Happy July!

 Wearing their fancy princess nightgowns while reading their Fancy Nancy books.

 It still blows my mind that they like fancy princess stuff.

 Grandma, Grandpa, and Aubrey came to visit from Ohio! 

Grandpa almost had the deer eating out of his hand.

 The first thing they like to do in the morning is stack

everything in their room on their beds.

 This boy likes his sister's dolls. Pretty much anything he sees them carry around or play with he thinks is important. He will give them back if they fuss though, which is nice.

 Reading with Grandma. You can see he has brought his sister's 

dolls to her before they started reading.

 This is a rare sight. Sharing the same book! They are such good friends. 

 Another day, another pile.

 Watching the deer.

 Maren put on 3 shirts and 2 skirts this morning.

 I can't imagine how many pieces of clothing she would put on if she could reach them all.

Evren asked me to put on his swimming suit. He is a great non verbal communicator.

Brendan is 36!

 Watching Daddy put up the swimming pool. It is just the right size for them. No pictures of his birthday, but the girls made him a Magnatile cake so he didn't stray from his diet.

 These legos are really stuck together

 These are our other twins. They are actually triplets, but only 2 of them stay together all the time. They really like our yard.

We tried the water table inside with beans, but we can make an even bigger mess if we put it outside and fill it with water. So much fun!

Random Pictures

 There is a deep ravine behind our house. This is a picture of the waterfall that is created when it rains. It was taken in January of this year.

 This is the same waterfall, taken last week. Huge pieces the size of cars have fallen off the sides. This part is not our property, but we will be loosing some land before long.

 Poor boy has to wear girly hand me downs and play with girly toys. He doesn't seem to mind though.

 We bought a bounce house! The perfect use for our empty dining room.

 

I love this illustration of the differences between Maren and Maven. Maven's is more concrete and Maren's is more abstract. What is funny is that although Maren may make more of a mess when she eats or plays, she will clean it up on her own. Maven makes much less mess, but she won't clean it up without being asked. 

They are starting to play together really well!

Now this is interesting. They love to play with this leash. When they are "tied together", they cooperate completely with each other. I hear them compromising about everything. "Let's go to our room. OK, let me get my water. OK, let's go this way." As soon as one of them drops the leash, it's over.

The twins are 3!

 This little guy was born right outside our window!

Salena just graduated from Texas A&M on May 16! She will soon by my sister-in-law!

 Katelyn turned 1 on May 9, she loved the icing on her cupcake at her birthday party.

 Evren is getting so big. He is only 6 inches and 6 pounds behind the girls. 

That is 31.5" and 25 pounds.

When they saw Evren posing for pictures they actually asked if they could too! (Maren)

 I asked Maven for a sad face.

 It is so cool that they will smile for pictures now. (Maven)

 They had a blast at their 3rd birthday party (Maven)

 Maren and Jaylee

The Slip n Slide and water balloons were a hit! It is fun to watch kids have fun. 

April

I can't believe Mommom is gone. It happened so fast. 

           We miss her, but it is comforting to know she is at peace.              

This is before. She gives random people this face all the time and they don't know what to make of it. She is playing what I call the "face game".

This is after. Reverse psychology works on Maren. "Don't you smile." 

Also, we have gone from not keeping any clothes on to changing clothes multiple times a day. 

 Why are they obsessed with carrying around everything they own, but not playing with any of it? They must think it will disappear if they don't have it with them.

 Speaking of which, I may have conditioned them to think that way. Ha. 

At first he didn't want anything to do with Daddy when he put on his computer glasses. 

"Who is this person?"

 I don't have to try very hard to make this guy smile. 

He walks around like this all the time. Too cute for words. 

Pictures

 I got some of my Dad's pictures of Evren's first birthday party and our vacation to the Dominican Republic. The kids and I have since been to Ohio for a visit, but I once again forgot my camera.                                                       

 Uncle Kenny and Grandma. Karin, Patrick, Mommom, Pop and Leah Bolt were all there as well.

 He was very serious about eating his food. He likes BBQ.

Cousin Katelyn will be 1 on May 9! She is walking now and has 4 or 5 teeth!

 So many beautiful pictures of the Domincan Republic. Such a wonderfully relaxing vacation.

 

 Always keeping Evren in check.

 He makes friends everywhere he goes. Old or young.

 Finally passed out from exhaustion

 The peacocks and flamingos were very comfortable with people. 

They would rest right on our balconies.

 Meat market

 Derek Hurlburt came to visit us.

 I thought the back of the peacock was just a pretty as the front.

My first time zip lining, so much fun!

 Kenny gets the award for coolest picture.

 Evren gets close second though!