April Celebrations

April is a time in our family for Reeve and I to celebrate our birthdays, which reminds us all:

April began with a visit from our great friends the Longs!  Reeve loved hanging out with Kylie:)

The weekend started off with Joden's magic show that he likes to perform for visitors:)  Mike got to be a participant from the audience!

Saturday morning was Race for Grace in Grand Island so Reeve stayed behind with the Longs while Joden, Mike, and I did the 2 mile.  We of course ran in honor of my mom and her battle with breast cancer twice now.  She thankfully is on the mend and we are incredibly thankful for that!!

That afternoon we took the Longs to the horse races.  They were successful at placing some bets and winning some money!  We had a great time:)

After the races the Keaslings joined us for dinner.  This was the crew that all went to Mexico last summer and had a great time together!  It was fun to all get together again.

That night Ellie stayed the night and we caught these three all sleeping in the same bed:)

During the month of April on Sunday nights our basketball team utilizes a 3 on 3 league for 3rd through eighth graders as our fundraiser.  It is so awesome seeing this many young ladies in the gym getting better at basketball, while at the same time it helps us fund our camps in the summer!  

We helped our niece Delayna celebrate her first communion:) 

To celebrate my birthday this year we had Mike and I's family come down for the horse races.  We started our Saturday off right with Grit Cardio at the YMCA and then coffee at The Chocolate Bar!

Aunt Shannon brought Reeve her birthday gift and of course she could not wait to open it!

Mike's siblings and significant others enjoying the races!  We missed Mike's sister Heather and Shannon's husband Rob.

Kati stole my phone for a moment:)

Sure do love my sister in laws!

Here is my family:)  We have not been able to do too much of this as a family since my mom has had cancer, so this was such a great feeling to have us all together!

  

Off to Wasabi for some delicious sushi!

Mike had Nate try some fish eggs-I believe-since this was his first time having sushi:)  Poor Nate!

So thankful for not only my family, but the family I married in to!  Love you all and thanks so much for making it down to help me celebrate my birthday:)

Next up, Reeve had to get her kindergarten shots and this girl rocked it!  Not sure where her bravery kicked in, but she definitely surprised me!  I am very proud of her and am excited for this next journey of her in school.

So one night Joden fell asleep in our bed and got up to potty.  Next thing Mike and I knew he slept walked out into the living room where we were watching TV.  In his state of sleepiness he grabbed my bra off our bedroom floor thinking it was his blankey and took it to bed with him:)  I know he will hate me for this picture later in life, but it truly was hilarious.

Crazy hair day at school for Reeve!

Mike took off turkey hunting one weekend so I let the kids each invite a friend over.  We hit up the library for South American story time.  It was fun watching this man play music for us!

Mike got a turkey!

Joden's school puts on a fun fair each spring so the kids had fun taking some pictures in the photo booth.

Birthday party for a daycare friend-Austin!  I thought this was a cute picture of some daycare friends:)  So young and innocent!

Reeve is now 5!  This was the morning of her birthday and then after daycare we went and got her ears pierced.  She rocked that too!  Again, not sure where the bravery is coming from, but we will take what she is giving us:) 

Reeve picked Fuji for her birthday dinner!  My sister and her girls joined us for the fun:)  

To say she had a great birthday is an understatement.  This is the first year that she really just got all in to her birthday.  She told everyone she saw that it was her birthday, what she was doing to celebrate, and that she got her ears pierced.  She really is coming out of her shy shell!

Since her birthday was on Thursday, we had her party on Saturday.  She took two friends to Xenon where they got their hair, nails, and makeup done.  Afterwards we went to our house for cake, ice cream, and gifts.  It was the easiest birthday to date and she LOVED it!

On the left is Ellie, a friend she has known all her life and on the right is Adeline who she has met at the YMCA.  They all got along great:)

So for about the last month this birds nest has been a part of our wreath on our front door.  Although it will be messy with all the bird poo, it has been very neat to watch!  The kids have enjoyed getting to see the different stages thus far. 

Our month ended with dinner group at our house.  For some reason Joden put his sisters headbands on and went around taking pictures with our dinner group friends:) 

 We sure are thankful for our dinner group who has truly become our Grand Island family!  We have been doing this now for about 7 1/2 years.  It sure has been fun watching all the kids grow up and become like cousins.  Looking forward to many more years ahead!


So once again as I reflect on the month of April we cannot help but feel blessed with the family, friends, and all other blessings in our lives.  We are incredibly grateful for this and always pray for    God to continue to surround us and walk along with us every day!