Where do I begin???

So since I have not been posting very regular I am really behind in sharing pictures. We were in Missouri at the beginning of the month for a week. Matt was out of town for some training and I drove down with the kids and met him there. I was able to meet up with some friends that I knew when we lived down there in college and it was great visiting. We spent some time at Grandma and Papa's new house boat. It is in such a beautiful area (even though we had to go into Arkansas to get there:)). The kids loved it there too. They did some fishing and shot rocks with a sling shot they bought at a place called Wild Bill's. They fed a turtle a hot dog and he seemed to really like it. Carter set his fishing pole down on the back of the boat with the hook/bait still in the water and a fish bit and took the pole with it. So he lost his first fishing pole. :(


Carter loved helping Papa in the yard or in the garden. They worked hard together.

Papa and Grandma both took a day off of work and we went to a fun place in Branson that Cousin Beth works at. They rode on Go Karts, Bumper Boats and Carter even rode a little ferris wheel all by himself.










Carter went and got Papa's M&M's out of the fridge for a little snack and spilled them all over!

Mowing with Uncle Nate


Riley and Carter on Riley's actual birthday with the cake that I made her.


The last day we were there we celebrated Riley's birthday with our family in Missouri. This was the second birthday party of her month long birthday celebration (as we like to call it).





Carter and Riley in the car on the way home at the end of the week. The kids are AWESOME in the car. They are easy to travel with. Unfortunately they do not sleep very often even when they should be so tired, but they stay entertained.

My Birthday Girl

Riley turned 8 today. It is so bittersweet as I know she has to grow up but don't want her to. She was born just yesterday in my mind so how can she already be 8???
This is here only 4 years ago. She has grown so much in the last 4 years!


We are in Missouri visiting Grandparents and unfortunately Matt was back in Michigan working. We were able to go have lunch with Grandma Hughes at work and then came home to decorate her birthday cake. She knew we were doing something for her birthday tonight but she didn't know what. She has been asking tons of questions. So when Grandma and Papa got home from work tonight they told her they were taking her to a park...needless to say that was not the case. They took all of us to a show in Branson called Dixie Stampede. For those who are not familiar it is a dinner show with horses and it is very entertaining. The food is amazing. There is no silverware to use, you only have your hands and you get a biscuit, soup, potato, cornish hen (yes the whole thing which really blew Riley away), pork loin, corn on the cob and apple pie for dessert. It was delicious!! Anyway, tomorrow we will celebrate with cake and presents because Matt will be back with us. I have not posted a picture of her riding her new scooter because after getting it almost two weeks ago (it came with a bad charger) a replacement charger has arrived and she can now ride all over. So I thought I would post a picture of her riding because it reminds me that she is not a baby anymore even though I wish she was.

Last Day of Preschool

Last week we finished up our year of preschool. I really enjoyed being allowed to "play" school with my buddies! I had a blast and I think the kids learned a thing or two along the way. Here are some photos from the last day. Riley joined us since she was already done with her school year.