1st pop~up campout photo~op

We are a camping family!!! Nine years ago, Kep and I were "true" campers and spent many summer weekends backpacking and I would even camp in the rain! Then, we had Parker seven years ago and we began car camping! Fortunately, Parker was an amazing camper... he would fall asleep anywhere and sleep through any noises. Next, Noah came along and we continued camping but we watched the weather more carefully because it was just so much work keeping the boys dry and packing up a wet tent in the rain! Then, Savannah came along and we've never been the same. Infact, close friends tease us that we aren't "real" campers anymore and I'm OK with that! ;o) We bought a cabover camper and used it for two summers... it seemed to be the perfect fix for keeping us dry and to keep the rest of the campground from hearing sissy's midnight and early morning screams! But, this spring we decided the cabover camper seemed to be getting a bit tight so we sold it and bought this pop~up camper from a neighbor! It actually has more of a crazy story but that can be shared another time!
Here are the kids pumped to try out our "new" camper for our annual Memorial Day Campout at Kenai Lake. We decided the camper looked too nice so we topped it off with this "classy" canoe that we borrowed from Kep's parents!!! Haha!

Isn't this place to good to be true!?! We love this campsite as we have our own personal on a freezing glacial lake with mountain bike trails leading right out of our site!

I think by this time... all our kiddos were thinking this "new" camper just meant that they had to keep posing for pix! (notice we took the canoe off for these last 2 photos!?!) OK~ all done!

new backyard: phase 1

2011 seems to be the year to get big yard projects done... so in May we rented a bulldozer and dug into our backyard. What kid doesn't love to watch a dozer make a big mess!?!

Parker took a turn in pushing some dirt around!

Noah spent the most time in the dozer~ he has always been one to love anything with a motor!

Although, this day was fun for dad and the kids... I can't wait to for pix of the final product... a flat and green backyard!

friends 'n watermelon

4 out of the 5 of us love watermelon!

Annika Bacon is one of Savannah's "favwit fwends" as she endearlingly refers to whoever we're hanging out with, she is such a little girl... social and somewhat fickle with her loyalty! I love watching these two silly girls chat and play, my "favwit" is to hear Annika call her "fwend"... Suspannah! Too fun!

And, here are all the Bacon and Kroon munchkins (with Parker and Gavin in the shadows)! We love our Bacon friends and we are fervently praying for them as they continue to follow God's Will for their growing family! In just 2 more days, they will add their 3rd boy to their family through adoption. He is almost 9 months old, which will make him 4.5 months younger than Gabi, who they adopted last June! We can't wait to meet their new li'l son and add him to our family adventures!

it's that time of year again...dad's bike races

Kep has spent all winter training on his bike trainer in the garage so Spring is a welcome sight for our biker dad! We look forward to cheering him on and we try to be a loyal cheer squad as long as we have enough warm gear and toys to keep us entertained!

This year we have had fun getting to know cousin Keaton's future bride, Hannah, at the races. She is such a big help with the kids and remember what I said about Savannah being doted on... yep, her charm worked on Hannah too!!!

Savannah continues to "crack" us up in more ways than one! I hope my li'l girl won't be too upset that I posted this but I just had to have record of her crack problem in our blog books! Too funny!

And, there he is... we are so proud of you Kep!

a couple hours with my nieceys

I love my family and I am always grateful for any second I get to spend with them! So, when I found out I got to have my nieceys over to our house for a couple hours... I was beyond thrilled and so were my kids. I guess my love for family has worn off on my kids as they appreciate every second with relatives, as well! Here they are with Kiersten and Madison!

Savannah has def become a li'l princess in our extended family and friendships... and she takes on the roll very easily. I don't think she would ever have needed to learn to walk or talk because if she's in the company of older girls... she is on their hip and doted on for her every need! And, it was no different when my nieceys visited!

and of course we had to have a tea party with Kiery and Maddie! This is the sweetest tea set that Mo~mo gave to Savannah when she turned 3! Love you and miss you nieceys!

baby bonnet

I just posted a story of Parker taking such great care of a baby we watched for a day but my younger two also loved her dearly. Savannah missed li'l Mary~Brenna for the following days that she kept wearing this li'l bonnet around that we borrowed to MB when we sat outside to enjoy a picnic lunch!

a skill I didn't know he had...

A couple months ago we got the honor of watching this sweet sweet baby while her momma went to work for the day. I was excited to have a li'l one in our home to cuddle and I was anxious to see what my three would think of her. Well, from the minute she came to the minute she left, she was loved on by Parker. He made sure she had plenty of toys surrounding her, he wanted to feed her the bottle, he pushed her in the stroller... the only thing he didn't care to do was change her diaper (smart boy)!!! I loved that my busy six~year old found so much joy in taking care of sweet Mary~Brenna.

quiet time turned nap time

Noah is 4 1/2 but he still needs his naps for a li'l attitude adjustment but then it messes up his bedtime~ BIG time!!! So, we have started trying to ease him out of naps by just giving him quiet time and making bedtime a tad bit earlier. Then, I can still get homeschooling done with Parker! Ony, this is how I found Noah during a recent quiet time... sound asleep with his basket stuck around his arm and neck! hmmm???

