Claire Sims Birthday and sharing her new bike!

Claire Sims (Mathew) is Dave and Rhonda's granddaughter who turned 2! Rhonda and I went in on a tricycle. She was so sweet share it with the girls.

Lani Kohler (Melissa) is Dave and Rhonda's granddaughter and she's 18 months.

And then there is Molly Anna....they all had such a good time.

Cooking and Sewing with Nana

Jessalyn and Nana had some precious time making one of Great-Grandma Jessie's Peanut Butter Oatmeal no bake cookies. I have started her a recipe file for her own use and especially some of mom's recipes. We used her math skills and I explained what a cup, teaspoon and Tablespoon was. She learned how to measure and read a recipe. She is always helping her mommy in the kitchen and this added to her knowledge.


The end results! She thought that was so neat that the cookies didn't go into the oven!


Next I cut out some quilt squares and had them ready for her to sew together. Her first statement was, "Nana do I get to use a REAL needle". And the answer to that was yes...but let me tell you it's a Cross stitch needle which is a round tip and not sharp!!! She really worked hard and did such a good job. When I was her age my Grandma did this with me on school breaks. I had no clue until she handed me a finished quilt of all the pieces I had put together over the years!

Meet Nellie Padilla

This is the new addition to the Padilla's and they named her Nellie. She's a Labordoodle and just so adorable. The kids have waited along time for a puppy and they have been so excited about Nellie. This was taken on Saturday and 3 or 4 days later I have already noticed she's grown some. I think she is going to be a big girl. The nice thing about Nellie is she doesn't SHED....just my kind of in house dog!!!

Bryson 3rd and Jessalyn 1st Grade

Once again God has blessed Bryson and Jessalyn another year of being home schooled with Katie. This is something we don't take for granted and especially the blessing of Katie being a stay at home mom. Thanks James for the hard work you do to provide this privilege.
The first few days were very rough getting them back into a routine. I think Jessalyn had the hardest time. I stopped by on the second day and Katie was ready to throw in the towel and said, "forget it, they are going to school". According to Jessalyn, "it's too hard, I am tired and etc..." Well after an "attitude adjustment" things have gotten better. They go to the Calvary Co-Op on Wednesday so with all three in school it makes for a nice break for Katie on Wednesdays.
Bryson has started his second year of piano and will be moving up to a Classical Book. Katie was telling me she rarely has to remind him that he needs to go and practice. Mr. Garrett says, he's doing very well. It sounds good to me too;-)
I have a few things planned in helping Katie with school and that is a cooking time with Nana. Tuesday will be Jessalyn's turn and we are going to make Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies. And I am going to teach her how to hand sew quilt pieces together just as my grandma did with me.
Bryson will get his turn in a couple of weeks and I am not sure what we will do yet. He's not interested in the kitchen but he needs to learn the math of cooking so we will at least make something yummy!

Dawson starts K4

Isn't this little buddy cute! He's got his book bag and his cute little doggie lunch box with his name on it from Uncle Skip and Aunt Jess.
As I walked him in just as I have in the years past with Bryson and Jessalyn I got so choked up! Where has the time gone that we are now on # 3! He held my hand and took me down to the sign in station and I signed him in and he got his pass for class. Then when I got to his class, just as in the years past Mrs. Karen West greeted him with the sweetest smile and guided him along. But first he remembered to give his Nana some love. As I watched him go and put his folder on Miss Karen's desk my heart swelled with such pride! He is also blessed with a wonderful teacher's helper, Miss Denise who like this Nana takes great pride in being a grandma:-)
Now that he has been in school for several weeks the newness is slowly wearing off. Everyday he says to his mama, "is school over yet"? Boy does he have a long way to go!! Katie asked him what it was he didn't like about school and he says, "the coloring and the writing"!!! Well honey what is it you do like and he says, "play time, play ground and lunch." We had a good laugh over that one!

Washington D.C.

We had such a wonderful time in D.C. visiting our dearest friends Pastor Dusty and Sandra Gray. It was a weekend of good counsel and uplifting fellowship among our brother and sister in Christ. Bryson requested a picture of Abraham Lincoln.


This is the Pentagon Memorial.This memorial was quite touching for us because it's the first memorial of the 9/11 we have been to. Sandra and I decided to sit on the wall and just visit while Dusty and Audy walked around.

This is Mount Vernon the home of George Washington. When we made our plans to visit we knew we were coming at the hottest time of the year BUT that day was so beautifully cool. Sandra said, "she's waiting in line for at least 30 minutes just to get in the gates and then it would be packed with people touring the house. Well besides cool weather that day we were the 2nd family in line to get in the gates and the tour was a total of 5 people. Even the tour guides made a comment!! The grounds were beautiful and we rested on a bench steps away from the Potomac River. Sandra noticed a "Hawk" dive into the water and pulled out a fish and was squawking above our heads. Audy took out his binoculars and we watched it eat it's lunch. Really interesting! From there we toured the museum and all of the history of Washington's time. They went as far as taking his DNA and making a wax person of what he looked like as a young man and older. It was really well worth finishing off lunch at the Restaurant.