our oldest, is fourteen!

people say all the time...

"before you know it, they are all grown up!"

this couldn't be more true.

look at him.....

Chandler,

you are a special boy. you mean so much to all of us. 

you are so much like your dad, i could laugh (or cry) ecspecially with your corny jokes and sensitive heart.

you are brayden's hero. the way he looks up to you is astounding. you are his everything.

for me, you are my oldest, my first baby, to love. i love you unconditionally. your intelligence and cute smile, is overwhelming. i am so proud of you, your personal growth in this past year, amazes me. (keep it up!)

know your dad and i are always here for you. always loving you and molding you to be the man God created you to be.  

happy 14th chandler.

People also say "cherish the moments, they grow up so fast"

I'd like to think I do, its one of the reason I do this blog & take so many pictures. Because, i want to cherish the moments & most of all-

Because I cherish my Boys

~Chad, Chandler & Brayden~

love, mom

Chandlers 14

 

 

Fathers Day

we celebrated a day early...because chandler was leaving for goalie camp.

here is brayden with the card he made daddy...

here, the boys are giving chad the frame we do every year - of them- holding a D-A-D.

They were really proud of the cards they picked out this year...chandlers had extra hair for chad &

braydens had 2 boxers (they were dogs!)

here are the pictures that were in the frame. we have beening doing this for the past 5 or 6 years. its cute because the boys can pick out what they want to wear...

Chandler chose his goalie gloves, so brayden had to wear his lacrosse gloves, of course.

we love you daddy!

chad, i pray you know how much we appreciate you.

there is not one day that goes by, that i dont thank God for my life. you and the boys are my world, and i know, we are yours- thank you for that.

thank you for who you are, to us. we love you.

happy fathers day.

and to my dad, thank you for always driving and going the extra mile. you mean the world to me, chad and the boys. we really appreciate all you do for and with us. thank you.

we love you so much.

to monte, thank you for being there. your presence means so much to chad and i, and most of all, to the boys. you & chad are alot alike in so many ways, it makes me laugh! we may not tell you enough, but we love you &

we are so blessed to have you! 

Happy Fathers Day to all, love you!

Scrappy the Turtle

So we had a turtle that appeared in our yard a couple of times about 6 months ago....when we took the time to really look at him, we realized he was sick!

We called around & the wildlife center, over an hour away, said they would try to heal him. So, off we went.

Scrappy has been there for a long time, we often call & check on him...they call us as well. A couple of times we have been in alot of prayer for him, for certain tests.

In the end, they saved his life! So last week we went and picked him up. (They want you to release him where you found him.)

He went to lacrosse practice & spent one night in the house before they kids let him go...

Here is brayden with a sad face, not wanting to let him go...

we are glad he is well and that he gets to return home to his family...but our family will miss him!

i thought this was a cool picture of brays

little hand holding him up

here is a picture of the boys & MK walking to the creek to let him go...find his family!

 we will miss you scrappy. we are so glad you found your way to us, so we could take you to a great place to make you well...enjoy your new life, with good health!

Nick's graduation

we are so proud of nick! graduating 8th grade and heading to high school, i cannot believe it!

he is such a great young man, chad and i truly love him like he was our own....

as he walked across the stage, i teared up...remembering him as a 2nd grader, he has grown up so fast!

this was the class chandler would have graduated with...so it really made me think about him- how we only have a year left!

we are very proud of you nick! we are excited to see how you do in high school, you will make us ever more proud i am sure!

congrats, we love you!

Brayden's Graduation

here is a picture of a couple of things we made for brayden's class....smartie diplomas & little pots with ivy in them that say: "you have GROWN out of kindergarten"

 

here is a cute picture of brayden waiting for our friends and family to arrive to the party we had prior to his graduation-

he was so excited!

here it is, a picture of our littlest getting his kindergarten diploma! he is a 1st grader now!

ah, doesn't he look like a first grader?

he is so excited to have class upstairs next year...though he keeps reminding us that he wont have snack anymore, because he will have a 1st grade belly!

we are all so proud of brayden. he is such a sweet little boy. he is a joy to be around & truly a joy to raise.

ive been sad & crying all week, thinking about this day...

it truly seems like yesterday he was little & at home with me.

both of my boys are growing to fast!

i wish i could stall them, a little!

but this day is here & i couldn't be more proud.

chad and i are very proud of both of our boys.

we are very blessed to be their parents.

on the way home, i was a little sad - brayden was elated because he was having a sleep over & grandpa was in town....

right near our house, we saw this...a rainbow.

chad and i hurried to take a picture (well i did!)

how awesome is that, to end such a special day with a rainbow, a beautiful sign of Gods love for us, his children.

I pray that my children know how much God, Chad and I

love them- that they see signs of that daily,

even when there isn't a visible rainbow.

congratulations brayden. i pray that you continue to grow into the special young man that God created you to be.

(just not to quickly!)