Long time no see

Hi! Sorry its been so long. I (Ali Porter) shall be in charge of updating this blog (yay!)

Anyways.... HAPPY SUMMER Y'ALL!  I'm so glad school is over. So some big things that have happened is

• I got my braces off in April
• Cole started a YouTube channel
• Jane has graduated from Pre-School (kindergarten get ready for this one)
• Macy was baptized (WOO-HOO)
• I graduated from Middle School (HIGH SCHOOL HERE I COME)

That's been the grand jest of things and... Here's some pictures

Cole and I

Macy's baptism

Class of 2014 (middle school 8th grade pic)

Cole's final band concert as a 6th grader

Mud Fight on Memorial Day (Left: Megan Center: Sydney Right: Me)

Cole's first temple trip!!!! (I didn't get a picture with him :'( )

Me at lunch with my mom after I got my braces off

Also: We had SOOOOOO much fun with Aunt Debbie when she came to visit (thanks for the kinect! We love it!) and we hope that we can see all of you (so come visit!)

See y'all soon!

Kids at the Park

A nearby park has this cool climbing ball.  Here's some pics of the kids playing around.

Elevator Music

Cole strolled up beside me in the kitchen, remote in hand. He had his back to me, aiming the remote at the TV and skipping nearly ever song that started on his sisters "One Direction" Pandora station.

"Mom, I can't find a Pandora station I like."

"What's a song you like a lot and we'll start one from that artist."

"I like this music, I just wish they had... like an orchestra playing it."

"So you want pop music, but an orchestra playing it? No words?"

"Yea."

"That's called elevator music, man."

He quickly flips to the search screen on the TV and heads back into the family room.

"K.  I'll search for that."




I'm so proud. :/

Flocked

Just something silly I saw on my way home and had to share.  This was a house in our neighborhood, with a sign in their yard that said, "You've been Flocked"

The Halloween Tree

We have had a dead tree in our backyard since we moved in, almost a year ago. Jane calls it the Halloween tree because it's scary. Every wind storm we loose another branch or two because the limbs are rotted to their cores. When they started falling in the neighbors yard we knew it had to come down.

Here's some pics of the silly adventure (I love how kids turn stuff like this into an event of a lifetime) :)

Macy, Jane and the neighbor kids :)

It's Time

After spending a year in the black hole of facebook, I've decided to stop neglecting my blog :)  Here's our some of the happenings over the last year.

JULY 2012
Macy had Chicken Pox.... for nearly the WHOLE summer...  Now that we know she has pretty bad eczema, I think what we thought was leftover chicken pox (waiting to scab over so she was "safe") was really just eczema caused by the chicken pox.  Poor girl spent almost all summer indoors and out of the pool.  So sad.

AUGUST 2012

My first story was published in Jack and Jill magazine, Mike turned 35 and Macy lost her first tooth!

SEPTEMBER 2012

Macy learned to ride a bike.  Jane started preschool!

OCTOBER 2012

Mutti and Papa visit and Halloween - of course!!!

Botanical Garden trip with Mutti, Papa and cousins

NOVEMBER 2012

Cole turned 11 and built marble tracks for almost a month straight :)

My 2nd story was published in The Friend, "Jumping Rope with Emma"

DECEMBER 2012

I turned 35.  Jane turned 4 and Christmas :)

JANUARY 2013

My Mom came to visit (the highlight of the month for me) :) My little girls saw a Barbie car (this was an important life event for them) :) And Cole's science project went on to district. Yay, Cole!

FEBRUARY 2013

Another Haircut, Macy's 7th Birthday and Mike and I's 14th Wedding Anniversary.

MARCH 2013

Family trip to San Antonio. Jane's first haircut

APRIL 2013

This month has been really low-key (I love low-key) .  The only highlight is that Mike is job hunting to leave the teaching profession after 7 years (still has a job, just very burnt out).  Not sure exactly where he'll end up, but we'll let you know when it happens! :)

Love you all!!!

What'd you do this summer?

I worried my kids didn't get to do enough fun stuff this summer - so it made me think, what the heck did we do these last two months? Once I thought about it... we've had a lot happen over the last two months... even if Shamu was never involved.

Here's a few highlights from 

our summer adventures.

Bought our first house.

painted, painted, carpeted, and painted our new house

(thanks Mom, Rob and Becks... and Ali and Cole for babysitting)

My Mom came to visit and bought be a camera so I can take pictures again :)

We moved for the 11th time in our nearly 14 years of marriage - ugh.

Got to replace a dishwasher and garbage disposal - yay for foreclosures!

 

Cut off over a foot of hair.

 Braces and Girls Camp for the first time.

Lots of Dress-ups

Friends

 Ali turned 12 and is now in Young Women's!

Killed on bird on the way to the temple.  Yuck.

(Don't worry Mutti and Papa... it all came off your car)

and LOTS of Swimming!

Although our summer didn't have more than a 30 mile radius - it was definitely an eventful one!

LOVE YOU ALL!