The Lord's Prayer by a 2 yr old!

This video is so AMAZING!!! Take a quick second to watch this little girl sing the Lord's Prayer!

Herrin Fest Weekend

Well another Herrin Fest has come and gone. Another wonderful party thrown by the Simpkins family. Here are some shots of the weekend.

Miranda, Me, Tobey, Falan

The class of 99
Us
Ryan's Bocce Ball Team

The parade line up
The babies
The babies during the 100+ fire trucks!
Sophia waving at every float

Happy Anniversary to us.................

As Herrin Festa comes to a close, Ryan and I celebrate our 4th year anniversary. We met tonight 4 years ago at fancy HerrinFest. Happy Anniversary Ry. I love you more than I ever have!

Us, tonight at the Miner's game

Us, four years ago on our second date at Ryan's house! We look so young!

Random Sunday Pictures

Here are some random pictures from today. We went to Fujiama this afternoon for my grandpa's birthday. Then we came home and did some yard work. Boy am I sad the weekend is over!

My handsome Ryan and L.K.

Ryan trying to catch the egg in his mouth at the resturant
Bringing out the fried icecream, which by the way was the best

thing I have EVER tasted. I highly recommend it!

My grandpa and Nick
My little flower garden. I love my water sprinkler.

My husband the welder? This scared me a little while the sparks flew everywhere.

A day with my husband

Very rarely do Ryan and I get a day together. This Saturday we had the chance to run up to St. Louis to pick out our countertops and we made the day out of it. We finally chose our backsplash and countertops. We then went to the Botanical Gardens. I didn't realize that it was 72 acres of land smack dab in the middle of St. Louis. They were having a Chinese Culture Days while we where there. There was also an artist that was being spotlighted that month whose sculptures were incredible. Ryan has always worn these incredibly ugly sunglasses he buys once a year at Gas Mart in Carterville. Buy one get one free. We both agree they make him look creepy. The highlight of the day was when we saw a lady around mid 70's wearing the exact glasses. He tried to stop her but she didn't hear him. That would have been an awesome photo opt! We then left and ate at the Spaghetti Factory, our favorite. We had such an awesome day together it reminded me of why I love him so much! Couples need those day when there are no plans to get to, no cellphones that need answered, just the couple. It was awesome. Thanks Ry.


A beautiful Peony for my friend Shelly

This is my favorite flower! Allium
One of the many sculptures they had moved there

for the exhibition. Can you imagine how much it weighs?
Another sculpture

A quick shot of us. A self taken photo, always unflattering! The sunglasses I spoke about!
A view of the glass greenhouse
Below in the water you can see colored balls. Those were
all blown glass ornaments that were floating
in the wading pool. They were unbelievable.

This was apart of the Grand Parade they had at 2:00. They had drummers, acrobats, and of course the Chinese Dragon.
A field of Iris

The blown glass sculpture hanging from the top of the building. It was amazing.

Some Very Beautiful Kids!

Last night Courtney invited Beth and I over to visit with her and Madalyn. Very much unlike me I did not take 6000 pictures. Here are two really good ones. Madalyn and Court are doing very well. Beth and Ryan are in the middle of building their new home! It was great to visit with them and most of all see these beautiful children my friends have!

Cade has a personality unlike any 1yr old I have ever seen. He is hilarious!

Here is a picture of Madalyn wide awake.

Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to our Mothers! What would we ever do without you?

Vance is 1!

Vance turned 1 this past week. I can't believe that it's already been one year! The plan was a park party but Saturday was so cold and ugly we soon moved it back to the Miles's home. His favorite gifts were his new hats. He modeled them off so nicely too!

Hat # 1

Hat #2
This is a shirt that Tobey had made for him. We've always called him Vance -E-Pants.

The front of the shirt says, " Not just anyone can wear these pants."

The back
After he dug into his cake
Josie and Sophia
Merrett and Caden
Layne

Preston

I made him smile so many times for me I think I made his face hurt.

Caden the Pitcher

I took these photos during one of Caden's baseball practices. He's quite the little pitcher! I can't wait until I can get a shot of him in his official uniform! Jeez.... these kids are growning up so fast!