Eli is 3!!!

Eli turned 3 on July 14Th. We celebrated his birthday with a small family party at Nana and Papa's. He had such a great day! Before his birthday I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and every time his response was 'I want clothes Mama'. I told him he didn't need any clothes and that he needed to find something else. Well he could never come up with anything so I broke down and bought him a couple shirts. He was so excited when he opened his shirt it was great! I have never seen a boy so excited about getting clothes! LOL!

Eli also got his Leapster for his birthday! Thanks Gigi! He loves it, he plays it all the time and has learned so much from it.

As we all know Eli is obsessed with Mr. Potato Head who he has named Kyle. Here is Eli with the Kyle he got from Big Nanny and Big Papa. He also got a Dallas Cowboys Kyle from Auntie Diane, Rick, Tavian and Makayla. And he got a Spider man Kyle from Aunt Shannon, Uncle Jeremy, Kaitlyn and Hank! (Jeremy and Shannon thanks for starting this obsession LOL!)

Eli enjoying his birthday cake!! He took bites this big the whole time eating his piece of cake!AJ, Eli and Bella playing baseball in the backyard.Thank you to all of you who joined us to celebrate Eli's 3rd birthday. Eli is doing very well and talking so much, his vocabulary had just expanded so much in the last couple of months and he is speaking so clearly. We also recently signed Eli up for AWANA's thru the church. He has been to 2 classes and just loves it! Coming home from his first meeting we were in the truck and he tells me; Mama doesn't go to Awana's, AJ doesn't go to Awana's, Dada doesn't go to Awana's, Uncle Gino doesn't go to Awana's, and Sissy doesn't go to Awana's. Eli goes to Awana's it was the cutest thing. Every week they have to memorize a bible verse for the next class and Eli had no problem what so ever doing this. He is so excited that he has something that is just his to enjoy! I just can't believe how big he has gotten and how much of a little man he is becoming.

Our Summer Vacation!

Well summer is over. We had a busy one! We took a vacation the end of June and the beginning of July. We all had so much fun. We borrowed a friends travel trailer and went up to Colorado. We spent a week with my Aunt, cousins and Grandma in Pueblo. We had a family reunion and we all got to meet family we haven't met before or haven't seen in a long time. Mike (Aaron's friend from Georgia came down from Denver to spend the day with us on Sunday, it was so great to see him. The kids just love Uncle Mike) It was great! It was a long drive, the boys did well. Bella on the other hand did not like being in her car seat for long periods of time. Here are some pictures of our visit in Pueblo.

Ashlea with AJ and Eli, they were playing on the computer with her.

Bella and Aunt DeDeCousin Jeff and Bella hanging out!

Aunt DeDe, Uncle John, AJ, Eli and Bella. (We were so excited to see them, we were so happy they came down to visit.)DeDe and Bella or as DeDe calls her "cheese"Our campsite in Pueblo!! AJ and Aaron playing with fireworks!Aunt Connie, AJ and Bella!

After spending sometime in Pueblo we made our way to Durango, Colorado for the Bohannan Family reunion. It was such a beautiful drive from Pueblo to Durango. We stopped on the side of the freeway coming down the mountain and it was just beautiful views of river and valley. Here are two of the pics.

Once we got to Durango we set up camp and a great campground. The Durango/Silverton train went right through the campsite. What a cute town Durango is. We spent two days there before the reunion started. One day we took the drive up to Silverton. How nice that was, until it started raining and we had to head out. We stoped along the way back to Durango at a beautiful waterfall. We also stoped at a Honey factory, they had the neatest things that they made with honey. We bought some great chocolate and raspberry honey! On Friday we met up with all the Bohannan's who attended the reunion. We went and walked around downtown Durango and just explored. On Saturday we went to the Bar D Ranch for dinner where it was dinner and a show. This was great the kids loved it. When they started playing music, Bella stole the show. Every table was watching her dance to the music and clap. It was so funny and so adorable. She is such a ham. Everyone had a great time. The kids loved the campsite and just hanging out. We cant wait to go camping again sometime soon!! Here are some pics from our Durango part of the trip.

View of Downtown Silverton with the Durango/Silverton train in the background.

Aaron standing in the middle of a waterfall on the way back to Durango. AJ and Eli watching the train go by the campground!Grandpa Bo with his great grandkids. AJ, Eli, Bella and ZaneMiss Bella with her attitude down and the Durango Riverwalk.

After spending time with the family in Durango we headed to Phoenix to drop AJ off at Nanny and Papa's house to spend a week with them. We made a stop at Four Corners National Monument.

