Catch-Up

I've been a little busy to post much these days, so I'm going to do a little catch-up.

First, our sweet baby Sam (or the kids call him Cooper) is the best baby ever.

He still sleeps a lot, but when he is awake he is happy and mild.

June was a crazy month and went by like a whirlwind.

Alex and Abby had their year end dance recital, fun as always. 
We thought summer would be a good time to get extra practice in dance so they have been
doing a lot of private lessons along with regular studio time.  They have been sore all month long.

Alexis has also been busy making her head bands and things to sell at various places.

 We went to the year-end dance banquet that was themed "French Country Picnic". 

 Alex competed in the Miss Draper pageant.  She didn't win, but won most photogenic. 

It was a fun experience for her.

 Kenadi had another violin recital.  She did great on her first song, Not so well on the second one.  Hopefully with a little more experience she won't get so nervous to perform.

 Shelby had her year-end tumbling recital.  She's decided she likes dance better, so she'll be switching over.

Shelby had a road rally the last week of school.  The kids "drive" around in their cars to historic sites around the country and learn about each place.

 We took a little outing to the Zoo.  The new exhibits with the polar bear, 

and sea lion, and seals is pretty cool.

The kids have been spending most of the summer playing with friends.  They think they are going to die of boredom if no friends are around to play.

  Zach finished up baseball. His team came in 3rd place.  They celebrated in box seats at the Bees game.

Dressing up in Zach's sports gears is one of Luke's favorite things.

The most challenging thing about having seven kids is this cute little 2 year old.  

He has been so hard to keep track of.   He realizes that he has this new found freedom while mom is caring for the baby and takes full advantage of it.  He sneeks off to the neighbors, rides his bike down the street, explores things in the garage that he knows are off limits, climbs to get whatever he wants, breaks multiple things a day, and basically does whatever he feels like.  

As you can see, he does love his new baby brother though.