Father's Day at Branson!

 So by now you are probably starting to notice a trend......any holiday that causes too much pain, I run away and get the kids and I out of town.  So Father's Day is no exception.  So this year we headed to Branson for the weekend with my parents.
We spent most of the weekend at Silver Dollar City.  Here is some pictures from there....

 That night we decided to go to the outdoor show "Shepherd of the Hills".  Before the show they had a kids show where the kids can all come up and do a bullfrog race.  Andrew was the only brave soul to do it!

His frog didn't win but he still had a great time trying!

 The next day we went back to Silver Dollar City....

 At the end of the night we went to watch the free show.  They called for kids to volunteer for some parts and of course Adriana was one of the first to raise her hand and they called on her to come up!

 And here is they boys old tyme photos they had taken.  I thought they turned out really good!

Although the weekend was still really hard, it was still good to get away and listen to the kids laugh and have a great time!

Miles Against Melanoma Race!

 This year we participated in the Miles Against Melanoma Race in memory of Chris.  We miss him so much and it still hurts so bad but it makes me happy to see that his death could be saving the life of so many others!
Along the race path, they have pictures of all the Angels that lost the battle to melanoma.  Chris had many signs along the path and it made me so proud!
Here are a few of the pictures he had.....

 

 While waiting for the race to begin, the kids decided to jump on stage and do a little performance of their own :)

 Adriana and her friend, Clare, after they ran the 1.2 mile race!

 After the kids race, my kids and their friends did some volunteer work and handed water to each of the racers.  The kids had a blast doing this, although it did get out of hand a bit!

 At the end of the race they did a balloon release where you could write a note to your loved one to be sent up to heaven.  The balloons also had a light in them to make them glow in the dark, and was super cool!

We had a great time and it was so nice to honor Chris!  And I was overwhelmed with how many people participated in the race in memory of Chris!  I know he was smiling down on us all!

A weekend with cousins!

 My birthday is always the week before Memorial Day which also happens to be the last cheap weekend at Trout Lodge before the prices all go up.  So this year we decided to celebrate with the kids cousins Gabe, Mike, Angeline, and Alex!
The kids had a perfect weekend with amazing weather!
We started the weekend off by kayaking in the lake!

Adriana and Andrew loved it!

 Joey wasn't so sure and stayed close to the shore before getting to scared and getting out.

 That night the camp did a fun night of skits....

 And somores!

Adriana and Angeline teeter tottering together!

 The next day we did more kayaking...

 and swimming!

 We also did some archery!

 and more swimming!

 And more archery!

 The best picture I could get of all 7 kids!

The kids had an amazing time!  We also played mini golf, rode bikes, and did some crafts!  It was the most perfect birthday weekend a girl could ask for!!!

Kindergarten Graduation!

 I can't believe how big my little boy is getting!  He has done incredibly well adjusting to kindergarten, especially considering when his dad died on his first day of school!  I know Chris would be so proud of it and it breaks my heart that he is not here with us to celebrate our little boy!
Anyway, don't want to make this a sad post.  Here is my big boy looking so handsome on his special day!

Here he is getting ready for his kindergarten presentation!  He isn't a boy who likes to be on stage in front of people so he tends to shy away!

 Andrew and his buddy's, AJ and Sam!

 Andrew and his student teacher, Mr. Vossenkemper!

 Andrew and his teacher Mrs. Gotsch!

 Andrew and MawMaw and PawPaw!

So sadly we move on to first grade!  I know he is very smart and will always do well in school!  I'm so proud of you, Andrew!!!!

Strawberry picking with Joey!

 We love fruit picking every year and I usually try to do it with all three kids but this year didn't work out for the strawberry picking since the older two were always in school.  So I decided to just bring Joey and he had an amazing time picking all to himself :)
Picking just the right strawberry.....

 Working hard finding the best strawberries!

 What an accomplishment!

Now time to play while mom pays for the strawberries :)

 

We had a great time and although I missed my older two a lot, I must admit it was much easier with just one with me!



Cardinals game!

For Mother's Day, we received a special gift from our financial advisor for Edward Jones!  She gave us 4 tickets to a Cardinals Game as well as passes to go down on the field to watch batting practice!
So we made a full day of it and headed downtown early to walk around a bit.

Then we headed down to batting practice.  Skip Schumaker came over to the kids and signed an autograph for them!  This made the kids so extremely excited to meet a Cardinals player!

 Some of the Cardinals players during batting practice!

 The kids and I getting ready to watch the game!

We had a great time and it made it easier to get through my first Mother's Day without Chris here with us!

Fishing with PawPaw!

 Today Paw Paw took the boys fishing.  The boys love fishing so much and don't get to do it as much as they used to with their daddy!  So PawPaw tries to make sure to do it with the boys as much as possible.!
Joey and the fish he caught!

Andrew and his fish!

Someday the boys will be able to do most of this on their own and hopefully have a love for it like their daddy did!