We survived the first week of school.  We had some drama about clothes and shoes on picture day, but overall everything went well.  Both girls like their teachers and so far are excited to start the year.

 

 

Saturday I ran a 5K with my friend who convinced me that getting up at 6am on a Saturday was a good idea.  It was fine and I got a good time in the race.  Congrats to Jen, who was running her first 5K!!!  She did great.

Taylor had two scrimmages and a game this weekend.  It was a rough start, but the girls did great today and won their first game.

 Taylor looks so little here!  She is waiting for her turn to sub in.

 

I hope that next week goes just as good.  We are starting to get back in the swing of busy life.  Work is crazy and now we are adding school, and sports to make us run every day. We can't wait to add Jenna's soccer games in this next weekend.  

 



First day of School

The first day of school was a success.  For Taylor it was difficult to decide what to wear. I had been trying to explain to Taylor why we didn't get to wear all our new clothes before school started.  But she didn't listen and now on the first day of school she had nothing new and cute to wear! When she was finally ready for school she asked, "Do I still have to be cute on the second day of school?".

 

 

 Jenna is way more girly and looked super cute in her new butterfly dress.  She tries to say that she doesn't like school, but she hopped right out of bed and was ready to go.  Her only concern with moving to a new building is making sure that she knew were the bathrooms were.

 Notice Taylor is barefoot... because she is such a neat and organized kid she couldn't find the shoes she wanted to wear and was cutting it close to making it to the bus on time!

 Jenna just enjoyed modeling for pictures.

 Taylor was excited to show Jenna around at school.

I had a great day as well.  I took the day off so I could get the girls off to school and pick them up.  Once they got on the bus I went for a nice cool morning run.  I did go into work for a short time, but then I came home and was able to clean and organize my room (my new furniture was delivered).  I made a nice dinner (and I do not like to cook!), and then I picked the girls up from school.  Now I wish I could do that everyday!

 They both came home with stories about their classrooms, teachers, and classmates.  Overall, they both had a great day.

 

We ended the first day of school with a soccer scrimmage.  They girls did great and they were all super excited to get their new soccer bags and warm-ups.  

Last week of summer vacation

We have had a busy last week of summer vacation.  Wednesday night we had meet the teach night at school.  Jenna is so excited to be going to the same school as Taylor for the first time.  Sad that they will only be in the same school for one year. Jenna changed into a cute dress to wear.  It was fun for the girls to go see their teachers, old and new.  Taylor has now fully started into the soccer season.  She left the school open house early for practice, and games start next week.

 

 Jenna sitting at her new desk.  She is super excited to have several friends in her class this year.  I hope she behaves!

 

 While Taylor was at practice Jenna and I took off in Papa's Corvette.

 

 At least it has been a beautiful week.  We were able to spend some time outside and at the pool. Taylor's cartwheel video...

Camp...ing

Saturday morning we picked Taylor up from camp.  She had soooo much fun that she is already asking to attend the eight day camp next year.  The morning we picked her up they had just finished having a mud fight in the woods.  Below is Anna, Greta, and Taylor outside their cabin.

After we picked Taylor up we went out to lunch with Brad's cousin Amy, Matt, Greta, and Ezra.

As soon as lunch was over we headed back up to Elk Rapids to spend our last weekend at the beach and camping. We had a great afternoon at the beach, and then went back to the camper for a campfire and some s'mores. Below are my precious girls at the beach and Jenna with her babies at the campfire!

We have brought our camper home for the year :(.  It was sad, but now we are ready for school to start next week and prepare for soccer will soon be our lives for the next few months. 

Camp Roger

Taylor left for five days of camp today.  First we have to say a huge thank you to Grandpa for taking the time to spend the morning with Tay and then drop her off at camp.  She was a little board at work with Gramps, but so excited to be off to camp that she barely even said goodbye.  Poor Grandpa was a little sad to see her go!

 

 

Taylor was meeting her cousin Greta and her friend Anna at camp.

Below is Tay and Greta in their cabin setting up their bunks.

Taylor was very excited to be in the same cabin as last year with her favorite camp counselor Emily. 

Taylor was so excited to arrive and start playing with her friends she even turned down Grandpa taking her to the camp store to go shopping!

We are going to miss her this week, but we are sure that she will have a great time.  Just to be sure she doesn't miss us too much we sent her little notes to read each day from us.  And Taylor was so sweet that she wrote us a little note to read each day from her too! 

If anyone would like to they can also email the campers at http://camproger.org/contact/email-your-camper, she is staying in the White Oak Cabin and will be there unit Saturday morning.

I am BACK!

After a lengthy hiatus from blogging, and completing my masters degree, I am ready to get back into the blogging world.  I am hoping to post a few pictures of where we have been in the past year.  But first I have to figure out how to use my new computer!


This summer we have been busy camping and enjoying our time up north.

Jenna just celebrated her 6th birthday and chose to go out to lunch at Senior Lucky's with the family.

 Taylor wanted a picture with her dad too!

 

To end our vacation we made time to visit our favorite Empire beach.  Jenna modeling below!

The girls have gotten their back to school haircuts and are getting ready to start school.

