Evening Run

Daddy took Brookie and Jessie on an evening run with him. Braden got to ride along on his bike. It was a beautiful evening. LOVE living in this beautiful place.

The Ball Pit

The Ball Pit at Tumbleweeds

(don't worry...it's a clean and sanitary ball pit!)

Front Yard Baseball

A fun afternoon of front yard baseball.

Movie in the Park

Every year the town of Minden hosts a movie in the park. It is so much fun. You take your lawn chairs and some snacks and watch a movie on a great big screen they have set up. This year the movie was "Bolt". It is a great memory and we look forward to it every year. Happy Family!

Jessie, Daddy, Brookie, Kaylee Nicole, Mommy and Braden

Braden and Daddy

Nicki

Brookie

Nic Nic, Jessie and Paige Rhead (Jessie's friend)

Braden's first day of school

Braden is starting his second year at the Minden Elementary speech program. He has progressed so much in this program and he (and we) absolutely love his teachers. There are only 4 kids in his class (all boys) and two teachers. AND the bus comes right to our door step to pick him up and drop him off. PERFECT! Braden joined the "pick the backpack trip". It took him a whole 2 seconds to choose him a Batman backpack.

Braden at his desk. His teachers are Mrs. Pam and Ms. Utanah

1st Day of School for the Girls

Brookie and Jessie are at Pinion Hills Elementary School.

We didn't go school shopping this year because it's still super hot outside and they have tons of summer clothes and Pinion provides all supplies. All your required to purchase is a backpack. Therefore, backpack shopping was going to be VERY intense this year. From last's years experience with backpack shopping with Brookie, Brent said we were only going to 2 stores. (We had to seriously go to about 10 stores to find one she liked!) We decided to start at Ross and then we could walk to Target if we couldn't find anything at Ross. Brent did relent and agree that if we found an "okay" backpack at Ross but wanted to just check out Target and then if she decided she liked the Ross backpack better and needed to go back to Ross that still only counted as 2 stores. Haha! Brookie can work her daddy sometimes. Luckily, all three kids found just what they wanted at Ross! Happy year of backpack shopping. Nic Nic refused to get in the picture...very upsetting for me. Haha. Cute little picture anyway :)

Jessie requested a french braid headband for the first day with the rest curly. Her backpack is Silver Spirit green with black trim with LOTS of pockets.
Jessie is in 2nd grade this year and has Mrs. Tollmann.

Brookie requested big poofy crimped hair down. Her backpack is a Roxy backpack and is white with aqua and purple designs.

Brookie is in 3rd grade this year and has Mrs. Helms.

Football Practice

Brookie and Jessie usually had some sort of activity to be at but Braden and Kaylee Nicole spent a lot of hours at football practices this year. Sad thing is Braden loves it more than the girls ever have but now that Brent coaches varsity the kids aren't allowed on the field. They have to watch from the bleechers. Braden still LOVES going.

Braden put on his eye black before every practice.

One of Nic Nic's tricks! She's a cutie.

Braden's 4th Birthday

I love having a little boy so much! And he is all boy. He loves Spiderman and Batman and any kind of ball game. He loves to play football with Jessie and Daddy and baseball with all his sisters. He loves his grandpa spending hours with him letting him pitch. He loves golfing and is the best brother. He is loving to all his sisters and loves snuggle time with mommy. He loves putting together puzzles and knows all his alphabet and his numbers. He is VERY good at the DS and the Wii. He loves playing with his matchbox cars and his car garage. His very most favorite thing is riding his bike. He can already ride without training wheels and loves setting up jumps. He loves to ride super fast and then slam on his brakes and see how long of a mark he can make with his tire. He loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and sometimes I think he eats more than the 3 girls put together. He does NOT like candy. He likes having everything on a routine...especially bedtime. Pajama's, brush teeth, brookie's eye excercises, prayers and then to bed. In that order! I can't believe you are already 4.

I LOVE YOU BRADEN MICHAEL!!!

Guess what's in the bag???

Donuts in bed for the birthday boy!

Braden put so many miles on his first power wheels 4 wheeler. He rode it until it wouldn't run. He got a "big" 4 wheeler for his birthday this year. (Don't worry...still a battery operated one.) He was SUPER excited.

Giving his sisters a ride.

Birthday party at the beach!

Complete with ice cream cake with cars on it.

(Yes, ice cream cake...it was difficult but we made it happen.)

Braden, Logan, & Trace

We invited two of Braden's good buddies.

Nic Nic

Jessie-pie

Brookie and her friend Tenielle

Family Home Evening Fun

My kids absolutely LOVE Family Home Evening. Hopefully it stays this way. I think it might be the yummy desserts we always have. Root Beer Floats are a favorite. I always hear about what a struggle it can be with teenagers to try to have FHE. I know we made it hard on my mom. I'm sorry for that because it is such a wonderful thing and my mom tried so hard with us. She was usually successful and I'm glad she loved us enough to force the issue!

Classic Tub Picture of Nicki Cole

This is such a classic tubby time fun picture. I can remember doing this at Grandma Jones house in her "big" tub! I'm sure I have a picture of all 4 of my kids with crazy hair.

Nic Nic's chocolate face

Hmmmmm......Nicki Cole loves chocolate frosting!

Blue Lake Camping Trip

Uncle Cody came to visit for a weekend so we planned an overnight camping trip to Blue Lake. It's about an hour from our house over the California border. It is hidden away really well and such a beautiful fun campground. Great for kids!

Kaylee Nicole on the big rock.

Braden on the big rock.

Jessie on the big rock.

Brookie and Lola on the big rock.

Uncle Cody was very excited about his picture on the big rock! Can ya tell?

Our camper was in Idaho at Papa's house so we got to set up our tent and spend the night in it. It was fun setting it up but it was cold and miserable sleeping in it. I now appreciate our camper that much more!
Brookie and Jessie

Daddy and Braden

Uncle Cody and Brookie

Lil' Nic Nic

Ta Dah!

Good thing for Uncle Cody! He got the kids some nice big marshmellow sticks. They were long enough you didn't burn your face while roasting!

Daddy and Nicki Cole

Braden letting Nic Nic try on his hat.

We all brought our bikes and went on a nice long bike ride.

It puts Nicki to sleep every time!

The lake was COLD...Brent is always up for a dive in freezing water.

Braden "helping" Lola swim in the water.

Jessie saving Lola from Braden.

Brent showing Braden the minnows.

Ah! There they are! Braden thought it was the coolest thing with the minnows swimming around his feet.

One guess which kid was crazy and brave enough to dive in?????

Yep...it was Jessie!

Nic Nic got in pretty deep...with a little "encouragement" from Brent.

Kisses!