Katie from South Korea is here!!

We're so excited to welcome Katie into our family for the next year. Katie is our foreign exchange student from Seoul and she's great. Welcome to the experience of your lifetime---4 new brothers and sisters 5 years and younger. Funtimes are on the horizon!!! :)

Late July and early August

We've had a bunch of fun lately with the kids. We were able to stay out at Sterling State Park grounds with Courtney's family. The kids had a blast! They swam, camped, ate to the gills and had bonfires. It was good for the fresh air and the fun. Mom and Dad enjoyed all the great food and the marshmellows. Thanks Papa and Grammy! Thanks to Aunt Cookie and Aunt Jan too for playing with the kids and making memories that won't be forgotten. Oh, I almost forgot. Parker no longer needs training wheels on her bike now...she's a solo rider!!! Congrats Parker! She also was able to test to be an orange belt in her Tae Kwan Do class and we're just so proud!

Last week was pretty crazy!!!

Last week was a fun filled crazy time! Aunt Rachel and the kids, Ethan, Lauren and Amelia came up from Texas. We had the joint birthday cake and ice cream party for Parker and Rowan. Courtney and I went to Will and Stefanie's wedding, which was a hoot. Sean and Charlene Perry just had their 4th baby. All in all, it's been a fun filled week and a stressful one too. I have been trying to get my other business rolling and that's been sucking up a ton of my time. In any case, we're so completely blessed to have family and friends that are so great! Lindsay is officially moved out to Kalamazoo, so we're missing her already. Life is good, however.

4th of July was fun!!!

Well, another celebration of our country's birthday has gone by and what a fun time we had! We went over to Aunt Judy's and Uncle Don's house and had the annual crazy outdoor games tournament. We cooked out and had lots of food that we shouldn't have had. Everything was great until the fireworks came. All of the kids ran into the house scared, except Jude. Well, obviously he didn't run, but he wasn't scared either. It was hilarious- envision a huge firework exploding, Gabe's face just looking as shocked and helpless as possible, and then just seeing him dart as fast as his little legs and arms can swing themselves. It was funny sight. It was just too bad that Uncle Don had to celebrate the festivities in a cast from his recent golf accident...poor devil. It was also great to see the rest of the family, especially Aunt Kay coming up from FLA.

What a wonderful country we live in. What freedoms we enjoy! We are so blessed to enjoy them! Let us never take them forgranted.

Up North

We just had a great time the past couple days hanging out up north in Presque Isle Michigan with Nina and Pappa Rokas. We went swimming in Lake Huron, went looking for deer, had a bon fire, visited a buffalo farm, went fishing in grand lake and Parker caught her first fish, as well as, went for a boat ride and visited the 'haunted lighthouse.' It was a sun bathed eventful time and perfect weather for the time we visited. We love Pappa and Nina Rokas and appreciate their love and hospitality in putting up with, at times, 4 screaming kids and 2 parents. We feel very blessed to have such great great grandparents! Thanks for the memories!

Our beginnings until now...

Courtney and I have been friends for eternity...or at least we like to think that we've been. We have know of each other since middle school and were good friends hanging with the same crowd since high school. We started dating after a couple rejections from Courtney and my persistence. We dated off and on during our college years and Courtney graduated from Michigan State University. After my mission to Haiti, Courtney and I were sealed in the Detroit Michigan Temple August 17, 2002. Afterwhich, Courtney supported us while I was in school for a couple more years. Courtney became pregnant with our 1st daughter Parker after just a couple months of being married. After I graduated from Eastern Michigan University, I gained employment from Quickenloans as a mortgage banker and we became pregnant with our eldest son Jude. We found out that Jude was going to be special after our first ultra sound. He was born with a syndrome called Escobar Syndrome which is a physical disability constricting joint movement. He's as bright a kid as they come and is one of the brightest spots of our lives. Our son Gabriel came along after that about 14 months later. Now this is a kid with spunk!!! He's our little warrior. He eats as much as dad, is now 2 fingers old and is just a brute! Our 4th and final angel Rowan Lynae was born 16 months later- our final addition to our little family. We're so happy together and are learning so much from one another.