A couple of weeks ago my cousin Beka, her husband Bill and their daughter Anika came for a visit.  Hailey was so excited that Anika was coming that she could hardly wait for her to get here!  I think they came for the 4 hottest days we have had all summer.  It was hot but we had fun anyways!

Here are some pictures of the fun we had together:

We started out at the zoo.  Brooke and Hailey enjoyed petting a goat.

The goats were a little bit pushy about getting their food so Hailey wasn’t able to feed them because they kept trying to jump on her.  The goats loved Rich!

Anika and Hailey heading off together.

Rich, Hailey and Brooke pose for a picture.

Rich, Hailey, Bill and Anika on the slides.

Anika and Hailey also spent some time swimming in my parents’ pool.  Afterwards they had a snack and drew with chalk on the patio.

Another day they played in the sprinkler over at our house.  It took them a few minutes to decide whether or not they liked the sprinkler.  As you can see Hailey decided she loved it.

Anika and Hailey playing in the sprinkler.

My dad had to go out and buy the girls a little wading pool to play in- and they loved it!

We had lots of fun together.  When Beka and I were younger we spent lots of time together and I have lots of fun memories from our times together.  I hope that Hailey and Anika will be able to make lots of happy memories together too!

Back in the beginning of May we took Hailey to her first circus.  I didn’t get any really great pictures of the circus so I never posted any pictures.  But since this was the first time she went to the circus I decided that I needed to post pictures anyways.  My pictures of the actual circus did not come out at all, but here are a few pictures of some of my favorite people.

Hailey watching the circus- she loved the clowns and the tigers.

Rich and Brooke- obviously Brooke was thrilled about having her picture taken.

Hailey loved her light up butterfly toy!

See my pictures aren’t very good- but I had to document Hailey’s first time at the circus.

Time sure does fly by!  I can’t believe that Brooke is getting ready to start her senior year.  It seems like only yesterday she was a cute little girl.  And overnight she blossomed into a beautiful young lady!

The day after Christmas we headed out of town to visit our family.  We had Christmas with my side of the family on Saturday.  Here are a few pictures of the fun:

I know it’s a little out of focus, but I have to take what I can get with Brooke.  She hates having her picture taken just as much as I do.  So even though it’s out of focus I can still see her face!

All of the excitement was a bit much for Dottie.  She had to take a break from opening her presents for quick nap.

Hailey is modeling her new apron.

The aftermath of opening the gifts, just a little mess to clean up.  See me on the couch?  Don’t I look great?  It’s not my fault- remember I was sick.

Hailey and Aunt Ellie had lots of fun playing in Hailey’s new Rose Petal Cottage.

Hailey posing for a quick picture before church on Sunday.

We celebrated Christmas with Rich’s side of the family on Tuesday but I didn’t bring my camera with me.  What kind of blogger doesn’t have her camera at all times?  A bad one.  So- sorry I don’t have any pictures from there to share.  But here is one of Hailey playing with one of her gifts she got from Nana and Grandpa (Rich’s parents).

Hailey loves to clean with her vacuum- she gets it out every day and cleans up the house.

That’s it for my Christmas pictures.  I’ll be back with a few pictures from our New Years celebration.