Today we headed to Fresno to celebrate our nephew Jack's second birthday. As you can see, it was a construction theme - and Jack found his diggers useful for scooping up bites of his cake! Nathan especially enjoyed playing with Jack's toys and helping him open his presents, since Jack lost interest rather quickly. 
With the girls at art class, Nathan always wondered what we would do without them! We used that hour (which flew by, of course!) to run errands, play at various parks in Hanford and visit Grandpa and Grandma Tos. Here he is playing at the park...
This week the girls went to an art class each morning for an hour. They loved it! Here they are showing off some of their creations.
We celebrated last night with Uncle Ryan, Zachary & Ainsley and Grandpa and Grandma Tos. Beth chose to have spaghetti for dinner and a yummy chocolate cake for dessert. We had a great time! Her favorite gift? Her very own Bible! Her eyes lit up when she opened it and she has been reading it often throughout the day today. 
Six days old - July 4, 2000
December 2000 - Six months old... and filling our lives with smiles! Here she is modeling the blanket and cap Grandma Tos made for her.
June 2001 - One year old
June 2002 - two years old We had a birthday party for Beth on the day of Allison's baptism. She has been a great big sister from the very beginning.
June 2003 - Three years oldPlaying in our backyard in Escalon
June 2004 - Four years old... and modeling her new dress up clothes! 
June 2005 - Five years old... and proudly wearing her new wings and wand from our dear friends, Dave and Jen. They always find the best gifts for our girls!
June 2006 - Six years old!It's hard to believe that Beth will be seven years old tomorrow. I am so very thankful for her. She is a beautiful little girl on the outside, but it is the inside that I am the most proud of. God gave her such a sweet spirit and she really loves Jesus and cares about others. I am so happy to be her Mommy!
We were excited to find some more fun pictures of our family on the "Video Scrapbook" DVD of our week at Family Camp. Above you see Tim, Tami's husband, holding Beth on his shoulders during the barbeque on the meadow. The fieldhouse is in the background. You can see my dad, mom and myself just to their right, if you have really good eyes!
On Friday, the children attending preschool and kindergarten at Child Care came and sang a few songs for us. I completely forgot my camera, so it was a nice surprise to find two pictures of Nathan on the video scrapbook! He loves to sing!
We have been going to Mount Hermon every year since Allie was one year old. Each year is wonderful! But every other year, our family from Denver is able to join us and that makes the week even more special! Since our cabins were right next to each other, the cousins got lots of time together. What a treat! 
Cara and Nathan were real buddies. We had such fun watching them play together. This picture was taken during the carnival and barbeque on the meadow. They both had just gotten their faces painted!
Here are Luke and Allie at the table in our cabin. They spent a lot of time coloring during our down time.
And here are Joshua and Beth. They loved going to Day Camp together. They have always been such good buddies!
We just returned from a wonderful week at Mount Hermon. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, cool weather, great speakers, and lots of time with family and friends! What could be better than that? What a gift to be able to spend a week together in this amazing place!
We have the nicest neighbors! While they are away in Malibu for a few days, they asked us to water their plants, take care of their goldfish, and add chlorine to their pool. AND they said we could swim in their pool as much as we would like! Well, we were eager to take them up on their offer and have gone swimming two days in a row! What a treat!
Nathan tried out a different "floatie" today and was so proud of himself!
Today was a banner day for Allie. She actually swam by herself a little bit! We were all so excited - and look at Allie's smile! She was bursting with pride! All of these swimming opportunities are really helping our kids gain confidence in the water. It sure felt good to cool off!
This morning we headed to Hanford for family pictures. Since our entire family is only together once or twice a year, we decided it was time for a new group photo. As you can tell, we all wore white this time (Beth changed afterwards!). The kids all did great! Afterward, we walked to Superior Dairy for an ice cream treat. Although everyone enjoyed their ice cream, I doubt anyone enjoyed it as much as Allie Grace! She has such a sweet tooth!
Joshua and Luke shared a root beer float. It didn't last long!
Aunt Angie and Zachary shared a scoop of rocky road ice cream. Nathan was too busy with his ice cream to look up for a picture!
Beth and Nathan shared a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream!
Cara shared a vanilla milkshake with her mommy and ate plenty of my leftovers too!YUM!
Last night we went to my Uncle John and Aunt Vickey's house for an evening of fun with all the cousins. First we swam in their pool and ate pizza for dinner. The kids were so excited to go on the canoes and paddleboats afterwards. 
Beth tried to help Phil paddle, but Phil ended up doing most of the work!
Grandpa kept busy taking all the kids out in the canoe!
The girls waited impatiently on the docks for their turn!
As the weather heats up, we are so thankful to have a place to go swimming. Ryan and Angie are so generous about sharing their pool. We headed over there yesterday to cool off after Nathan's nap. Everyone had a great time!
We've been getting out the paint supplies almost every day this summer. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of our kids' art work! I love their paintings - but they want to save everything and storage is a definite issue. My goal this summer is to figure out a system! 
This is a wonderful abstract painted by Nathan. I love the bright colors!
Allie's favorite subject lately is flowers. Aren't they lovely?
Beth loves to draw princesses and fairies. She likes all the details!
