Porter's Preschool Graduation

Yeah! Now, how many more times do we have to sit through graduation ceremonies?

Jillian's first Daddy/Daughter date.

We have a really great woman who organizes the Activity Days for the girls in our primary. She had them plan a meal, make invitations, learn how to set a table, use proper etiquette and then cook the meal for their Daddy/Daughter dinner.

Jillian's first Daddy/Daughter date.

Easter Sunday

Shiny, happy children laughing.

Cascarones!

We decided to add a local custom to our Easter festivities this year. Cascarones are eggshells with the innards blown out which are then died and filled with confetti. After the egg hunt you "take turns" cracking them on each others' heads.

Christmas 2008 with the Roylance's

Porter's 5th Birthday!

South Padre Island Sand Castle Competition, October 2008

This is not my favorite picture of teh kids, but it's my favorite sandcastle. It's Santa's Workshop! The kids had almost as much fun as Matt did.

Porter's Family

Porter did a project in school about his family. These are some of the pictures we took for it.

Bailey's 7th birthday

Cupcakes, a new scooter and small, fury rodents. It was a hit!

Matt and Jillian's birthday!

On our way back from Albuquerque our van died. It was a hand me down from my parents and had almost 260,000 miles on it when we traded it in at the toyota dealer ship in Roswell, NM. The kids got a little teary about leaving the van behind, so we took a few pictures to remember it by. The van parked directly in front of ours is the one currently parked in our garage.
Bailey was particularly attached to the van. She always called it her "car friend."

Matt and I took "separate" summer vacations in 2008. Matt went to Papua New Guinea for three weeks and I took the kids to my parents house in Albuquerque. You'll have to bug Matt if you want to see the pictures from his trip (pun intended). Here's what the kids and I did.

One of my mom's (Grandma Rice) favorite traditions for the grandkids is "tea" parties. Each one has a different theme. We've had "hat" tea parties, and "icecream" tea parties, and "picnic" tea parties, and "midnight" tea parties. This one was a "birthday" tea party. There are always tasty things to eat.
And even the boys are invited.

One of the weekends we were in Albuquerque we went to Angel Fire. The kids "fished" and hiked and climbed rock walls and had a great time with Grandparents and some of their cousins.
This is Jillian with my sister Kaitlyn on our hike.

I'm not sure what these are called. Bungee trampolines maybe. They were set up at the ski base in Angel Fire. The kids loved them. Bailey was the star because she figured out how to flip herself over before anyone else.

Here the kids are fishing "for real." Real water, real poles, real fish in the water. No hooks and no bait. This is what happens when I am in charge of the fishing. Who needs all the mess of bait and possible a fish. Casting and reeling the line back in are just as satisfying.









The PJ's the kids got from Grandma's fish pond.

"Ye Olde Fishin' Hole" A Jenkins family tradition for the grandkids at family reunions.

Sleepovers with the Rice cousins.