August-September 2011

We had some 'waiting on baby' photos done in August. Our friend Carrie from church does a great job.

Pre-School Graduation. The graduates were so proud!!

Brock and Hope's first day of real pre-school. Brock thought real pre-school was easy compared to Claire's, and Hope really liked Claire's better. They both have adjusted though and are having lots of fun now.

Paige arrived on September 17th at 8:27 CST. She was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long.

First family of 6 photo.

More photos by Carrie. Paige was 2 weeks old.

May-July 2011

Claire had a bowling party this year for her 10th birthday in May.

Brock celebrated turning 5 in June with a Toy Story party.

Claire trying to lead her stubborn calf 'Marshmellow'. It took quite a bit of 4-wheeler encouragement for him to be ready for the fair. Our new camper is in the background. Should be years of fun!!

Campout with cousins at Raccoon Lake.

Brock was the ring bearer in Shelly's cousin's wedding in July. He was such a handsome little man.

This is Claire's pre-school class for the summer. They all had such a great time! L to R: Kidest, Brock, Toby, and Hope.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's Lake House!!

Hurley Lake Day!

Brock was in the pedal tractor pull at the county fair and won 2nd place. The boy that won was a fourth grader so he was pretty excited and won some cool prizes.

Claire showing one of her steers. She loves her cattle!

One of the many rides on 'Super Mable', Grandpa's fun lake toy.

Spring Break!

We decided to take a Spring Break trip to Tennessee this year. Thankfully, the Lord was planning ahead for us. By chance my mom also had the week off work and no grandkids to watch for the week, so we invited her to go with us. The morning after we arrived Mark came down with a bad case of the flu. He couldn't get out of bed for two days. Without Mom I'm not sure that I would have felt comfortable taking three kids out and about all day. Despite Mark's illness we had a great time, and by Friday night he was even able to join us at the Dixie Stampede. We stayed in a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo. In one of the bathrooms was this gigantic jetted tub. Even though the place had an indoor pool, the kids loved to play in the tub as well.

Friday evening we took in the show at the Dixie Stampede. We couldn't take pictures during the dinner/show, but got a few before and after. If you've never been to a show at the Dixie Stampede we highly recommend it! The kids loved it!

Brock and Hope playing at the Wonder Works museum.

The aquarium in Gatlinburg is also awesome!!

Here are just a couple photos from the AWANA Grand Prix (a few days before we left on vacation). Claire and Mark made 'Pink Panther'. I'm not sure who was more proud when he placed 3rd, but I'm pretty sure it was Mark.

The last few months in pictures

After Claire's tumbling recital with her flowers. Claire, Brock, and our neighbor Hannah built an igloo. At the end Mark got involved and put a tarp over the top and christmas lights inside for the coolest igloo in Jasper County.

Claire and Hannah eating supper in their igloo.

Hope and Angel playing in the snow.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Christmas morning

New Year's Eve! The Sharp and Hurley kids. L to R : Charlie, Hope, Brock, Libby, Claire, Addie

Hope turned 3 at the end of January. She requested a puppy and kitty cake.

Claire's tumbling recital

I'm really trying to get updated on technology. We recently got a new video camera that uploads to youtube and somehow I was able to post it to my blog. I know a lot of people out there are probably saying "duhhh", but it was a real milestone for me. Anyway, this is Claire's tumbling recital from Saturday. The video really lost some quality during the upload. If anyone knows how to correct that let me know.

What we've been up to

I can't believe summer is gone and fall is upon us. Actually, this morning I thought winter was here. This post contains pictures from the summer up to Halloween, since I can't quite seem to find the time to post more often. Here we have our little princess, Bat Girl with her little bat dolls, and a famous pit crew member of Lightning McQueen

Our neighbor girl Hannah invited Claire to her birthday party at the American Girl store in Chicago. Claire and I got to go and have lunch. It was quite an experience that I'm sure she'll always remember.

Our vacation this summer was to southern Indiana. We stayed at a cabin by Patoka Lake. Some of the highlights were swimming, spulunking (cave exploring), going to Holiday World, boating, train riding, and enjoying each others company.

This sign was at the closest gas station/store. Needless to say we did not dine there.

The kids actually got to see Santa at Holiday World. He took the time to talk to them and everything. We were listening closely when he was asking what they wanted for Christmas.

We also got a retaining wall and landscaping around our house this spring. This picture was taken sometime in mid summer.

Another highlight for Claire was her first year in 4-H. Here she is with her steer, Oreo. She did a wonderful job, placing first in the class and winning beginner showman. She also was in creative writing and photography.

Hope and Kidest hanging out close to the time that Kidest left for Lebanon

This is one of my favorite pictures. Brock and Toby on the beach at The Dunes State Park chasing seagulls. These two guys are such great buddies. Toby now lives across the world in Lebanon.