Summer is here!

I feel a little hungry.

Mom these wetsuits not only work but they are roasting me alive! Not the best pictures of Rannon, admittedly, but you all have to understand that he hides from me now. This is taken with a telephoto lens from space. (J/K but he is difficult to catch.)

Few of us are more excited than Jonah that summer is upon us. When you are 9 the world is your play ground. Trees are a mere challenge to overcome. This year is his year to climb. I have one rule when climbing trees, well 2 really. You are not allowed to climb any higher than you can go on your own, and don't fall. :)

Cousin Travis, and my niece hanging' at the lake.


This is the tree at the 'Villa' a favorite place to visit. Note that since they are climbing the same rules apply ;)


We have had lots of company the past weeks. My Uncle and Cousin, My Parents, Quint's Dad, Lydia, and the usual summer fun with the Shore's. We see Teri and the kids all the time and manage to enjoy time at the lake a couple days a week. Life is good. Just like the partial look on Eli's face seeing that huge toasted marshmallow!


Roastin' and eatin' need I say more?



Biker Babe's. This group is always fun!



Admiring the chicken's at the 'Villa'.



Brothers and Kids. Always a exciting combination!



Uncle Vern is the best Uncle in the world! We adore him, and we are pretty sure that he feels the same since he comes back to be abused by our children every year!



GG and Calvin getting a snuggle. He is terribly selfish with his snuggles, after all he is 7. We take what we can get.



Grandpa Kent teaching Calvin a magic trick. Calvin was a little put out until money started falling out of his ears, he was trying to get that to work later when Grandpa was gone but he learned sadly that all the money was gone. We told him to keep trying, buy his ear is 'out of order' until further notice.



Sicily and Jaden went to girls camp this year. This is one of the lessons the activities. They learned about working together and believing in each other and themselves to get things done.



James is a sort of Indiana Jones-Cowboy. He was roped into going to girls camp with Jaden and I since I can't lift her alone... He was a good sport and kept his eyes to his whittling most of the time :)



Another trust project. Sicily ended up floating through the tiny part of the web at the top.


I think this picture says it all. Life is good, even when it is hard, and complicated it works itself out. Here my girl is roasting in 100 degree heat and her love of life is plain to see. I think with everything she has gone through she would do it all again pain and all because she loves her life so much. She is a great teacher for us all.

Calvin cracks me up

The last few weeks I have spent the better part of every day going to or in a doctors office. It started with Jaden's infection/allergy. Then developed into Sicily's broken arm. Now it has settled into getting everyone physicals and dental work before we are too busy for the summer. I am beat.

Today we missed church, weather by design or laziness I couldn't say. We have all been feeling tired so maybe we have a bug of some kind too. Who knows, not eager to think about anything.

I have a story for you.
I was boiling some chicken so I could de-bone it later, for chicken soup and Calvin walks up to me.
"What is this?"
"It's your dinner." I say.
"Mom, kids don't like dinner."
"They don't?"
He shakes his head.
"What do they like?"
"Chicken."
"Oh good, then you can have chicken for dinner."
"No dinner. Just chicken."

Kids. :)
Hope all is well with you and yours, S

Just catchin' up.

Hey everyone, we are keepin' busy over here. Jaden was in the hospital for a really terrible infection last month. The infection attacked her left foot and threatened her leg. Luckily ER Doctors swooped in with IV drugs and saved the day. Jaden's foot is still healing, the human body is a remarkable think to watch.

Jaden is in good spirits.

Sicily is getting ready for her science fair, she is pretty excited. It is already finished and not until next week. I will post a few pictures of her.

James got his name legaly changed, he is thrilled.

Rannon shaved his head, he decided that long hair was overrated.
Since I was covered in hair, I cut Jonah's and Calvin's too. Calvin has been talking so much lately it makes me laugh. I guess he never had much to talk about before.

