And then there was Papa Doug....

No words....I am speechless....I am without speech.....

DJ's tries to hurt himself....

That is all I have to say about that....

Dedication...

In our family & in our faith, we don't baptise babies. They don't get sprinkled or dunked. Once they are older, they may choose to be dunked, but that is their personal decision. We have what we call a dedication. Sometimes people refer to them as "Baby Dedications," although I'm not real sure why. You really aren't dedicating the baby to the Lord, but the parents & how they raise that baby to the Lord. I mean , let's face it, we parents need all the help we can get.

So, we do this dedication ceremony......we ask friends & family to come & we gather & pray over the raising of the child & the congregation publicly agrees to stand with DJ & I as we raise our child.

We recently did this with our fourth & final Jacobsen, MelissaJack. Her being the last, really made it emotional for me (that, & I'm a girl). It's at times overwhelming to me the task we have with each one of our kids....trying to be good examples, trying to be true & authentic with them while doing our best to guide them down the right path. It's humbling to say the least & some days I wish I could go back to bed & start all over.

DJ & I are truly blessed with these four beautiful, healthy kids. Never in a million years did I think almost 12 years ago when we exchanged vows that we would now be looking at these four God-given children & making almost all of our decisions, big & little, based on their existence. Of course, even though you may not have attended any one of our dedications, we'd LOVE to know we have friends & family out there praying for DJ & I as we raise these kids to love & follow Christ. We'd love to hear your cheering in the background as we continue this race of parenthood.

Here is the page I made for MJ's dedication. She was absolutely adorable in that white dress (if I may say so myself) & she was very earnest during the dedication prayer. Miss Helen from church joined our family & held MJ's hand & that meant a lot to me. The picture of her on the stairs has the verse DJ & I picked for MelissaJack....& the one of her so cute with her name & age on it was displayed during the ceremony. I could not have asked for a more beautiful & spunky fourth & final child (& VERY ornery).....did I mention that we are BLESSED??

A party for bugs???

We got invited to a bug party.....yep, a party in honor of bugs. I know....gross. But the kids LOVED it. They got to do bug crafts & touch bugs.....& let butterflies go. It was an experience......

the color of summer...

Summertime......heat. Ugh. I am a self-admitted wimp in the heat. It makes me cranky. BUT, summertime also brings out some beautiful color around here, & I love that part of it. The longer days, awesome sunsets, bachelor buttons, our pink wild roses in the back yard, new tomatoes growing up in the garden, lettuce, the green of the basil, the drops of water on my roses after an afternoon rain, the awesome bing cherries.....all of it, I love. These are just some random pictures I have been taking around here of those colorful things that remind me of summer. I hope you enjoy....

Nothin' like babies...

What is it about babies.....whether human or animal that make us all say, "ahhhhhh?" Don't we remember that those furry, squishy adorable things grow up to make big messes?? A wife will say she wants a baby, not that she wants a 10 year old!


Well, we got to go see all sorts of cute baby animals at Baby Animal Days at Plumb Farm here in Greeley.....& here is my page to remember it......it was fun, even with the babies who have grown up & make lots of messes....

Still finding cottonseed....

My kids, along with a bunch of other kids, got the very cool treat of going out to Desperado Dairy, run by our friends, Mark & Trudy. It was a BLAST!!! The kids not only learned a lot, they had an unforgettable experience as Trudy let them do so much stuff out on the farm.

They got to go to the "Cow Kitchen" & see what the cows eat, they got to ride a tractor, they got to see the cows, up-close & personal, as well as see them being milked, they got ice cream, they got to jump all around in the consumables (that was a blast even for me the mom!) & they even got to see something that was dead (ok, I only mention that because my boys thought it was SO COOL). Oh, & how could I forget the feeding of the calves! What a treat! & did you know you can weigh people on a truck scale?

Here is a picture collage (thank you, Renee, for the info on how to do this) with a TON of pics from our exciting day. & yes, I am still finding cottonseed in my clothes!!!

Butterfly Waltz...

June began with the all-anticipated dance recital for Mallory. This girl not only loves to dance, but she LOVES being on stage! The smiles were continual. She was involved in "Butterfly Waltz" & was beautiful & graceful....between Mallory & Melissa, who keeps asking about going to "ballerina dance class," we are going to have many busy Junes to come....