Anna's birthday party!

Anna had a birthday party with two of her sweet friends. We went to As You Wish and let the kids pick something out and then paint it. They had such a great time!

Happy 7th Birthday Annagrace!

Dear Annagrace,

It's your birthday! 7 years ago on this day you came into this world, on the other side of the world to be exact. We are so blessed that you are our daughter and that we have the honor of raising you. There are so many wonderful things about you, given that it's your 7th birthday here are 7 things that are so great about you! (It was hard to only pick 7 by the way)

1. I love how your Bible is duct taped together. I love how you have a hunger for God's word and how you love to highlight special verses. 

2. I love how you enjoy learning. You always have since the time you could talk. You have a determination to learn new things and you study hard. This has done you well in school, you are an amazing student!

3. I think it's awesome that you enjoy a variety of things. You love playing in the mud, playing sports, riding your bike and you love to paint your fingernails, change your earrings, and wear jewelry. 

4. I am so blessed by the fact that you love to help around the house. You rarely complain about doing your chores and you are always willing to lend mommy a helping hand. You even ask to wash the dishes and help make dinner- how did I get so lucky?

5. I love how you are competitive. You love a good competition and you always aim to win. You are certainly a determined, strong willed little girl which has it's benefits. 

6. I love how you have learned how to be a good friend to others. You enjoy sharing, giving compliments, and you know how to have a good time. 

7. I am very impressed how you handle your money. You love giving your offering at church, you are a natural saver, and you spend wisely. Your responsibility is impressive.

There you have it, seven things I love about you. I hope your birthday is as special as you are. Mommy and daddy think you are a wonderful daughter and we are so thankful for you! Happy Birthday Anna banana. 

Love, 

Mommy

Happy 11th Birthday Camden Michael!

Dearest Camden,
It was 11 years ago when my belly was swollen with baby and I was headed to the hospital to meet you, our second born son. As we drove to the hospital around 7:30 p.m. I saw the most beautiful moon as it was rising in the night sky. It was huge and the color was brilliant and bright. I have yet to see a moon match the beauty of that moon on the night of February 9th, 2001. I do believe it was a special gift from God showing His favor upon you, our second born son. You, Camden Michael Ray, entered this world at 11:06 p.m. You were an adorable, round, chubby, content, and cuddly baby. The second daddy and I laid eyes on you, you captured our hearts and they were instantly filled with an enormous amount of love. In some ways it seems like just yesterday you were that newborn, 7 pound baby boy, and in others it seems like so long ago. Here we are 11 years later, has it really been 11 years? Our 11 years with you have been filled with joy, laughter, adventure, challenges, cuddles, defining moments, and moments where my heart bursts with joy at they amazing young man you are turning out to be. Camden, you are joyful, respectful, caring, sensitive, creative, inventive, intelligent, funny, silly, sweet, and adorable. I'm so thankful God has chosen me to be your mom! Happy Birthday Camden Michael, we love you so very much! I hope you love your new RC car we gave you for your birthday, I know it will provide hours of fun for you! May God richly bless you this year, may you find success, overcome challenges, and grow in your walk with the Lord. I just know in my heart that God has amazing plans for your life and I can't wait to see it unfold!
Love,
Mom

Happy 11th Birthday Camden!!!!!!!

oranges anyone?

We harvested our oranges yesterday, all of them were picked off the tree. I couldn't even guess how many we picked but it was in the hundreds. Our neighbors had a garage sale this morning which made for extra traffic in our culdesac so we put some bins filled with oranges out in front of our house with a sign saying "free oranges" and all of them were taken. We still have about 50 oranges left. We are not huge orange fans, but we will figure something out- most likely some fresh squeezed orange juice. Our grapefruits aren't doing so well, hopefully they will be ripe in the next month or they will go bad come spring. Camden LOVES grapefruit so he is anxiously waiting.

 I should have taken a before picture, but this is the tree after we picked the oranges. We trimmed it up and gave it a nice cut! Mrs. Grapefruit Tree is next, she is way overdue for a trimming. I'll make sure to do a pre-picking photo shoot with her.

A girl and her dollhouse

Some of the best gifts in life are those handed down to us from friends. Anna received this dollhouse from her friend who was moving to Africa, it was too big to move out of the country and needed a home- so to our home it came. Anna has spent many hours playing with it. Anna is not a girl who loves to play with dolls, barbies or anything of the like but she will play with this dollhouse and I love watching her play with it.

 Don't you love the lego furniture!

Coon Bluff at the Salt River

We found another beautiful spot right here in AZ not even 30 minutes from our house! Love this place and we certainly plan on going back.