a walk in the park

It was one of those perfect summer nights. Warm and sunny but without bugs or humidity so we took a picnic and played at the park. We played ball with Sam, tag with each other and watched the girls swing as high as they could. It's one of those great nights that really make you smile- made all the better by a stop by the Connetts where Nessa had just baked her famous chocolate chip cookies. YUM!!

Things we love:

The new vent in our bathroom. Gone is the old popcorn ceiling which couldn't be washed and hated the humidity our bathhroom often had when a family of 5 (including 3 daughters!!!) all shared the same shower.

Emily's new chalkboard which covers the access door that Shawn needed to make so that he could access the roof to install the vent work to our new bathroom vent. This was a huge project that turned out so well

New clothes all handmade with love. Shawn's mom has been sending our family care packages. Each one is addressed to 1 family member and contains a beautiful gift that she has made for them. In this picture Charlie and Emily are both wearing new dresses that she has made and Shawn is wearing one of the 4 new ties she has made for him.He loves that they are all long enough, something that many store bought ties are not. Lily's the next to receive a package which is already on it's way so we'll update this post with a picture of her when it arrives.

Lily's dress has arrived and it too is beatiful!!!!

Thanks to Shawn for all of his hardwork on our home and to Shawn's mom, Kathy for sharing her great skills with our family. We so lucky to have both of you!

4th of July

And here of course is the 4th of July. We started with the annual parade, went to a BBQ and ended with fireworks. We hope the you had as nice of a 4th as we did.

3rd of July

One of the great things about living in a small town is that you can choose to do things your own way. Our town chooses to celebrate the 4th of July over several days. So, we were able to have 2 nights of fireworks and several days of fun including all 3 girls dancing on the 3rd for the community. Here are so pics of the 3rd. And, I would have to mention that Lily is a darn good driver- it scares me a little bit.....