Douglas Allen Evans--our 3rd pumpkin

After 4+ years following Rachel's birth you were a welcomed addition to our family!! You were coddled constantly by us and your older siblings:)
You enjoyed being around people and all fell in love with you instantly because of your outgoing personality, cute smile and blonde hair!!
How blessed I am to call you my son.....

Dylan's #5

Grammy and Poppy will never forget when your Dad carried you out of delivery immediately after your birth and we were amazed how big you were, especially your hands!!

It seems impossible that was 5 years ago and you are in kindergarten already.

We love you with all our heart and only wish I was celebrating your day with you as planned. How unfortunate you had to fracture your left arm at our home last night...we feel so badly about your injury:(

Happy Birthday Doug & Dylan

Happy Birthday to the Boys! Dylan we can't believe how grown up you are. What a fun boy you are and we love you very much.Be sure to check out Doug's birthday post at Doug & Heather's blog for a special birthday wish.

Our newest angel

On Friday, September 18th at 5:10pm, Trinity Rose was born weighing 8# 9oz. Our dear Laura labored/pushed long and hard but Trinity needed to be delivered by c-section. We are most blessed to have this new angel as part of our family. Our sincere congrats to Laura and Nick whom we know will be awesome parents!! As you can see, she is a most beautiful newborn(photo taken at 3 hrs old). How blessed Poppy and I felt to be able to see her so soon after her birth.

It's your birthday shout hooray!

Happy 4th Birthday Kennedy!

Check out a special birthday post on Doug & Heather's blog

My little angel baby

My dear daughter,

Hard to imagine 35 years have gone by since your early arrival on August 18, 1974. You were such a small precious angel sent by God. Thankfully, you were a real survivor and for that I am most thankful. If I had lost you there would have been a huge void in my life forever. How blessed I am to have you as my daughter and friend:) You are a beautiful person inside and out and as your Mom that makes me most proud!!!

First Day of School for us All!!

Steven starting 3rd grade and Dylan kindergarten-

wow-they are really growing up.

My first day teaching in my own classroom!!

The brothers giving each other high fives before school-
and I heard they did it after school too!!
SUCH BROTHERS!

Monster Jam

The boys had given Bryce tickets to Monster Jam for Father's Day.

We had a really good time cheering for our favorite trucks: Grave Digger,

Maximum Destruction, Captain's Curse, etc.

I think we were the best looking family there. :)

?I do not know why this is underlining?

The Family!!!
Go Captain Curse!!


Dylan with Tom Meents(Maximum Destruction)

Steven with Dennis Anderson(Grave Digger). Steven says, "Thanks Mom
for standing in line for 2 hrs. so I could meet him."

Trinity Rose's shower

On Sunday, June 12th, we celebrated the upcoming miracle of Trinity
Rose with a baby shower. Laura chose to have it at their home and her Mom and friend, Melissa, hosted it. Our granddaughter is not lacking for anything for the first years of her life:) Nick has decorated Trinity's room beautifully with new paint and a center border per Laura's decorating ideas!! We are most ready to have a new baby become part of the family...love her already.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I want everyone to know that I have the best Mom in the world and today is her day!!

I love you Mom!!!

Graduation Day

My baby Dylan graduated from preschool today. I can't tell you how proud I am of him. He had to spend every day-all day long with me, but he/we did it. Congrats-Dylan!! And oh by the way, Dylan had the Greatest Teachers EVER!!

Some of Dylan's friends!!

Cooking Classes

I have to say that the boys have a really good Dad-but I'm not going to say I agree with what he is teaching them here. Cooking!!!???

Bret Michaels Weekend

I know I have not posted in awhile, but I promised Mom I would.
Here is our Bret Michaels weekend. Misty, Courtney and I had a great time.

We were so close to the stage that at this point Courtney even touched his hand.

Us Girls!!

Hangin out with Big John after the show.

Easter joy!!

Our Easter Day was most glorious because of the time spent with our kids/grandkids. They make us feel joyful and full of life when we are together. Many thanks for all the love and time you choose to share with Craig and I. We could not have thought of a better way to spend this holyday.
It does appear as if they girls and boys do not get along, huh???

