Swim! Swim! Swim!

Ok...so we are crazy and packed WAY TOO MUCH into one day! After we visited the Zoo we then drove to "Grandma Greats" house (Great-Grandma) and went swimming. We probably should have taken the kids home but the opportunity to swim and Great-Grandma's house are getting fewer by the day as they will be moving into a new home later this year!

Addison LOVED the water and couldn't get enough. Kristian was a lot more brave this year, but I know he would benefit greatly from swimming lessons...guess I'll be looking into that. Thanks so much George and Gwen for letting us enjoy your pool yet one more time. We look forward to our next swim day!!

Fun At The ZOO!!!

So...we finally made it to the Zoo this year! I don't know who was more excited..Kristian or Mom. I was so excited to see how he'd LOVE the Zoo! His favorite by far were the Elephants (well...the Choo Choo (the train) would have been a close second). I think we made several trips to see the elephants. We did good to associate all the animals with all his favorite movies! The elephants from Jungle Book. The bears.. they were Koda from Brother Bear. Zebras, Penguins, Giraffes, were all from Madagascar. You get the point.

Kristian would get so excited, he'd clap his hands and wave to the animals telling them hi when we arrived and waving and saying goodbye as we left. He LOVED the merry-go-round. I think we rode it twice..but if he'd had his choice it would have been several more!











A long day at the zoo can sure wear you out. Here little Addison is completely out! She did so well the entire time and had a great time. She started fussing while Dad and Kristian was on the merry-go-round and the instant I gave her her binky her head just fell forward into my hands..she was asleep that quickly!...so cute! Kristian however waited until we got to the car, the shortly after we left he too let the days activities take over and fell asleep. I'm so glad we got the season pass as I know we will make several more trips to the zoo this year!

For the love of dirt!

Kristian is ALL BOY! HE LOVES TO DIG IN THE DIRT! He could play all day in the dirt.. I'm sure my drains are full of mud at this point. He LOVES IT!! Here he is at Grandma Cindy's house... helping to pull weeds. He has his bucket, "dig-dig" ..toy truck, gloves and his shovel. He's ready to go!

Pony Express Days

Pony Express Days were in town. This is a fun time of year when the city has its "Big Event".. They have baby contests, helicopter rides, dunebuggy tours, movie under the stars, concerts, 5-K Run, Parade and a Carnival. The carnival is fun because there are a lot of rides for the kids and a lot of vendor booths. This year my friend Tamara and I did a Scentsy Booth. It was a lot of work and a long 3 days. We did great and had so much fun! For any of you who don't yet have Scentsy.... Get with the program and find out just how SCENTSATIONAL Scentsy really is!!!! (ok..I'll stop!).

As part of the events we have a big parade. This year Jon was the engineer for the day so Kristian and I got to ride in the fire truck during the parade. Kristian thought it was so cool that he got to throw candy out the window to all the kids! He had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it! There were these kids on unicycles that were pretty impressive, so I included their picture.

My Money

1. Kristian is always so excited when her finds "money's".. We have started a little piggy bank that he can put all of his "money's" in. He doesn't like, however, that he can't get them out once their in there, but we are trying to teach that he can eventually use those "money's" to buy him a treat/toy/etc. Ok..I know he's only 2 and this is a big concept for him to learn...but he really likes his "money's" and we figure its worth a shot!

2. Aunt Jodi came and spent the night at our house...just because she was out of school for the summer and had nothing to do. Kristian was able to find her flip-flops, purse and sunglasses and thought he was pretty cool!

3. Each of the kids turn their turn wearing Daddy's hat. Here Kristian give his "classic Kristian CHEESE" face.... and nevermind the little bit of food you can see in his teeth, we had just eaten. Little Addison...well, this hat just help accent her cute little "Yoda Ears" so I call them. What a cutie!!

Sweet Pea

So I was in a "My little girl is so cute..so I'm going to take her picture..A LOT" mode. You know every parent has those moments where (in the digital world) you just keep taking pictures, even when the pose only changes slightly? Thats me!! We have decided that Addison looks like a "Sweet Pea" although generally I call her "Peanut". I especially love how these pictures make her eyes look so beautifully blue!!

Pushing Through

Some have simply said she is driving without a seatbelt. Others have referred to her as a young girl struggling in the middle of a raging sea without her life jacket on...fear of drowning setting in. At times there are moments in life when she feels very lost, very confused, and very unsure where she fits in this life. Its hard and her struggle is very difficult to bear. She knows she has loved ones around her who worry and pray often for her to be ok. She knows and loves them for this support. There is so much that could be explained to help you understand, but the truth is this is something she needs to do alone. She must push through alone.
Please know she is truly doing ok...she is tough, she knows she is loved, and she is doing ok. She knows you are there and will go to you when she needs to. So PLEASE... let her push through this alone!