The end of Summer

Emma always wants to hold hands with her brothers. 

We are getting ready for potty training over here! 

The kids love visiting Daddy at work, especially when they get treats. :) 

Yay for getting braces off!!

They boys were excited about school starting. 

Tyler loves his Pre-K class and gets to do speech everyday so it's helping him a lot with his articulation. 

Gavin gets to have the same teacher as he had in 1st grade. 

Spencer LOVES school. 

Tyler was super excited that he gets to take the bus to and from preschool every day. 

It's just me and Emma for a few hours while the boys are all at school. We get in lots of cuddle time and always try to take a nap. 

This little girl worships her older brothers. 

Tyler is so helpful with Emma. He always comforts her when she's worried and helps push her on the swing. 

The boys got to go to Tyson Francis' birthday party at Tiger Bounce. 

This is Gans Creek Trail in Rock Bridge State Park. It's usually not very crowded so we let Chase off the leash. 

Love these boys! 

The eclipse was amazing! We had our good friends, the Goodsons, come visit from Oklahoma. Totality lasted 2 minutes and 39 seconds. It got really dark and it looked like a sunset was on every part of the sky. 

Emma is good at smiling for the camera. 

Tyler is also a good poser for pictures. 

Emma always wears her brothers' backpacks around and pretends like she's going to school. 

Wrestling is a daily event around here. 

Gavin helps put Emma to bed. He always makes her laugh and reads her stories. 

Life updated

Our poor Gavin ended up at the doctor with a really swollen paratid gland which ended up being caused by the flu. His asthma had been really bad the whole week before. 

This is how he felt about being in the doctor's office for 2 hours. He still wrote really sweet notes, though. :) 

Emma likes to be one with her food. 

I'm trying to master the art of baking pizza. I use the tutorial from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. We love pizza!

Brant was called as a high counselor so his dad came out to set him apart as a high priest. President Dean Hainsworth then set him apart as a high counselor. 

Brant was so glad his dad could be there! 

The kids were excited to see Grandma and Grandpa again.

Pizza party at the park

Brant turned 34 and got a cool jacket for his birthday. You know you're getting old when you're excited to get clothes for your gift. 

Emma is in love with Chase. He's so gentle with her. 

This little girl turned 2! Emma brings so much joy into our lives. The boys love to play with her and take care of her. She loves to play legos with them and color with them. She also loves to play with her dolls and her toy puppies. 

The boys were excited for her to open her presents. 

Martina brought Emma a pinata for her birthday. Emma really enjoyed hitting it as hard as she could. 

We went to a Mizzou baseball game! 

Emma has the best big brothers. 

Play dough is lots of fun as long as it stays on the table and not on the carpet. 

Tyler's getting pretty good at his foam rolling technique. 

I got to spend a girls' weekend in Kansas City for Time Out for Women. I thought it was cool to get a picture with Michael McLean. 

Emma knows she looks good. She picked out her skirt herself too. 

Had a picnic lunch with Brant at the park. 

Walking around with Daddy is the best. 

The boys went camping on the deck while Emma and I slept inside on our nice, cozy beds. 

Tyler and Emma love to search for roly polies every day. 

Whenever I start pushing Emma on the swing Tyler takes over for me. 

We were hit with the stomach bug. Emma and Tyler spent Mother's Day throwing up. Then Gavin followed suit a few days later. :(  

Tyler finished his last day of LEAP preschool. It's a special preschool that focuses on improving his speech. He lucked out with having such great teachers. Andi Heller was one of them and we're really sad she won't be his teacher next year. 

Lisa Zartman was his other teacher. She will be with him next year too. LEAP has helped him so much with his speech. 

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for a quick visit on their way to Ohio to pack up the rest of the stuff at their old house. We took them to the park and to the library. 

Gavin and I went on a date to Andy's. Ice cream is the best!

Emma and I spent a lot of time at Panera this year while Tyler was in preschool. Her favorite things are the muffies!