Reading Tme

Claire and Nicholas both love to read books. Here are a few cute pictures capturing them in the act.

Fun in the Water

Nicholas and Claire have been enjoying play time in the sprinkler on these hot summer days.






I think they were coming up with a plan to get mommy wet!


The water table also provides hours of entertainment.

Visit to Ohio

We traveled to Ohio recently for a family get together.

Nicholas and his cousin Rion enjoyed getting re-acquainted as they played and picked berries.




Uncle Paul took us to visit his farm while we were there. Nicholas was excited to get close to a big tractor!



The highlight of the farm tour was seeing the baby cows.



We also enjoyed lots of time in the pool over the weekend.



Nicholas was super excited to wake up Saturday morning and find that his cousin Kate was there! He'd been looking forward to seeing her for a long time! We sure do miss our family and treasure the times we get to spend together.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Claire turned two a few weeks ago and we celebrated the weekend before by having Grandma, Grandpa, and her cousin Kate come to visit. Although her expression doesn't show it, she really did like her cake!


Nicholas and Kate had lots of fun playing together. Claire joined in whenever they let her. She didn't understand why they kept getting mad when she knocked down the towers they built!


These two little monkeys (and our neighbor) climbed the tree in our front yard. That was no easy talk since there were so many branches to maneuver.


Helping to deflate the air mattress was something they all had fun doing together.


They also had lots of fun playing with Grandpa!


One more picture after we said goodbye to Grandma, Grandpa, and Kate. Nicholas was very sad when they left so we made a paper chain to help him count the days until we will see them again in Ohio. Claire asks about Kate at bedtime as she names all the people she can think of who are going to bed, too.


Some friends of our came to visit one evening and drove their motorcycle. Nicholas was very excited to try it out!

Catching Up

Nicholas has been enjoying the Legos he got for his birthday. I'm amazed at the things this little boy can make all by himself! He's got a great teacher (his dad) to help him, too.


Here's one of his recent machines he made.


Yeah for bath time!


Silly face!


There's nothing like father-daughter naps.


Nicholas played soccer this spring and even though he said many times that he didn't like it, you sure couldn't tell when he was playing!


He did get sidetracked sometimes by cool bugs on the field but most of the time he was right in the middle of the action.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

I realize I'm over a month late in getting these pictures posted but better late than never! Nicholas asked to have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this year. We also had a small celebration the weekend after his birthday.



Nicholas got a big boy bike this year and has been riding it every chance he has!



Aunt Lily and Uncle Joe gave Nicholas this fun Thomas puzzle. It's almost as big as he is!



Nicholas' cousin Kate came down with his grandparents to celebrate again. He didn't know she was coming and was super excited to see her! They finally got to have the sleepover they'd been planning for a while.



Claire decided to make a chair out of a storage container and Nicholas thought it looked like fun so he joined in, too!



Nicholas and Claire are pretending to be babies.



Every day when John gets home Nicholas and Claire hide and wait for daddy to find them. This was their hiding spot one time.

Train Time

All aboard!



"See mommy, I'm not too big for my doll's stroller!"



Nicholas wanted to take a picture and this is how it turned out. He did a really good job!



It's time to play super heros!