More Birthday party pictures

Summer Fun

For the 4th of July this year went to KC and spent the holiday with my family at my cousins house. The whole Ballew family was there, it was a really fun time. The boys were totally worn out by the time we got home, with swimming all day playing in the bounce house, and train rides around the yard. Of course we had quite a feast of food too! We watched fireworks that night around my parents neighborhood, then later saw the city display in our town too.
Later in the month of July we had Levi's Grandpa, Aunt Becky, and Uncle Joe here for another visit. We had a busy but fun time of helping David and Deann get moved, and lots of family meals together. On the last night they were in town we had a birthday party for Aunt Becky. We had a lot of fun with friends and family here to celebrate!

Fathers Day and Family time

Fathers Day 2011

Kelly Family

The boys and I

Riding the train with cousins

Swimming with cousins

Visiting with Grandpa Gayan, Aunt Becky, Mike and Jim

More swimming

Enjoying the train

This summer Levi's Grandpa and Aunt Becky came out for a visit. They were with us for a few weeks, then went up to Michigan to see family, then back here for a few more weeks. During that time we had lots of family outings, dinners, and fun. The last week of their stay Uncle Joe came out to join us and we all had a wonderful time. We are thankful for all of these times with family, the Lord is so gracious and kind.

Catching up in pictures

Me, Kate, Amy, and Jen

Amy and her Dad walking down the aisle

Levi and I before the wedding

Jen and I

Doing a little shopping

Steve and Amy K.

Levi above Trunk Bay

Trunk Bay -- we spent a lot of time snorkeling there and laying on the beach

View from our villa in St John

On the ferry, heading home.

Perfect vacation, headed home.

View from the villa we stayed in, Cruz Bay below.

At the beginning of June we took a trip to St. Thomas, USVI for my friend Amy's wedding. It was a wonderful time with friends, a neat celebration of marrige, and a few days of just alone time for Levi and I as well in St. John, USVI. We saw some amazing beaches and views like I've never seen before. The boys were busy in KC with Grandma and Grandpa Ballew for the week. The did a lot of swimming, hiking at the nature trail, played at parks and Deanna Rose farmstead. It was an enjoyable start to the summer for us all to say the least.

Time to catch up...

Wow, I can't believe the last time I updated this blog was the first part of April. Well obviously it's been a busy few months. We've had some computer issues, so that is also part of my excuse. :) It takes a miracle to post a picture, but we are hoping we might have a work around until we buy a new computer.

Anyway, in April our family took a trip to Denton, TX to got to Fellowship Family Camp for Easter weekend. It was such a fun trip, and a real blessing to our whole family. The boys did great on the long drive, enjoyed playing with friends, miniature golf, running around playing soccer and basketball. The messages were wonderful and such an encouragement to us.

Marcus finished up Kindergarten on June 2, and on June 3 we took the boys to Grandma and Grandpa Ballews to spend a week with them while we went to a wedding in St. Thomas. My friend Amy got married St Thomas, USVI. It was such a fun time, and a beautiful wedding! We spent 3 days there for the wedding, then Levi and I went to St John, USVI to spend 3 days together alone. We got to go to some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. We stayed at a wonderful place up in the mountains that overlooked Cruz Bay, rented a jeep, enjoyed exploring the island, snorkeled, enjoyed sunsets, etc. It's a vacation I will never forget. Of course the boys thought they got the better end of the deal by staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a week, and even had trouble coming home. Marcus cried the first 2 nights we were home because he missed his Grandparents so much...good to see we were missed. :)

June was a busy month with baseball a couple nights a week. Marcus finished up the baseball season the first week in July. It was amazing to see how much he, and the team, improved from day 1 to the end of the season. The last game was his best game, hitting a home run, and getting 3 hits. He also played very well in the field. He had great coaches who were so encouraging to the kids, and made it a really fun season for him.

Also in June Levi's Grandpa Gayan and Aunt Becky came out from Arizona for a month. We've had such a good time with them, having lots of family dinners and get togethers. His Uncle Joe came out on Saturday to join everyone for this last week that they are here. The boys have never met Aunt Becky or Uncle Joe, and are enjoying them so much!

