talent runs in the family...hopefully

I hope that through pure genetics, my kids can somehow be as talented as our amazing cousins! Kevin's Uncle's family (his wife and 7 kids), stage name "The Lowe Family", has been performing in Branson, MO for the past 10 years. They have now taken their show on the road. A couple weekends ago they came up to MI and we were able to go to the show with our 3 oldest kiddos! All together their family plays 50 different instruments-beautifully, they dance, they sing, and they put on such an amazing show! The girls sat mesmerized during the whole performance! It was so much fun to see them all! Here is a link to their YouTube page. Check out the snippets from their shows and also their new music video, "We Will Go On"...it's really awesome!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/thelowefamily

The next day, we were so excited to have the Lowe's all over for lunch before they headed back to Branson.

Uncle Bob and Jer-Bear have something in common...besides being brothers, they both fell asleep in this chair...with little girlies smothering them with random hugs!

Kassie told Doug she would rub his feet if he paid her...and she held him to it!

We love you guys!!! It was GREAT to see you again!!!

As a little side note, our cousin Kendra, who's part of this whole family, is now the Keyboardist and female vocalist for David Archuleta!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu7khh8VZBs

A little Bit of Amberlee

We celebrated Amberlee's Birthday a little while ago (ok...it was 3 weeks ago on the 4th) and she's been looking forward to seeing her pictures on the blog! So here's a little 5 year birthday blog celebration of our sweet Amberlee...starting with our 5 top reasons we love her!

1. She is the most thoughtful person. She always thinks about others before herself. For example, she got a few dollars for her birthday and the first thing she said was that she could go to the dollar store and buy presents for her sisters! This is how she thinks...all the time!

2. She is quiet and very shy outside of our home, but once you get to know her she is incredibly goofy...and I'm always finding pictures on my camera like this...

3. She loves to cook with me and she's always finding recipes for me to try.

4. She's a little (possibly a lot) OCD and organizes almost everything...and her favorite color is orange!

5. She told me that her most special talent is swimming! (We'll see!) She likes playing soccer (but not on game day) and she loves animals!

Amberlee was born in Japan...and she was cold. She had a hard time regulating her body temperature so they put her in a warming bed and put this little hat on her...it was so cute. She now asks to see the picture of her wearing the bunny ears! You can even see the top part of her little newborn kimono!

3 months old1 year old at Disney Sea in Japan2 years old3 years old with her 1st bike4th birthday...she wanted a princess tea party. She invited her friends over and wanted them to wear their princess dresses. On the day of the party, all she wanted to wear was her polka-dot dress from grandma!5 years old, 2009Birthday party at the gymnastics center with her favorite friends

(Lauren, Emma, Amberlee, Morgan, and Maggie)

Sewing and Sock-hops

Ok...I LOVE to do projects. However...let's understand one thing...I do not sew and I really REALLY do not like it! That being said...I love that when I do attempt to make something, it turns out crooked and lopsided and always adorable!

Every year, there's a sock-hop at the girl's elementary school. I thought that we would not be able to make it this year...but at the last minute, the girls needed those poodle skirts! So, in my creative and crafty ways, I headed out to Joann's to get my needed supplies and spent the afternoon whipping these cuties out!

Oh, as a disclaimer...my sewing sister came to my aid...yeah!!! After I used our large wall clock and tape measure to cut out two circle skirts...she called and was more than happy to help with my project. So while I can claim the *concept* of this project...she was the sewing chick behind it all (I ironed the poodle on...does that count???)!

Can you believe that the kids were totally rockin' out to AC/DC at an elementary dance!

Kassie and one of her BFFs---Rachel

She was so excited for the hula-hoop contest...look at all of those skirts!!!

Amberlee, Sophie, and Kassie