Finally Some Pics

We've had a very productive weekend. Heath re-did the steps on our back deck since some of the old boards were splitting and it was becoming hazardous. We also got our laundry done and all put away (may sound like an obvious accomplishment to some but at our house if you get the laundry done AND put away, it is a big deal), upstairs carpets cleaned, entire upstairs cleaned thoroughly, garage re-organized and straightened up, and we even had time to mix in some swimming and grilling out and good family fun! Ah, it feels good to have all that stuff done!

Now, we're on the countdown to our vacation!!! Less than 3 weeks and we'll be at the beach in wonderful Panama City Beach, Florida. We can't wait!!

Here are some pictures I found on my camera to share...

Kendra loves to swim when it is a small and confined area with not alot of noise around.


Grandpa took us fishing at Uncle Don's pond. Gabe was the first to catch a fish. He wasn't about to TOUCH it but he was proud to hold the pole. Kendra wanted to touch it, poke its eyes out, etc. Ah, two completely different kiddos!


This is my niece Callie tearing into her 1st birthday cake.


Callie and Kendra ended up wearing the same pajamas the night of Callie's party so we couldn't skip that photo opportunity!

And then we turned Pam's treadmill into a jungle gym...

This was the girls at Holiday World. We only rode 2 regular rides since it was so hot. And I didn't get the camera out at the water park.

We had a sports store go out of business in town so Daddy got the kids some official baseball equipment. They have been loving it ever since!!

Heath took the kids out on the dance floor at my cousin Donna Ochs' wedding. Gabe would run and jump on his back...

And Kendra would run in circles around him.

We spotted this baby deer on the way to preschool one morning on our street. The kids were in awe. We had to have sat there for 10 minutes watching it and listening to it "cry for his mommy". Kendra still asks to see the picture of it on a regular basis.

Here was Kendra's birthday cake...gotta love DORA!

This was Gabe and Aunt Beth on the 4th all decked out in their RED outfits!

Here we tried to get all of the Ochs Grandkid's to sit still, look at the camera, and smile...so I found victory in the fact that I caught them all with their eyes open and looking remotely my way ;)

We hit the parade in Effingham on the 4th since Dieterich had postponed theirs. The kids were quite the little flag wavers!

This is Kendra on her new bike. We desperately wanted a 10 inch bike that didn't have brakes on it so it would pedal like a tricycle. It took quite a bit of searching and one wait in the return line at Wal-Mart but we finally found a whole bunch of these bikes at K-Mart in Effingham. Perfect size for Miss Kendra!

Kendra actually had 2 birthday cakes...this was her getting ready to blow out the candles with Heath's family. She loved the ice cream cake too!

And lastly, Kendra's doll baby had just dirtied her diaper so Kendra was caught in the bathroom teaching her how to go on the potty. I promise this was totally candid and I had nothing to do with it. Kids have such imaginations it is amazing!