1st Cooking Lesson- Making Pudding

I let Ella and Emma help me make some instant pudding the other day.  They stood on a step stool and whisked the mixture.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good of a job they did, without spilling a single drop.

Ella

Working Together

Emma

Feeding the Ducks

We went to a park one Saturday morning to let the girls have their first experience feeding ducks.  They had a blast throwing the pieces of bread to the ducks.  Daddy and I were a bit nervous as they kept moving closer to the water, but they did a good job staying dry and watching the ducks.  Now, every time we drive past that park they ask about the ducks.

Wonderland Night

Bryan's company had a night at Wonderland a few weeks ago.  Ella and Emma brought a whole new level of fun for us.  They are old/ big enough to ride a few of the kiddie rides by themselves and had so much fun.  Bryan and I didn't even ride the big kid rides.  We discovered the joy of watching our kids having fun.

First we rode the carousel (my very favorite ride of all times!).

Ella

Emma and Daddy

Then the girls rode the boats.  They had fun trying to steer them and figuring out how to ring the bell.

After the boats came the helicopters.  Since these can get pretty high and the only thing holding them in is one big seat belt, I decided to ride with them. 

Ella & Emma look good driving their pink mustang.

Riding the train was also a lot of fun.

Thanks Memaw and Datt for such a fun evening!

New Bible Class

While we were at the ranch, the kids in the Bible classes at home were promoted to the next level.  So, when we got back, the girls were ready to be in the 2 year old class.  I did not think much of it when dropping them off (except to hope they did well in a new room with new teachers), but upon picking them up, I got a bit teary.  Mrs. Sally and Ms. Vonda told us what a great job they had done in Bible class.  They already knew several of the songs, they participated, and were great students.  Then, Mrs. Sally gave me their "Baby Bibles."  These are the Bibles they have used since their very first Bible class when they were about 3 months old.  She told me, "They use big Bibles now."  I'm not sure exactly why, but that really got to me.  My babies aren't babies any more.

Ella

Emma

Reading their "baby Bibles" after class

Sweet Sleepin' Girls

I had no idea, when we first had children, how many pictures we would take of them sleeping.  They are just so sweet (and sometimes funny).  Here are a few of my favorite pics of our sweet sleepin' girls.

Emma

Ella

Ranch Family Reunion

The Family

It rained almost every day.

A Beautiful Rainbow

The 4th of July brought our traditional vacation/ family reunion with Carla's family at the family ranch.  Once again, we had a great time visiting with the family, relaxing, and having some fun.

Clouds on our way to the ranch

Ella and Emma had a great time exploring, playing, and getting lots of attention.

Ella found Newton's boots.

Emma wanted to try them on too.

"Swings are always one of my favorites," says Emma.

Emma with baby and cup.

"Thanks Grandy for putting them up for us," says Ella

Playing on the front porch with sidewalk chalk

Riding 4-wheelers with Mommy and Daddy was a new adventure this year.  They LOVED it!

We shot off fireworks a couple of nights.  They were beautiful, and the girls slept right through them.

It was a great trip!  Glad we got to spend the time with family and have some fun while we were at it.  We are blessed to have such a loving family and beautiful place to be together.