Photo Shoot

Sometimes these lazy summer days are perfect for a photo shoot with two adorable subjects.  Audrey and Kate designed a few different poses they thought would be perfect for the two of them.  There is never a dull moment around these two!

At the end, the photographer was asked to be in a picture with each of the models.

Elizabeth

We had such a fun visit with Elizabeth last weekend, and we were so grateful to get her here for two nights!  The girls had a lot of fun playing together, and the conversations I heard between them were priceless.  We hope it works for Elizabeth to come and stay with us again sometime soon.  She is such a sweetheart and is getting so big so quickly!

Audrey fell into the "big sister" role pretty easily.  She had fun helping to care for Elizabeth.

It was easiest to throw all three girls in the big tub.  Only the oldest would actually make eye contact with the camera.  Jeremy declared after trying to bathe three at once that it was probably a good thing we hadn't added a third child to our household.  I told him it would all be part of our routine if we had! :)

More Jade!

We were also able to go and watch Jade perform in her senior dance recital last weekend.  We love to watch Jade dance, as she is a beautiful dancer.  We especially loved watching Jade's beautiful senior solo!  We did have a harder time this year keeping Kate still during the performance.  She didn't understand why she couldn't dance along with the performers!  We are going to miss watching Jade's recitals each year!

Can you tell this took place in an auditorium that was not air conditioned?  Kate wasn't performing, and she was sweat wet!

Swimming Lessons

The girls just wrapped up their week of swimming lessons, and it was definitely full of emotions!  On Monday, one girl (Kate) was super excited, and one girl (Audrey) was super nervous.  By the middle of lessons, one girl (Kate) was crying and screaming, while the other girl (Audrey) had a giant grin on her face.  Luckily, by the second session on Tuesday, both girls were smiling and having a blast.  We watched both grow in skill, confidence, and comfort in the water.  We were so happy to see them having fun, and now we're excited to spend the rest of the summer swimming! 

Kate is using the red noodle.

Audrey is coming up from finding a ring under water.  She is in the bright green swimsuit.

Congratulations, Jade!

Last weekend, we celebrated Jade's high school graduation.  It was our first time going to a graduation ceremony for a larger high school, and we weren't sure how the girls would handle it.  Besides Kate saying quite loudly during the reading of the names, "Did they start over?", the girls were fantastic.  We sat high enough that we could quietly talk, color, and play on the Kindle without disturbing people.  We were so proud of Jade and excited to hear her speak during the ceremony.  We know she has wonderful things ahead of her at Iowa State, and the girls are excited to soak up some extra time with her this summer.  Congratulations, Jade, from two of your smallest and biggest fans! :)

Goodbye, Kindergarten!

One week ago, it was somehow the last day of kindergarten for Audrey.  Even though we were all very eager for the relaxed pace of summer vacation, I could tell Audrey was experiencing mixed feelings about kindergarten being over.  She made some nice friends this year, gained some confidence, and man, did she gain some knowledge.  She impresses us often with what she remembers and how she understands things.  It could be because she still asks four thousand questions a day, but it's probably because she's a deep thinking lady.  We are so proud of how you rocked kindergarten this year, Audrey!  We can't believe you're a first grader now. 😢