Mckenna's 1st Lost Tooth!

Mckenna has had a loose tooth for about a month now...we anticipated it being her first lost tooth. However, yesterday she hit her mouth on the wall at the pool and knocked another tooth loose. After some aggressive wiggling by her 'cousin' Lauren that was in town for the weekend...she now has lost her first tooth!

Here is the picture before the pulling process...
Ta-da...just minutes later she now has one less tooth! Considering she is 7 in two months she made it a long time with those baby teeth!

Happy Birthday!

This weekend we have "cousins" visiting...essentially we grew up with this family (the parents) and they came up to see DC this weekend with their kids. Their youngest, Braeden turned 7 on Saturday so we hosted a Ben 10 Birthday party at his request. He didn't know we had decorated and made him a cake...this picture is his reaction as he walked into the kitchen to see his party.
Checking out his cake...

Excited at all the attention...

My friend, Cathy helped me make this cake...it's the Ben 10 watch if you aren't familiar with the cartoon (which I wasn't...we had to google it to learn about the show on the Cartoon network).
We attempted some Fondant...they now sell buttercream fondant at Michale's that is put out by Ace of Cakes...it was really good despite the normal negative thoughts about fondant.

I think he was pretty excited and the girls had a lot of fun decorating for a "boy party"...

Baileigh's Baptism

This weekend was very special as we celebrated Baileigh's decision to be baptised. On Friday night we had a cake with our small group in honor of the event...Sam, whose family is part of our small group, was also going to be baptised today so we wanted to acknowledge this important milestone. Unfortunately, Sam woke up with a fever on Sunday morning and couldn't participate...but he did get ice cream cake!
Ready and waiting! She was very nervous, but very excited. There were 24 people being baptized this morning at our church...it's very cool how the pastor invites friends and family to come up on the stage and get as close as possible to the baptismal so they can be a part of the event and provide encouragement.
Baileigh and Pastor Ray...he shared that he was also 8 when he made the decision to be baptised...Baileigh thought this fact was very cool!

First they showed a video she had made at the end of her Zone 2 class (prepares them for baptism...makes sure they understand what it is about and why they are doing it)...only about 1 minute interview with her in a rocking chair proclaiming her love for Jesus. She giggled at the end, it was very cute.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit...

Yeah!!!!

So proud...of her and for her.

Ringing out the robe before she takes it off...

Nana has been here for a week and stuck around for this important event...Baileigh was so happy that she was here for the event.
We're very proud of the young lady Baileigh is growing into and the good decisions she seems to be making.

1st Gymastics Meet

Mckenna is on a recreational gymnastics team, but about 6 girls were asked from her class to participate in a real meet so they could have the experience as well as be evaluated for a competitive team. She did amazing! Mckenna has a lot of natural athletic talent and gymnastics comes very easy to her.
It was hard to capture pictures of her actual routines...especially since I could not use a flash in the gym. I managed to get afew though...here she is in the middle of her floor routine doing a back bend walk over...or something like that. She got a 9.25 on her floor routine and placed 7th which earned her a medal.
Also part of her floor routine...nice form!

Now her turn on the beam...she got a 9.15 and finished 5th overall...another medal!

The bar....she kinda fell apart on the bar. This is her weakest event in some areas, strongest in others. She gets so much speed and height...too much, more then she can control right now. In fact, she ended up going over the top of the bar in a dive...everyone gasped and anticipated tears, Mckenna got up and was embarrased but laughing and said, "that was fun!"...and got back on the bar!

The girls in blue are obviously on a team...Mckenna was the first one to place on vault that wasn't on an official team.

This is when she learned that she placd 8th overall for age 6....out of 17 girls. Not bad considering she is only on a recreational team.

Sporting the bling-bling...she was very excited to have medals to take home for show and tell at school.

Nesting

No, I'm not pregnant and nesting. And neither is our male dog...but he has created a little nest like a dear in the dirt in our front flower bed.

Ranger is now almost 12 years old and starting to show his age. He doesn't wander far from the house, too tiring. He has several benign tumors and arthritis in his hips. As he has grown older he has grown sweeter, too. I probably would have shewed him out of the flower bed at one time, but he looks so cute and cozy so I let him stay and guard the house.

Bed Head

Swim Lessons

Brooke is taking 8 weeks of swim lessons. I'm hoping that when our neighborhood pool is open next month the lessons will help her to be more independent in the pool since I'll have my hands full with Morgan.

She is doing great...no hesitation or fear, despite the look on her face!

Such a cutie...
Brooke and her buddy, Conner...he is taking lessons with Brooke.

The Eyes

I love these eyes!!!!