Happy 13th Birthday Parker!

We officially have a teenager in our house!  It wasn't the 13th birthday that he had planned, but we had a fun day celebrating Parker with our family.  We surprised him with a huge yard sign in the front yard.

I went and got Parker his favorite donuts for breakfast and then we let him open presents.

His birthday was announced on the Smith Middle School email that they send out each morning.

All of the cousins came over to swim and we ordered pizza for dinner.

The babies adore Parker and he is so sweet to play with them.

All of the cousins wanted a picture with Parker and his yard sign.

After dinner, we let Parker open presents and had cake and ice cream.

Parker and Holland

Covid ruined Parker's plans for a swim party with his friends but we will reschedule it as soon as it is safe to be together again.

 We are so proud of Parker and all his accomplishments so far!  He is an amazing son and I hope the teenage years bring him a lot of fun and happiness!  

Easter 2020

Celebrating Easter in the middle of a pandemic was very strange!  Our church is closed so we had to watch church online this morning.  We didn't get dressed up in pretty clothes but stayed in our pajamas all morning instead.

The kids slept in and then we open their Easter baskets.  The Easter Bunny had hidden eggs all around the house so we were still able to have our egg hunt with the kids.  (Parker participated but did not cooperate when I tried to take a picture of him!)

Cory and the girls swam for a little while this afternoon but it is still way too cold for me to even think about getting in!  

My allergies are acting up so just to be safe we decided to cancel our cousin Easter egg hunt and stay home.  It was a hard decision but you just never know these days what is allergies and what is Covid so it's always better to be safe than sorry.

It was not the Easter we had planned, but we were still able to worship together as a family and celebrate Christ's resurrection.  Hopefully this will be the only holiday we will miss out on due to Covid.  It can't last forever, right?!?!?

The Pool is Finished!

There were a few rain delays and setbacks but our pool is now finished!  It ended up taking about 6 weeks to complete due to the rain, but we are so excited that it is finished and the kids can't wait to start swimming every day!

After the gunite, they laid the tile and rock around the edges of the pool.

They finished the electricity and then it was time to pour the decking.  I was so ready for the mud around the pool to be gone!  Because of the rain and mud, I was having to give Maggie a bath almost every single day.  We ended up adding more decking than we had originally planned and budgeted for but in the end, it was worth it!  I was so pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to host a lot of swimming parties this summer!

The final step was spraying the mini-pebble tek to give the surface its texture and blue color.

And just like that, it was time to start filling the pool with water!  It took almost three days of constant running from two different hoses to fill it up.

The grass and sprinklers were finally installed this week and we couldn't be more pleased with the end result!  It has totally transformed our backyard into an oasis and I can't wait to spend our summer outside with friends and family.

The water is still freezing but the kids haven't seemed to mind.  They've been swimming almost every day and can't wait until they can safely have their friends over to swim.

Happy 11th Birthday Aubrey!

Today Aubrey turned 11!  She wasn't able to have a birthday party with her friends but we were able to celebrate with a family birthday dinner tonight. 

We grilled out, opened presents, and let the kids play outside in the nice weather until dark.

I know it's not what she had planned for her birthday, but I hope she had fun and felt special today.  We love you Aubrey Kate and hope this is your best year yet!