Lucy and Hannah

Hanging out in the new hammock.
It's a great relax on a summer day, even with a baby crawling on you.

She's always willing to share with a friend. Kisses and Lucy have been together since they were babies, and it shows. She mauls him like no one else can, lifts him from his enclosure, chases him all over the yard, tries to sit on him (gently, of course,) but I think her favorite is feeding him.

Summer fun at our house. Yes, Hannah climbed up the slide by herself!

Lucy discovered filling up low spots in the grass for a mini wade pool.

These girls are delightful!

Hannah, 11 months old. Isn't Claire incredible?!?!

She got the perfect smile, pose, lighting, and beautiful baby!

Check this out!

Well, what do you think?!?!? She's a doll isn't she? She was over at Julianne's for almost two hours last night playing hair. Four hair cuts later, here's the final result.

Her hair hasn't been this short since first grade...and it took a lot of courage to go there again. So funny, she loved it in first grade but every time she sees a picture of that time period she has serious trauma.

Yep, she beautiful and she ours. We love her!

Gabriel Shakespeare

Life doesn't get any better than this! Meet Gabe. He made me a great-aunt....as opposed to a Great aunt. John and Megan dropped in for a surprise visit while John's on a ten day leave. It totally made my day, and Lane's :-) The photo is cute but I wish you could have heard him cooing at Lane. So precious!

Starving but willing to wait. What a guy! If we're lucky, we'll see them again on Sunday.

Celebrating Amelia

Several years ago Thomas suggested that we celebrate Amelia's birthday by doing service. Over the years we've done many things. It's a wondeful way to remember the great blessing she is in our family though she is not with us. This year we also celebrated a dear friend who was tragically killed in an accident shortly before she was to be married. So, Happy Birthday Amelia and Rebecca!

There is an organization in Utah County called Kids on the Move. The cater to special needs, children born with disabilities, those who need some early intervention to help them develop the best they can. When I walk into the building, I think of the fact that if Amelia had lived, it's likey we would have used their services. Thank you Kids on the Move for the great contribution you are to our community!

Busy May...and that's not all!

Happy 18th Birthday to Jordan! She's more than excited to graduate from High School next week. Her comments on turning 18? "Now I can be killed by lethal injection, the electric chair or beheaded. Jordie, really! In other words, she's a legal adult.

Abbie's final performance for the year. she absolutely loves clogging and we love the company she clogs with! I have a feeling we'll be doing this for a long time. FYI, she looks small next to some of these gals...doesn't she? She's the second oldest in the class and that girl is her same size. Those other girls, taller genes than Abigail for sure!

If this doesn't make you smile, tsk, tsk, tsk. I know I say this a lot, but these two little girls are the light of my life! There are huge blessings that come with having your siblings so spread out. Here are two of them. Lucy and Hannah are becoming little friends. Hannah is getting old enough to play and not just get in the way....though she still does lots of that too. It delights me when they're having fun together...even if it's in the kitchen sink having a clean up after lunch. Lucky me.

My grown up girls. This is a terrible photo but I want to tantalize you. As soon as we get the video on I'll let you know. This is their end of year voice recital. It's wow and then some! I love these girls and am SO proud of their accomplishments this year. Words cannot express how they've grown in all areas of their lives. I feel honored to be their mother!

The most wonderful principal in the world

Remember when we were learning to spell principle and principal and we were supposed to remember the difference because the principal was our "pal"? I remember not feeling convinced. However, my children have had the privilege of having Rosemarie Smith as their principal for the last ten years. This year Miss Smith was awarded the Building On Excellence Award by the Provo School District Foundation. She was asked to choose one student to accompany her to an awards banquet at the Country Club and pay tribute. She choose Abbie.

Abby was so honored that Miss Smith chose her! We carefully outlined what she wanted to say. I'll include it here as summarizing simply would not be sufficient. "My name is Abby Ferrin and I would like to try and explain just how extraordinary a person and principal Rosemarie Smith is. I am very honored to be here today to pay tribute to her. I have been attending Amelia Earhart Elementary since I was about six months old. (That got a great laugh from the crowd!) Before I could attend as a student, I would go with my mom to help in my brother's and sister's classes, and I would go to PTA Meetings. Therefore, I saw her a lot. I do not remember everything, but I do remember things from the past few years. My mother told me that whenever we went to the school, Miss Smith would look me in the eye and say, "Hello Abby, I can't wait for you to start school here!" She always viewed me as just me, and not someone's younger sister. She has helped me and my family through many hard things.

When I was in kindergarten. I thought that Coach Kelly, our gym teacher was scary because he's so tall and I was so little. To fix that, Miss Smith set up a time that me and Coach Kelly could get to know each other. Some of the kids at Amelia Earhart are scared to talk to Miss Smith, but I have always been comfortable talking to her and being with her. I love her so much and I hope we never lose contact with each other." This had been especially meaningful as Miss Smith is retiring this year. What a remarkable woman she is and has been for all of my children. Never fear, we have her phone number, cell number and address....we won't lose her.