big girls

a few weeks ago our neighbor and friend came over to play with the girls. she brought her barbies with her and the girls played so nicely together. it was fun watching them play what seemed like so grown up to me.

raelyns little feet are so pigeoned toed. this photo makes me smile. just capturing the little things that make my kids who they are.
brenna with a big girl pony tail and playing so nice with the older girls. she really is not a baby anymore.
while the girls were playing so nicely, garret was also playing nice in his own room. he can build some seriously cool things.

caterpillars

this post is especially for uncle scott because we know how much he likes bugs :)

we have caterpillars EVERYWHERE right now. this time of year every year they from these huge nests in the trees and then they fall out and are all over everything. the kids LOVE this. the other day they were collecting them but had no where to put them so we made some bug barns out of soda bottles for them to keep and watch their new friends.

i love garrets dirty, tough, just like daddys, boy hands.

blooming

i am so far behind on my posting that now all these pretty blooms have turned into green leaves and shade trees. i still wanted to post these photos though. the weather here has been amazing. no air, no heat, just windows for about 2 weeks now. :) however i think the allergies are kicking my girls butts. i am so thankful we made it through a really long winter staying pretty healthy but i think i will need to take the girls to the doc today. well here are some pics of our cherry blossom tree and bradford pear and of course my pretty little girl.

happy spring

vitamin d

... ahh it feels so good on my skin. it seems like it had been so long since i felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. so much so that about a month ago at my OB appointment they took blood and realized my vitamin d levels were REALLY low and told me to start taking a suppliment. well for the last 2 weeks the sun has come out and stayed out. it has been SO nice. the kids and i have enjoyed every second of the sun shining down on our shoulders and baking us with its energy.

having a snack on the fort one afternoon. check out the belly on brenna! :)

homemade dresses

i actually got a little spurt of energy before easter and made the girls their easter dresses again this year. i am so thankful to my mom for teaching me how to sew. it is really something that i enjoy doing. i wish i had more time to do it, but really, how many dresses can a little girl have?they were coordinating but not the same. i had bought this fabric a while ago and then dug it out for this project. i really loved how they turned out.

easter- better late then never

well these are late but i still wanted to post them. i have enjoyed looking back at how our family has changed over the years and i want to continue to do that in the years to come. this is kind of like a "year book" for our family.
family photo... me at 25 weeks prego, garret is 6 1/2, rae is 4, brenna is 2 1/2.... right now it is pretty overwhelming thinking about adding another wid kid to the mix.
garret much happier about this clothing this year than last :) check out photos of last year. these still make me laugh so hard.



still a thumb sucker... hard habit to break.
getting ready for the great egg hunt at our friends house.
we had a great easter. we spent saturday evening with daves parents, coloring eggs, eating an amazing meal, and hunting eggs in the woods. the kids had a great time as usual. then sunday we went to church and then spent the rest of the day at our friends house. had another great meal and egg hunt for the kids. the fellowship was sweet and so enjoyable. we are blessed by some great christian family friends.

wordless wednesday- for gram

new family to check out

to see more click HERE.

grand pop nelson

daves grandfather passed away the end of march just a few days before his 87th birthday. He sat down in his chair to take a nap (like he did every afternoon) and woke up in the arms of the Lord. his passing was a big shock to all of us as he had just been to church with us on sunday morning and helped serve rolls to the group of students that were out at the camp on sunday evening. he had passed away monday afternoon. we were all sad we didnt get a chance to say an official "good bye" but were so thankful that he had passed peacefully in his own home, just they way he would have wanted. grand pop lived out at the camp right next door to daves parents. in the last year he had gotten very sick, became saved (which was such an answered prayer for all of us), got much better, got involved with the camp, took us for rides on his fancy cart and just really became a peaceful and loved child of god and loved family member. he will miss him. that is for sure! but find peace knowing he is in a much better place. here are some photos from the last or so.

stirring the apple butter. nothing kept him down that is for sure. he was still mowing the fields with this tractor last summer.
serving campers some yummy dessert .
holding brenna. i am so glad the my children have had the joys of growing up with a great grandpa on daves said and a great grandma on my side. we are praying they will remember and hold on to little memories of these special people in their lives.

brother-sister bond

man these two have it! they just have it! this special bond. ever since they were little they have been two peas in a pod. when garret is as school, rae misses him so much. of course they have their times where they are not the nicest to each other but most of the time they just are the best of buds. we took these pictures on the way home after we picked up garret from school. to be honest i just wanted him to stay in the car with brenna and wait for me while i snapped a few photos, well the both of them wanted garret to be in some pictures too. so there was no posing or special outfits for these pics but they have some of the strongest emotions for me. they are just pure bother-sister bond. just look at the way she looks up to him in the first photo. she is in love with her big brother and the smile on her face in the bottom picture just melts me. she is not even looking at him but you can just feel the love the two of them have for each other. i am blessed.