Congratulations "Juju"

Jon's mom retired last week after 32 yrs. of working at Blue Cross Blue Shield. They had a reception at BCBS today honoring the retirees. Unfortunately Jon got tied up at work and wasn't able to make it, but the girls and I went and got to meet a lot of the people she worked with. We are proud of "Juju" and all her hard work and diligence over the past 32 years! We are looking forward to being able to spend more time with her now that she won't be working anymore...

Our Little Daredevil

So we were at some friends house having dinner and watching a soccer game tonight. The girls were upstairs playing with their 5 yr. old little girl. I had just gone upstairs to check on them and they were happily playing with Barbie's and a doll house. Mia & the other little girl went to play dress up. Meanwhile Averi wandered off and found a toy car to ride around on. And apparently (being the daredevil that she is) she thought it might be fun to ride the car down their huge, steep stairwell. All the sudden we hear a huge crash and a scream. I swear my heart came out of my chest. We all went rushing to her. Thankfully she had come off the car about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way down; and the big crash that we heard was from the car crashing at the bottom of the stairs. She was obviously scared and shaken up (and so were we). But praise God she is fine! There's no telling what kind of injuries she would have had if she had landed at the bottom. Kids are so resilient, it's amazing. I'm thinking she's gonna be really into riding roller coasters one day...what do you think? :)

Pictures from Missouri

Jon's extended family...

Playing at Keener Springs (right down the hill from the cottage we stayed in)

Throwing rocks in the water...

Walking back with daddy...

Mia & Katie...

Playing dolls...

The girls playing with bubbles with their cousins...


Visiting Jon's grandmother at the assisted living home. She is 90 yrs. old...amazing woman! Also the guy with the beard and other girl is Jon's cousin and his daughter.

The people in the home loved talking to the girls and watching them play...







The inside of the cottage...


The view from the deck...

Missouri Trip

We got back from Missouri at around 10pm last night. It was a good trip for the most part. We got to visit with a lot of Jon's extended family for the weekend. Mia had a good time playing with his cousins little girls who were also 4 yrs. old.

I don't know what it is about our vacations lately but unfortunately Averi developed a fever and sore throat the first night we were there. We were staying in a cottage out in the middle of nowhere in Missouri with no doctor's close by. Thankfully her fever broke that same night, but she kept saying all weekend "something mouth hurts". So I just kept giving her Motrin every 6 hrs. Then this morning she was still complaining and so I got out a flashlight and looked at her throat and the poor thing has a bright red, swollen throat with white spots all over it. So we are heading to the doctor after her nap. The hardest part while we were there was that she wasn't sleeping good and was back and forth between the pack & play and our bed, so that was pretty exhausting. I just felt so bad for her and she was not her normal self at all. She had her sweet moments, but she was definitely more clingy and testy than her usual easy going self.

Both girls actually did really well on the car ride. We got a great deal on a DVD player for the car for long trips so that really came in handy on our trip. And they colored and played with some mini dolls that I had bought for them. I'm working on my pictures and will post those later...

Whatever it Takes...

A little brainwashing influence can't hurt anything, right?

My friend Aaron bought Mia this glittery/sparkly soccer ball for her birthday and of course she loves it... I figured that maybe if I let her wear a skirt and play soccer with this sparkly ball, then it might make her want to play it one day:)



Here's Mia's reaction to scoring a goal...


Averi scoring a goal!



Mia will technically be old enough to play next Spring, but with her being so small for her age already and having such a sensitive spirit, we'll just have to see. Especially since they play co-ed for the first few years. She says she wants to play but she is also my one who gets "hot" and "sweaty" after 5 minutes of playing at the park. So, we will see:) Obviously we will support her in whatever she wants to do...but we are soccer coaches so we have to at least try:)

Perfect Day

The weather is AWESOME today...70 degrees and sunny. Definitely my kind of weather! So I let the girls do some painting...


A little blinded by the sun in this one:)

Taking a break to pet Jonah...

Mia intensely painting...


Almost the same size:)


Mia eats a yogurt stick...

And Averi eats her apron!

Just a Little Update

We wrapped up our spring soccer season yesterday. We lost in the final four but it was an awesome accomplishment just to make it that far, so we are proud of the girls and their effort. And we are glad to be done and have some time to relax as a family for a few months.

We are going on a little mini-vacation to Missouri this week. Jon's mom is going with us. It's a 7 hour drive and we are leaving on Friday and then coming home Monday afternoon. Jon's aunt, cousins and grandmother live out there, so I know it will fun for him to see them all. He's been wanting for them to meet our girls for a while now. I am definitely dreading the long drive, but once we get there I know we are going to have a great time. We are planning to take a DVD player for the car and plenty of books, games and colors too.

Here is a picture of the cottage we are staying in. It's located on a river and there is canoeing, fishing and a cave nearby that you can hike to etc. Should be fun!

Cubbies Awards Ceremony

Eating dinner before ceremony began...


Receiving her award

Wordless Wednesday

Aubrey (my friend Aaron's daughter) & Mia playing in the creek.

Aubrey slipped and fell in and Mia thought that was hysterical:)

Throwing rocks over the bridge