Visit from THE other Borders

 We were so very blessed to have Jeff's brother Steve, his wife Tricia, and their three girls Ashley, Megan, and Hannah come from Virginia to visit for two weeks. The last time we saw them was December of 2010, overt 3.5 years ago! We are so grateful they were able to come and can't wait to see them again!

 Jeff with Shiloh (above), Steve with Hannah (below). It was great to see these brother together. I had forgoten how much alike they are in most every way.

 Cooper and Megan were so bummed that they didn't get to ride the bumper cars at Riverfront Park with Ashley and Mason. Never fear! Papa Borders to the rescue, buying them tickets to ride later.

 

Ancle Steve was a great wrestling partner.

 

 Shiloh and Kinley thought it would be fun to dance on the picnic table at the splash pad.

 

The only reason I am including this video is because it has Cooper's amazing laugh.

Cooper's 7th Birthday

Cooper was able to invite a few friends over for a party and they were able to go to Strike Zone just like Mason did for his birthday. It is hard to believe that my chubby little whinny kid had turned into such a loveable, cuddly little dude. This guy has the best laugh and smile. I feel so blessed to be his mom for eternity.

Allergy Check Up

Coop-dog went to the allergist this morning. Since he has a severe food allergy, he has to be seen by his (awesome) allergist each year so she can fill out new school forms giving them to okay to administer his epi-pen if needed. A few weeks before going to the allergist, he had to have his blood drawn to see how allergic he is to peanuts. This time around, we had them check on a few other nuts as well. Here are the results:

Almond: 5.49 (high)

Hazelnut: 3.44 (moderate)

Pecan Nut 10.10 (high)

Peanut >100.00 (very high)
Walnut 2.83 (moderate)

Although those results are not a surprise to us, it still would have been nice for the peanut to be lower than greater than 100. We would love for him to grow out of his allergy, or for it to at least lessen in severity, but it is not looking like that will be the case. Cooper will more than likely be severely allergic to peanuts for his entire life. That scars me and makes me sad that he is always going to have to be so careful.

FIRE!

Jeff spent 16 hours on fire calls with 13 of those hours on a wild fire on Saturday night and Sunday morning. All of this happened as we finished up working on backyard patio project for about 8 hours.
Here are some videos of the fire.

Extending the Patio & Sprinklers

I am so so so glad to finally have this project checked off our to-do list. The awning went up two years ago. We extended the awning past where the patio came to an end with plans to extend the patio to the edge of the awning at some point.

Prepping the area for the extended patio.

Concrete poured. Then the rain came--reason for the tarps.

The lawn drops down a bit from where the patio was, so we decided to put in some stairs on the side. I think they turned out great!

 

 We also (FINALLY) had sprinklers installed in the back yard. So very glad we don't have to water by hand. It was hard to get used to it though. There were several nights when I started to head out, then remembered that I didn't have to.

We finished off the transformation with rock. I am looking forward to our plants getting bigger.

Neighborhood Movie Night

For the second year in a row, our neighborhood has had a movie night. We love being able to get together with our awesome neighbors!. Last year we watched Despicable Me, so last night we watched Despicable Me 2.

July Happenings

 Attempting to teach Shiloh, Kinley, Ashlyne, and Anyka (Frank twins) how to play connect 4. 

 

 

Kinley's version of breakfast of champions.

 

 

 Shiloh loves grandma's kitty.

 Selfies of Shiloh are the best.

Well Child Check Ups

Mason and Cooper went in for their well child check ups yesterday. I really really don't know why they do them as school aged children, other than when they turn 11 and need a booster shot or two. 

Here are Mason's stats:

Height 56.10 inches (92%)

Weight: 72.2 pounds (77%)

And Cooper's stats:

Height 50.71 inches (91%)

Weight 59.8 pounds (85%)

All in all Mason and Cooper are both super healthy and right on track with their development.