A couple more zoo pics:



Pretty little sisters.....



Free rides for the little ones!! (lucky dogs!)...



A Kudu....(not the most common animal you'll ever see.)



This aquarium was really neat!



Me and my friend.....

More highlights of the day!



One of the favorite animals.....


The boys loved this fake gorilla!!!!


My favorite animal!!!


The dolphin show was good too!



A.J.'s outlook of the monkey house and it's smells

Pics from our day at Brookfield Zoo!


The center aisle of the zoo,...beautiful!...





We saw all sorts of animals from parrots.....




to penguins.......




to Rhinos....



To wild picture posing little brothers :-)

Emily's Birthday: She's an "official" teenager now!



The presentation of the cake, (With A.J. to back her up, just in case she can't blow them all out!)



Taking off the candles....



Opening her gift from Kait & Liz......quilting fabric!!! (Yay, whoopee, who cares? I guess girls like stuff like that for their birthday,... lots of crafting time anyway :-)


P.S. It was NOT my idea to put hot pink as the font color for this blog!

Here I am working on a post to put on this blog page. Notice Elizabeth my trusty assistant giving me advice on what to put on and what not to put on my web page.
Girls are somtimes like that,... "No Jack, don't put that picture on, I look terrible in that picture!"

Kaitlyn: "Cookie maker of the year"


Among her many skills, cookie baking is one of Kaitlyn's best. Actually, whipping up any recipe really well seems to come naturally with Kaitlyn. In this picture she is making some "basketball" cookies for my dad's Sunday school class of young boys. There is always someone around to lick the beaters and sample the newest treat when Kaitlyn is cooking, always! Of course that isn't to difficult when there are eleven children in the house. And another thing is certain,... whatever she made won't sit long enough to go bad, sometimes it seems like her treats are gone within minutes of getting out of the oven!

Anyway, Kaitlyn is known for working hard, keeping a happy spirit, being patient and always being ready to help..., but I would say that even though making a good batch of cookies isn't as valuable as those character traits, it is one of her more appreciated skills in our household! :-)

My Best Friend - Otherwise known as "Rick"

Rick and I have always been very close friends, especially when we were younger and the only other option than playing with each other,... was to play with our sisters! Don't get me wrong, I loved to pal around with my sisters too, but girls just can't seem to do some of the things that are so important to younger boys like wrestling, football, building a fort...etc.

Rick and I stayed great friends as we got older though, and many times I have thought to myself what neat times I've had with Rick working, playing a game, or just bumming!


Here is a picture of Rick at the beautiful beach in Florida near PCC where he is going to college.
So far, he has traveled more than any of us other kids. First he went down to Mexico on a missions trip a little while ago,... now he is on the sunny beaches of Florida,... and this summer he will be traveling with a men's quartet from PCC up the east coast all the way to the Prince Edward Islands! Talk about site seeing! I am just waiting for the time when Rick calls and says that he will be taking a trip to China, Europe or some other distant land! (jk)

Rick is very friendly and outgoing though, and I think all of us kids (besides Connor) have a special bond with Rick from the things we did together with him.