Preschool Graduation

Jaelyn is officially a preschool graduate! Jaelyn attended preschool at Creative Play for two school years. The teachers at Creative Play had a huge impact on Jaelyn and I am so glad that we took a step and enrolled her when she was three-years-old. Jaelyn has grown and changed so much since attending Creative Play. The teachers will never know how much they are loved by our family!

Jaelyn's Class

Jaelyn is standing by Skyler. They ended up being on the same T-Ball team this year and have become great friends!

The Class of 2025!

Jaelyn with her Diploma.

This is Brecken. I use to watch her when she was just a baby and she ended up being in Jaelyn's class!

Chaseton supporting his sister at Graduation.

Jaelyn with her flowers that her daddy gave her.

This is Mrs. Girdler. Jaelyn and her had a very special relationship. We gave each of the teachers a flower that we planted with a pinwheel and a special note.

We celebrated afterwards with Jaelyn's lunch of choice, Wendy's!

I can't believe Jaelyn will be enrolling in Kindergarten in less than three months!

A Graduation Celebration

After Matt and I got married in July of 2006, we immediately moved to Topeka so that Matt could attend Washburn University. He wanted to attend Law School here and that was our main reason for choosing Washburn. His interests changed and so did his major. Six years later, here we are. Matt has finally graduated and I'm very much looking forward to a new chapter in our lives.

May 12, 2012, Graduation Day

Matt graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in History!

Our Family. We've grown and accomplished a lot in the past six years. We've had three beautiful children, bought a house, my husband has a great job, and we've really established ourselves here in Topeka.

After the graduation ceremony, we had a BBQ with Matt's closest friends in our backyard.

Chaseton played all evening long!

Matt and his girls.

Matt's sister, Michaela, Matt, and Jaelyn all graduated within one week.

You can't have a BBQ without S'mores!

Ladder Golf

This is Emily. Matt works with her and we have become great friends. Chaseton loves her!

Matt's Grandparents made the trip to support him!

I get my love for kids from my mom. She loves babies just as much as me! :)

Jaelyn made Nicholas dance with her.

Matt's Nana and Nicholas.

I'm so unbelievably proud of Matt and I'm so thankful that Matt is finished with school. I'm ready to concentrate on our family and move onto the next chapter in our lives. Big decisions are coming our way! I can't wait to see what God has planned next for us!

Graduation

Yesterday was a very exciting day for our family! Matt graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Washburn University! We are so proud of him! 

We've been celebrating all weekend long...more to come!

A Taste of Summer

We spend a lot of our summer days at Matt's parents house. Its close to the lake, the kids love it there as they get spoiled with ice cream and popsicles, there's so much room to play and run outside, and they have a pool. We headed over this past Saturday, since the pool had been set up the day before, to let our little fishies swim. The weather was beautiful and it was a great opportunity to test out the pool to make sure it was ready for summer! This was Chaseton's first time getting to swim at Grandma and Papa's house. He wasn't very fond of the cold water but other than that, everyone had a great time!

My little fish.

As long as Daddy held him out of the water, he was okay!

This is how he felt about swimming on this day! :)

Jaelyn is quite the swimmer!

Cuddles with Grandma.

Sweet Sisters

As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a mom. I have always loved babies and dreamt of the day I would have one of my own. When I became pregnant for the first time, I really wanted a boy. I loved having older brothers growing up and I wanted a little girl to have an older brother just like I did.

Life gets funny as you change and grow.

As I got older, I longed for a sister of my own. I longed for a relationship with my sister that never had to face this world because she went straight to heaven to be with Jesus. I wanted a sister that I could call at any given hour and she'd be there for me. A sister that I could share clothes with and hang out with for hours on end. A sister that would give me nieces and nephews and ask me for advice and look up to me. A sister to share life with. Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers more than they know but I just wanted a sister, a best friend. God has more than fullfilled my desire to have a sister. Not only do I have numerous friends that would gladly fill the role, I have been blessed with sisters-in-law that love me like I've been there from the beginning and two cousins that have been more like sisters to me than cousins. My sister, Jenna, would have been 20 today. I'm so glad that my girl is named Jaelyn Lerae, after my sister, so that I have a constant reminder of her in heaven. Say a prayer for my mama's heart if you read this.

When Jaelyn was born, the idea of her having a brother went right out the window. I knew I wanted her to have a sister from the beginning. There is just something so special about the bond of sisterhood. I know because I get to witness it everyday. The day that Finlee was born is a day I will never forget. I believe that God placed these two precious darlings in my life so I can experience sisterhood in a totally different way, through the eyes of my daughters.

As crazy as this sounds, I can't wait to watch them grow and really develop a friendship. I expect drama, fights over the bathroom, and heartbreak but I also expect love, slumberparties, makeup and cute clothes, and happiness. I'm so grateful that God has blessed me with two precious girls that call me mom and I'm especially thankful for two girls that have and will have the best relationship a girl could ask for, a sister.