First Boat Ride of the Summer

We thought we finally found a nice evening to take our first trip out on Minnetonka this summer, but Mother Nature proved us wrong! The clouds started rolling in on our way out to the boat, and by the time Jon finished his first wake-board run, it was lightening in the distance. Argh!

We did manage to get a little wind in our hair, and a few photos of Bennett's first boat ride (other than in my belly, that is!)

I love this one of our three lovelies:

Bennett's Baptism Day

Bennett Alfred was baptized on February 13th at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Mpls. It was such a joyful day! He was baptized by Pastor Kurt Kalland, who married Jon & I, and also baptized both Hayden and Erica as babies, as well. He is an amazing, kind, caring & funny man who we feel so blessed to have as part of our lives.

In our move, I somehow misplaced the christening gown that Hayden and Erica wore. Nana Sharpe to the rescue!! She found this adorable white outfit at Childrens Place for him to wear on his big day! Such a handsome lil' guy....

We chose Jon's cousin Christy and her husband Ole to be Bennett's godparents. They are such wonderful people, who love and respect one another so much. We figured they would be great role models for Bennett as he grows up.

Pastor Kurt Kalland with our family
and our whole crew after the Baptism service:

After the Baptism, we headed over to Nana & Papa Sharpe's home for a delicious brunch.
It was a wonderful day with family & friends celebrating Bennett.

Guess Who's Four????

We celebrated Erica Rae's 4th birthday this past weekend....and it was an all weekend party, let me tell you! Friday night was a party at Nana and Papa Sharpe's house. Saturday the 20th was her actual birthday and we celebrated by spending the day at the Water Park of America. Then Sunday was her Super Sledding Party with her friends. It was an awesome, fun-filled weekend celebrating the life of Miss E!!

Here we are at the water park, thoroughly enjoying ourselves!
(Bennett stayed home & spent some quality time with Nana Smith)

And a few from the sledding party:

Nana Sharpe saved the day on the Unicorn cake request, as we looked high and low for unicorn decorations, to no avail....

No party is complete without the birthday song...

Happy Birthday E.Rae~ You are such an amazing big girl!!
We could not be more proud of you~

Our Love Bug...

At the end of this month, Bennett will be 6 months old already. I can hardly believe it is true, even as I type it right now. He has brought such immense joy to our lives, and it has been SO much fun to watch him grow and learn to explore his world a little more every day.

He is such a good-natured, mellow, little dude--and is just so easy to be around. He sleeps through the night, rolls in both directions (when he feels like it), chews on everything, LOVES his exersaucer & his feet, and started eating cereal recently.

Knowing this is our last baby...we are just trying to enjoy and cherish every step and every moment along the way. We love you Mr. B!!

Family of Five....

The first few weeks after Bennett's birth were a little crazy, but we seem to really be in the groove now. It's really hard to remember life before he was a part of our family. We truly feel complete now. I guess we were always meant to be a family of five...who knew?!

Getting a good photo of the five of us, however, was a different story! Zoiks....it was quite the stressful process! Jon and I were both sweating by the end of the photo shoot, and luckily 1 out of 7 photos turned out "good enough!"

Little Miss Erica Rae, 3 3/4 years
&
Our Kindergartner--Hayden Jonathan, 6 years

He Smiles!!!

Happy Halloween.....

....from the Sharpe family zoo!!