June '09

Here are some pictures from the month of June. Savannah turned thirteen, received straight A's the whole school year!......Grant graduated from Kindergarten (phew), Forrest received all A's and 1 B...YEAH! Josh and Troy still love to pose for the camera....and they are still full of energy!!

The best part of watching Savannah open her presents was when she finally unwrapped her FAVORITE present...a Rudy Fernandez jersey!
Thank you to Mrs. Hicks for being such a great teacher! 3 out of my five kids had her, and we are so grateful to her for her commitment to teaching kids. We are so sad that Troy and Josh won't have you. Happy retirement!
Grant is out of there!

Check out those muscles!

Fun with the Indiana Jones hat~

Happy 13th Birthday Savannah

Today we celebrate our first teenager! I will never forget the first time I saw her. It is amazing to me how quickly you can completely fall in love with your baby. Our scanner is broken, so, I'm not able to include pictures of her as a baby and little girl. She was a beautiful baby. Savannah has always been so strong. I will never forget her first bath at home, my mom was giving her a bath and Savannah stood up. I am not kidding. I was able to get it on video. She is holding onto my moms arm, she went from a kneeling postition to standing up, she held her own weight with her legs. My description is not doing it justice. It was amazing! Here are some things that I love about my Savannah. She is fun. She loves to laugh and be silly. She is smart. I never have to worry about her grades in school. She has always been responsible that way. She is indepent. When she was younger, she would ask me to teach her how to tie her own shoes...I would always say "someday when you are older", I didn't figure she could do it yet,( and I am a woman of little patience,) well, a few days later she had taught herself. Knowing Savannah as I do now, that is not that surprising. Savannah didn't get much time to be an only child. Forrest was born 11 months later. I was so concerned about how that would affect her, I felt guilty that she wouldn't have the one on one time for long, but she has such an independent attitude, that I don't think it hurt her at all. Although at times it is frustrating to have a strong willed daughter, I love that she thinks for herself....she is not easily swayed. Savannah is a great friend. I have never met someone who has such a wide range of friends. I love that about her. She has all different kinds of friends, and she cares about each of them. I love that she doesn't get involved in the drama that can sometimes be there with girls. She is thoughtful. She is a great older sister, a typical one, but a loving sister. Each of her brothers love her. They are so happy when she lets them into her room, that is a treat ;o) She has to deal with a lot with 4 crazy, younger brothers, but she is also perfect for it. She has a ton of energy and rough houses like a boy. She definitely holds her own. Brett and I rely on her a lot, she is our severly underpaid babysitter, we couldn't do it without her! Savannah is also very athletic. She loves soccer and basketball the most, but does well in all sports. I am so blessed to have her as my only daughter. I wish that I could do more things with her...she makes me laugh. I love her more than I thought possible. I look forward to our relationship growing and changing as we both grow older. Happy birthday Savannah....heres to a great year~ Savannah I went to Disneyland and Sea World last year to celebrate her turning 12. I will always cherish and remember our alone time there.

When in CA, you must have a convertible~

Another thing I love about Savannah....every Halloween she is dressed as something that is dead! No princess or cheerleading costumes for her....not one ever. Here she is a Zombie bride. I always have to steer her away from the bloody costumes.

Savannah and her beloved kitten, Sparkie. RIP sparkie.
I love this picture of Savannah because although she struggled at times to hit the ball consistently, she could always lay down a great bunt, if you look closely you can see the softball. When I played softball the thought of the ball coming that close to my hands scared me to death! I will never forget when she layed this bunt down during an all star game.





A few pictures to show the really silly side of Savannah.


Happy Birthday Savannah!_____________________

Fun in the backyard

Some family fun with Smores....I love them both...family and smores! Smelling like campfire is a compromise for some tasty treats!

A crazy bunch of kids

Forrest just likes to play in the fire I think!

what a mess

simply delicious!

Happy 12th Birthday Forrest

12 Years ago I had my first of 4 sons. 12 years ago I had 2 babies under the age of 1!!!! Did I mention that Forrest and Savannah are only 11 months apart? I can hardly remember what that was like. Now I have two 12 year old. Forrest was such a great surprise. We are so blessed to have him in our family. He is so tender hearted. He is almost always found with this great smile. Forrest was such a chubby baby. I loved how squishy he was. Forrest has taught me a lot about patience, and working hard. I truly admire how hard he works. Forrest took awhile before he started talking, when he wanted to tell me that he loved me he would come over and look at me and say "you, mom." It was so precious and still is to me. Forrest has always been aware of me and my feelings. I love him very much. I love that he shares his birthday with my sister, Beckie! Happy Birthday Forrest!

Forrest loves animals. He was so excited to hold this snake! DISGUSTING!

He is very flexible. I think he would do well in Yoga!

Forrest and Sunny...one of our MANY dogs that we no longer have. :o) Forrest loves dogs.

My all time favorite photo of Forrest! He loved those yellow boots, and it was not uncommon to find him in just his underwear.

Goofy is Forrest's favorite

Forrest has always loved to climb. When he was probably 1 or 2 he would climb over our fence and cross the street. It is a proud moment when your neighbor brings you your kid! We literally had to put up barbed wire on the top of our fence so he would stop escaping! I wish I could find the picture to prove it! True story!!! I swear~ He still loves to climb.

Forrest has a very sensitive heart toward animals. He tried to nurse a young squirrel back to health after one of our other many dogs caught it.

Happy Birthday Forrest. Thanks for brightening our lives with your gentle ways and great smile!