1.5 mile.  Their course involved lots of running, tubes to tunnel through, tire obstacle, lily pads over pool, rope course, ninja stagier steps, a giant wall, mud pit and large water slide.  After they all successfully crossed the finish line, they jumped in the inflatables, played on the playground, ate Pizza Ranch pizza and hung out with friends.  The entire morning was a fun event for our entire family.

Elyse Turns 10 Years Old

Today Elyse hit double digits, 10!  I can't get over how scary that is to know our little girl is never going to have a birthday consisting of just one number again.  She is growing up way too fast and I hate everything about that fact.  Love her to pieces and pray year 10 brings as much joy, love and hope as the last nine years have brought.  Elyse continues to love anything to do with singing, dancing, being around friends or family, swimming, and God.

Happy 10th Birthday, Elyse!  

We love you more than words can ever show.

Elyse celebrated turning 10 with 24 hours of celebrating.  It started with some of her closest friends coming over after school yesterday for a sleepover party.  The girls painted nails, ate pizza/cake, opened presents (including a karaoke machine), had a singing competition, and ended the night watching "Newsies" on the big screen :)  Thankfully they all slept pretty good and were fabulous!  Then today she got to participate in the Mane Event at school, celebrated with Nana, opened more presents, ate more cake, and then ended her day by going out to eat.  If 10 is as good as her birthday celebration was than I think it's going to be a great year!