Bouncin for Bella's Birthday!

Our friends Bri and John invited us to their daughter Bella's third birthday at a fun bouncy place! It was Sophia's first big birthday party!

She loved bouncing and had a great time with her friends Tyler and Oliver!!

Tyler wasn't all that stoked about the slide.
Tyler, Oliver and Sophia playing
Oliver and Sophia taking a stroll.

Dad and Sophia sliding!

What a big girl!

Super-pack!

We aren't quite sure when Emma is saying (we think "Super-pack"?) but whatever it is Sophia thinks it's the funniest thing she has EVER heard!

Oh and at the end, my dad says "Here it is Marce!" He is referring the urgent care place in Traverse City that they had to take me to nine years ago when both of my hands blew up to the size of basketballs...well not that big, but it was quite ridiculous! Richelle you may remember that it started in our summer English class. Never did figure out what caused it... freak.

Boys of Sophie's Summer

Sophia has had the opportunity to hang out with two of her fellow future class mates this summer. Here she is with Oliver in the bath. She was fine with it, but I'm not sure Oliver is ready for that next step!

(I'm not sure why this pic rotated. Only have a few minutes before nap is over so I'll try to figure it out later :))

Here she is with Tyler. He IS ready for that next step!

Love hanging out with you guys!!

This just makes me laugh...

Sophia's Song

When Emma was a baby we made up a song about her and sang it all the time. She would laugh and dance to it. It goes a little something like this:

"Emma Grace, Emma Grace, Emma Grace has a lovely face.

Emma Grace, Emma Grace, She's the cutest girl in the human race.

10 little fingers, 10 little toes, two blue eyes and one button nose.

Emma Grace, Emma Grace, Emma Grace has a lovely face!!"

We've been trying not to force one for Sophia, but it's finally here! It's goes:

"So-So-So-Sophia. So-So So-Sophia.

So so pretty, So so nice. She is full of sugar and spice.

So-So-So Sophia So-So-So Sophia. oooah! oooah!"

We got Emma to give you a little preview. She gets a Sophia and a so pretty in there, but she nails the ending!

The Kayak Story

Karie and I decided to get up before the kids one morning and go kayak on the lake. There are no wake hours before 11:00am so lake is sooo smooth and quiet and peaceful. We made our way into a quiet cove where we could see the bottom of the lake. We saw fish swimming, lillypads and a big turtle! We were so excited to see him so close up. He actually had freaky eyes and a long tail. Dad said he was a snapping turtle.

We made our way back to the house after about an hour. As pulled up to shore and got out I looked in my kayak and right next to where I had been sitting for the past hour was a frog!!!!! I said "Thank you Jesus for not letting me know that he was there because I would have tipped out and been swimming back to the house!"

Our quiet morning turned into one of squealing as Steve got him out...

There he is on the bottom right corner ^.

So just as Steve was letting the frog go a snake slithered by us!! Are you kidding me?! Sue, Karie and Marcie are all jumpning and screaming, but again Steve "Irwin" Cowden came to our rescue.
He got it! Needless to say our quiet morning was over,

kids were up, but it does make for a great story.

It also gives new meaning to Connie's cute plaque in the dining area...

Spider Lake

We miss Spider Lake!! We spent eight days up at Dad and Connies lakehouse in MI. It was so fun...boating, skiing, jetskiing, kayaking (be sure to look for that blog), pontoon cruises, paddle boating, ice cream, fudge... such wonderful memories. Can't wait until next year!

Sophia got to meet all of her Michigan cousins!

Right to left: Emma, Graham, Jonah, Ella, Noah and Sophia.

This is probably the only picture we have of her smiling in her lifejacket. She hated it!

Here she is not cooperating with our family self portrait.

Sophia, mama and Papa Roger.


Jared got some much needed R&R!

My very dear friend Lindsay and her boyfriend Michael came down to visit. It's crazy how we never miss a beat. It had been four years since we've seen each other! Way too long! Thanks for coming Linds!!