Jimmy's First Birthday!!

  Jimmy-boy has turned one-year-old! He's not our little itty-bitty baby anymore!  So much has changed in one year.  He has two little bottom teeth. He can say Mama, Dada, and sometimes Baba.  He'll occasionally wave bye-bye or give a high five. He waves his arms in a particular way when he's wanting something. He loves bath-time.

     We had a "bubble" themed birthday party for him in our new house!  Some special guests included Granny and Grandma Johnson, who drove down here together for the occasion.  It was the first "party" we've had at our new house.  Jim grilled hot dogs for everyone.  Everyone played with bubbles in the backyard.  Jimmy loved eating the cupcake. We let the sprinkler go after the party was done and all of the kids ran around in it.  Our little man is one!!!

The Birthday Boy!!!

Cake!

My first time using fondant!

Food

Yummy hot dogs!

Cake is yummy!

He loves this toy!

The barn was a hit

Mamaw and Jimmy

Daddy and the Birthday Boy!!!

Mommy and the Birthday Boy!

Granny and the Birthday Boy!

Fourth of July

     Our second Fourth of July in Texas was a lot of fun.  We went over to the Ford's house and had a pool party.  We had a delicious bbq dinner that Clint made.  All of the kids enjoyed swimming. Sarah had some fun activities for the kids.  They had a water balloon fight, and a tug-of-war game over a pool with shaving cream!  It seemed that Katie just wanted to get in the shaving cream and just let go and jumped in. Jubilee was competitive and did a great job trying to win.  Toward the end of the night the girls were able to play with some sparklers.  We watched big fireworks a few weeks later at the closing of NRH20 one evening.

Patriotic Katie

Jubilee playing peek-a-boo

Sr and Jr

Katie loved every second of it!

Uncle Joe and Jubilee

Jubilee putting up a fight!

Swimming

Jubilee so happy!

Branson 2016

     This year was another Branson year!  Katie and Jubilee have been three times already, but this was Jimmy's first.  The girls enjoyed getting to see all of their cousins.  We really enjoyed going to Silver Dollar City; the girls enjoyed going to the cave. Jubilee was excited to see the bats because she is starting to like Batman. Katie kept telling herself that God would protect her. They also loved going on the rides; they really loved the little roller coaster. We did an "Old Time" photo.  The girls loved swimming at Table Rock Lake while on the boat that Aaron and Kelly rented.  I think their favorite part of the vacation was seeing all of their cousins!

First Ballet Recital

This summer has gone by so quickly!  Earlier in June the girls had their first ballet recital.  The theme was "Noah and the Promise".  They were "tropical birds".  They were able to pick the color of their costumes. Katie wanted pink, and Jubilee wanted green.  I was a little nervous for Jubilee because she had taken to as she put it be "silly" during ballet class. With the promise of flowers after the recital, the girls performed their best!  We were so proud of them.  I was one of the volunteer Moms backstage, so it was my job to distract 7 little girls for almost two hours!  Luckily, the popular movie "Frozen" kept most of the girls entertained.  The recital was made even sweeter by having my grandparents and niece here!  After the recital we went to eat at "Babe's", and we all enjoyed fried chicken!  Jimmy was even able to eat a biscuit and mashed potatoes. 

9-months-old

     Jimmy is 9-months-old! I can't believe that the time has flown by so quickly.  It feels like he should still be a little baby that doesn't sleep through the night, but here he is at 9-months already.  Jimmy is crawling and pulling up on things. He loves fruit, he's not so much a fan of vegetables.  He loves patty cake, which is probably because he loves to clap.  He has one little tooth on the bottom right side.  He is very ticklish.  He sleeps on his tummy, with his little bottom up in the air.  He turns his head when you say his name. 

Jimmy's Dedicatioin

     The same weekend as the the girls' birthday party, we decided to have Jimmy dedicated at church. Since we already had family in from Indiana, it just made sense to do his dedication when family was already here.  Jimmy fully cooperated and wasn't fussy.  His dedication was different from the Katie and Jubilee's in that it wasn't done in front of the entire church.  It was more intimate.  We were lucky enough to have people from our Community and Home Group attend with us.  Our prayer is that Jimmy, and all of our children, live a life dedicated to serving God.

4th Birthday

     The girls celebrated their birthday at Chuck E Cheese this year.  Our current apartment isn't the biggest in size, so we needed a bigger venue.  They had a themed birthday party of "My Little Pony", which is one of their favorite shows.  We were able to have a group of grandmothers come in for the weekend because we also had Jimmy dedicated at church that weekend.  At four-years-old it is easier to tell them apart (in my opinion). 

     Katie still likes to be called "Katie-bug", but who knows how much longer she will let us?  Katie loves to sing "A Whole New World" from "Aladdin"; we've noticed that Katie in general prefers ballad-love songs.  Her favorite pony from "My Little Pony" is Pinkie-Pie.  She loves to read library books, and insists on having a bedtime story every night.  When I asked her who her best friend is, she said, "Jubilee and Hannah".  She is very protective and motherly towards Jimmy; she's always watching out for him.  She loves going to ballet class and practicing.  She loves praying, and sometimes she will remind us to pray before we eat.  Katie loves to watch me cook.

     Jubilee is full of spunk, and she loves being silly.  Jubilee is a really good cuddler; she sits very still.  As long as she has her blanket, she is happy.  She is getting better at leaving it at home to take a "nap".  Jubilee is pretty adventurous; she almost always tries something new first.  She eats very well, and I never have to push her to try new foods. Her favorite pony from "My Little Pony" is Rainbow Dash.  She loves to sing songs from "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast".  She tends to like more fast-beat songs.  Jubilee loves to make silly faces and make silly noises.  When she was being silly at ballet, I asked her why.  She replied back that she just wanted to be funny.  She said that her best friends were "Katie and Hannah".  When I take her to the store, she always requests pickles.  One time she even told me that God told her that she needed pickles!

     This summer they will be doing the reading summer program at the library.  They're signed up to start preschool in the fall, which they are very excited about.  I love that the girls have each other.  I had a friend from Bible Study Fellowship tell me a story that sums up their relationship.  I won't tell who did what, but one of the girls was having a rough moment and throwing a tantrum.  In class they were passing out moons and suns for the kids to hold. One was given a moon, which she didn't want.  In the middle of this tantrum she shouted, "I don't want a moon!", and threw it down.  Her sister, without thinking twice, picked up the moon and handed the sun she had to her.  She said, "You can have my sun".  I've seen both of them have moments where they have sacrificed their happiness for the other.  These glimpses make us happy that they are twins.  Hopefully, they will stay this way.