Kate's birthday

 I cannot believe that I forgot to post about Kate's birthday! In June Kate turned 9 and had a wonderful birthday. 

Kate is a wonderful girl; she is fun,smart, and so good. 

Spring 2015 Soccer

 In our family, spring means two things: Rain and Soccer! This year did not disappoint with weeks of rain that derailed the first 4 weeks of soccer practice. I don't think the fields have dried up yet.  

Lily moved up to U8 and continued to bring her trademark aggression and drive to the field. Watch out anyone that stands between her and the ball!

  This year Kate moved up to the U10 age league which add the goalie position. 

FYI, Kate HATES being goalie However, Kate showed an amazing amount of improvement over the season and both girls are excited to play in the fall. 

 Coach Drew on the sidelines.

THe spectators

Piano Recital

Kate and Lily had a piano recital at the end of May, here is their duet.

Friends

My sisters and brothers live far away...They all decided (Alisha and I must have missed the meeting) to live Utah and even with facebook and skype and email I still miss then and wish I could see them more often. Sometimes  it really gets me down, but then I am reminded that even though I live so far away from my most of my family, I have really, really great friends right here in good ole Evansville. Growing up I didn't have really close friends that I confided in and share my life with, and it came as a surprise when in my later 20s I found myself in a circle of caring, strong, loving women who I can share my fears and joys with. I see one of my friend every, single, day...how awesome is that? We have book club and a preschool group and workout together...we bring each other meals and watch each others children. It is a beautiful thing and I am grateful for every single one of my friends. I have learned so much from these women as we open up about our struggles and share our triumphs. So even though I pray all the time that my sisters will have a reason to move here, I am so glad that I have been blessed with a great group of surrogate sisters.

Easter and a Dance Recital

 Rachel is so lucky to have such great big sisters!

 The early Easter this year took us by surprise, but we were still able to scramble around and get our annual Heckert easter egg hunt planned. Here is a picture of the kids before being let out of the gates.

 We had to hide the eggs in the front yard because the backyard was a swamp thanks to the abundance of rain during March.

 As always, the event was a huge success. 

 Kate really loves this girl!

 At the end of April Elise had a dance recital. 

A few months ago we learned that a girl in the other ward does a 10 week dance course and Elise begged me to sign her up. We have enjoyed the lessons and Elise was so excited about her recital.

 They sang and danced to music from The Sound of Music...so cute.

Love my girls

 This morning I was making pancakes while Kate cut up strawberries and Lily read a book to Elise and Rachel, It was such a beautiful moment and I just wanted to freeze time and enjoy it. 

I love having four children; in the past 5 months I have watched Kate and Lily grow so much as they take on more responsibility around the house and with Rachel. 

Elise is a great help too, she loves to get toys for Rachel and help feed and hold her. 

 One day while we waiting in the car to pick up the girls, Elise decided that her and Rachel both needed some decorations!

 Watching the Voice

Ready for a family walk!

Snow days, Snow Days!

 Sunday night four or so inches of snow landed, giving us three (so far) snow days!

 Unfortunately, Lily was as sick as can be Monday and Tuesday, so she was not able to enjoy the time off. She is feeling better today though.

 Elise and Kate braved the frigid temperatures to stomp about outside, dragging Daffy with them.

Rachel and I hung out inside!