7 years down a lifetime to go.....

Written on the 13th of July (our 7th wedding anniversary)

To the man I love...

7 years we have been married, 7 years we have been best friends. I can say there are times when you drive me absolutely crazy and I am sure you can say the same about me, but you have also made me the happiest. We have gone threw a lot since that day in high school when we decided to start dating (Oh my goodness, that feels like such a long time ago). We never knew where our life would take us but we knew that it would take us somewhere together. 12 years of dating, 7 years of marriage, and 3 amazing children later we are stronger than ever. I am so proud of all that we have become, and I am looking forward to many more years of happiness and craziness, ups and downs, goods and bads with you.

With all my Love,

Gemma Lu

The boys of the house....

I am so Lucky to have these boys in my life.

Intimate Moments with God....

I don't normally take pictures of the kids praying, but i just had to so I could remember these special intimate moments as they get older.

This is one of my favorite things, especially about Braiden, he is so tender and honest as he prays. This just makes my momma heart soar. He always starts before bed with " dear Heavenly Father, OH my Heavenly Father....." it is beyond precious, and it amazes me how he just gets it, no questions asked he just understands. Don't we wish that we could all have faith like that, "faith like a child"!!

Braiden prays for himself but Trevor still needs help. Every night, the family meets in the boys bedroom and we pray over them and they pray. One night I was tied up and Trevor started yelling in his room "MOM, you have to talk over me", I sat there thinking, I have to talk over him what does that mean, when it dawned on me that he was meaning I needed to pray over him. What an amazing feeling to know that these kids have the desire to have a relationship with God, and it comforts them having this time.

Fireworks and The Flu...........

Okay our 4th of July was interesting, to say the least.

On Friday the 3rd some friends of ours invited the kiddos to come over and make 4th of July shirts, and have lunch. They had a great time and made adorable shirts, you can see them on the boys, Audrey got a Independence day outfit for her birthday so I thought she should wear that. But the super cute barrettes in her hair were a Stephanie creation. Oh to be that crafty! Thanks Steph!!

Anyways the kids were fighting a bug earlier in the week but seemed to be fine. The 4th rolled around and the kids still acted fine, so we went to a BBQ at my sisters and then went home to get in our Jammie's and pack some snacks to go to watch the fireworks at West Ellensburg Park. As the kids got dressed it all started to go crazy. Braiden started complaining about his stomach, but was heartbroken at the thought of not getting to see the fireworks. Jeremy and I at that point, made the decision to still go, but park around Anderson's Hay and just sit in the back of the car, which was a good idea, because halfway through them Audrey turned greenish and started vomiting out the back of the car. Oh, Memories!!! We got her cleaned up, managed to watch the rest of the show and have officially been sick ever since.

Audrey's Future Boyfriends, WATCH OUT.......

Because her dad is working his way up the belt rankings!!!

Jeremy just received his Blue Belt at the beginning of the month, and we are extremely proud of him.

He set a goal and obtained it, his next goal is purple, brown and than the coveted Black.

Congrats Jeremy you are no longer "pigmentally challenged".

But with this new color of belt, his professors are asking him to go to a lot bigger tournaments, so Jeremy on top of belt color goals he is looking at going to The Worlds, Pan Am's, and other larger competitions. Apparently I am going to need to get a frequent flyer card! Oh my!!

Fairy Princess....

Uncle Nick and Blair got Audrey a Tinker Bell dress up outfit, which she LOVED. When we got home from the party she immediately wanted to wear it. She had her dad help her put it on (which, is a whole new world for Jeremy, because dress up, hair an everything girlie is not something that he normally does), and wore it the rest of the night. She then found her pinata from her party and tried to ride it around, she was vary upset first when it wouldn't move and second when the legs broke out from under it because it was made of paper mache.

Audreys 2nd Birthday Love Letter.....

To our Beautiful Audrey Grace,
This is your 2nd Birthday Love Letter, and my how you have grown in just one year. The first year of your life you constantly amazed us with you persistence and your spirit, but I have to say year 2 has amazed us even more. Let me tell you about yourself during this last year.
You are STILL persistent, sweet and have an amazing spirit, but with that you have added Bossy, Busy, and Even more Beautiful.
You are a bossy britches, you THINK that you rule the house, and in some cases you do. You and Trevor are constantly fighting for control of the house. You try to tell your brothers where they need to be, when they need to be there, and a lot of the times they listen.
You are loud, everything you do and say, is loud, from the crazy outfits you have decided you will wear, to the decibel 1000 you have to talk at to make sure that you are heard.
You are busy, you don’t sit still for long. You by far get into so much more than the boys did at this age. So far I have had shampoo poured all over my couch, nail polish spilled on our carpet, and pen marks all over out furniture and walls, just to name a few. We do however find it comical that you can be extremely quiet when you are getting into things, because like stated above that is not normally your nature.
You are beautiful, your dad and I fall more and more in love with you each day. You make us smile because of the light that flows out of you, the quirky outfits that you love, the way you always say “I WUV YOU” when we need it, how you will go and stand in time out with your brothers partially because you want to cheer the m up and partially because you want to tease them, and the way you LOVE your brothers and would follow them anywhere. This last year has been hard due to the health issues that you have had seizures, ears, colds, but through it all you power through. You don’t let much “get you down” and we admire that trait and hope that it stays with you for the rest of your life.
We Love you so Much Sissy Bell,
Mom and Dad