Isn't it precious?

Isn't it the most wonderful thing to hear your children pray? At our dinner table Maddy likes to take over that area for Jason and I. I can honestly say I don't mind. I get tears in my eyes each time she prays whether it's the Lord's prayer or her own. It really makes you think about their innocence. Enjoy this clip that I snuck last night during dinner.

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by TINA. Here's the deal; I have to list something for every letter in my middle name. Luckily it is a short one, Joy. This might not be as easy as I think. Here goes:

J: My husband is Jason. Easy enough but there is so much more that could be said about him. He is my strength in the years that we have been together. During all the hard times he lets me fall on him. I wish he would lean on me more often but maybe he feels that would not be true to his nature.

O: What do I say about this?! Let's see...I am officially done having children. Maybe that sounds crass to some of you but 7 years ago I was told I would most likely not have children on my own. I went on to have 4 in three very short years. I am blessed beyond words no matter how stressful my life may be at the moment.

Y: Yikes! My youngest is running naked in my basement right now. That is a sure sign I have been blogging too long today.

I will tag Kim D, Stacey, and anyone else. I don't know that many bloggers yet. But I leave you these images of my JOY.

BBQ & Apple Fest

This past weekend we headed up to Silver Lake again for their 2nd Annual BBQ & Apple Fest. They have BBQ pork cook-offs, craft booths, and an antique car show. It was pretty chilly this year but the kids loved walking around and checking out all the goodies.





Jellystone park had face painting and a moonwalk that the kids got a kick out of.

We took a ride up in the dunes on Friday night because the wind was blowing like crazy. The waves were pretty big and the kids got a kick out of seeing them crash on the shore.

Happy Birthday Mal!

Over the holiday weekend we celebrated Mallory's birthday. She turned into the terrible two's but we gave her two parties anyway. Here are a few of the highlights of the parties.

Everyone deserves a little solitude on their birthday.


For some reason she was scared of the candle but...

that fear didn't last too long.