Summer Fun!!

I thought I'd put a lot of our summer activities all in one post!  As the kids get older it seems like summers are so much more relaxing and in turn go by so much faster!  We really enjoyed this summer! Well, most of it!  Randy signed me up to be in charge of the concession stand at the baseball fields!  Yes, he did- without asking.  And No, he will not do that again!  haha!!

I didn't get to see much of Austin's games this summer but I heard he did really good!  And I don't look back at being in charge of the concession as a bad time.  It was stressful at times and I was happy when it was over but it kept the kids working hard and I know they will always remember it.

 Austin played in a tournament in Dewey one weekend so we called up Julie to let her know since they just lived down the street.  It was fun to have a few extra friends/cousins around (Tanner and Taylor) to entertain the girls!  

 Austin hit a triple one game, which was rewarded with a banana split from Braums.  It's fun having summer start off with baseball!

And nothing says summer like swimming!  Avery has such a great group of friends right now.  She is really blessed!  Here she is with two of them, Mikah and MaryKate.

We love summers at the Ahlerts house!

Avery and Julianna living it up!

Even Ashton can "ride the waves"!

Having three girls, the hair can be the best OR the worst part of every day!  This day, it was the BEST!!  I had so much fun braiding their hair for a summer day at the pool!  And Austin is really rocking the hair too!!

 I absolutely LOVE summer rains!

 Randy and I spotted this little family enjoying one of our summer rains too!  So cute!!

 The kids still find plenty to do when it is raining.  Nothing slows them down!

Even Buddy the dog can handle the rain... well, almost!

 Another fun summer activity the kids do is golf camp.

Ashton wasn't quite old enough for camp this year so while the kids were golfing she was mastering her swim!  And I don't say that lightly!  She started in one class, got bumped up halfway to another class, and then passed that class all in one session!  So proud of her!

 We love golfing over the summer!

After their lessons were over, we would head over to the driving range so that Ashton could take some turns hitting.  I took this picture to send to Randy, I knew it would make his heart happy. I just wish I could golf!

After golf camp, I put the three younger ones back in to swimming lessons.  Austin has now passed all classes!  

 We also spent some time in Tulsa watching the Tulsa Drillers play.

 We all love going to these games, and every year we wish we would have made it to more!  They are so much fun to watch and they have a great stadium.  A favorite past time!

 Gymnastics was also a part of our summer!  Addie and Ashton love taking classes!  I'm afraid they are starting to get a little old for the girls class.  They are to the age that you either join the team (which is too expensive and time-consuming) or you stop.  But they've had fun and I'm glad its been a part of our  summer activities.

 My friends took me out for my birthday this summer to get pedicures.  We rented out the building after hours and ordered sushi.  It was so much fun!  I'm so lucky to have such great friends which include Tami, Emily, Amy and Ashley!

 We also went to a couple of shows this summer.  The Children's Musical Theater of Bartlesville put on the play Peter Pan, which we really enjoyed watching!

 Some of our friends, Jadyn and Jesi were in it so we stayed afterwards to congratulate them.

 Randy and I also got to go see Wicked again for a second time!  I was so crazy excited.... and it was just as good the second time!!

 We surprised Avery by taking her with us.  This was her first time to see it and she became an instant fan as well!!

 While we were there in Tulsa watching Wicked, our kids were playing with Scott and Ashley Petty!  They were so sweet to go get our kids and take them out for some fun!  We love them to pieces!

 Another of our regular summer events is going out on a couples Anniversary Dinner.  This is our crew who all have Anniversary's close to ours and we've been doing dinner together for a lot of years!  We always look forward to this day!

 A new tradition we started up this year and hope to keep up is corn hole Sundays!  

 We started having some friends over after church on Sundays for some games.  Of course this year we have late church but hopefully we can keep it going.  It's a great way to get together with friends and have some fun!

Addie was always such a big help entertaining little Bailey!

