Birthdays!!!

On September 5th we had three birthdays in our house. My birthday, Tim's birthday, and Gabi's. Tim turned 12, Gabi turned 3, and I turned 18. I can't believe I'm really that old. I do not feel like an adult. For our celebration, we decided to go to the Warren Dunes. We are going back soon, because we all had a blast! Here are some pictures of our adventure to the dunes.

For some odd reason the boys left their shirts on. I think they thought it was too cold. Usually they have flung off their shirts and are diving, jumping, and anything else that shouts BOY. They did go up the dunes quite a bit and they played some sort of war game, of course. I got a few pictures of them playing their game and they are further down. I'll have to do another post because there are some more pictures.

This is what ya get if you say "say cheese Gabi", with cupcake on top.

Look!

This girlie climbed up the entire dune. Of course I held her hand to keep her from falling over, but she did it! I was so proud of her.

Apparently, Stephen was Jesus in their game. He healed the guys who got hurt or died. : )

We had an extra boy with us. Tim invited his friend Ransom, to come with. He is such a cutie! All the boys have so much fun hanging out with Ransom.

Since it was his birthday, I took his 12 year old pictures.

BOYS!!!!

Yahoo!! I'm finally 12!

One of the "Tim" faces

Nature Adventure!

Today we went to Herick Lake Forest Preserve, and my mom had us bring our sketchbooks so we could draw wildflowers and other stuff. Some of us weren't too thrilled, but everyone drew something. :) She also brought some wildflower books so we'd be able to see what each plant was.

Hey Dad! Can I go swimming? (haha) You're so funny Timmy.

Cassia relaxing in the stroller. (she's not really supposed to be in it since she's too big)

Flowers and Life

Last week I went to Cantigny, which is a beautiful place with gardens;a couple World War 2 museums;and other pretty things, and I took a bunch of flower pictures. Nature is my second favorite thing to capture in photographs. The rest of the pictures are just random things that I captured during the week. Enjoy!

Cousins

Two weeks ago I spent a week at my cousins house since I was doing a dance camp at their studio. At the end of the week my aunt had me take the kids pictures. I had so much fun and here are just a few of the formal ones. Later I'll post some goofy ones.

Tired

Sorry. I have been super busy this month and have been out of town. I will post some more pictures as soon as I have sorted them out. I seriosly have approx. 2000 pictures from just the month of July. These pictures were taken in Kansas. We went to the pool on Friday July 17th and the next day we went to the zoo. We had been at the pool for 5 hours so we were tired and some of us were sunburnt. The picture of us with our grandma and grandpa is right before going to the zoo. We were having a wonderful time, though a few badly needed naps.

Tea Anyone?

Today, Cassia, Gabi, and I had a tea party. I surprised the girls with it all set up in the back yard. They were so excited. Cassia really likes tea parties and dressing up. I dressed up too and had such a fun time. Phil, being the wonderful younger brother that he is, (though he looks like my older instead of younger brother) put on his suit and served the muffins. The girls were delighted and they had a wonderful time.

We had to use natural sugar since we ran out of white sugar.

Guess she didn't like what she was bein' served! (actually, she was spitting out a cherry pit)

I am so glad I was able to spend this time with Cassia and Gabi because they won't always be this young. Spending this time with them is so important because I want them to know I love them and because I know they love it. Children can remember so many things, and I want them to have good memories of me as their older sister. I want them to remember me spending time with them doing things they love to do, and loving them. Unfortunately, I have not always done a good job of this, but I am working on strengthening my relationships with my younger siblings. God has brought me a long way, and I still have plenty of room to grow. As the oldest, I have the greatest responsibility. My actions are being observed by seven other young people in my home. They are watching, seeing how I interact with my parents, how I speak towards the other siblings, and so much more. Prayer is so important to whatever you are doing. I have had to pray constantly and ask for God's help because, as you all know, your family is the hardest to get along with because you are with them throughout the entire day, every day throughout the year. (at least those of us who are homeschooled) My desire is to live a life that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ in front of my family, and all who I come into contact with, so that I can be a light in the darkness of this world and to be a godly example to my siblings. I want them to live as Christ wants them to because I love them, and as the oldest child in our family I can have a large influence on them.