Keith's 40th Birthday

Most of you that know us well, know that Keith celebrated a major milestone in his life this year. Keith turned 40 and he didn't want to do anything to celebrate it. I finally talked him into having some of his closest friends over for dinner. I think he was happy that I talked him into it. He seemed to really enjoy it. I had it at Nancy's house since I was also getting ready for a surprise 40th anniversary party for my parents.

Yes, that is actually a picture of Keith on that cake. Wasn't he cute!!!

Bob Smith - used to work with Keith on the Sheriff's dept.

Rick and his daughter Brittany - fellow sheriff's dept. buddy and now fellow boater.

Bob's wife Kristi and Rick's wife cindy.

Dave, Keith's childhood best friend and our best man, his daughter Maisy, and his wife Katte. Another one of Keith's childhood friends Rich Millar was there and this is his wife Amy.

Aunt Laurie was giving horsey rides to the kiddos and they obviously enjoyed it at poor Laurie's body's expense.

Outside Finally

This summer has been terrible for outside activities. It has either been rainy or cold or both. We were finally able to get outside and soak up some sun. Garrett wasn't too sure what to think of the crazy sprinkler but he sure enjoyed watching Zayda run through it. It was so nice to just be outside and enjoy some nice weather.

Sorry that it has taken me so long to put up a new post. I have been very busy lately as I am sure most of you have too. We took a 2 week vacation to Florida that was amazing. The first week we spent with my parents (Don and Vicki) in Disney World and the second week we spent in St. Augustine with all of Keith's Family. I am having trouble getting my C.D. with the pics from the second week loaded onto my computer so I will just be able to post pics from Disney and the when I am able to pull up the other pics, I will post them. The whole trip was so much fun and kids loved each part of it. Here are a few pictures from Disney.

Grandpa and Zayda rode a Indy Car ride and right after the green flag came down there was a massive downpour and they got soaked!!!!!!!

Over to St. Augustine for the day before Grandma and Grandpa have to head home.

SOOO HUNGRY!! Can life get any better than this?!

A Fun Day With Tyler

We have some friends Tammy and Patrick who have a son Tyler. We both use the same babysitter who happens to be out of town this week. So, I got to watch Tyler today and we had so much fun!! We played at the park and had a picnic lunch. They all loved the park. We came home and read books and rocked before nap-time and I guess they all played really hard because they are all 3 asleep. Tyler even told me "I tired" while we were reading the books.

Kiss Z Cook

Girls night out this month was at a place called Kiss Z Cook. It is a place on the north side where you can take cooking classes. We decided that this month girls night out, we would try something totally new and different. Can I just say that it was the best girls night out ever. We had so much fun. It was a demonstration class so we all split a couple bottles of wine and learned how to cook some amazing food. Dwight was our instructor and the set up was great. We would all go up to his kitchen area and watch as he taught us how to cook each course. Then we would take a plate back to our table and eat and socialize while he set up his kitchen for the next course. We got all the recipes at the end of the evening and I can't wait to try some of them out. We all agreed that we must go back sometime and maybe even try one of the hands-on cooking classes.

The whole gang: (L to R) Beth, Melanie, Barb, Amanda, Marilyn (+ baby girl), and Me (taking the picture)

Amanda and Marilyn with our chef Dwight

Beth and Melanie

Zayda's Closing Program

Zayda had her closing program for school last night. It was really cute. Their theme was a walk through God's Word. They all recited memory verses that they had learned throughout the year and each class sung 2 songs that pertained to their verse. Zayda's class sung "Dig Down Deep" and "Baa, Baa, Baa." They were dressed up at sheep with sheep ears and back socks on their hands to look like hooves. Zayda had a little trouble during rehearsals with some stagefright and a nervous tummy. We arrived early last night and after being able to see exactly where we were sitting she was relieved of her nervousness. She did great and was very excited about her program.

After each class had performed, the group all came together and sang one last song.

After the full group song, the parents and students were surprised with a very special Pre-K graduation ceremony for the kids that were leaving to go on to kindergarten. Keith and I were both teary eyed for our precious little girl who still today is proudly wearing her graduation ribbon. We thought you would enjoy sharing this moment with us.

We went back to her classroom after her program for a cookie reception and we took a picture of her with her "boyfriend Wesley." She LOVES this boy and she tells me all the time that she is going to marry him when they are all grown up. I was also able to get a picture of her with her teachers Mrs. Stuck (left) and Mrs. Matthews (right). They were incredible teachers and Zayda especially took a liking to Mrs. Stuck. I hope we have as good of luck with her teachers as we have had the last 2 years at Mount Pleasant.

After we were done at her school, we celebrated by having dinner at Arni's. Zayda was very proud to be the guest of honor and she shared the evening with her parents, brother, Grandma & Grandpa, Nana and Papa and Uncle J. who joined us for dinner after umpiring a baseball game.

Zayda will be off to Kindergarten next year at West Grove Elementary. She will be attending half day and is super excited to get to ride the bus to school. Her parents aren't quite as excited about this endeavor as she is but I'm sure we'll adjust.

Back at the Lake...Brrrrr

We were very excited to get back down to the lake and enjoy some nice weather. Well, we did enjoy being down at the lake but the weather was not quite so enjoyable. Atleast it wasn't raining but Saturday was COLD!! We got a lot of needed work done. Nancy is having a new roof and screened in porch built on her trailor. There were several things that had to be done before they could start the construction. The kids all enjoyed a weekend of fun.

Kaden and Garrett found Zayda's dress-up clothes....Kaden liked the pink shoes.

Brooks joined in on the fun and was all smiles.

Zayda likes her new swing.

Zayda and Brady enjoying a tea party with their fruit punch.

Watch Out!!! Garrett and Caden love driving the jeep...unfortunately, they haven't learned how to steer it yet.