 We tried not to have many dull moments.... whether it be outside

or inside!  The kids always seemed to find something to do!!

Friends Forever

One of my favorite parts of this summer was having my oldest and dearest friend, Kandee, come back and visit with her kids.  I owe so much of my life to her!  She was my rock and my angel all through grade school and even though we live so far away from each other, she is still that same friend to me today.  I could never repay her or her family for the things they did for me.  We have many amazing memories of trips they would take me on and outings we would do together, but the love and support and 2nd home they gave me helped me become the person I am today.  What's crazy to me is that Kandee will tell me the same thing, which I never realized, that I was being that person to her too!  We needed each other... and that's true friendship!

 Warning: there are a lot of pictures from our few days together!  But these were priceless memories to me and I don't know the next time we will be able to get together!  The Ahlerts were having us look after their house a little while they were gone this summer and it happened to be while Kandee was in town so we took them over there to swim.  Austin and Ethan are pretty close in age.  Kandee and Anton lived with the Coffman's for a year or so when Austin and Ethan were younger and they still remembered each other.  Their friendship came back instantly.

 Laura and Ashton didn't know each other, but I've never seen two girls instantly become soul sisters (which is what I call Kandee and I).  Like mothers, like daughters!

 And the same goes for Tessa and Addison!  Tessa was a little girl when they moved to Las Vegas but she and Addie hit it right off!

 We had them all over for dinner one night and the kids congregated on the stairs to play games!  

 We also went to lunch one day over to Amy's house.  She had been out of town and we were excited to bring the "three amigos" back together.  We've been together since nursery at church and I thank God for these girls all the time!

 Another day, we headed off to the Kiddie Park.  Our kids are almost too big for this park but they all had a blast.  This was one of my favorite moments of our kids walking in to the park.  Amy's little guy Owen, Kandee's youngest Laura, and my little Ashton... all holding hands.  Makes my heart so happy!

 Just like we'd never been apart!

 Kandee has such a sweet little family and it was so much fun to have them here!

 And what made it even more fun is that our kids love each other just as much!!

 Ellie, Tessa and Addison

 Laura, Ashton and Avery

 The kids started going all different directions so it was hard to keep up and take pictures!  Here's Avery and Ethan in the barrels.  Austin must have had baseball this night!

 Owen, Sam and Ashton were the only ones small enough to go on the Ferris Wheel!  I had to grab a picture of this because I'm sure this was Ashton and Sam's last ride!

 And of course everyone loves the roller coaster!

Here's Ellie and Avery, Addie and Tessa!

 

My kids keep saying how they miss their new friends and keep asking when can we see them again.  I'm so glad they came to visit!!  Maybe next time we will have to go to Vegas to see them!

Happy Mother's AND Father's Day!

 My favorite part of Mother's Day is always the kids singing with the primary in church.  This was the last time Austin would be singing so it was extra special.  I absolutely love being a mom... especially being a mom to the four most wonderful people in the world!  They always give me reasons to be thankful and amazed by their sweet actions.  I feel so blessed to be a part of each of their lives.  Avery got up on Mother's Day and made me orange julius, banana chocolate chip muffins and bacon.  And the roses were given to me by my mom from my grandmothers garden which made them extra special on this particular day!

The kids spent some time the day before Father's Day over in grandpa's workshop making homemade gifts for Randy.  Austin made the key hanger, Addie made the heart and Ashton made the baseball.  I love how thoughtful they always are and the special notes they are always making for us.  They are such great examples to me and I know Randy feels the same way.  Avery had the idea of the tie, she found this little note that says "like it or not, we're TIED together".  Well, I think we like it!!  I've recently been going through some old notes and letters between Randy and I.  I can't believe how young we were and yet how old I felt back then!  I can't believe I knew way back then the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and yet I'm grateful I was wise enough to pick such an incredible person!  I love how we've changed together and gotten wiser and more patient and flexible with parenting and each other.  We truly have gotten closer and love deeper with time and I'm looking forward to forever!  I'm grateful for these days, Mother's Day and Father's Day, to count the blessing we have been given.  We have four amazing kids who love us and love their Savior, and TRY to love each other!  hahaha!  I continue to look forward to each new day because what I have learned is that if we continue to love and focus on serving each other, our bond continues to strengthen.

