daddy's birthday

In October, we celebrated Daddy's birthday.  Mommy says she can't believe that it's his last year in his 30's!! :) :)  We enjoyed celebrating Daddy with dinner at one of his favorite places...Buca di Beppo.  (And, he & Mommy also celebrated with a date night!)  We sure love our Daddy, and we are so thankful for him.

Daddy & Mommy

Ready to get our Italian feast on!!

Daddy (& cousin, Easton) with his celebratory cake.  Don't worry...we helped him eat a lot of it!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!  You are very loved!

disney on ice

I (Emmersyn) LOVE Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy, Goofy...well, the whole gang.  So, as a fun surprise for me, Mommy took me to Disney on Ice with my cousin, Madison, and Aunt Helen.  I wasn't sure where I was going, but once I saw Mickey on the ice, I was SOOOOO excited!!  I loved watching all my favorite characters as they performed on the ice.  Such a fun morning out!

Madison & me

Mommy & me

My sheer excitement...Mommy says that my excitement made it worth every penny! :)

fill 'er up...1st day of swimming

We moved into our new home in the middle of August.  But, due to some permits & weather conditions, we were delayed in our pool being finished.  So, one Saturday in mid-September, while Mommy was at an all day conference at church, we got to hang with Daddy.  On top of all the fun we have with Daddy, it also happened to be the day they were going to fill up our swimming pool.  We were so excited.  And, even better, Daddy let us put on our bathing suits and swim while it was filling up!  We were so excited. Such a fun time swimming.  We know we will log many hours swimming in our pool...we are ready for summer again! :)

Emmersyn ready to swim!

All smiles...hard to contain our excitement!

Brecken loved the water, too.

They are practically standing up in the deep end of the pool...only time they will ever be able to do that since it's about 9-10 feet deep once the water is in there!

Brady standing on the bench that will soon be underwater.

Jumping off the "waterfall" ledge as the water is filling up.

Jumping off the ledge...& loving it!

All smiles sitting on the floor of the pool where it will be about 4-5 feet deep.

It took all day for the water to fill up the pool, and we had so much fun swimming for a few hours.  We are so excited for all the many hours of swimming we will share in this pool.

brecken's 1st tooth lost

Mommy's uncle and aunt were visiting from Holland for a few weeks, so we had them over for dinner one evening.  They enjoyed seeing the house and eating dinner together.  Right after dinner, Brecken's tooth fell out!  He was so excited (& a little scared).  His first tooth lost...& he had a cheering section for this occasion.  3rd kid...1st lost tooth.

Check out the missing tooth!

If you look closely, you can see the space when he smiles.  Such a sweet boy!

mommy's birthday

We love celebrating birthdays in our home.  Mommy's birthday is on September 11, and we had a fun day celebrating her.  After church, we headed to one of her favorite restaurants, Bad Daddy's.  (She loves their salad with grilled black bean burger!)  We showered her with some gifts and made her feel like a princess all day.  That night, Daddy took her out on a date to Melting Pot, another favorite of Mommy's.  They enjoyed the time away (They love date night!), but not without taking a few pictures before they left! :)

Mommy & Me

Mommy & Brady

Mommy & Brecken 

Mommy & Emmersyn

Happy 38th Birthday to our Mommy!

And, Daddy & Mommy all ready for their date night.

1st day of preschool

Today is the big day...Daddy & Mommy's last baby is starting preschool for the first time.  2 days a week.  9-1.  10 minutes away.  I am excited about this adventure, and Mommy will be, too, once she realizes how she can go to the doctor, get her hair cut, run errands, do chores around the house more quickly, and have early lunch with Daddy/a friend without me.  I have 2 teachers, Mrs. Meredith & Mrs. Ashley, and I am excited about meeting friends.

First day of preschool...here I come!

Got my lunch all packed...& my lovie for the day.

home with emmersyn

Now that school has started for the older 3, it's been so fun having time with just Mommy.

Doing puzzles with Mommy...

...& I love figuring out which piece goes "behind" which "door."

So proud of me! :)

Pigtail fun!

Enjoying some outside time with Mommy...& she just loved this picture of me.

1st day of school

How quickly the summer went by.  We sure had lots of summer fun, and it's hard to believe another school year is here.  On top of having a 5th grader and a 3rd grader going back to school, Mommy also has another baby starting "big" school...ME (Brecken)!!!  I am starting Kindergarten.  So anxiously excited for this day.  Sure was a great summer, and we are looking forward to a great school year.

Averie starting 5th grade...her last year of elementary school!

Brady starting 3rd grade!

And, me, starting Kindergarten!!!

5th grader, 3rd grader, & the Kindergartener

Lake Norman Christian School 2017

We love that Daddy gets to join along on the first day fun.

Averie in her classroom.

Brady in his classroom.

And, then, me in my classroom...so excited for my first day!

First day of Kindergarten...here I come!

Ready for a great school year!

summer finales

We had another super fun summer filled with so many fun activities.  Our favorites were our Myrtle Beach trip, Ohio weekend, swimming, and going to Carowinds.  Here are some snapshots Mommy took with her phone of some of our end of summer fun.

Trying out the swings for my first time at Carowinds...I LOVED it!

Brecken is super excited about being at Carowinds!

Merry-go-round fun...

...& Mommy didn't even get sick.  All smiles from us!

This is probably the 3rd basketball Brady won this summer at Carowinds.  We each get to play one game while we are there, and he always picks the basketball one.  We love Carowinds...& Averie is fearless...riding everything she can as much as she can!

What Mommy?  I can't wear Brecken's shorts...

...or your shoes? :)

Such a cutie!

We also spent a lot of our summer packing up our house (ok...Mommy did!).  We sold our house in June, and we moved out of our home in the middle of August.  Such a bittersweet time.  While we were happy to move into our new home (only 2 miles down the road), we also sad to leave our home of 8 years.  Lots of wonderful memories shared in this home...lots of family fun...lots and lots of laughter!  Our last picture taken in our home...time for new memories and lots of laughter in the new house!