Out pickin' berries in Kentucky!

Kentucky is known for its delicious berries. The kids and I headed to an orchard in Paris, KY to pick some incredible blackberries. It was great! The kids could do it all on their own--even Ellie. She knew that she was only supposed to pick the black ones that were ripe and ready, and she did great. We came home a made some blackberry jam, and a blackberry cobbler is on the menu for dessert! We are going to miss being able to do "country" stuff like this when we move (which is just two weeks away!)


Here are the berry pickers!

Can you believe we've been so lucky to live in such a beautiful place for the last 5 years?

This was taken from our car window on the drive home---that's a beautiful tobacco field in the distance. (They really are pretty. )

Feeding the Ducks!

I used to love going to feed the ducks when I was a kid! My Mom would take me to Weber State University once in awhile to feed the ducks so I decided my kids would love to do this--especially Ellie--she loves ducks right now. So--these were pretty smart ducks. We pulled up next to the pond where the ducks live, and before we even got out of the car, all of the ducks (probably at least 40) had surrounded our car waiting for us to get out.

We walked down the sidewalk to a little gazebo so we could maybe keep a little distance between us and the ducks. The ducks formed a line and followed us very closely down to the gazebo.



We threw our bread out to the ducks from the gazebo, but then a few ducks figured out they could walk around and come into the gazebo themselves. Before long we were surrounded in the gazebo.


Our bread didn't last long, the ducks were well fed, and the kids had fun. The ducks figured out we were out of bread, and they headed back to the water.



Successful trip to feed the ducks, but Kelsey has told me several times since, "Lets not go feed the ducks today." I think the brave ducks were a little much for her.

Cameron gets glasses ... and a nose job.

Some strange kid showed up at our house yesterday. Turns out it was just Cameron (in disguise). Do you recognize him?

Roadtrip to Tennessee!

Jaimee and the kids took a little road trip on Friday to Knoxville, TN to visit our great friends the Morgans. For those of you who don't know, Holly and Ike Morgan have lived in Kentucky for the last 4 years going to dental school, and they have two cute kids Makai, and Beck. They moved to Knoxville in May. Jaimee's best friend growing up (the fabulous Shelley Francis) is Holly's older sister, so Holly has just always been a part of my life. I miss her so much since she's moved. It was so fun to be here in Lexington together and she was the closest thing to family that I had here. I've decided when you live away from your family, its really nice to have someone that lives by you that has known you and your family just as long as you have and shares the same memories of growing up and the same hometown. So--Kelsey and Makai were the best of friends and Kelsey's been missing Makai so much since she moved, so we had to take a trip to spend the day there. They played dress ups, and we went to this fun "sprinkler park" in Knoxville--a park that just has all sorts of different water fountains that shoot up or spray and the kids can run around in them. It was a great day to be together--thanks for the fun times Morgans!

The Morgans, and Makai and Kelsey


Ellie loved the sprinklers, and Kelsey and Makai had fun playing dress ups together.


The water guns at the Sprinkler park were a big hit with Cameron. Ellie and Beck are cute friends too!

Lunch with Dad

We met Dad downtown for a picnic lunch today. It was a beautiful day and the kids always love seeing Dad during the week when he's at work. Thanks for working so hard for us Dad! We love you.

All-American Kid

Here's the slugger!


Go Tigers!



Cameron's playing baseball this summer. He's doing great! He has some great coaches that keep it fun for all the kids. Cameron's focus on the game is improving, but he still forgets what he's doing sometimes. Last night at practice he was out in the field and the ball was coming right to him and he was ready but then got distracted by a ladybug and missed the ball. Pretty funny! He did earn the "game ball" though on his first game, which was a big deal for him. It's fun for us to go and cheer for him and its been a great season!

4th of July!

Mac and Ellie playing in the puddles.


Kelsey and Cam with their sparklers!

We had a great Fourth of July--good food, great friends, and fun fireworks! We went to a BBQ at the Hyde's (they were great hosts!) and our kids got along really well. Ellie entertained herself in a puddle of water outside for quite some time. The boys played the Wii. The kids loved the fireworks we had until Ellie decided to reach out and grab the lit end of the sparkler I was holding and burned her finger pretty good. Ouch! She's fine now. Nothin' like the Fourth of July!



My good friend Debbie (with her twins) and Ashlee (with new baby Gray).