It's update time again. We've had a fun summer so far and I am dreading the end of it. You may ask why... well, my sister and her wonderful husband and 2 sweet kids are moving from Paris to Costa Rica at the end of August. My feelings are completely selfish. I LOVE having them 5 minutes down the road! I don't want them to go. They are off to language school though in a month and will go from there to Lima, Peru, where they have committed to work as long-term missionaries. I know that God will work wonders through them there and I (begrudgingly) support and am proud of their decision. These first few pictures are from their garage sale. All of their belongings going to Peru have to fit in an 8x8 space in a crate... that's not much room. So we all came to help sell the rest. Kellan wasn't sure about all this. He reclaimed a pair of his mom's shoes and some assorted items from the free box.He also wasn't real sure about letting people sit on his couch. He guarded it for most of the afternoon.Us girls manned the cash box for most of the sale.John Mark and Daddy came to help Mom when the kids needed us girls... wait, John Mark apparently came to help. It looks like Daddy's motives were not quite as honorable. :) Parker got thirsty and ordered a Taco Delight Dr. Pepper. You would not believe how fast she downed that thing. While all the rest of us worked the garage sale, Clay played the very important role of babysitter for most of the 2 afternoons. He was great! I went to the backyard a few times and they were climbing and jumping off the fort, sword fighting, swimming and here is a picture of their kickball game.
Evie's husband, Chris is off in Iraq right now, so Clay took the opportunity to tell Gabriel about a few man-of-the-house responsibilities. Clay had him all afternoon and Gabriel learned to drive the lawn mower and rake, among other things. They were worn out by the time we got home.In fact, everyone was pretty tired after a long weekend of purging and playing.
Enjoying a good family dinner together... those times get sweeter and sweeter as the time for them to leave gets closer.
Alright, on to less depressing topics... I love this picture of Clay and Avery because it is a typical scene in our house. Normally Clay is adorned with some sort of beads around his neck. Unfortunately, I haven't caught that on camera yet.

Avery and Tyler had a morning at the park. That was Avery's first time at a big park like that and she loved it. I'm not sure how much I like all the climbing apparatus since Avery has my affinity for clumsiness... I guess you have to just close your eyes and go with it sometimes though.
Do you think she likes the slide?

Luke and Katie gave the girls their very first matching outfits. I love them! And I love how much Avery loves her sister. She is so sweet with her.
A couple of weekends ago, we went to Oklahoma for my cousins wedding. This is how Avery travels. Walking is for the birds when Daddy can pull you on the suitcase.

Tyler had his 2nd birthday party a few weeks ago. The kids had a great time... especially with the red icing on the cupcakes.
Afterwards, Avery spent the night at Kellan's house. I think she looks grown up with her backpack full of her stuff.

Sweet sister picture. Pictures like this remind me of me and my sisters. I'm so excited for the memories they will make together. Um, just in case anyone is interested, the Swiffer mop can be adjusted for height. Avery was pumped about her own custom sized mop... I just wish I could get her to mop the tile, not the carpet.
The next few pictures represent penchants developed by some of my favorite people. The first is Landry's new penchant for her thumb. Landry is well on her way to becoming a bonafide thumb sucker. She'll take her paci still, but at night I find her like this all the time.
Second, Kellan's penchant for well-made, high heels. His dad's a little uneasy with this one. :)
Third, Avery's penchant for ketchup. She actually calls it hot sauce... she loves that too and apparently doesn't care to distinguish between the two.

The 4th of July we decided to do up right as John Mark and Tara's big American send-off. We went and watched fireworks, which were a big hit with the kids. Notice Avery's papi flies at the same level as the American flag. The next day we took everyone out to the lake. We hit a major milestone with Avery here. I know in this picture it doesn't look like it, but Avery all of a sudden decided she liked the water! YAY! We have been working on this all summer. I'm glad it's finally paying off.
Notice Kellan's tough tat here.
And go ahead and notice Avery's lake hair. She takes after her dad.
After the lake we came back to our house and ate and popped a few fireworks.
Little Caden won the Best Baby award this weekend by a longshot. The contest was between he and Landry and Landry blew her chances when she decided to scream (yes, REALLY scream) for almost the entire time we were at the lake.Um, I'm not sure if this is legal in Blogland, but I'm tired of writing so I'll just leave you with some assorted pictures of our summer.

Picking mommy's tomatoes

Dopey was apparently "shooey"

Check out Kanyon sitting up like a big boy!
3 month pictures