Homecoming night at the Dunow's

First of all my camera wasn't the greatest last night.  I'm very upset about this.  It was my little girls first Homecoming dance and her pictures are yucky.  Good thing she's beautiful.  Can't say that much for the Daddy that's teasing his little girl.

 Anna went with her friend Cypress.  They met some other girls at the dance.  It kills me how long her legs are.

 Aren't they they gorgeous?  I had so much fun fixing their hair!

 Cathy is Cypress's Mom.  She has become such a dear friend of mine.  She's always smiling and laughing.  Matt is just trouble.  Just kidding Matt. 

 Troy is trouble too.  Not joking either.  He teases way too much.

 Logan took Megan to the dance.  She's such a cute little thing.  He forgot the corsage at the house and had to drive clear back to get it. 

 Anna was getting bored waiting to leave.

 Ok, these photo's are really funny to me.  Can you tell the difference between the girls who have gone to the dances before, and the girls who are pro's at this.

 This one of Anna and Logan is my favorite.  Can't believe how grown up they are.  Soren needed a picture with his big bro. 

 I decided to post this pic just for a good laugh.  She used the web cam. She is such a little drama queen.

Great friends, noisy house.

Dylan, one of Logan's best friends from Rio Rancho came to visit for a while.  It's been so fun having him here.  He keeps commenting on how green everything is here. 

 The boy's did some target shooting last night.

 Always with Troy's and my supervision.  Teenage boy's with guns?  Uh, scary!  Actually they are very careful.

 We took Dylan for a walk in our woods.  He got really creeped out by all the slugs. 

One thing that is really hilarious is that Dylan is taller than Logan.  Ever since Logan met Dylan in the 4th grade, Logan has been taller than him.  Not anymore.  I was shocked at how tall Dylan was.  Not so surprised once I saw the kids put away the food. 

 Excuse the red eyes.  I need to fix the camera settings.  I think some little kid fingers were playing with my camera.

Cypress, Anna's friend spent the day with us.

 I've been wanting to take some shots of the girls with flowers in their hair.  My beautiful blue eyed Ella.

 Cypress was a little horrified that I made her put flowers in her hair.  She is so NOT the flower type girl.  I think she was a little scared of me.  JK.

 My baby girl Olivia.  It's going to break my heart when she looses her baby teeth.

 I had to practically sit on Anna to put the flowers on her.  Look at that dimple.

 Cypress again.  She is AMAZING with animals.  I
 should start calling her Dr. Doolittle.

 One thing is for certain.  My house is a mad house right now.  Extra kids = extra noise.

I wouldn't trade it for nothing though.  I love having all our friends over.

Things did get a little crazy last night.  We had Cypress's parents over for dinner and all the boy's wrestled.  Matt took some time to play with Ted WFI.

They all ganged up on Dylan.  He so deserved it.

By the end of the night I was ready to lock myself in my room and put earplugs in.

We are so happy to have Dylan with us right now. 

Our family is extra happy to have such great friends like Matt, Cathy and Cypress.

Muddy Buddies!

Lauren would climb up in the tree house, but wouldn't stand up.
So dang cute!
Just want to squeeze her.

This is what happens when your yard is not finished being landscaped,
it's hot outside,
the kids are bored and they start playing with water.

This is what kept the kids busy for a long time. Marissa and I just sat back and let the kids roll in the mud like a bunch of pigs on a hot day.

Carly found her spot and wouldn't move. She was so relaxed I was worried that she would fall asleep. It was hysterical. All the other kids were digging and playing, while she just laid there.
I was jealous.

One good thing.
The kids skin got exfoliated.

Gabe and Soren made channels and rivers all over the place.
Typical boys.

I hope these girls marry men with lots of money.
Mud baths get expensive when you grow up.

It was so much fun to sit back and watch the kids cover themselves in mud.
It was more fun to watch Marissa spray the kids off with the hose.

These kids will remember the summer that they got to dig holes and make mud baths. In a couple of weeks they will all start school, the cold weather will come and this will only be a memory.
Until next year.
Maybe next year Marissa and I will join them.

Memories of childhood.

I just recently connected to a friend on Facebook that I haven't seen or talked to for about 20 years or so. Heidi Elledge and I spent our tender young years tearing up our neighborhoods. I was so excited to hear from her I could hardly contain myself. It was rather a surprise because I had been trying to locate her for several years now. Raising children of my own now and seeing the friendships they are forming has brought back memories of my own special bonds that I had with friends. Heidi and I were very close to eachother. I had my very first sleepover at her house. She had two other sisters and it was a lot of shrieking and giggling going on. I thought it was amazing that she had so much GIRL stuff at her house to play with. I had 6 brothers and 1 sister, so there was more boy stuff that girl stuff. One of the most memorable things we did was riding down the "hill" in the red wagon. The hill I am talking about is not some "little"out of the way hill. It's the main road into the neighborhood and it is steep. I am amazed that we were not hit by a car or had any bones broken.

I can't remember how old we were when her parents divorced the they moved away. It was still in grade school. I was devastated that she had left. I saw her over the years at different functions, but have always thought of her over the years and wondered how her life had turned out. I saw her Dad at a restaurant a few days before I got married. My Mom had always stayed in contact with Heidi's Mom so I had updates about her through that.

I've had kids and stayed busy trying to raise them. I am using the word TRYING very loosely. Always thinking about my best childhood friend. I am thrilled to know that she is happy and healthy and getting on in life. Now that we have reconnected I hope that we will have more chances to visit and hopefully see one another some day. Thanks for the memories Heidi!

Cool Guys.

This is the year that Logan went with Jacob to church camp. July, 2006

August, 2007

July,2008

June, 2009

Logan and Jacob have been friends since Kindergarten. Jacob has since moved to San Antonino, Texas but still visits once a year. It was quite remarkable, the changes both the boys have made in the past year. They talked about girls, cars and cell phones. Both have deep voices and are just plain funny to watch. I am hoping that Logan will be able to go to San Antonio soon for a visit.