A Great Day to Fly a Kite

Sunday was cool and windy...great weather to fly a kite!

Getting started... Hmmm...Nate's thinking hard about how we are going to do this...

Emma and I having our own fun while we wait for a big gust...

Here we go...

Up, up, and away...

Spring Training

Saturday evening, we took the kids to a field and Jake practiced some throwing and catching skills with them. They each had a glove and a ball and a lot of fun with their Daddy.

Emma has a good aim...

Abby has great form...

And Nathan just may be a pitcher someday...

Look Out Mia Hamm...

The Marshall sisters are here!

Jake and I were thrilled to be able to go to Emma and Abby's soccer games this past Saturday. With them living almost 2 hours away, it's not always possible to make it to everyday life events like this. So we were really happy we had the opportunity to see them both play this season. If you have been following Amy and Judy's blogs, you have already seen several pictures of the girls playing hard on the field. We don't mean to overwhelm you with more soccer pictures, but a proud Daddy has to brag about his girls a little :)

Abby's game was first and was so much fun to watch...

Abby is tiny but mighty! She is fast and agile and goes after the ball...

And when she gets it...she gives it her all!

A very proud Daddy and his girls...

We had some time in between Emma and Abby's games, so we headed over to the playground for awhile. Nathan was especially excited about this because apparently he doesn't usually get to visit this playground much. Emma an Abby's friends Ellie and Kate joined them too...

Then it was time to watch the Cobra's. All Jake and I can say is, WOW! Emma has improved so much since the fall! She is much more aggressive, going after the ball and playing hard...

Taking control...

She even volunteered to be goalie! I like to play sports but I don't think I would ever volunteer to have a ball kicked at me! She is so brave!

Time out for a snack with a friend...

That was our Saturday morning! It was so much fun. Emma and Abby you did GREAT!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mother's in our lives, we want to wish you a very happy Mother's Day! You are all such incredible women...we admire you, appreciate you, and love you. You each deserve to have a wonderful day.

Happy Mother's Day

Spring Concert

Tuesday night Jake and I drove out to Greencastle to see Emma in her second grade spring concert.

She did great and seemed to be having fun onstage

After the show, we went out to celebrate with some ice cream...yum!

Great job Emma! We are so glad we could come see you!

Growing Up Fast

It seems like Nate has been growing by leaps and bounds lately! He is such a big boy now, and I don' just mean his size. He has grown up so much in the past year, but during these past couple of months. No more Binky's, sippy cups or diapers for this big boy! Nathan is mastering the art of using the potty, is determined to learn how to buckle and unbuckle himself in car, will get through an entire haircut without tears or screaming (which I am personally extremely thankful for!) and will now take a shower without freaking out about water getting on his face or in his eyes! These are all really big things to those involved in raising this little man.

Another big milestone Nate has made is in the swimming pool. This is a picture taken last April when Jake and I came to visit the kids. This is all Nate would do, play on the steps. He had no interest in letting us hold him in the pool and swim with us. And definitely had no interest in attempting to put his face in the water.

And this is a video of what took place this past weekend when we went swimming...

Way to go Nate! Daddy and I are so proud of you!

Thank You

As I said earlier, this past weekend with the Santry family and Nana was GREAT! We had so much fun and are happy that they took time to come see us all. Their trip had some challenges...driving in the rain, vision impairments, and flat tires were part of the weekend...but they made it here and back safely and that's what matters :) It amazes me every time I watch the cousins interact that it doesn't matter how long it has been since their last visit with each other, they just seem to pick up right were they left off. Despite living miles apart and not seeing each other as much as they would like, these cousins are close and love each other dearly.

So, we want to say thank you for coming to visit us. Because of you, we got to see smiles like these...

And share moments like this...

We love you!

May Baskets

One of the reasons for Nana's visit this past weekend was to surprise the kids with May baskets. This was a tradition in Jake's family when he was a kid. Every May 1st, Nana and Grampa Crawley would go over Barbara's house and put May baskets on the doorstep for each of the children. They would then ring the doorbell and then quickly hide. The kids would come open the door to discover their May baskets and then run to find Nana and Grampa. Later, the kids would go over to Nana and Grampa Crawley's house and do the same thing to them. How cute! Nana wanted to share this tradition with her grandkids this year.

These cute little baskets were filled with candy and treats...

Discovering their surprise and not quite sure where it came from...
And then they spotted Nana around the corner and quickly took off to try to catch her...

And she's caught!

What fun! They sure do love their Nana :)

Family Fun

We had some very special visitors this past weekend! Nana, Auntie Christine, Elizabeth & Joseph made the long drive down to PA to spend a few days with us. We had a great weekend together despite the weather being a little wet. We made the most of just a few days together and made a lot of memories. There are more pictures and stories to come, but for now I have made a slide show to give you a glimpse of all the fun we had.

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