The Moore's are moving :(

Our dear friends the Moore family just moved!  We went over on the last day to visit and say our goodbyes.  Chessa reminded me that it's not goodbye, just see you later.  We do have plans to visit them in August at their summer house in Bethany Beach, Michigan.  In fact, that might be our meeting place for years to come :)

Tyler & Eli are good buddies and really hit it off from the start of our freindship together.

I just love this picture of Ginger.  We will miss you!  I am not a dog person at all but Ginger has a special place in my heart.  We really got to know her when she would stay with our family.

Ginger's BFF is Elese...or so she thinks!  Elese loved taking charge of Ginger and trying to take her on walks.  Ginger would always get away from her and she would get so frustrated.  We would laugh so hard at Elese & her Ginger stories.  One time she told Chessa, "Ginger's going to be so excited to see me!" with a big smile on her face.

Eliot loved Ginger too!  He would always say, "No, no Ginger!"

We will miss our playdates with Katelyn! 

It's different without the Moore's just around the corner.  I drive by their place just to check on it and still look for them any time I see a black Expedition.  I will miss hanging out with them but I know that we will be life long friends.  We may be in Minnesota but we will only be a phone call or text away!  Thank you for your friendship Chessa!

While the movers were loading the truck all the kids starting following them around.  Chessa & I thought they might be bugging them but this guy was a trooper!  He sang songs and the kids were having a ball!

Up the ramp...

Into the van...

And back down again!

At the end of the summer the Moore's are off to Charloette, NC and the start of a new journey!  God truly blessed us with their shared faith, friendship & good times spent together.  If I could change anything it would be that we would have met when we first moved here!  I know God's timing is perfect and I am thankful to have the memories we share.  Here's to new adventures in Charolette & Minnesota!

Last Day of School!

There's a little tradition here in Whitegate Farms.  On the last day of school all the parents gather at the bus stops to pelt the kids with water balloons!  We wanted it to be a surprise to our kids so Scott & I started filling balloons at 10:30 the night before the last day.  I was soaked and Scott's fingers were totally cramping!

Tim was the official photograher & Scott was all ready with his bag of balloons!

Jen brought water guns!  Eliot was thrilled & attempted to spray them all.

I had this great idea to use my baby sling to hold the balloons...it was so genius!  The kids thought that I had a baby in there so it was good to sneak up on them.

Molly walked over to join in the fun just as the bus was rounding the corner!

Here's a couple shots of the aftermath!  I had to stop taking pics to unload on the kids.

It really was just as fun for the parents too! 

Happy Birthday Eliot!

Eliot (aka Brother Bear) just celebrated his 2nd birthday!  We didn't have a birthday party this year but celebrated with the Moore family.  Cake & ice cream is always a big hit around here!

Emery helped me decide on the cake.  We chose a tiger because Eliot loves animals.  It was a good choice because he can say tiger too!

It was such a beautiful evening that we opened gifts outside.  The $1 water gun was a huge hit.

Love, love, love this card!

The Moore's gave Eliot a big whale for the pool.  He loved it and we got it all ready to go right away.  He's done a great job of sharing it with his siblings.

As you can imagine he had many helpers with his gifts!  Did you notice the shirt change?  He opened the striped shirt from us and quickly had to change.  This seems to be his new thing any time he gets clothes.

It's a pull string talking Woody!

I do believe that Eliot's favorite gift was the 50 cent ring pop!  It was his first time to have one and he was so afraid someone would take it from him that he ate it in record speed!

Mr. Ben & Scott were checking out Scott's new car and Eliot climbed in.  He was having the best time goofing around in the sun roof!

My favorite part of the evening was singing Happy Birthday.  It was SO cute because Eliot sang right along with us with this huge smile on his face!  I'm so bummed that I didn't record it.

Eliot is such a sweet boy.  He truly loves life and the world around him.  He wants to do most things himself and is very interested in using the potty like big brother.

He quickly helped himself to a cupcake!

I can't believe my baby is 2!  More and more doors close everyday on the baby stages at the Jackson house.  I am both happy & sad but more than anything just grateful for my family.

On Eliot's actual birthday Uncle Brad, Kylee & Kate came to our house for a visit.  I wasn't here but I heard that they had a great time!  They gave him 2 outfits and he again stripped down and tried them on!

Kate & Emery (cousins!)

Kylee & Elese (cousins!)

Eli Graduates!

It's official...Eli graduated kindergarten!  Mrs. Norton had a nice little ceremony outside for the kids.  The parents sat on blankets & chairs on a hot, hot day!  I love how she paraded the kids in...adorable! 

It was somewhat windy so the kids had to hold onto their hats.

Our neighbor Peyton is in Eli's class & graduated too :)

You can tell how hot it was by the color of Elese's face!

Mrs. Norton had an adorable portfolio for each of the kids.  It is a collection of their work throughout the year.

Here's a picture of one of the pages of Eli's portfolio.  How cute is this?  Look at the little one with the red hair!

Such a sweet boy!

How cute is this?  We were having some fun with Eli's hat.

Max, Chris, Eli & Jack...best buddies :)

 
Congratulations Eli!  You're a big 1st grader now :)

Eli truly loved kindergarten.  This was Mrs. Norton's first year teaching kindergarten and they seemed to be a good fit for each other.  School comes easy for Eli and he gets along well with his peers.  Chris is his best little friend and it's great that he just lives around the corner in our neighborhood.  They play often & both have big sisters.

Broadway Bound

Emery & Katelyn joined Broadway Bound back in January.  They took the Hip Hop I class and LOVED it!  It's a great little studio that doesn't seem to put a lot of pressure on the girls.  I think Chessa & I saw the dance for the recital no less than 1,000 times!

Sweet friends!

All the girls in the dance recital had to hang out in the cafeteria waiting for their turn to take the stage.

Here's a shot of Emery in action.  It's not the greatest shot but I'll take it!  Emery was such a ham.  I was very impressed with how well she did.  Katelyn & Emery literally lit up on that stage!

All the men were running around with their flowers...here they are waiting for the girls.  Thank you Ben for helping Scott out by buying his flower!

Grandma & Grandaddy made a special trip up to see the recital.  They also got to give Eliot an early birthday present & visit with all the grand babies!

Emery's cheering crowd.  We decided to go with a babysitter for Eli, Elese & Eliot...we weren't sure how well they would do with the length of the recital.

One of my favorite pictures...such genuine expressions!