Quint has started training Hunter, 9 more weeks of classes. The first was pretty fun, we will probably just go as a family to most of them. I hope the weather improves for next week, I was freezing my tail off. :)

I have been working on my book, I am so glad that I am almost done, really, done with this book. The Editor pinpointed the flaws so fast and explained the changes needed clearly. What a releif. She will be hearing from me with all of my books. ;)

I can't wait to get started on a new story, there are so many to tell and so little time. I am excited for summer, so much of our life is easier then... Jaden's wheelchair is a fair weather friend... lol. Not that I am complaining, her power chair is wonderful, it is just not as happy in some weather conditions. Not to mention her computer that helps her talk, I am sure you get the idea.

Stacey

Fishing

Jonah and his puppy Emily Fishing
Getting all the poles set up is time consuming...
Toward the end of the day Calvin was still going strong.
All set.
Hunter took his job as 'lunch clean up' seriously. As you can see a lot of thought goes into his work. James was careful to keep his finger well out of the way ;)
Calvin is wearing things inside out these days... It can be interesting at church, but he is happy.
Rannon annoyed at his mom for taking his picture...
The lake was picture perfect.
First catch of the day ;) Quint is good to ham it up for the camera.

James and Rannon getting in some quality time.
This is our best out of three, if you know Quint you will see the look on his face and know that he was completely up to something! Get close to him with caution...
Hunter was such a good boy, he stayed beside Quint the entire day.
Jaden was listening to music on her computer while she watched our food and the dogs. She loved walking them around the parking area too. They gave her plenty of space after she ran over their feet a couple of times. She loves her chair and her computer.
All in all it was a great day of wind, sunshine, and fishing. The boys plan to go all the time, us girls will take a nice Sunny day for a spin ;)

All is well here, we are just getting into our springtime grove. Still house shopping, and excited look at as many houses as I can. So far we have found a couple that show great promise and would require very little adaptions for Jaden. Still looking out for the perfect place though and in this market we may as well right?

Sicily started her Science project for school, she is very excited. we are now the proud owners of 5 fish. More to come on that later ;)

C. S. Lewis

1. A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.

2. It is easy to think the State has a lot of different objects -- military, political, economic, and what not. But in a way things are much simpler than that. The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden -- that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time.

3. For who can endure a doctrine which would allow only dentists to say whether our teeth were aching, only cobblers to say whether our shoes hurt us, and only governments to tell us whether we were being well governed?

WoW this really says it. S

Rannon's B-day

Huh?
Buddies
Baptism
At the park before breakfast ;)
Helping Calvin learn how to pet the animals :)
Watching over the younger brothers while baoting :)


Lobster dinner

Part monkey

A little green around the gills
Fireworks in 2 hours!
Harry Potter glasses
Pulling his sisters all over the house.

Getting around pretty good.
At the beach with Daddy
Grandpa Kent holding him 2 days old.



Today is Rannon's Birthday. He is 16 years old and I can hardly believe it. Of course I would be lying to everyone if I didn't admit to feeling maudlin about the children's birthdays any more. They all come so much faster now that they are older and living their own lives.

Rannon was a really cute baby.
I am sorry to say that it took us a couple years to understand why he would run into walls. :(
He is pretty blind without glasses. In fairness, Jaden was born about that time and we just couldn't think about much else.

Something that is a cherished memory about Rannon is when he had to have a hernia operation. I think he was about 5. Years are fuzzing up so bear with me. I was so nervous, and that is hillarious to me since Jaden had been through so many surgeries by then. But this was Rannon, my smiling boy, happy and healthy. I was terrified something would go wrong.

Anyway when it was all over they allowed us into his recovery room, and he whispered for me to come closer. I leaned in and watched his face. He was so serious.
"Mom they messed up."
"What do you mean?"
"They messed up, I can't feel my legs."

It was everything I could do not to laugh. The poor guy was terrified that he was paralized but we assured him that it was temporary. He wouldn't budge. He just knew that we were sugar caoting the truth. Eventually I call the nurse over to verifiy everything we said.

Rannon has been a joy to my life. He is funny, smart, strong, handsome and hard working. Everything a man should be.

Happy Birthday Rannon. We love you more than Chocolate!