Levi's brother and his family have sold their home in town and have bought a house out in the country. (just a couple miles out of town) We are in the midst of helping them get moved this week. It is a beautiful park like setting on a treed lot somewhat close to the lake. The kids will have so much fun exploring the woods and making forts, etc. We are so excited for them to get to move out there!

We went to KC for the 4th of July, attending the Ballew family get together. It was lots of fun to see everyone, including the newest little Ballew. My cousin and his wife had their first baby, Jackson, who was only a week old. He is absolutely precious! What a sweet blessing! We all enjoyed visiting, swimming, of course eating...the boys got to play in the biggest bouncy house I've ever seen, and take train rides around the yard. I couldn't believe it's been 4 years since we've been able to go to a Ballew 4th of July...explains why the kids didn't remember it. Carson and Cole were only 11 months old, and Marcus wasn't even 2. I remember I had just had my hysterectomy 2 days before and was sick as a dog, but wanted to go see everyone because we were moving to South Dakota a month later. Time just moves so quickly, I'm just so thankful when we can spend time with friends and family.

The next week Mom took vacation and came up to spend the week with us. We all had such a busy summer so far it was nice to just be home and relax, enjoy visiting with her and doing stuff around the house. She took the Amtrak train up here, which was a first for her to ride a train. We went out to eat a few times but other wise just hung out at our home. It was a great week!

Today the boys and I are helping Deann move some things to the new house, then the boys have dentist appointments this afternoon, and a family dinner at our house tonight. Levi's Grandpa, Aunt, and Uncle leave on Saturday, so this is our last week with them. It's going to be hard to see them go, we've had a lot of fun.

I'll post pictures as often as I can, I have a lot I need to catch up on getting posted. Hope everyone is having a good summer, stay cool! Upper 90s, maybe 100 here today...Ugghh.

First Soccer Game

Carson and Cole both did great this morning in their first soccer game. It is pretty hilarious to see all these little ones out there on the field. Just before the game started the other teams goalie got caught up in the net and the coach had to go help him out. It definitely was entertaining. The boys were so excited and it was neat to see. At one point during the game Carson came out and got a drink, and told me, "I just LOVE sports Mom!"... Each one attempted two goals, and Cole actually made one of his attempts. Right now they are both taking a nap, I'm sure it will be a long one as they were pretty worn out.

Lots to Celebrate!

11 years of marriage

The boys sharing their cards with Daddy

Laughing with Daddy on his birthday

Saturday morning laying low as Cole gets over his sickness

March has been a really busy, but fun month. Levi and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 18th, and then his birthday was on that same weekend. We went to KC to visit my family and go out for dinner to celebrate our anniversary with our friends Jen and Nate. We had a really fun time, and even stayed an extra day longer than usual as Levi had the next week off of work. I got to go shopping with my Mom on Saturday morning, and I loved and cherished that time with her. We've had fun watching the NCAA tournament, finished cleaning up our mess from all the construction around here, worked a lot on a school fundraiser that we had last night, and just enjoyed a lot of family time. On Friday night Cole got sick in his bed, then several more times yesterday. We are thankful that he seems to be doing so much better today. Thankfully he is an incredibly good sick kid...he feels bad, cleanly does his business, then you find out later that he got sick again. He isn't dramatic about it in the slightest. I hated that he didn't feel well, but I did get to hold him and cuddle him most of the afternoon yesterday. (which is very rare) We had our Trivia night fundraiser at the school last night and it was so fun! Levi ended up staying home with the boys, but we still had almost a full table of friends and family there. I think it was a huge success, and I haven't laughed that much in quite awhile. Levi and I are thankful to the Lord for our 11 years together, and thankful for our friends and family who we can always count on. You can't possibly know how precious you are to us!

Spring Break

This week Marcus has been home on spring break. It has been a great week to just be home enjoying our family. It has been a very relaxing time, and it was much needed. With the kitchen remodel pretty much done, life seems much less hectic. We are thankful that we got so much done in a short amount of time though, and the new kitchen is already such a blessing.

The boys are enjoying all their time together this week. I'm so thankful they love playing together and usually get along so well. Tomorrow it is supposed to be much warmer here, so hopefully they will get some time outside.