In memory

We may not live

close to Arlington National,

but I think the local

scout troop

does a good job

of making sure we

remember.

Every Memorial Day they carefully plot out

all the veterans' graves

and place an American flag next to

each one.

You almost have to be there

to get the full impact

of just how many men and women

have given up part or all of

their lives

to help keep our country

free.

It makes me so

grateful and

proud

to be living

in this great land.

The flagpole that stands on the hill

in the cemetery

has a plaque below

which says it all:

How blessed we are

that so many have been

willing to serve our country!

May God continue watching over

those who still serve today.

Growing up

This morning

our little Jordan

graduated from

Kindergarten.

They put on a sweet little

program with

sign language to songs

that make moms get teary-eyed.

Dad and London

got to come, too.

Jordan had a wonderful

teacher this year,

Miss Painton.

She made the transition easy.

We will miss her!

We're so proud of you, Jordan.

You've come such a long way

in the past year!

Great job.

We love you, sweetheart!

Girls' weekend out

Last weekend
Grandma invited a
bunch of us girls over
for 4 days of nothing but
eating and scrap-

booking.

Both were

absolutely

fantastic

and we had

such a good time

just being together

and doing something we all love doing.

We watched about 15 movies, shared ideas,

and cropped till 2 am every morning.

It was a fabulous getaway! Thanks, Grandma! :)

The switch

Last week Austin's new

bedroom furniture arrived.

It's pretty sweet.

He loves it.

So, that created a chain of events

with all but one of the kids

switching bedrooms.

We moved Austin upstairs to that room.

Sydney moved over to what was

Austin's room before

(can you tell? Painting the walls

is our next priority!).

She absolutely LOVES

having her own room.

And one of the biggest changes,

moving London out of her crib

and into a bed!

Lots harder for me than her,

though she did ask for a few days

when we were going to the "other house"

to get her crib and bring it back.

Doesn't she look so little??

Another phase in life is past us.

Kind of bittersweet,

though it did kinda feel good

to clear out all that baby stuff!

Date night

Last weekend

Doug got us tickets

to a Rockies game.

We drove to Denver,

dropped off the kids with family,

and went downtown for the game.

It was 31 degrees

with the wind chill.

We froze our tails off.

But our seats were on

the club level,

so we could go inside

to warm up

every once in awhile.

We got some dinner

and later, hot chocolate and cookies.

The Rockies

couldn't pull off a win.

But we stayed till the

bitter end.

And had absolutely no trouble

with traffic afterward!

It was so much fun,

and an awesome date!

I caught a fish THIS big. . .

Doug took Austin out

fishing

a couple of days after the

April 15 deadline.

They had a blast.

Just ask Austin. . .

This one broke his record.

It measured a whopping 19".

Not bad for a morning's work!

Piano recital

Today was

Austin and Sydney's

spring recital.

They both did super.

Syd played 2 songs

and Austin did 5.

This time, we remembered!

(I had the kids to remind me,

thank goodness!)

Seriously.

We awoke this morning

to find this:

Happy
May Day!

Glad we haven't
packed away those
winter clothes
just yet!