Summer is here!

Our Summer kicked off with a very special visitor, Salyna's Grandma!

So my mom always to used to get on my case about taking pictures and video of EVERYTHING... I tried for years to explain that I'd rather have the memories of what was actually going on then all the pictures. I do take plenty of pics but as I was loading ones for this post I thought that I hadn't taken enough of my Grandma's visit... especially since she had never been to Kansas before. Oh well! We did have a lot of fun during that week and I cherish the late night conversations we had.
The kids made signs for their Great Grandma, she had quite the welcoming party at the airport!

On one of the extremely hot afternoons the kids decided to put on a show for Grandma, it included singing, dancing, and little bit of arguing since each kid had their own agenda.

Lincoln's agenda seemed to be to mess up everyone by pushing buttons on the stereo!

This is Sydni being frustrated at her brothers because she wanted to sing... an entire song.

We went to the Greatest Show on Earth!! And sadly this is the only pic... haha. Asia the elephant was painting during the pre-show. Davis actually participated in a magic trick and won a DVD! We all really enjoyed the show, even Lincoln sat and watched in wonder!

Of course we had to go to the Zoo!!!

The petting zoo is always a hit for the whole family, thankfully the goats weren't too crazy that day!

Grandma checking out the penguins.

Baby ducks and geese seem to be everywhere lately... how appropriate to find some at the zoo.

Andrew asked if we could take one home.... uh, NO!

We were only able to stand the heat because of the many misters and water things to play in.

Great Grandma with her youngest of 9 great-grandchildren. Lincoln really loved her being here, she even got kisses goodnight!

We love you Grandma!!!

So here are some random pics from summer thus far...

Since we rarely have pics of Miles and I, I took it upon myself to share this one of him with you. He decided he wanted meatloaf and also decided that I wasn't going to make one anytime soon (they never turn out right)... so he found a recipe on the internet and had his laptop in the kitchen with him, I just thought it was kind of funny!

With all of the recent rain a lot of little creatures have come out... like this not so little frog.

Despite the kids best effort to make him (or her) a home in the backyard, it was gone in the morning.

If the heat and humidity keep up, there will be a lot of water play this summer!!!

We hope you all are having a great summer so far!

soon!!

There is a post coming very soon... I promise!!!!!

It's been a long time...

Easter 2010

Sorry that it's been quiet on here but that definitely does not reflect life for the last nearly 2 months....

So we closed on our house on April 19th, our very first, very own house!!! We had the Uhaul loaded on the 18th and unloaded it on the 19th, we even slept here that night! It was very exciting for the entire family!

The following weekend while I (Salyna) was away at a women's retreat, a friend from church brought over their swingset and helped Miles reassemble it... Fabulous!! Then my dad and stepmom arrived to watch kids while Miles and I (and Lincoln) flew to California for a quick trip. Miles performed his step-brother's wedding ceremony!

Robert may be taller but Miles is 10yrs older!

It's been a long time since we had a good couple pic!

Four Generations of Kennedy Men!!

After returning from CA we got to work on the backyard, well Miles did most of the real work.

I planted flowers and painted patio furniture!

We thought this tree was a city tree, then we thought we might need a permit, then we thought we didn't have that much time before the tree was going to take out our fence...

After illegally cutting the city's tree :)

We also had an obnoxious pine tree that were just wanted to cut down completely. It had something else growing up and around it, but then Miles and a friend started cutting... it looks pretty good now, still some work to do around the bottom and hang a rope swing!

Family news: Davis joined a track club and just had his first track meet! He ran the 1500m and the 400m, did great in both to spite a sore foot!
His heat getting ready. He was the only white boy in this heat and those little black boys were FAST!!!

Andrew... well, he's Andrew. He has expanded his eating to now include meat, well, just the occasional chicken nuggett. He was screened for PreK and scored low on social skills, so we are hoping that is enough to get him started this Fall. If not, then we will be taking him to be assessed at a different private special needs facility. He loves the backyard!!!! (they all do)

Sydni is ready for school to be out and to be a 3rd grader. She still LOVES reading!

Lincoln is turning into a toddler! He is talking more, eating like a big kid, and trying to keep up with the others.

Baby is doing great. The first trimester can be summed up in one word, SICK. Now, onto the second one and I am feeling better and actually eating. Weird craving #1, V8 juice! A couple times a day! Just a few more weeks until we have an ultrasound... THINK PINK!!!

Summer.... it's nearly here! My grandma will be here the first week of June, finally, after nearly 3 yrs of asking her to come!! I don't think she has ever been to Kansas! Davis has a couple more track meets this summer. Sydni is doing Elder Buddies through our church where she will go to a nursing home and visit and do crafts with the residents once a week. And we are hoping to enjoy the drive-in at least once! It may be awhile until the next post... hopefully you will be enjoying summer too!!