Here is a picture of the drive to Phoenix with the kids eating Sonic.

We all spent one night in Phoenix. AJ stayed there for the week and he had a blast!! They went swimming, and miniature golfing, and to this place called Amazing Jakes. That's all AJ could talk about he had so much fun.

That was our vacation we all had a blast!! And loved seeing everybody.

SCHOOLS OUT!! For Summer!!!

Today was AJ's Kindergarten Promotion! It was a wonderful ceremony. They played a slide show of pictures of all the kids through out the year. AJ was on there quite a few times. We are so proud of him. They also sang a few songs. AJ also receive his report card today and he exceeded all of our expectations for him. He did wonderful! The way the school grades is on a number scale i.e. 1 being working below standard and 4 being working beyonds standards. AJ received 4's on 95% of everything he was evaluated on. We are so proud of him!!!

Here are AJ and two of his friends singing a song after all the diploma's were passed out!
AJ and Mrs. Leigh, we wish she was moving up to first grade with the kids. She is a wonderful teacher! We can't wait till she teaches Eli and Bella!

All of us in his classroom after the promotion!

AJ and Nanny! She was so proud of him!!!

This is a picture of about 1/3 of all the kindergartners, all singing with there sunglasses on.

Jared, Cayden and AJ...To cool for school!!!

E-I-E-I- Ooops!!!

AJ's school had there first annual Kindergarten performance this year. It was called E-I-E-I-Ooops! It was the cutest play. They sang songs and danced around. AJ was a mule... He looks so adorable!

All the Mules got up on stage and sang there song and danced around! They did such a wonderful job. They practiced everyday, they had all the words to the songs memorized. It was so cute! Its so hard to describe it in words.

Here is a picture of AJ his friend Mason and Mason's little sister Schylar. Schylar is so in love with AJ its adorable. He even lets her hug him!

AJ and his teacher Mrs. Leigh

'Big Girl Bed' here we come!!

Well, Bella has been climbing out of her crib for about the past 6 weeks. On Sunday Aaron was going to get her out of bed and he had to go into the living room to check on Eli and he was gone for 20 seconds and in that 20 seconds Bella climbed out of her crib. So we decided it was time to make her crib into a toddler bed. She has been in the toddler bed for almost a week now and we have definitely had our fair share of trials with this. When it comes to nap and bed time if she doesn't want to go down she thinks its a free for all in her room. Which means that she empties her drawer and throws everything onto the floor. Here are some pictures of her sleeping in her big girl bed and the mess that she created before she decided she was tired.

Its SOCCER time again!!!

A few weeks ago AJ started playing soccer again. This time around he is actually playing competitive soccer, well kind of they do not have practices but they do keep score at the games. He loves it, AJ is very competitive and loves playing with his teammates. He is really learning the basics of the game. He usually averages one goal per game. Unfortunately they did not divide the kids up very well. Some of the teams AJ is playing against the kids look like they are in the 2nd or 3rd grade, instead of Kindergarten and 1st graders. There team isn't the best but they are learning to play together very well. This last game they actually tied the game at half-time. Here are some pictures of AJ playing from 2 weeks ago.

Time with friends

Last weekend we got together with Diane and the kids, at one of the local parks. We wanted to update the pictures of the kids together because Diane, Rick, Tavian and Makayla will be moving to North Carolina in July. We are going to miss them desperately... AJ and Tavian have been friends since they were 2 years old. Its been so great to see them grow together. I will miss getting together to watch them play. Eli and Makayla have also been really close, seeing as there is only 9 months between them. I'm very sad to see them go, I'm not only loosing one of my closest friend to the east coast I am also loosing my niece and nephew who I absolutely adore.
***We love you and we will miss you dearly!!

A visit with Cousins

This past weekend we were able to spend sometime with Jeremy, Shannon, Kaitlyn, Hank and Rhonda. The kids had a blast! We spent Saturday evening at Shannon's graduation party. The kids had a great time playing together. Then on Sunday we all went out to brunch and went to a local park and took some pictures of the kids together. Jeremy, Shannon and the kids came over for dinner on Monday evening. The kids played and played together. It was so nice to see them together. It was a wonderful evening. Im hoping we will be able to do it again soon! Living so far away from eachother makes these times so special. Here are some pictures of the kids at the park.

Kaitlyn and AJ

Eli, Kaitlyn, AJ and Bella Hank, Eli, Kaitlyn, Bella and AJ Bella and Hank

AJ, Gigi, Bella and Eli