Patio....Check!

First of all - We have a new patio!! Seems like it took months for it to get done (well, it did) but it is finished!! We pretty much had to get our old one torn out since it was all cracked and draining into our basement. The new one is quite a bit bigger - nothing special, just a huge cement slab - looks great though. The kids were obsessed with watching the workers - they loved the jackhammers and diggers. They literally stood at this window for a week! We invited James and Kiernan over one day just to sit and watch them work. They loved it! True boys I guess. (although Ashlyn enjoyed it too)Now we just need to do all the work around the edges. Shawn has several ideas going through his head. But for now, we are working on the new deck that will sit directly to the left of the slab. Shawn is building it with (hopefully) the help of my dad, his dad and anyone else willing to help - or anyone that owes us a favor...hmmmm....I'll start up a list on that one. He is filling the post holes (whatever that means) this weekend, then we have to wait a week for the cement to sit. Then we are going canoeing and then the deck will be erected. Can't wait to see it get started!

The next pic is of lunch over here last week. My good friend Callie is in town and we had a little get together. That's 9 kids you see there eating lunch. The kids had a blast. What a fun day!! We sure do miss you Cal!!


Monday night we headed out to Waverly for Ohio Days which is a big parade and carnival that we have gone to for the past several years. The kids were so pumped - Austin could not wait to get candy in the streets. I have lots more pics, but some computer malfunctions so you'll have to wait for the rest. Happy Happy kids this week!!


That's it for now - we've had a busy week with Cal in town. We went to the Farmstead yesterday and had lunch at Kim's, went and picked blueberries this morning at a blueberry patch - so fun!! And tomorrow we have much more playing to do. The fun just never ends. Please pray for no rain as Shawn has a deadline for getting this deck built before we have some out of town guests coming from St. Louis in early August. We promised them they wouldn't have to work while they were here which means the deck has to be finished...yikes....
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

The Fun Stuff

As I was downloading and sifting through pics I had taken from the camping trip I found all kinds of pics I had totally forgotten about.

Here's Gabriella with her Godparents - my sister, Kimberly and her husband Nick. I can't believe they said they want to pay for her college tuition - isn't that so generous? Oh wait - did you not say that?? Hey, can't blame me for trying.
That's just me - what else can I say??

This was after a morning of play here at the Turner house - Aren't they cute and innocent??Shawn and his assistants putting the tent up for the first time in our backyard (trial run)

Austin found my Ipod recently and somehow knew exactly how to make it work - to my knowledge he had never touched it before. I came downstairs and he was dancing in the living room. It was hilarious and had to be documented. Gives me a little glimpse of what he'll look like when he is a teenager. And this is my baby, Gabriella (not for long)...I just think this look is priceless...
Here's the trial run of camping - Shawn and the kids set up the tent and camped in the backyard about a month ago - me and Gabriella opted to sleep inside.
This one will be awesome at High school graduation someday - This is Gabriella and her boyfriend, Will - he's only 5 months old - a bit big for his age - don't they look hilarious??

That's all I got for now for pics. Hope you enjoyed them!
The kids and I and 7 moms plus 14 kids went to a concert this morning at the park. It was Mr. Stinky Feet - the kids love him. It was hot and humid but we all had a great time dancing and singing (and sweating) and then we had a huge picnic. Kim took some pics so hopefully she got some good ones.
Until next time -
Hope you are havin' the time of your life!
ST

1st Annual Turner Camping Trip

Boy have I got some pics for you!! I have been neglecting the camera as of late so you are in for a treat today...
First off, our camping trip was AWESOME! Couldn't have been better! We had absolutely gorgeous weather - which I'm pretty sure is unheard of in July in Kansas! No humidity - what?? Anyway, we all had a blast and the kids are still asking when we get to go back. A big thanks to Ed and Norma for watching Gabriella for us - we thought it was best if she didn't camp this year as she would have eaten way too much of the wilderness and most likely would have fallen in the lake before we could catch her. Austin and Ashlyn did awesome - not once were they bored and Shawn and I even relaxed quite a bit on the trip. I'll explain more about the trip with the following pics. We camped at Melvern, which is about an hour south of here on I35. Beautiful campgrounds, so clean - even the port-a-potty was spotless.

