Nana's Birthday and The Hot Air Balloon Festival

We had a busy, but fun week. We celebrated Mom's birthday on Thursday and we had a great time. On Friday I decided to try to make apple butter. Mom helped me peel and cut them up and then I canned the next day. I do have to say that it tastes pretty good. Friday night we went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. The kids loved it! It was our first time going and I really liked it. We also got to hang out with some great friends. Saturday we went to the Hilbelink triplets Birthday party and had a great time, they always have fun parties! Busy but great week! God is good.

I cant believe its the end of September! Where has time gone?! I will start where I left off. Brody turned 4 July 27th and we had a great birthday party. We have enjoyed a great summer filled with lots of hot days spent on the water slide. In August we celebrated my Mamaws 85th birthday in Gatlinburg in the National Park, it was a great day! We really enjoyed being with lots of family and the kids loved playing in the water. August also brought the birth of Jillian Parker Ogle!! What a sweet baby girl, I am so glad that she and her Mommy were both healthy. Congrats to Michael, Julie and Mia. Joel and I celebrated our 9th anniversary the 25th of August. Its hard to believe that we have been married this long, it seems like we just met the other day! i am so blessed to have such a great husband! We look forward to fall. Brody is already talking about going to the pumpkin patch and talking to me about wanting a drum set for Christmas! Sawyer has decided that she wants to ride a big bike like Brody's, so we had to find her a bike so he could have his back! A lot of people have asked me lately if Brody and Sawyer are twins! The do look a lot alike and she has had a growth spurt. She wants to be everywhere he is! This gets on his nerves sometimes, but I can see them growing even closer. The Lord has certainly blessed us!

Brody's first fishing trip, 4th of July

We finally took Brody on his first fishing trip! We were all so excited! We got up early and went to a kids fishing hole in Gatlinburg. I had high expectations with it being just for kids I thought it would be easy, not so much! We ended up without any fish, but we had a good time. We are definitely going to try again soon. We had a great July 4th cookout with the Cavanahs. Water slide, bounce house, home aid ice cream and lots of fun! The kids were worn out but they had a great time. We had a big scare a couple of weeks ago. Sawyer fell all the way down our stairs from top to bottom. The stairs are wooden and go down to our basement concrete floor! So scary!!! Any nursing knowledge that I had went out the window. We went to the ER at Children's Hospital and after some lab work and a CT scan of her head, everything was fine! A bruised nose and some bruises on her face was all. God absolutely had his hand on her! We are so grateful that she is ok. Thanks to everyone for all of their prayers that night, but thanks really goes to the good lord above for watching over our little girl.

Sawyer and Joel's Birthdays!

We have celebrated Joel and Sawyers Birthdays this month! Sawyer is now a 2 year old! She is talking so much more everyday. One of her favorite words right now is "no!" She is sleeping in her big girl bed and loves it! We had a great birthday party, but it was HOT! The kids had lots of fun on the water slide. Sawyer was so tired by the time we got to the cake, but she had lots of fun. We are so blessed to have our children!

Its been a while!

I have not updated the blog since?? maybe after Christmas! I have had trouble getting my camera to connect to the computer. The kids have grown so much over the past few months. Sawyer got rid of her pacifier sometime in February and she is talking so much! She is quiet around people at first, but her vocabulary has really expanded. Brody, well, you just never know what might come out of his mouth! I put him in the car today and it was hot in there and he said "mommy, I am sweating like a sinner in church" where did that come from? we can thank the wonderful world of Disney, and the movie the Princess and the Frog! Sawyer will be 2 on June 9th! Birthdays are always so bittersweet for me, I love watching my kids grow up but it also makes me sad! Joel's birthday is this Sunday, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! I have tried to post pictures from the past few months since I have been such a slacker! I have a picture from the March of Dimes Walk that was at the end of April, the picture is with Abby Hull and her family. I took care of Abby for 6 months while she was in the NICU and grew very close to her wonderful family! I still keep in touch with them and I was so happy to get to see them at the walk. I don't think they will ever realize what an impact they have had on my life! We enjoyed a great trip to the beach in May, and we were even lucky enough to get to watch one of the last space shuttle launches from the beach! Despite the difficult economy we continue to be blessed and we are so grateful for all we have.