Our May Days

We've had an enjoyable weekend. I decided to document it a little. Friday was suppose to be the Father's and Son's camp out with the church, but it was canceled due to flooding at the campsite. We decided to set up the tent in our living room for the night instead. Makenzie was ecstatic to be apart of the camping experience, since she previously wasn't invited.

Saturday I pulled off a basic yard sale to clear a few things out of the way for our move in two weeks. Makenzie informed me that she should get the money that was made from any toys that were sold. Ha Ha! We shuffled Makenzie around to two birthday parties all afternoon. Sunday was a beautiful day. I haven't been to our ward for over a month due to traveling and kids being sick. Tyler was released from his calling as ward mission leader. One of the missionaries is also going to be transferred on Tuesday. We've enjoyed working close to them this past year.

The kids decided to play outside after church. I went to check on them and discovered Makenzie was drawing more than life-sized pictures of each member of our family. It was too cute to not to document it!

Here's Jordan with his replica:
Here's Makenzie with herself. Notice the drastic difference in size?! She was outside for several hours working on these masterpieces.

A close-up:
Here's the best I got of Gavin:He didn't want anything to do with it and was running in 1.2 seconds.

Here is Mommy and Daddy holding hands. Can you feel the love?Our beautiful artist!!

Our Memorial Day gave us 90 degree weather... a huge jump from what we are use to. I enjoyed an early morning jog. I love running on the island. It is so beautiful with all the little critters and the water close by. I saw several duck families with baby ducklings. God's creations just amaze me. It's so refreshing to start my day in solitude outside. We enjoyed a ward picnic in the afternoon although the ground was water-logged and muddy.

If we were in Utah, I could say that our summer vacation is beginning. Makenzie still has 2 more weeks of school. Ugh! Who wants to be going to school in June? Not me!

Starved Rock

On the way home from Missouri, we decided to stop at Starved Rock State Park and hike around. We discovered this place in Illinois a couple years ago and loved this hidden gem right off the I-80. After it raining all weekend, we were lucky to have a beautiful day!

Our little navigator. Jordan is fascinated by maps and always wants to know where we are and where we are going.

Gavin discovered his pockets. He was walking around all day like this. It was just too cute!

Happy Family!

One of the hikes required us to go through the water. We were all wearing shoes, except Tyler had flip-flops. He saved the day and carried each of us over the water, even me!!

Here is the only picture of me with the kids. I'm always behind the camera these days.

And this is how we kept a little guy happy for the long hours in the car...

And my other two cuties at a rest area...

Spring at it's finest

We had a mama bird decide to build a nest in a tree right by our front door. (Not the smartest thing to do with the kids.) Before I knew it was there, this bird would always fly away when I walked by and it would scare me! I then found that she was guarding 4 eggs.

We checked everyday for the eggs to hatch. In a matter of a day, 3 of the eggs hatched. The fourth one was a dud. They were ugly looking things.

Any noise would cause the birds to open their mouths wide. They grew so fast.

We were gone for a week for graduation. When we came back, this is what we found!

It's crazy how fast they grew! It's been fun watching this whole process with the kids.

Call him Dr. Sherman!

We had a wonderful weekend!! We found our way back to Kirksville, Missouri where Tyler graduated from A.T. Still University as a Doctor of Osteopathy! I am so proud of him. We enjoyed having both of our parents accompany us for the weekend. It was also good to see friends that we made while in Kirksville. I truly have missed that place and the people we associated with there. We have made some lifelong friendships.

(Tyler with 2 of his best friends, Kevin Welker and Chris de la Houssaye)

If you haven't gotten the news....

Tyler has gotten out of the Army. It was a hard decision to make, especially when it felt right to join in the first place. We feel the Lord is guiding us down a different path. We are now moving to Portsmouth, Ohio where Tyler will complete a Family Medicine Residency for 3 years! It is a small town on the Ohio/Kentucky border. We are excited for this new adventure!

Mother's Day

Tyler spoke at church today. Makenzie started throwing up at 6:30 am, which caused me and the boys to stay home with her. I was really sad to not have heard Tyler's talk. The day ended up being a good one though. This just proves it.....
This is how Tyler found us when he came home from church. To my kids that never nap-- that was the best Mother's Day gift ever! I was able to enjoy some good one-on-one time with all my kiddos. They are my everything! I'm grateful for being a mama!

I interviewed the two older kids with random questions about a month ago just to see what they would say. I learned a few things from it. Here are there answers word-for-word and a little update on each. Enjoy!