Here we are swimming at the "beach". Austin loved swimming - more than I knew he did! He swam forever and did not want to get out when it was time to move on. He loved it!

Seriously, how many floating devices does one kid need?????

And here's the best part of camping (besides a cold beer which I couldn't partake in this year) Smores!! The kids loved roasting marshmallows - they were a bit black at times and had a bit of gravel stuck to them - mmmmm yummmy...
Here we are...Roughing it?? Is that a cell phone??

And it wouldn't be camping if we didn't go fishing!! Our campsite was about 10 feet from the lake so we could fish right there - it was so nice. The kids also spent hours just throwing rocks in the water - what fun!
Can't say I have ever played "hungry hungry hippos" by the fire, but here we are!
Here's cousin Colin doing some marshmallow cookin'. Colin and Craig (my brother) joined us for camping Friday night.
And here's the set up - Our tent is the red one in the middle - can't really tell how huge it is from this shot - the kids have their own room though in there - very nice accommodations.
Sunset - beautiful.
Is that really a picture of me??? Who knew?!?!
Reading stories by the campfire with Uncle Craig - Ashlyn looks a bit tired in this one!
Ummmm...Shawn....where are all the kids????
Ashlyn - gettin' messy in the sand - I think it's safe to take the life jacket off now.
My little pumpkin is growing up - fishing and pondering life - how cute!
The little bit of time Gabriella was at the campsite was spent putting rocks in her diaper - what a fun game!
That's mom in the distance - "roughing it"...yes, that's another cell phone.
Austin doing some more fishing.
That's Shawn overseeing our little fishermen.
Ahlsyn swimming at the beach - interesting...in the water she has no life jacket, but on the sand she does....maybe I didn't explain how those work very well.

At any rate, we had a fabulous time and the kids loved every second of it. Great campsite if you are looking for somewhere to go. Shawn also made an amazing breakfast on Friday morning - yum! We got to try out our new grill - very nice! Mom and Dad camped with us too - I think they thoroghly enjoyed their first camping trip in years. I have a feeling they are going to be doing some camping quite often!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

6 years down and a lifetime to go!

Shawn and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past Sunday. 6 whole years! So much has happened in the past 6 years....I wouldn't even know where to start to reminisce. Let's see what I come up with off the top of my head -
-getting engaged at the top of Reunion Ball Tower in Dallas, Texas
-going skiing in Santa Fe, New Mexico while you were living in Albuquerque before we were married
-Got married June 2002 - PERFECT day!!
-2 week trip to Ireland (amazing!)
-Baby Austin arrived sept 2004
-Unexpectedly moved to Phoenix with a brand new baby
-Got prego with Ashlyn a bit quicker than expected oct 2005
-Took a weekend trip to San Diego while living in Phoenix - what a great trip (thanks to Michelle!)
-Moved to KC in Dec 2005
-Bought a house on the same street I grew up on
-Canoe trip every summer - always a blast!
-Shawn took a new job with E&K - best life decision we've made
-I planned a surprise b-day weekend in Manhattan for Shawn (and we beat Texas!!)
-Shawn gutted and remodeled our living room
-Had yet another baby - Gabriella Feb 2007
-Made lots of new friends
-We've gotten spoiled by our families with how much they have helped us out and helped us keep our sanity while raising all our kiddos

That's all I can think of for now - Shawn and I have been so blessed with a happy marriage - I can't imagine my life without him - and I'm pretty certain he feels the same! We pulled out the wedding video which we always try to do each year on our anniversary. So cool to look back at that day.


As for now - I am trying to get us all packed up and ready for the first annual Turner camping trip!! Yes, we are all going camping this weekend - us, my parents, shawn's parents and my brother and kids. It is going to be a blast - I don't care what you all say!! Everyone seems to think we are crazy, but we can't wait!! I am sure I will have some great pics when we get back -
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST