Once again, we are adjusting to a new routine as last week Anya started the pre-K program at Grandview Park Baptist school. She will be going full days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She thinks that it is so fun to bring her lunch and snacks and is very proud of her lunchbox–every night before school she makes sure to tell me what she wants in it! She had a mini-day on Wednesday where Jason & I got to attend also and see all the rooms they would be using and get a general run-down of what her day would be like. Then, on Friday she was all set for her first full day. When I picked her up, I asked her teacher how she did and Mrs Sternquist said that when it was time to go, Anya said “the day can’t be over yet?”–so she must be having fun!

Here are a few pictures of her first week!

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Anya just wrapped up her 2-week swim lessons last Friday. She took them with her friend, Lillie, and the girls had a great time. They both improved by leaps and bounds in their swimming and they had NO FEAR when it came to jumping off the board. In fact, Anya was the first in line when the time came!

Here are a few more pictures of their swimming lessons.

Anya & Josiah have THE world’s best babysitter. Look what they were doing when I picked them up the other day:

Last week our church had it’s vacation bible school with the theme “High Power” soccer. This was the first year Anya was old enough to go (and just barely–the minimum age is 5, so she made it by less than 2 weeks!) and she had a blast.

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Jason volunteered as one of the team coaches while I floated here and there and manned one of the water stations to keep the campers nice and hydrated! Despite not knowing much about soccer, Jason had a great time coaching his team (he had about 12 kids ranging from 1-3 grades) and really enjoyed interacting with the kids. Anya just enjoyed the opportunity to socialize with kids (big surprise, I know) and after a few attempts to try and play soccer, she decided that chatting with the goalie was more her scene

As entertaining as it was to watch the soccer, the real fun came in watching the kids learn and become excited about Jesus. What a great week!

Here are a few pictures of Anya’s first year at VBS!

Among all the fighting, toy-taking, crying, bickering, hitting and all the other things that brothers and sister’s do to torture each other, moments like these happen. And then you remember how much they really do love each other.

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On Saturday we had Anya’s 5th & Aubrey’s 4th birthday party. We had a house full of friends and family and the weather was perfect for the kids to play outside! Thanks to everyone that came to help the girls celebrate–it was a fun day.

Here are a few more pictures of the birthday girls’ fun day!

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5 years ago today, Anya Kay came into the world and changed ours forever. In what seems like the blink of an eye, our little girl is growing up.

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Happy Birthday Anya Kay! WE LOVE YOU!

On Thursday, Anya graduated from ECP preschool in a great ceremony. All the kids danced, sang, recited poems and at the end of program each child got to walk across the stage and receive their portfolio and diploma. It was a fun show and the kids did a fantastic job. We are so proud of Anya and the progress she made during her year in preschool. She is a bit sad she won’t get to see her friends regularly anymore, but is looking forward to starting pre-K in the fall.

Grandma Barb & Great G’ma Ruth came down to watch Anya’s graduation and stayed with us until Saturday. On Friday the kids went to Adventureland with their babysitter and her kids and G’ma Barb, Great G’ma Ruth & I did all sorts of shopping. It was a fun girls day out and we got lots accomplished. Saturday morning we all headed to the downtown Farmer’s Market and boy was it busy, but fun. After the market, G’ma Barb & great G’ma Ruth headed home and we headed back out to Adventureland for some afternoon fun. We got season tickets for the year, so we anticipate spending quite a bit of time there, especially once the new waterpark opens up!

Here are some pictures of Anya’s graduation.

This last Sunday Anya had “Preschool Sunday” at our church.  Her preschool class got all dressed up, went in front of the congregation and sang some songs, recited a poem and played the handbells.  They did a fantastic job and all looked SO cute!  After the service, they served all the preschool families lunch complete with ice cream sundaes for dessert!!  Anya was lucky enough to have G’ma Jeryl, Great G’ma Bertie, Aunt Joni, G’ma Barb & Papa Jim make the trip to watch her perform!

Here are a few pictures of her “Preschool Sunday” performance!

We hope everyone had a very Happy Valentine’s Weekend. We didn’t do anything too exciting to celebrate. Anya helped me make a cake and cupcakes to celebrate:

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I thought it turned out pretty good considering I had more “help” than I probably needed!

Also on Friday, Anya’s preschool had their Valentine’s Day party. The kids were so excited to eat their Valentine’s cookies and to pass out their treats to each other. Here is Anya’s table having fun at snack time!

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Other than me having a little “girl time” with my good friend Laura on Saturday getting a pedicure and us braving the snow on Sunday morning to attend church, we had a very quiet weekend around here just hanging out.

Here are a few more pictures of Anya’s preschool Valentine’s day party.