Bear Flats weekend

As you can see, quading has added a new dimension to camping and we added the newest member to our quading club:)(Yes way...that would be Rachel!!)The Shepard's found an awesome camping spot and the weekend was most enjoyable with perfect weather, well-behaved kids(and adults), great food, good campfires/marshmellow roasts and obviously, lots of quading!! Yahoo, this is only the beginning of the camping season and what a perfect start.

Our baseball "stars"

On Saturday we went to watch Dylan and Steven playball with Central Christian church league. How wonderful to observe the emphasis being Christian sportsmanship and the game starting with a prayer!! Both teams have improved greatly since the first time we watched them play. The "stars"

played exceptionally well and made us most proud. How blessed we are to live in close proximity to be part of their activities:)

Love you, Grammy and Poppy

Our Blog

We have our own blog now so we will start to put updates and what not on our new growing family
Link : http://nicknlaura.blogspot.com/
Thanks to heather for making it pretty

We dont have much on there yet but our computer is acting funky so it will be better soon

Update photos

Happy Birthday God Daughter Keira



Grandma Shepard



"The" Shepard Parents



"The" Shepard Boys

Bailey wants to be like Paige

Katelyn was cleaning her bathroom this morning and Bailey decided to "help". She found the rubberbands and so Katelyn thought she would help her out and do her "hair". If you remember the pictures of Paige a while back - you can see the family resemblence. We think she looks a lot like Yoda. Anyway, just a few pictures for you to get a giggle over.

Go Cardinals!!

Even though they lost I am still posting these pics.
This is a 5am on Feb 1st,Super Bowl Sunday, in the front yard of my girlfriend Tara. She works for Grow and Learn Preschool and is a Steelers fan.




Along with Kristi and Misty, my two bosses, we put more than 50 Cardinals signs. It was so much fun!!!

First Dr's Apt

Today I went for my first OB drs apt. I had all the fun testing down labs, exam. The doctor said when feeling my pelvic area that I felt maybe further along than originally thought so she ordered an ultrasound to be done just to be sure I wasn't further along or no twins in there.
So I had my ultrasound and it is one healthly looking bean that is about 6 1/2 wks and has a cute little heartbeat. I even got to take home some photos. So far so good.

A night of memories

What a wonderful evening we shared with Katelyn celebrating her bday early. The High School Musical on Ice was superb and had us all clapping(well, Craig not so much since he is always off a beat or so!!). The skaters enthusiasm and high energy could not help but rub off on the audience.

Katelyn was often sitting on the edge of her seat and Craig & I loved watching the joy on her face:) What great memories are made of times as these spent with our oldest granddaughter:) Love and hugs, Grammy and Poppy

AAAAAA Batter Batters

As you can see the Shepard Boys have started baseball. Honestly, I can not imagine a more enjoyable way to start my Saturday morning then watching my boys have fun. Dylan is playing t-ball and Steven coach pitch through Trek Sports, which is Central Christians sports league. It is GREAT!! They pray before and after and DON'T even keep score. If you would like to join us, we will be at Mountain View Park, next to Central in Mesa, every Sat. until March 14 from 9-12.

We're Pregnant!!

Nick and I are very excited to announce that we are pregnant! I am not too far along 4-5 wks I have a drs apt set up soon I will repost more info when I find out anything...

Anyone know of a good Doula? :)

HOUSE PARTY

NewHouse party
Feb 7th 5pm

We will finally be having everyone over to hang out in our new house. This will be our first dinner party. Mexican themed:

So far we have people bringing the following the rest of you can pick whatever you would like to bring:
US- meat, tacos, stuff to make fajitas, drinks, sourcream....
Rachel/Bryce-- Rice
Katie/Jason-- 7layer dip
Russ/Kelly-- Beans

See you guys then!

Happy 2009

Craig and I cherish the times we get to spend with you all during the holiday season and thank you for all the wonderful gifts(especially the grandchildren photo and picture frame). Of course, we did miss Jason, Katie and Katelyn being with us for our Christmas celebration but were most happy they were able to share dinner with us on New Years Eve. I often tell my customers how blessed we are to have you all in close proximity and how much we enjoy spending time with you whenever possible, especially our yearly campout at Greens Peak. Love and hugs, Mom and Craig