AK zoo

I loved my time in WA and MT seeing friends and family but OH did I miss these 4 people... my favorites! It's always refreshing to be away and OH so sweet to be back with them again. My flight was due to come back at 3pm, leaving me with 3 layover hours to spend in Juneau (which would have been lame) but after being away from family for 7 days I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing them for 3 more hours. So, I was able to find a different flight, pay the stinkin' change fee and get back to my li'l fam.. This meant that we had to spend 3 hours in Anchorage to wait for my bag to arrive from Juneau so we made the most of our time and visited the AK Zoo! We determined that March and April are the best times to visit our zoo because it's not too cold but it's cold enough to keep all our native animals active. In the past, we would visit the zoo on a warm summer day but then most the animals would be lethargic in the shade, as it would my "native" hubby!!!

We all LoVe watching the bears!

And these sweet faces are whom I love to spend time with!

traveling aLONE

My family means the world to me and it stinks to live so far away from them, especially when one of them goes through a difficult time! My extended family has been extremely blessed through the years... my parents are proud parents of us 4 healthy children who have now brought them 14 healthy grandchildren! We have been amazed by God's gracious gifts! Well, the past couple years have brought many trials to my family and it has been a shock to many of us because of how "easy" our lives have been through the years. I mentioned it stinks to live far away from my family and it is even more difficult when times are tough... I wanted to help, I wanted to hug and I wanted to encourage IN PERSON! I got to do just that, this Spring. In March, I had told Kep that if one more trial hits my parents... I need to fly back to Montana to encourage them IN PERSON! It's a great thing that I am married to a very gracious, family~oriented man as he had no problem with me taking off in a week's notice! On April 13, my mom recieved heart~breaking news... her BFF of 20 years suddenly passed away! Fortunately, my mom had chatted with "Sweet" Sue the night before her sudden death but she had no idea that would be their last conversation here on earth. This news came as a shock to my whole family so I flew down to love on my mom.



The other reason for my sudden trip was this sweet niece of mine (on the right). I hadn't met Elani since my sis' family brought her home in September and I was aching to spend some quality time with her.
After 2 fun days with my four nieces, we road~tripped over to Camano Island, WA. Eleven hours in a Suburban packed with 9 people and luggage for 7 women~ it was tight but it was sweet! It was a little surreal to be road~trippin' with my family as it had been about 20 years since the last one! Only, this time we had 2 of my nieces to make it more comical!

Yay~ we are out of the Burb and back at Camano Island State Park which I had not seen in nine years! It was a gorgeous night for a family photo shoot~ which brought new and crazy family memories, thanks to Chris!!! ;o)

And, here we are the Hogan women~ it's hard to get a decent shot of the four us as one of us is usually laughing or closing our eyes!

Sisters~ love them!!!

my sibs~ I am blessed!

my sweet nieces

and my parents whom I love dearly

Hogan kiddos and "Sweet" Sue Reids' boys. This picture will always make me teary! My mom really wanted all of us to take photo together for memory sake! Attending Sue's Celebration of Life was full of tears... she was such an amazing woman of God and it was hard to understand why her life ended so quickly without anyone being able to say "goodbye". But, the days following the service... have been soul searching for me. I have Sue's picture hanging on the front of my fridge because I want to daily be reminded of the many ways she has inspired me. I want to live my life with no regrets serving God and others before myself. Thank you Sue and Reid family for sharing your life with all of us!

And, here are all the Hogan women... doing what "Sweet" Sue LOVED to do... we shopped til we dropped!

Easter Sunday

I love Easter! I love bringing out all the springey decor to freshen up our house after a long winter. I love getting our girley toes ready for sandals with our homedone pedicures. I love buying Easter outfits for these cutie patooties. But, most of all I LOVE reading the Easter story and teaching these munchkins the true meaning behind Easter. I am amazed by all our selfless Jesus and loving Father did to rescue us from our sins. It is just precious to listen to all 3 of my children retell our Savior's story. So, here they are all prepared to go celebrate Jesus' resurrection...

and here they are after dad told them to say "stinkey bunny" instead of "cheese"!!!

Then, we move on to the festive part of Easter... an Easter egg hunt. This year was awesome because Easter was so late in April that we got to run around in short sleeves and on brown grass!

The boys checking out their loot with Thomas!

Oh my~ this girl never stops being girley... seriously... who stands like this!?! Savannah!

The girl Easter egg hunters stuck together!

and then there are these silly bunch of boys!!! What a blessing it was to spend this Easter with such sweet friends!

PB bagel chica

Savannah got a new Easter haircut and a new moustache! This girl is my kinda girl... her fav breakfast is a PeanutButter toasted bagel.... mmm mmmm!

snorkelin' eggs

Aren't these so stinkin' cute!?! I have this very crafty friend who invited us over to decorate Easter eggs as li'l snorkelers!

The kids loved it... as you can see! Thanks Novaks for a fun afternoon while our dads were off shrimp 'n skiing!