Makenzie

1. What are your 3 favorite toys? "Horses, dolls, Barbies"
2. What is your name? "Makenzie"
3. What is your middle name? "Sherman. No, it's Jo!"
4. What is your last name? "Sherman"
5. Where are you from? "I don't know. Michigan."
6. Where do you live? "I live on an island."
7. What's your address? (She said our address with a tune that I taught her to help remember it.)
8. What is your favorite color? "Purple and pink"
9. What is your favorite thing to wear? "Pajamas that have horses on it."
10. How old are you? "5- soon I will turn 6."
11. What is your favorite animal? "Horses!!"
12. What is your favorite food? "Spaghetti"
13. What size are your feet? "I don't know. Can we measure them?"
14. If you found a treasure chest in your house, what would be in it? "A big horse!"
15. Who are your 3 favorite people? "Brynlee, Raelynn, and Aida."
16. What is your favorite thing to do to help mom? "Cooking"


Makenzie got some new shoes and I decided it was time for her to learn how to tie them herself. She caught on real quick and was tying them within 10 minutes. Makenzie's reading is astounding for a kindergartner. Her knowledge of the gospel is also astounding. She loves playing with friends. Makenzie loves Honey Bunches of Oats and could eat it for every meal. She is so loving and great helper and a great sister!

Jordan

1. What are your 3 favorite toys? "Dinosaurs, monster truck, Space ship"
2. What is your name? "Jordan"
3. What is your middle name? "What??? Sherman."
4. What is your last name? "Sherman"
5. Where are you from? "Michigan"
6. Where do you live? "Michigan"
7. What's your address? "I live in Michigan. In my room."
8. What is your favorite color? "Red"
9. What is your favorite thing to wear? "My guitar shirt"
10. What is your favorite animal? "Zebra"
11. How old are you? "Four" (although he pronounces his "F's" like a "B")
12. What is your favorite food? "Spiderman cake"
13. What size are your feet? "One, two, three...."
14. If you found a treasure chest in your house, what would be in it? "A skateboard you ride in the park."
15. Who are your 3 favorite people to be with? "Dad, Mom, Makenzie. But I don't love Gavin."
16. What is your favorite thing to do to help mom? "Make cookies."


Jordan decided to try shaving with Daddy's razor. He cut his lip and it wouldn't stop bleeding and he wouldn't stop crying. A band-aid fixed everything. Don't you love his blue mustache? Jordan is such a cuddle bug and doesn't fail to mention that he loves me at least 20 times a day! He loves working out with his Dad and copies everything he does. Jordan learned how to ride his bike this last week, and he did so well! Whenever Jordan is concentrating on something, he usually curls his tongue and sticks it out. It is so funny! He loves to learn and wants to be just like his sister. He finally has been showing some love to his younger brother and they are becoming good playmates.

Gavin

I can't forget our little guy! He brings constant love and laughter to our home. He loves it outside. He also is content to play with any toy that has wheels. He continues to out-eat his siblings. We love our little fire-cracker!

Family Vacay

Hooray for a vacation!! We wanted to see Niagara Falls and some church history sites before we left the area, so we planned for Easter weekend. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate to our best wishes, but nonetheless we made the most of our trip! (Really the kids could have cared less about the Falls and the history sites. They were MOST excited about staying in a hotel with a swimming pool and TV!)

NIAGARA FALLS

Walking to the Falls from our hotel. The rain stopped by the time we got there. Jordan started to complain about being tired and cold after 5 minutes. He then continued for the whole entire time and wanted to go back to the hotel.

We were sad that we really came to the Falls a couple weeks too early, because there was still snow and ice on the river. That means no "Maids of the Mist" boat tour or the "Cave of the Winds."

Gavin taking his turn with the umbrella. Right after I took this picture, a gust of wind got a hold of him and the umbrella went flying while he fell down.

Our "extra baggage"

PALYMYRA, NEW YORK

What a wonderful experience to tour the area where it all began with Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is a monument at the top of Hill Cumorah.

The kids running down the hill. It is pretty steep!

In front of Joseph Smith's family's home.

KIRTLAND, OHIO
In front of the first LDS temple.

We then stayed with our good friends, Jay and Melani Talbot, in Columbus, Ohio for 3 days. It was so good to catch up with them and let the kids play. Leave to the kids to find a small mud puddle and make the most of it with the 5 minutes they did not have adult supervision.

Family Fun

Here are the rest of the adventures from Utah! The kids had non-stop playtime with their cousins from both sides of the family.

This kitten kept finding it's way to my parent's house. It didn't seem to mind all the attention (aka- fighting) it got from the kids. It did give Makenzie a good scratch on the hand, but she still loved it. The common question to me was, "Can we have a kitten?" I asked Makenzie if she would rather have a dog or a cat, and for that day it was a cat. I think a dog will eventually win out though.... someday!

This is Alivia, one of my nieces.
She was playing under a glass coffee table.

Gavin being contained by my brother, Dan.
He was hitting him in the face, hence the funny face from my bro.

A family breakfast at IHOP.

Gavin is our first kid that likes carbonated soda.
He really got hooked on it this trip since it was always around.
Good thing we hardly ever have soda at home.

Gavin tagged along with us while we went shooting.
We kept him in the back with his ear protection.

Easter Egg hunt with the Sherman Family:

Everyone was given a certain egg color to find.
Gavin was completely content to find one egg at a time and eat it's contents before moving on.

Makenzie with her pink eggs.

Jordan chowing down already.

On the way to Vegas feasting on chocolate chip cookies.

This little lady was exhausted and slept the whole way to Vegas. She is our energizer bunny that never stops... so this just shows how busy of a week we had. It is a very rare sight to have her sleep in the car or take an afternoon nap.