 

We also have spent a lot of time with our friends and family this summer. 

 

Taylor is starting travel soccer and is getting ready to start 4th grade.  This week Taylor is heading off to camp Roger for summer camp with her friend and cousin Great. The girls are so excited.

 

Jenna is home just dying to be like her big sister and getting ready to start 1st grade.  We are excited to finally have the girls in the same school, even if it is only for one year.

 

 



Vote for Dale!!!

It's official. My dad has announced that he is running for Ionia County Sheriff! We are so excited for him. Congrats dad, you have come a long way in your career.

You will be a great Sheriff.

You are a great Grandpa!!

Love Your Girls!

Ski Trip

Last weekend we took the girls to Tree Tops to go skiing. This was Jenna's first trip and Taylor's second. Here is a picture pre-skiing. Jenna was a little whiny at first about how the boots felt, but as soon as we got out there in the snow she loved it.

Taylor getting her boots and ski's fitted.

Here we go. We joined Uncle Denny and Aunt Karen on the slopes.

It took Jenna a minute to figure out how to walk and turn so Uncle Denny was very helpful, especially since this was only my second time on ski's too!

Taylor remembered what to do very quickly. After only two trips up the tow rope with Aunt Karen she was ready for the chair lift. If you look close you can see her pink helmet in the chair to the bottom left. Denny and Karen were brave enough to take her and teach her to ski down the big hill.

I was able to take Jenna to the top of the bunny hill via the tow rope and help her ski down between my ski's. When we got 50 feet or so from the bottom I would let her go the rest of the way herself and Brad would catch her on the bottom.

Taylor did great. She did have a few falls where ski's went flying but she just laughed got right back up and went again. She went as long as we let her until she was so tired she could barely stand. Again, huge thanks to Uncle Denny and Aunt Karen who can keep up with her. I am far to cautious to go down as fast as her!

Sisters!

Family picture at the end of our skiing. Off to the tubing hill we go!

The best part is that Jenna used Brad as her personal chair lift. She would yell for her 'daddy chairlift' and he would carry her up the hill and then she would come down alone!

We had a great trip. Followed with a fun Lions game in the hotel lobby that we took over by rearranging furniture, ordering pizza and bringing our coolers. The girls had fun in the outdoor hot tub, pool and sauna too. We ended each night exhausted and we are excited for next year. Taylor is contemplating trying snowboarding next year!

Christmas

On December 23rd we celebrated Christmas with Mimi and Papa and then we packed up and headed to Tennessee to spend the holiday with Uncle Timmy, Aunt Jaime and Kirsten.

Jenna patiently waiting to open her first present at Mimi and Papa's.

Taylor got a new suit case from Mimi and Papa, she loved it so much she packed it right up!

Taylor and Claire playing in their PJ's before bed.

We arrived in Tennessee Christmas Eve afternoon and the girls got dressed and had fun dancing around and singing Christmas carols.

 Jenna and Kirsten.

Kirsten, Jenna and Taylor. It was tough to get three girls to stop moving long enough to get a picture.

Taylor, me and Kirsten.

Kirsten always has a nice pose for the camera!

Later that night Santa came to say hi. Taylor just loves Santa. It was so cute to see how excited she was for Christmas this year. Though Santa scared her at Uncle Timmy's by coming in the back door and she ran around the corner to get a drink and he was standing there and took her by complete surprise.

Gary and Dianne also joined us in TN for Christmas. Here is a picture of all of us Christmas Eve night.

Poor Jenna was sick Christmas morning and was not very excited. Finally by the night she was able to open some presents and enjoy her time with the family. Here is Jenna with her new Jeep for her American Girl, Julie.

Taylor loves horses and she got a stable and a horse to play with. Thank you Granny and Papa she loved it.

Playing with Papa.

After Christmas we took a trip into Pigeon Forge and went to the Dixie Stampede. The girls all had a great time. It was a fun Christmas Horse show with great food. It was interesting for all of us to eat all of our food with no silverware, even soup!

Waiting for the show to start. Taylor was especially excited to see the horses.

I was not very good at getting many family pictures this year. Before we headed to TN we also spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma's to celebrate Christmas. They spoiled us with good food, fun family time, frosting cookies and gifts. The girls were very lucky and they got a slide for their new swing set that we will be building in the spring. Or maybe we'll start soon with all this nice weather!!!

Overall, we had a great Christmas. We spent a lot of time with our family and friends, though at times it is hard because of all the family we try to fit into such a short time.

It was a very busy year. Taylor is in second grade and she plays as may sports as she can. So we are running around all the time. Especially Brad since he is coaching her! This year she has played soccer (indoor and outdoor), golf, basketball and next spring she wants to try tennis and softball too! Jenna is in preschool, but she gets to ride the bus with sissy every morning. She loves school and loves to learn. This year she also was able to do gymnastics, soccer and last week she started dance. Jenna really wants to be a cheerleader too!! Brad is trying to steer her away from that, so who knows where she'll find her love!! We are looking forward to another busy year. As I have moved back to first shift we are adjusting to new schedules for all of us.