The Ending of Another School Year

 I can't believe another school year has come and gone!  Some of the fun end of the year activities I was able to attend with the kids were Addie's class conducting the announcements for the day.  I believe Addie was in charge of announcing the word of the day.

 I was also able to meet Addie and Sooner Park for their field day.  She had a lot of fun with her friends playing on the playground, eating pizza, and playing games.

 On the very last day of school, Ashton had a field trip up to Independence, Kansas to the zoo up there. Afterwards, the kids got to play at the park and have lunch.

 We got back to school just in time for the last assembly of the year, where Austin received the Citizenship Award!  I can't believe he is done with Ranch Heights and moving up to Madison Middle School!  His "right of passage" was getting to walk home from school.  He invited some of his friends over and they all walked home.

In the meantime, we grabbed Avery and celebrated the last day of school by getting some frozen yogurt over at Cherry Berry!  Schools out for Summer!!

First Train Ride

 My mom surprised us with tickets on a train ride that was going through Bartlesville.

 This was the kids' first time to actually ride a real train, and I was so excited for them!  Naturally, I picked out their outfits for today!  hahaha!  Avery was a good sport! :)  She's kind of over the matching stage so I appreciate her obliging me on this day.  It was probably because tomorrow is Mothers Day!

 We got there a little early so I could take pictures of the kids.  Here's Avery...

and here is Austin.  I'm a sucker for pictures by a train or train track!

 And here is Addie...

and Ashton, standing on very safe tracks.  I promise, these trains they are taking pictures by are stationary and never move!

But they are fun to get inside of!  

 We met up with their cousins Mika and Sora along with my sister and Nana at the Bartlesville Depot.  

 Here's a cute one of Nana with the grandchildren.  Such a great idea, Nana!  So glad you thought of it!

 And then we got on the real train!

 The conductors even came around and punched our tickets!  It reminded the kids of the Polar Express!

 Here's Sara with Austin and Sora.  The train didn't go very far.  It stayed on the west side of Bartlesville which isn't very attractive either but it was fun and memorable.  And the best part was who we were with!

 I absolutely adore these sweet photo shots of Ashton with my mom sharing some fun stories and scenes on the train.  It made my day!

 Afterwards we went over to my moms to celebrate Mothers Day with her.  I'm so grateful for my mom and all she has taught me.  Especially about family and faith, the two most important things in this world.  I love you mom!  Happy Mother's Day!

Go Rams Glow 5K

 No, I'm not turning into a runner.  I do wish I enjoyed it more, but again there was a reason Randy got me to run in this 5K.

 Top reason was because his sister Julie was one of the main people in charge of putting it on!  And the one that pushed me over the edge... this one wasn't being timed!  It's so much pressure!  

 I think that's why Avery chose to run it too!  She doesn't like the pressure of everyone knowing how fast... or slow we are running.  She also ran with one of her friends, Jaydn.  Randy kept teasing Tanner that he was going to beat him.  Of course Tanner killed us all!  He's a great runner with lots of energy.  

Here are the fans!  We bought glow paint so the kids could feel like they were part of the action.  The race was actually over before it turned dusk so even though we had glow in the dark shirts, you couldn't tell until later in the evening.

And our other biggest fans: Addie, Taylor and Ashton.  Actually, after the race was over I kind of wanted to know what my time was.  I came in pretty fast and strong, I don't know how!  Randy still left me in the dust but I didn't mind.  This course had a lot of hills and I was just happy I never walked.  It was a great evening and I think Hoover Elementary raised a lot of money for their school!