Hot Air Balloon Festival June 2011!
I know I haven't blogged in a long time, so here are a few pics of all of us from Friday night.

The family: Scott, Annabel, Parker, Patrick, Tanner, Kari

Annabel

Patrick (featuring Tanner in a bad moment to the right)

Tanner

Parker

Festival of Trains

Yesterday we went to an event that we thought the boys would like... the Festival of Trains. They LOVED it and so we hope to make it a Christmas tradition. Here are some photos.

Little Miss Annabel

Well, Annabel has reached that age when she discovers her ability to do exceeds her reasoning skills. Hence, she closes herself in rooms, gets stuck on the stairs, and falls down. A LOT. Here are a few pictures of what she is up to.

Any Christmas card that is within her reach is quickly seized.

Yes, she actually pulled the pots out of the cupboard so she could climb in.

Climbing up stairs

Sitting on her chair is so fun...

BUT standing is so much better.

Playing Peek-a-boo!

Sledding!

Patrick




Tanner

Parker

Scott & Annabel

Sufjan Stevens ? Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing ?

Sufjan Stevens ❝ Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing ❞

MY CHERRY PRINCESS

So, if you have been to Traverse City, you know that it is the home of the National Cherry Festival. It is a huge 8 day event that brings in tourists galore. Being a TC native, I love having the kids take part in the festival, like I did as a child. This was Annabel's first festival, and I have the cherry outfits lined up. Here she is below.

Note the cherry sunglasses... thanks to my sister.

No, not cherries, but red and white.

Annabel at the Cherry Royalle Parade.

Annabel with her Grandama at the festival open space.

Mothers Day Wishes

This year when asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, I simply stated pancakes that spell out mom and to do Parker's hair the way I wanted to. I got everything I wanted. It was GREAT!

Doesn't Parker look like a little stud-muffin? If only he'd let me do that everyday... but, no dice.

SPRING UPDATE

Okay, so it may appear that we've fallen off the face of the earth (and quite honestly, I feel a bit that way too) but the truth is we've have a crazy bunch of life changing events. So, here's the update. First, in the certainty the Scott's bank was being shut down by the FDIC (which occurred last week) Scott accepted a position in Traverse City a couple of months ago. For awhile, I stayed with the kids in Port Huron, but since we've sold our house (closing tomorrow) we have moved up to TC, as well. Currently I'm staying with my parents while we look for a house. With all that was happening, I neglected to do many things, including blog. SORRY! Here are a few key moments that have passed by...

This is Tanner running to ride in the big yellow moving truck. He had no clue that he was leaving his house forever... just excited about the ride. He enjoyed the ride, but keeps talking about our house and hasn't quite figured out what "moved" means yet.

We had Parker's birthday at McDonalds. It was by far the easiest birthday party I've ever thrown. He loved it. Parker is now 5.



Patrick also turned 8, the week of our move. Consequently, his party consisted of family only. I wasn't thrilled, but I managed to make a huge cake while packing a house... he was such a good sport. His baptism is coming up, and we will try to make a bigger deal of THAT.



As you may have noticed in past blogs, every year we had tulips in front of our house, and I always took portrait shots of the kids. The tulips opened the week of our move, so I quickly took some of Annabel. It was as if the house gave me one last thing before we had to say goodbye... early tulips.

This is the family picture from Easter Sunday. Notice that everyone matches but me... I refused to buy new clothes while I am not my optimal size. :). That's the update! We are happy to be moving on after months of worry. Scott loves his new job, and we are thrilled to be in Traverse City (my home town, and where we lived when we were first married. Patrick was even born here). Now we're just excited to find our new home. Life is good!