Just a little update

So life in the Kennedy household never seems to slow down...

In an earlier post, we commented on buying a house. Well, we were in the process of buying a house that belonged to some friends. Unfortunately, that deal fell through right before closing. Praise the Lord, within 3 days we had a contract on another house! So we now have the process to go through again, with the hopes of closing on April 19th.

It's been a whirlwind of ups and downs but we have a peace about all that is taking place.

And for those of you who haven't heard by any other means...

We are expecting another little Kennedy around Nov. 18th!

We will have 5 kids just before our 10th anniversary... WOW!!

We are so excited with all the Lord is doing!

Texas Trip

OK, this will be short. I am overly frustrated with blogger and have now given up on loading the pics. So there are only a few of the kids.
For Spring Break we took a long weekend trip to visit Salyna's cousin, Jenni, and her family. They live in Northeastern Texas so we also visited Louisiana.
The kids enjoyed the amazing weather and big backyard!!
Andrew and Corey enjoyed playing with each other. Both boys are usually home while the older kids go to school, so having a playmate for almost 4 days was great!!
They even look related in this pic.

Of course the trampoline was a HUGE hit with our kids!!

A pic of all the cousins before we left.

The only girls!! Sydni LOVED having a big sister for a few days :)

So here's a detailed rundown if you are interested...

We left Friday morning. Quickly discovered our DVD player for the van didn't work anymore.

Stopped at Walmart. Bought a DVD player.

Arrived in TX in the afternoon to beautiful weather!

Saturday we hung around the house, kids played outside, and all the girls went to Walmart.

Joe gave Miles a tattoo.

Sunday we went to Louisiana to see where Jenni grew up, eat, and see the boardwalk along the river. We had to go to a gator farm too!!!!

Monday was more hanging out, laundry, and getting our puppy treated for fleas :)

Tuesday we headed home. About half way home we discovered that the DVD player wasn't working, a wire was split apart. So we stopped at the same Walmart where we bought it in Oklahoma and returned it. Guess we borrowed it for the trip....

Just a petite post

We have been enjoying some really nice, Spring-like weather over the last couple of weeks.

(Hence the changing of the blog background)

So we've been trying to get outside everyday.

The days of sitting on the bench (with Lincoln in the stroller) at the park are O-V-E-R!

He runs around and climbs around, trying to keep up with the older kids.

On this particular day it was just Andrew and Lincoln. They played so well together, it was fun to watch even though it was a little tiring for Mom!The Kontz family came to visit us while on deputation!!

So we had to take them to the zoo.

This is Keira (their middle child, oldest daughter) with

Paul and SarahDavis and Andrew with Elisha (their oldest)Just hanging out at home. All of our kids loved "the baby" Faithann Paul and Sarah are missionaries with American Indian Missions and Paul will soon be the Pastor of Native Bible Fellowship in Gallup, NM. It was great to have them here with us for a few days and to hear Paul speak at a local church. We heard wonderful reminders about how the mission field is right here in our own country. They have an extremely tough job as they minister to natives, especially on the reservation.

What great brothers & sisters in Christ we have!

Thank you Paul and Sarah for loving and serving the Lord...

and for making Navajo Fried Bread :)

More Birthdays!

February 11th was our baby Lincoln's 1st birthday!

Because of a crazy week, I didn't get to make a homemade cake for him. I don't think he cared though and I'm certain the carrot cake I bought for the rest of us was a lot better than anything I could have made!!

He was quite the ham while we all watched him make a mess! In the age of gift cards, he didn't have many gifts to open. But he enjoyed the couple of toys he did get. I'm still enjoying Elmo (Encore Elmo, I think)... it is pretty entertaining!

And another birthday of sorts happened for our familly a couple weeks ago...

We got a puppy! Mocha is a longhaired chihuahua and 9 wks old now.
Her name was decided after a coffee conversation :)

So there are no pics of Salyna's birthday. The day was spent doing the usual daily things.. Walmart, lunch with Miles, a trip to the park... nothing exciting but still a good day. Suppose that's what birthdays are like when we get older. We are going out tonight without kids though, so I suppose that will be more of a celebration!

I am hoping for a longer post with lots of pictures next month after we are moved into our new house... YES we are moving again, but this will be our last move for some time I hope because we are buying a house! Thanks to Obama's tax credit and some great friends who were selling their house and ultimatley the Lord (He has worked out many details for this to happen) something we never thought we'd do! Guess we'll be Wichitans for real now?!