Rhyan's Fourth Birthday

Our little Rhyan turned four this year. She is such a sweet little girl and is really turning into her own, independent little person. She had a strawberry shortcake birthday party with all of her little friends and looked so cute!

This is Kirtland!

So, for those of you who don't know, we spent a good portion of our summer inundated by the play, This is Kirtland. THis is Kirtland is the same type or thing as the Palmyra Pageant of the Nauvoo Pageant. It is about the churches history in Kirtland and Joseph's role here. It is a lot of singing and dancing and is actually really good for and amateur production. Luckily we have people who are professionals to help with the production. Anyway, Kaleb, Mayson and Misty were in the play this year and it was quite an overwhelming time commitment, but it was a great experience. Yeah, I know what you're all saying. Really, Misty was singing and dancing on stage... well, let me tell you how this happened. Our dear friend Sunny had Mayson sing a solo in sacrament one Sunday, and upon realizing what a great voice she has thought it would be a great idea to let her try out for the play. Of course Mayson thought this would be great, when is she ever not looking to be the center of attention! Then of course Kaleb thought it would be fun too. He had just spent the year in Oxford's show choir and had really enjoyed himself. So, of course, the push over mom that I am, I hauled my kids out to Kirtland to try out for the play. Now, let me just say, I had no thought of trying out myself, I had nothing prepared, and I'm sure I was looking lovely because it was bright and early on a Saturday morning that we had to be there and I had not gotten cleaned up. Not sure how it happened, but somehow I ended up getting talked into trying out. Well, the rest is history! We all got in and had a great time. We had rehearsals three to four times a week from the the end of april through when performances started in July. All I can say is that it was a big commitment, but we had a great time and my kids are asking about doing it again next year. Rhyan says she wants to do it this time. I keep trying to help them understand that with the move coming up, we can't next year, but hey... since when do they listen to me? Okay, so for all of you who have given me so much crap about why we quit blogging this summer... are you starting to see why?? Our life was crazy!!

Larry's Birthday

We celebrated Larry birthday in July, and for those of you who don't know how old he is, I won't disclose... lets just say he's getting old! We had a great day with him and the kids all made him these really cute cards. They love their daddy!

Rolling Ridge Ranch

The day after the Fourth of July, Julie talked us into going with them to Rolling Ridge Ranch. I protested at first because it wasn't cheap and I wasn't sure I wanted to pay the money, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went. It is a zoo/animal park type thing owned by the Amish out in the middle of nowhere Ohio. It was an absolutely beautiful drive, and reminded me of why I sometimes consider staying out here. (don't worry, we're not planning on it) Anyway, you get into this wagon that is pulled by a team of oxen, and they give everyone a bucket of food. Then you start rolling along and wind up feeding animals you never thought you would get that close to. Yes, that is a water buffalo, and yes, that is a regular buffalo. Aaron thought it was pretty funny to put his food bucket down by my flip-flop clad foot and get the thing to lick my toes. It was pretty funny... it's always exciting at the Kalke house. We fed long horns and emus, zonkeys (yes, that's a real thing, it's a cross between a donkey and a zebra) and all sorts of animals I don't remember the names of. They had a petting zoo with lots of baby animals for the kids to hold and pet after we got off the wagon. The kids absolutely loved it! We all had so much fun and I'm really glad we went!! Thanks for the peer pressure Julie!

Fourth of July

FOurth of July was fun. We hung out with the neighbors like we do every year, had a great barbecue, and wasted money on fireworks that do nothing but shoot out a lot of smoke. Thanks to the wonderful state of Ohio, that's all we can get here. As you can see though, it doesn't put a damper on anybodies fun, it just adds to the humor!