Scout Camp

Chad and Mitchell spent this past week at scout camp. Mitchell worked on several merit badges while Chad tried to keep the boys pumped up and excited about being at camp... at times not an easy task. Mitchell worked on his swimming as well as the bird watching, pioneering, environmental science and soil and water conservation merit badges.

Fun at the Lake

June 2009

School's finally out!! We celebrated by going to the lake with the Smith family. The kids had a great time with their friends! Lizzy loved the water and didn't want to leave! She kept jumping and splashing... so cute!


Emily was wonderful and kept Liz entertained... they had tons of fun together!


Tanner and Connor had tons of fun on the raft. They had fun taking turns pulling each other around.


Austin and Porter had fun playing on the beach... they built many sand castles and then knocked them down. While they were playing, Teresa and I noticed gator tracks next to them... it's great living in Florida... gotta love Florida lakes... never know what might be lurking nearby!


Mitchell and Wyatt were put to work right away. They helped me and Teresa carry the picnic table from the beach back up to the picnic area... it was so heavy!! They also were put to work BBQ the hot dogs. They did a pretty good job... only 1 or 2 mishaps... or 3!!

Mitchell's Broken Arm

April 16th

This morning Chad and I dropped off the kids at the Smith's house and headed up to Chiefland for the Trek... we were asked to be a Ma & Pa. 10 minutes before we reached the chapel in Chiefland, we got a phone call from Teresa telling us that she thinks Mitchell broke his arm. We had Chad's mom come out and take Mitchell to the ER to get it checked out... sure enough he broke his right arm... both bones right above his wrist... the very first broken bone in the family! Mitchell of course looked to the bright side right away... no writing and he gets to ride the elevator at school. He is bummed about missing the rest of the soccer season though... he's only had one game so far... oh well.

May 22nd

Today Mitchell got his cast taken off... he was so excited!!! His arm healed perfectly according to the x-ray and doctor... but it still looks weird to his mom. His arm is flat and scrawny looking... like there's no muscle there... it's just funny looking!! Hopefully once he is able to use it better it will look more normal.

As for tonight, it was Wyatt's birthday yesterday. All he wanted for his birthday was to have Mitchell come over and spend the night. I warned Mitchell... NO JUMPING ON THE TRAMPOLINE... hopefully he'll listen!!

Mitchell in the Waiting Room

Almost OFF

Mitchell getting his cast cut off - once it was off the doctor hurried and threw it away... it stunk so bad!!!!!

Easter Party

Today after church we went over to Aunt Jen's house for Easter dinner and fun. The kids had a great time decorating cupcakes with Grandma Hales.


We also had fun finding eggs on our Easter Egg Hunt outside.

Mitchell, Tanner, Braden, Liz, Austin and Emily

Easter Dresses

We started a sewing activity group at the beginning of the year. I'm so excited to be learning how to sew... I actually really love it!! I took on the project of making Easter dresses this year for the girls. They turned out cute but unfortunately I wasn't able to get my girls to look at the camera. I went a little crazy with the bows in their hair... I really didn't like them very much... so they came off in the car on the way to church.

The Eventful Doctor's Appointment

I took all 3 boys for a well check up... BIG mistake... don't ever do that. With that said, first Austin past out when they went to prick his finger. Chipped both of his front teeth and has a huge bump on his forehead... to match the one he already had. Then Tanner had to pee in a cup. Well, the pee dumped out of the cup and fell into the toilet... so Tanner scooped up the pee in the toilet and gave it to the nurse. I found this out when the nurse came in and asked Tanner if he had just put water in the cup. He very seriously told the nurse what happened. :) Then to top off the appointment... shot time came. Tanner went first & Mitchell ran. We finally found him in a different room hiding in a corner. Took 2 nurses and myself to pull him out and hold him while he got his shots... and of course he just about past out too. Needless to say... it was a very eventful appointment!

Love at Home Enrichment Night

I gave the Presidency Message tonight at Enrichment Night. I talked about Making Our Homes a Full Service Station. I made a house out of a box and turned it into a "gas station" pump. As I mentioned different ways we can pump in the love in our homes, I added a heart to the house... it was pretty cute.