Our Competitive Gymnast

Our little Pink Fish's dream has come true . . .

She was invited to join the competitive gymnastics team at her gym.

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to check out a new gym in town as we had some safety concerns at her current gym.  She went in for an evaluation so they could determine what class she should join.  Imagine all of our surprise when they came back with an invitation to join their competitive team rather than a class!  She was super nervous and excited at the same time :-)

Last week she started practicing with the team and LOVED it!

She was so bubbly and excited at the end of each 3 hour practice.

To see all of her hard work paying off has been such a blessing to her!

And to us :-)

We are so excited for our little gymnast!

Spring Break 2016

The kiddos and I had a chance to go back to WA for the week 

and had a great time seeing friends and family!

It was a busy week full of visiting, going to school (all three munchkins visited their old classes), playing with and having sleepovers with friends, LOTS and LOTS of gymnastics with A's beloved Coach Tiana, and lots more fun stuff like . . . 

A belated birthday celebration at the American Girl store with BFF Emilie

Luke's first sleepover at Barbie Gramma's house (with Big Bro to help!)

Haircuts with Barber John

Coloring LOTS of Skylander pictures and decorating Ducky Gramma's house ;-)

Visiting the beach house for a picnic

It was a wonderful trip topped off by an upgrade to first class on the way home, which made for a very fun flight for the kiddos, who now think that is the only way to fly ;-)

Super Daddy "guarded the house" (according to Lukey) quite well while we were gone!

Though we enjoyed our visit, we were so excited to get home and be lazy this weekend.

Playing with magna-tiles & dolls, enjoying the sunny weather outside, and just hanging out!

Alli sums it up pretty well, it was a great break that left us jumping for joy!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2016 {Wichita Style}

Alli and I had a fantastic time at the Daddy Daughter Ball tonight!  The two of us are masters of the Chicken Dance, YMCA, Limbo and the Twist (seen below).  We really cut a rug.  

This was a for real Ball so of course, a corsage was a must!

Such a beauty!  I pray that God will just freeze time for me and keep things just like they are right now.  Only one boy in her life.....Daddy!

The mini cupcakes were super scrumptious.  Alli had to get one of each color.  I had such a wonderful time with my little girl tonight and just treasure these opportunities.  Time is going by fast....can't believe she is nine years old (neither can she.....I love that she doesn't want to grow up).  

Alli got a new camera for her birthday and took her first "old-school selfie" with it before the date :-)

Little Dragon's 3rd Yellow Stripe

Tonight, our Little Dragon earned his third yellow stripe in Taekwondo.

One more stripe and he is able to test for his Yellow Striped Belt.

He was super excited and beaming when the instructor had all of the other white belts watch his front kicks as the example for how do them correctly :-)

He cannot wait to earn his 4th yellow stripe so he can test for his next belt.

This little man LOVES his martial arts!

Alli's Christmas Choir Concert 2015

One of the biggest disappointments with the move to Kansas was that Alli wasn't going to have a Christmas Concert.  Anyone who knows Alli, knows how much this sweet girl LOVES to sing and perform.  The new school only does a concert for K-2nd grade and by the time we return to WA, she will only get to do the Lighthouse concert if she joins choir {which she may not desire if she inherited her Mommy and Daddy's singing ability!}  She was completely bummed :(

THEN . . . we got an email from our church that any child K - 3rd grade who wanted to perform in the Christmas concert at church was welcome ~ woo hoo!!!!!  Alli was super excited!

Tonight was the first performance and she was precious!

She was so happy to be on stage and sang her little heart out! 

We all loved watching her and the boys made for a great cheering section :-)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Eli's bow tie and so did he ~ I'm ready to find more in lots of colors ;-)

After the concert, all three little fish were happy to munch on cookies . . . 

Can't wait for tomorrow's performance!

Eli's Kindergarten Christmas Concert

Last night this adorable little man had his Kindergarten Christmas Concert at CCA.

He was so excited to get dressed up and "look like Daddy!"

He is such a handsome little man and looked so dapper in his first tie!!!

He was so cute playing with his little buddies before the concert began :-)

We are so grateful at how quickly he has adjusted to his new school.

I have to admit that I felt more than a twinge of sadness as we got there and were sitting near the middle, only needing four seats.  Just another reminder that we weren't at Lighthouse or near family anymore.  We had bought front row seats for the Lighthouse Christmas Concert this year at the auction and the whole family was so excited for that.  Don't worry, my pity party didn't last long and I thoroughly enjoyed this adorable little Kindergartener performer! :-)

He sang his little heart out and was so precious!

So hard to get good pictures at these concerts ;-)

After the concert, we had fun taking little family pictures.

{photo by Alli}

I think the picture I got of G with his munchkins is beyond precious!!!

We got home a little after 8 and despite it being past bedtime, the little fish were wound up!

Of course, they had to eat again too {stalling} but they must have been hungry because they all downed their bananas ;-)

Definitely a GREAT night for our sweet Kindergarten boy!!!

