Backyard Visitor

A few weeks ago we noticed we had a visitor in our tree in the backyard. We found a small dove with a nest full of two small eggs. We decided that she must not have scouted out her spot too well, since our backyard is like 'home run derby' every night. Not to mention, this tree is only about a year old and is very measly. We showed the boys and talked about how we had to be super careful not to hit the tree.

We've been giving her bread to eat, and keeping a watchful eye on the nest, thinking any day now we would see the babies. Well, today was the day! There are two fuzzy baby birds in the nest. I'm pretty sure she's wishing she'd made a bigger nest. They already look like they could fall out if the wind blows too hard.

Here's some pictures of our backyard visitors...

Spring Campout

****Note: I found this post in my folder that I had 'drafted' and forgotten about. This was from back in early March, but thought I'd give it it's moment in the limelight!****

This year for our annual Sunday School campout we went to Lake Whitney. It was a new experience for us, since this was our first time w/o our camper. We sold our old one just after the new year, and haven't found one since...so we were tent campers for the first time. We put the boys in a small tent and Day and I used a tent we borrowed from our friends the Smiths. The weather was beautiful and the fellowship was great! We had a lot of fun, but it sure is different now that so many of us have kiddos. It just makes for a lot more work and a lot more mess to clean up, more mouths to feed, more clothes to wash when you get home, more people to keep track of, and more toys to fight over share.

I think we might need a bigger table!

Pinata Time!

Conner takin' a wack at it!

Cooper rarin' back for a good swing!

Splashin' in the lake!



Trying to fly kites!

I just loved this pose from Conner. Such a ham!




The boys hangin' out by the fire.




Fishin'

Rock Throwin'

Rock Skippin'

The kids really did well overall and Cooper made a huge milestone while we were there. He's been talking for awhile about wanting to learn to ride his bike w/o training wheels, but since our first attempt, we just haven't taken the time to work on it any more. Well, Cooper made up his mind that he was going to take them off while we were camping. So the first chance he got, we took them off and he never looked back. In true Cooper form...he hopped on his bike and started riding like a pro. He did have some issues with starting and stopping, but mostly because his poor little legs are too short to reach the ground.

We are so thankful that we have a group of people that we can make memories with, that encourage us in our walk with the Lord and have seen us at our worst and love us anyway! I love the memories we are making with our family.

(By the way, in case you were wondering why Carter didn't make it into any of the pictures, its because my mother graciously offered to keep him with her for the weekend. We love ya Carter, but you're just not camping material quite yet!)