Madison's 6th Birthday!

What a great weekend! Friday, Chris and I went out on a date in Ft. Wayne. We went to Club Soda, downtown. We had a nice, quiet and good dinner. The President at Flint and Walling's daughter was willing to babysit for us. Yippee! We got home and My sister and her family arrived to Madison and Max's suprise. We did not tell them that they were coming. We wanted them to be really suprised and it worked. They stayed Friday and Saturday night. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating Madison's birthday. It was so good to see my sister. It was almost as hard to say goodbye again as it was the first time.

Madison had a great birthday. She was spoiled rotten.

The Dude Ranch

We can not say enough good things about our dude ranch experience. It was an action packed week with riding, shooting, fishing, playing, swimming, square dancing, eating and cooking. Our entire family enjoyed the week.

We have already mentioned Madison on her horse. Max liked riding Dewey. Dewey was a pony whose only job was to ride the under 6 kiddos around. Max and Chris took Dewey barrell racing one day and Max thought that he was big stuff.

Chris and Laura did an all day cattle drive. We enjoyed doing it but I think Chris and I have decided we are not cut out to be cowboys.

We enjoyed Max square dance. He was so cute trying to figure it out. He really enjoyed it. The following morning when he got up he asked us "Why do you call it square dancing, when all you do is go in circle?"

Well they say all good things must come to an end. The night that we packed up to leave Max cried himself to sleep because he did not want to leave.

First Day of School

Our little girl started kindergarten. Talk about emotions flowing. Somehow this seems like such a big step. I could see a slideshow of the last 5 plus years as I drove away from school. Somehow, I feel like I have sheltered my little chick for 5 years and now I have to let her fly on her own. This is hard for a Momma as some of you know.

She is loving school. She woke up at 5:00am the other morning announcing that she was ready for school. This is very funny since she does not go until 11:35am.

Madison is riding the two blocks home from school on the school bus. She feels so big and is loving every minute of it. Everyone seems to be doing fine except for Mommy!

Two little Chefs

It was the day before Madison's first day of school so I wanted to make a big deal out of her starting school. So, I decided to let Madison and Max pick out and cook the dinner that night. The meal was meatball subs, green beans and fries. For dessert Max picked banana cream pie.

We had such a great time cooking and laughing together. Not to mention, dinner was Great!

Friends and Family

Well our last two weeks in Louisville were a lot of fun. For two weeks we had people generous enough to host us for dinner so that we did not have to eat out every night. We had a cookout, ribs, steaks, Gattiland and many other great meals. Thanks to everyone who had us over. The food was great but the fellowship was the best. We love you all and appreciate all you did for us.

Colorado Springs

Chris and I were able to spend 3 days in Colorado by ourselves before the kids came out with their Aunt Susan. We flew into Denver and drove to Colorado Springs. We visited the Garden of the Gods and Estes Park. What a beautiful experience. We saw some of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen. The ultimate adventure of our trip was climbing Pikes Peak. This was a very intense hike. We hiked about 7 1/2 hours. Once we reached the top we rode the railway down. This is definitely an experience that we will never forget.