Snickerdoodles with Ducky Gramma

Eli LOVES to bake and always wants to help.

Thankfully, his Ducky Gramma is one of the BEST bakers around :-)

This morning, the two of them had a fabulous time baking snicker doodles together.

Papa happily worked on a cross word puzzle as the bakers worked.

Alli and Lukey wanted in on the action too and got to help roll the dough in the cinnamon mixture.

Or "chase it around the bowl" for Lukey :-)

He was quite good at counting the number of cookies on the pan.

Such a fun morning of making memories and Garrett will be thrilled to find his favorite cookies waiting for him when he gets home from work! :-)

Fire Station Visit

Tonight, one of the men in our Life Group at church invited us to hang out at his fire station.

It was a HIT with all of the families!

All three little fish were super excited to learn that they would get to do this tonight.

They even helped make some yummy popcorn for the firefighters.

Aside from climbing all over the fire trucks and engines, the greatest excitement came from trying on the gear.  Pretty sure it's unanimous that Mark (the firefighter) is now the coolest dad in the group according to all the munchkins ;-)

The bigs thought the boots were super cool!

Alli was feeling pretty strong being able to hold up the gear and clothing.

Luke was the first one to check out the gear.  When Mark finished showing the kiddos how he gets in his suit, he told them they could check it out and ask questions.  While most people stood there, Lukey went right up to the front and said "I want to wear that hat!"  It was heavy but he assured Mark that he was "super strong"  Too cute!

Eli was enthralled with the boots and helmet, putting them on any chance he got :-)

After touring the station and having some snacks, it was time to go home, much to the disappointment of the little fish.  What a blessing to have met these wonderful people and to have these unique opportunities for fellowship.  We are incredibly blessed!

Starting School in Kansas . . .

Nothing like jumping right in!

We landed in Wichita Tuesday afternoon, had fun exploring our new neighborhood and house, and got ready to start the new school.  All three little fish are at the same school here, which is so nice.

Lukey is still going M-W-F but is now in the afternoons.

He was excited to start on Wednesday and his new teacher and friends are as sweet as can be!

Neither boy was too excited for pictures so I decided not to push my luck :-)

We got to Luke's class a bit early and he got right to playing.  

When we picked him up that afternoon, he was all smiles.  

Though, as you can see from the picture, he was worn out!!!  

He was in bed before 6:30 and slept until 7 this morning.

While Lukey was in school, the bigs had the opportunity to tour the school and meet their teachers. 

Alli and Garrett even got to buy new spirit shirts ~ Alli was so excited to have "gone shopping" :-)

 Eli chose to be introduced to his class, who are so welcoming!

The kiddos kept walking by us in the hall saying "hi Eli, I'm your new friend"

Eli also had his assessment yesterday and passed with flying colors.

He got to show off everything Miss Huber had taught him this year :-)

Alli was a little more reserved, which we expected but she was all smiles this morning.

She decided the new jumper isn't as bad as she thought initially and she looks darling.

We put in her Lighthouse hair bow to give her some comfort and she was thrilled.

Great thing is today is picture retakes at CCA so the kiddos will be getting more school pictures and will be in the yearbook ~ Alli was thrilled!

 After dropping off the bigs, Lukey and I went to Target so he could spend his birthday money ~ super heroes, paw patrol, and Legos ~ life is good!

We are now anxiously awaiting 3:45 when we can go back and 

get A & E to hear all about their first days.

Halloween 2015

It was our 8th Halloween on Rutherford Circle and it was a hit!

 Our wonderful friends, the Ellis family was kind enough to invite us over for trick or treating and fellowship.  What a gift to have neighbors who became incredible friends!!!

These kiddos could not possibly be any cuter!!!

It was a rainy and windy evening but that did not stop these sweeties from walking the neighborhood.

Alli and Emilie decided to show their independence and asked to go ahead on their own ~ super cute!

Eli could not resist trick or treating with his best buddy, who had THE PERFECT matching costume.

Doesn't get much better than Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper!

As Luke and I were about a quarter of the way around the circle, he asks me if we are done yet ;-)

I said no and asked if he wanted to go to more houses for candy but he said "no, I have a lot of candy"  Couldn't argue that one!!!  He ran to catch up with Nate & Eli and hit up 2 houses with them before deciding he really was done.  We had to go to his buddy Rachel's house to say goodbye :(

These two have such a precious friendship and we will miss their family so much!

And of course we had to stop by Todd and Stacy's one last time before the move.

Goodbyes are tough but how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends to say goodbye to.

Lukey was happy to go back to the Ellis's house to watch a fun movie and check out his candy.

These four were adorable and tired ;-)

While these four chilled, Blake, Emilie and Alli hit up the next neighborhood and came back with quite the loot for the Candy Fairy.  Though the weather could have been better, it sure was a fun last Halloween in Rutherford.