Cole's 4th Birthday Party

Cole picked Toy Story 3 for his 4th birthday party theme. Another awesome cake from the boys' very talented Grammy!

Opening presents from Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Mariah, & Uncle Jason before the party started

Cole's birthday party doubled as a reunion with many of our friends. We had a great time catching up, giving house tours, and celebrating Cole.

Some of the birthday crew waiting for cake and ice cream

Cole waiting for his cue to blow out the candle

Present time!

Cole, Aunt Shannon, and Josh checking out the new Star Wars characters

Pinata craziness!

Such a fun day!

Cole's 4th Birthday

On the Sunday after we moved, Cole turned four years old. We ignored the boxes for a while to celebrate our little guy.

Listening to his birthday card sing the Toy Story theme song

Somehow, we made it through church, lunch, and furniture shopping before opening presents. Cole was so patient!

The Toy Story 3 characters from Caden brought out Cole's sweet grin.

Big smile for his big boy bike from Mommy and Daddy

Time to play with the new toys...


We enjoyed an ice cream cake for his birthday and saved the real cake from Grammy for his big party.


Cole shared his birthday with Father's Day this year. Cole thought it was special that his birthday card played the same song as Curt's Father's Day card.

I have been blessed with some wonderful guys (both big & little)!

Home Sweet Home

We made the move back to Springfield on June 17th. We are so thankful for packers and movers! After about 2 1/2 weeks, the necessary boxes are unpacked and we are feeling more settled. Here are a couple pictures of the family in front of our new home. Interior pictures will be posted another time.




Visitors are welcome!

Saying Good-Bye to Indy

We had a wonderful year in Indy (minus Curt's extremely busy & often unpredictable work schedule)! We met great friends and had many fun experiences. We're very excited to return home, but we will miss our new friends and all that Indy has to offer.

Cole and his buddy, Ryan

The boys with some of their good friends...Brock and Lauren in back and Kyle, Caden, Joel, Cole, and Ryan on the swing

Our family (with me at 32 weeks) in front of our Indy home...Obviously, the sun was very bright because we're all squinting.

Good-bye Indy! We hope to visit soon.

Children's Museum of Indianapolis

We made one last trip (at least for a while) to the Children's Museum over the weekend. It was opening day for their new exhibit--Rock Stars, Cars, & Guitars. The exhibit had a lot of great rock memorabilia (Elvis, Beatles, Kiss, etc.) and vintage cars, plus fun activities for the boys.

Cole would have stayed dressed as a rock star and danced around on stage for the whole visit if we allowed.

Caden as a rock star

Cole singing a tune in the recording booth

Caden listening to the Journey tribute band, Frontiers

Caden's favorite activity of the day was climbing the rock wall. This was his first time on the rock wall as kids have to be six to climb, and I haven't had extra hands with me on any of our visits since his birthday.

Papa was Caden's spotter.

Making the climb


Realizing that rock climbing is more difficult than he expected. The museum has tried to make the rock climb a very realistic experience, so there wasn't a whole lot for Caden to grab on to for help lifting himself up.

Heading back down...Caden loved it and has a goal to make it even higher on our next visit.

My boys can never get enough of video gaming...Cole playing Lego Star Wars

and Caden playing Super Mario Brothers

Taking a motorcycle ride in the new exhibit before saying good-bye to the museum

Easy Rider style (per Papa)

Another super fun visit to the museum! We will definitely return, but our next visit won't be as members and our visits won't be as often. So glad we were able to live somewhere with so many family-friendly attractions!

Last Week of School

The last week of school was filled with several fun activities.

Here are some photos from Caden's Field Day. The whole school spent most of the day involved in outside activities. During the morning, the classes participated in relay races and obstacle courses. They also colored with sidewalk chalk and played around with bubbles. Cole and I only watched the last hour of the day because it was so hot. Here is Cole trying not to melt.


Luckily for the students, all of the afternoon activities involved water. Here Caden is racing a flower pot full of water to a bucket and getting very wet in the process.

Water balloon toss

Caden (in back with the red, blue, and white shirt) during the all-school water gun fight

Just a photo of the chaos and fun of an all-school water fight

Refilling stations

All-school photo but my camera didn't catch everyone...Caden is front and center.

All-school photo with a water gun salute

The next day was Cole's last day of 3-year-old preschool. His class put on a special performance for the families. Here is Cole with a BIG smile before singing.



Posing for class pictures...You will notice Emma next to Cole in most photos. According to Emma, she is Cole's girlfriend. Cole really liked her, but he won't claim her as his girlfriend.

Another BIG smile from Cole

Cole receiving his certificate from the principal

Cole with his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Longworth...We will miss her so much!

The very last day of school consisted of chapel, an awards ceremony, and an all-school picnic. Here is Caden with some of his kindergarten buddies at the park.

The boys had an awesome year at Our Shepherd Lutheran School.