saying goodbye to the white coat

after the guys had all completed their final rotation, they decided to get a big group together to go paintballing.  they did this to a) have fun together before they all went their separate ways and b) so they could officially say "goodbye" to their white coats. 

i'm pretty sure they all had a ton of fun.  at least i know tyler did.  here they are in the before picture. 

and here's the after picture.  notice how their white coats are still, well, white?  the paintball place had recently changed the paintball color to white.  i think all of the wives got a kick out of that one.  but seriously, i'm glad they got to get together one last time before we moved.

the devries come for a visit

the devries decided to come up for one last visit before tyler graduated from medical school.  we were so glad they did!  it's always a good time with the devries family.  we miss visiting with them every once and a while.  move to utah!

while they were visiting we put the kids down for a nap and played a game of settlers, took the kiddos to the park and went out eat at the chancery.  the time went by too quickly, but we were so glad to see them one last time.

mother's day

i know i'm slightly late getting this post done, but i am one lucky mom to have these three wonderful kids in my life.  i love these little ones to bits and pieces.  we have our really good days, and of course we have our rough ones, but they sure bring a ton of added joy to my life.

i am aslo so grateful for all of the other wonderful mothers i'm surrounded by.  i consider myself to be very blessed to be the daughter of my own mother.  i love her and am always grateful for her good example.

happy (late) mother's day.

katelyn's birthday

katelyn turned a big whopping five years old in may!  she really is our big girl.  to celebrate she really wanted one last party before we moved to utah.  it was a busy time of year, but we couldn't pass up this one request since she wouldn't see some of these friends again.

we ended up doing a joint party with her friends eliza and danielle.  it was perfect!  we all divided the responsibility and made everything as simple as possible.  we had a pajama party, so each girl wore their jammies and brought their pillows.  the kids made fruit loop necklaces, played pillow musical chairs, and ate some pancakes and juice.

instead of presents for all the birthday girls, we asked everyone to bring one wrapped book.  we then played a game where they switched books and unwrapped it and were able to take it home. it was a fun party.

katelyn was also able to bring cupcakes to share with her classmates on her birthday.

we are so proud of our little katelyn.  she is such a good girl with a great desire to do what is right.  we love having this sweet spirit in our home.

three months old

reese is certainly adored here in our home.  she is our little sweetheart. she is so content and has such a calm nature.  last month i said reese was crying a little more, which is crazy.  this girl is not a cryer (except in her carseat, which she really dislikes).  maybe she was just having an off month?  reese is always smiling and happy, even though you can't tell in the pictures.  this month we have even gotten her to giggle and we're ready for more.  reese has found her hands and is constantly sucking on them.   she loves being with people.  she will lay on her blanket or under her playmat, but she is definitely happiest when she is with someone.  when she is tired she starts to "talk" a ton.  she loves to be swaddled and have her binky when she sleeps.  we just love this sweet little girl of ours.

museum of science and industry

with our time here in wisconsin coming to an end, my sister and i felt the need to get together again.  we met at the museum of science and industry (and all got in for free-wahoo) and had a blast.  the kids were well behaved and loved the freedom of getting to run around. 

there's this great tractor the kids can play on that they absolutely love, but there is a catch to it...there is a constant line of people waiting for their kids to play.  so you basically tell your kids to run up and have as much fun as they can in the tractor for about 5 minutes.  our kids took that literally.  they were having a ton of fun and might have looked a little crazy inside.

the babies were present

the best area by far was the kiddie area.  any place with water is going to be a hit.

tyler made this day possible.  i was able to visit with camille because he kept a good eye on the kids pretty much the whole time.

blessing day

we blessed our little reese when she was two months old.  tyler gave her a wonderful blessing.  reese was nice and quiet and i think she even stayed asleep.  and we were extra lucky to have my sister and her family come up and visit us for the day and take part in the blessing. they're the best!  so, so grateful for the prietshood and for family.

on a side note, we took one picture of all of us together.  one!  for one picture, i can't believe how many of the kids are looking.