Birthdays and Babies

 ConLai turned 5!!! And we got to celebrate with her grandpa and grandma Lind!

 Big girl!

 I just had to put in all these pictures of Juliana with her babies. I babysat a baby boy and his sister a few weeks back and ever since then, they have been taking care of their baby brother. ConLai says, "I want a baby brother, no I want 3 baby brothers and 2 baby sisters." Whoa whoa now sister.

 Tucked Story in before she fell asleep.

 Look who's a second year Cubbie!!!

 

And the birthday boy!

 He has reached the "forever 29".

 

 They adore their daddy.

 

 Yes there is a piece missing, yes we sampled it earlier in the afternoon while the girls were sleeping.

 Note the smoke...:)

Anthony's ShaBam Toy

The girls have the best daddy. ON HIS BIRTHDAY, he spent the evening making this toy. We have a huge silver maple in our backyard that has been calling for a tire swing to be hung on it's limbs. Since the tires conveniently needed replacing on our car, we had a spare tire to use. This man can figure out anything and then do it. Reminds me of my own daddy.

It's August right? No!? What? It's September?

 That's what I feel like. Time whipping by right before my eyes. Sometimes it seems like the girls are growing so quick and then other times, they're just still so little. I like the latter thought better than the first thought. Oh and just so you know, we officially have no more babies in our house. Juliana is a little mama now to any and all babies who come within reach of her. So if you have a baby, please keep your distance because she will smother your sweet one.

We took a quick trip to Sioux Falls and they have this awesome "natural" water park. We're finding out we (or YOU) could vacation in Sioux Falls for a couple of days, there's so much to do.

 This is a little house for a pet, (clear throat) excuse me, a little girl. 

 Rainbows are a new and beautiful thing to us. They were rare to see in Chicago.

 We got a couple more days of swimming in before they officially closed forever the little kiddie pool down the road from us. They will be opening a new waterpark in the center of town next summer.

 At the beginning of the summer, ConLai attempted Level 1 of swimming lessons. By the end of the summer, she began to put her head in the water and become more brave.

We had the honor of Anthony's brother Nathan and his family visiting for a few days in August. It was a special time together. We enjoyed them so much!

 Please look closely at Kenan's face. He braved the rocket slide and was smiling by the time he got to the bottom. Can you believe he went down again and again after this first time experience? This is Nathan and Lois' youngest boy. If you'd like to know what Anthony looked like at age 5, look at Kenan.

 You know you have a good uncle when he reads Cinderella to you.

Awesome playmates!

 More playmates. :)

 And more playmates.

 A sweet lady in church offered to babysit for us while we went out on a date for our anniversary. We wanted to try the tandem bike that's available to the public, but it was in the shop. So, we went to the park.

 Have you ever wondered what Anthony would look like with hair? Or did we tell you he grew it out again?

Can we say princess much??

I wish I would have scanned the picture of me in this dress 24 years ago because I specifically remember HATING putting it on. It's a flower girl dress my mom wore when SHE was 4, approximately...well, a long time ago. My daughter and niece LOVED wearing it. It is pretty neat to think of my mom as a little girl in this dress; it's too bad I didn't have that appreciation 24 years ago. Probably would have made my mom's life easier. Sorry mom. :/ You now have your girly girl in your granddaughters.

 Another little princess wanted in on the picture with HER pretty dress.

 Two photogenic girls makes it completely delightful to watch and take pictures.

 And the white dress is my mom's 8th grade graduation dress.

Another lesson I have learned about girls that I obviously was not interested in learning 24 years ago is always look for twirly dresses for little girls.

 I so hope and pray ConLai will be good friends with all her cousins despite not seeing them often!

In their room making their beds and picking up toys
ConLai: Juniana, you need to pick up.
Juliana: No
ConLai: Juniana, you're part of this family, you are supposed to obey and pick up.
Juliana: No
ConLai: Juniana, mommy will pick up your bed and take it outside.
Juliana: No

I'm so thankful for each of my girls and their unique personalities. :) 

I was using this for a project...

 And found this on the back of it. :)

This is the project for our neighbors. 

East Side Sisters

 While in Montana we got to see Anthony's parents and sisters! They have sweet families and we wish we could see all of them more! We went to see Steve & Bonnie and their new place in Glendive and then we traveled up to Sidney to see Troy & Sonya and their new place for the summer (an rv they are living in while building a house there). Since I was just starting to get into the habit of taking pictures again, I only have pictures of 1 outing with 1 of his sisters.

 Natalie and ConLai discovered similar interests...dresses and princesses!

 If you look really really close, you'll see Anthony (in red) & their oldest, Brendan (in yellow), playing basketball in the background on the left. From top down, Galen, ConLai, Corbyn, Natalie and Juliana.

 Galen was super good with Juliana, making her laugh and giggle.