Is it already the middle of July!?

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by. Our family has been crazy busy but has made many memories along the way. It has been over a month since I have last posted and I didn't even know where to begin. I actually had to pull out my calender book to remember everything we have done. The post below is going to be exceptionally long to catch everyone up on what we have been doing. And beware--There is no order to everything, I always forget the the pictures upload backwards---

Today we celebrated Ethan's 3rd birthday. It is crazy to me that the baby of the family is no longer a baby--Time flies and it seems like just yesterday Ethan was born. The four of us started the day at the Deanna Rose Farm and ended it with a birthday party at Dexter's moms house. I think Ethan could care less about the day or the party, he just wanted to open presents. It was quite funny when someone wished him a happy birthday because he would reply with "Happy Birthday" and if you ask him how old he is he will tell you first that he is 2 then he will say he is 5. It was an awesome day and we had a great time as a family.

He with his Nerf sword. If you notice P is sneaking in opening one of Ethan's presents.

For Preston's birthday I made him a skateboard cake. When I asked Ethan what kind of a cake he wanted he told me a green scooter cake. Luckily, I was able to find some pictures online and was able to make him his scooter cake. He loved it and screamed when I showed it to him this morning. I was happy with it!

Ethan tried for an hour to catch a fish and wasn't successful and right when the farm was closing Ethan caught one! It was perfect and he was so proud.

A pic of me and E trying to get one--Those fish there are super smart and know how to tease you--just when you think you got one-your worm was gone and there was no fish on the hook!

Mr. Fisherman himself got his first one right away!

A pic of my Assee boys on the wagon ride!

E can't pedal too well yet and so I pushed him around on this wagon for about 45 minutes! I kept asking him if he was done yet and he would tell me "No mommy I driving"He was so happy yet mommy was worn out.

The kids were not into feeding the goats. The goats kept eating their shirts and shorts so I had to step in and show them how it was done

Ethan finally got it down. He was still afraid of the animals though.

For the 4th of July, we made our way to Cassoday,Kansas for our annual trip to Fox Lake. Dexter and I have been going with the Ortiz's for about 10 years and every year since Preston was 6 weeks old we have made the trip. We had such a great time with the Ortiz family and the Christy family. There isn't anything better than a weekend at the lake, camping in a tent, no cell phone service but a nice place to use the bathroom and take a shower! The kids had a great time lighting off fireworks, racing dad's RC cars and driving the golf cart. Although, one night Dexter, Pat, Danny and I took one of the golf carts on a late night drive (once the kids were asleep). Pat decided that we are back in high school and decided to drive the golf cart thru one of the ponds that is there--I think he forgot that we are all about 20 pound heavier and the golf carts are about 10 years older--what do you know the golf cart gets stuck and we had to push it out of the pond. Once that happened we couldn't get the golf cart to run so we had to push the thing like a mile and a half back to his parents house. The next morning we all had to play it off like we didn't know what happened to it. It is a great story and one we will share for a long time.

The Ortiz family-minus Paul!

Some of the fireworks show Fox Lake puts on every year

E with a sparkler!

Dex was in charge of the boys and the fireworks. Boy, did I have a bunch of pyros on my hands! I am just thankful there weren't any injuries.

Funny story here, right after I took this picture, Preston thought it would be cool to put a moving car firework on the canoe and light it off! Little did he know the canoe is tipped on its side and the car rolled right off onto the box of fireworks we had bought. Luckily nothing caught on fire or else it would have been a disaster!

A pic of the boys!

Ethan loved the glow sticks I bought the kids.

Kenzie, Audrey and Preston

Dex and P getting the RC car going!

The ponds were great for Preston to drive his RC boat! Thank you, John!

Preston and Tanner getting some fishing in--Neither pole had a hook on it! Preston's pole had a piece of fake Christmas mistletoe attached to it and Tanners had a fake worm on the end of it. They didn't care though, they thought they were fishing and had a great time casting in the line and reeling it back in.

E and his snappers.

Ethan and I were having fun taking pictures of ourselves inside!

It wouldn't be a 4th without the annual Pinata!

This year we decorated the golf cart and participated in the golf cart parade. We didn't win the best golf cart contest but we had a great time doing it!

The kids on the beach!

I love this picture of Makenzie and Ethan!

Best Buds!

One of my highlights of the summer is our annual canoe trip! Although I can only do one a summer, it is one of my favorite times. No kids, alot of adult beverages, including the 200+ jello shots Tiff and I made, there is nothing like floating down the river with your best friends! We went down early Friday (well lets just say we left early but didn't get down there until mid afternoon)--I think Dexter and I always seem to get lost and take the scenic tour on every road trip we go on. It was a hot weekend and we had the best camp site in town! 5 feet from our camp area was a water hole (run off from the river) we spent most of the day Friday there--which saved us! Saturday was spent canoeing and Sunday was the ride back home. We can't wait to take the boys on a float trip but they have to wait until they are older. It just makes me nervous!

A game of washers taking place.

Some friendly faces from KC were also there! Amanda and ChuckNichole, Me and Tiff!

Dex chillin! That is our condo in the background, we rented a room from Aaron and Nichole for the weekend! HAHA!

Some of us 4 Henson girls got together for a day at the pool! The boys had a great time. Thank you--Tahisha!

P and Evie Bevie!

Right after this picture Even went Pee all over us! It was hilarious!

This is just a random favorite of mine!

On June 20th, some of our dearest friends Jimmy and Patrice got engaged. He couldn't have picked a better day to propose. Jimmy and Patrice share the same birthday and every year they throw a party and washer tournament to celebrate. He proposed to her with about 80 friends and family present in the middle of the party! It was great and we felt so greatful to share that special moment with them. After the proposal I spoke to P and E and explained to them what happened. They didn't understand what was going on at first but I was able to explain to them that when a man and women love each other, the man asks the women to marry them and after that they have a wedding and start a family. I hope that they remember this moment for the rest of their lives and treasure what LOVE can bring for you.

This weekend we are off to my family reunion in Omaha, Nebraska. My goal is to keep my blog up to date so I don't spend 2 hours updating and you don't spend 2 hours reading!