Cabin Camping

(Nana and her three grandchildren)

As soon as our flight landed in Phoenix myself and kids were off to the beautiful Mogollon Rim area of Arizona with my mom, brother, sis-in-law, and their cute baby Kyle. We landed at a cozy cabin in Forest Lakes, home to lakes and many many tall trees.(Brian aka 'Uncle B', Nun (longtime nickname for our Mom) and Angie)

(Brian, Angela, Baby Kyle, Kalua)

Caleb was ready to go fishing from "hello cabin"No fishy bites, so after awhile he made up his own fun with a plastic zip-lock bag. He declared it as 'jello' and kept saying "I want jello, just so ya know" in a sing song voice

Carissa was more in to batting her blue beauties than fishing

Back at the cabin we just hung out, ate good food, took walks, played card games, croquet and loved on baby Kyle.
Oh yeah, and the older kids were thrilled to drive 'BIGFOOT'
On our last day Carissa and I took a hike around the Woods Canyon Lake to this area. If you look closely in the right half of the tree lines you can see a Bald Eagles Nest (approx. 5" in diameter) holding two baby eagles. We hiked back to this side of the lake where telescopes were set up to view the Eaglets in their natural habitat. It was fascinating. When we got back to our picnic area we all witnessed the mommy bald eagle swoop down into the lake, get a fish and fly it to the nesting babies. It was breathtaking.

Bits-and-Pieces

• Oliver Paxton. Our kids have a new cousin! Jeff's brother and his wife had a precious baby boy in late June. We went to see him at one day old. I love this sweet pic of him with his older sister Olivia and his older cousins holding his wee little body.

• Hot Wheels Carry Case. Caleb wanted me to take a picture of his vintage hot wheels carrying case because he thinks it is cool. This hot wheels case really is vintage - it was his father's when he was a boy.

• Skito Bites. A couple of weeks ago Caleb woke up with a huge one inch circle on his forehead. At first I thought he had bumped his head (in the night?) but then we wondered if it was an insect bite. Two days later he awoke with 8 more red circles. Redness around the site, intense swelling, and itching made for an uncomfortable child. Jeff and I finally concluded that he had giant mosquito bites. The pending question, "Why is Caleb getting bit but we aren't?" Jeff did find two mosquitoes and killed them but the next morning Caleb awoke with more bites. After a through search of the room we wondered if the humidifier might be the issue. Although we hadn't used the humidifier for several months it still had some water in the bottom of it. Could the mosquitoes be multiplying in the humidifier? It seemed possible (gross!). We did get rid of the humidifier in his room, washed and dried it and the problem seems to have improved. (yeah) Caleb has decided he doesn't like 'skitos' because they suck his blood. Poor little guy!

• French Braids. I put in double french braids to Carissa's hair for the first time recently. She was so proud of her three stranded braids that she told everyone at church "I have french braids!" (as if they didn't know).
• Poppy's Popped. Each year I await for the three days post pop to enjoy these blazing orange beauties.
  
• We've recently had a house full of good friends visiting us. Six adults and five children make for a grand time!
  • 
• Right now I am in Arizona with the kiddos spending time with my mom. The first week of our trip was challenging with sick kiddos but our second week has been quite enjoyable. Except of course when you step outside and your make-up melts and your skin starts to blister. That's what I call f-u-n.
  

A Camping We Will Go

We enjoyed a fun weekend camping at Lake Pueblo State Park. Papa and Grandma joined us with their fishing boat for lots of (sweltering) fun in the sun.

Father's Day

Caleb and Carissa made daddy this Menu card on the Friday before Father's Day.
Daddy chose his desired menu for his Father's Day breakfast on Saturday morning. (we carved out Sat. for our main celebration since Jeff has pastoral responsibilities on Sun.) Friday night the kids and I shopped for a few presents and the groceries needed for the breakfast.

In the morning Daddy slept-in while the kids and I cooked the made-to -order breakfast. C & C sported their craft aprons and were very proud and enthusiastic about making Daddy a special meal. The kids did all of the preparations (with a little help!) so Daddy was able to sleep in for a loooonnnng time! Once breakfast was served the little cooks were hungry enough to eat the house down! Caleb downed the pancakes like pizza. No messin' around here.We ate together and then daddy opened presents and read handmade cards from the kids.

The kids told me what to write inside of their cards. "Daddy I love you because you..." and "Daddy you are special to me because..." They each came up with long lists of things they appreciate about their Daddy.


To me Father's Day is a reminder to be thankful for all ways that Jeff is a good husband and daddy every day of the year.

I feel blessed to experience life with a wonderful spouse who is my companion, playmate, and partner. I cherish him deeply and am grateful for the ways that we are growing together as lovers and parents.

As a father Jeff is very hands on and takes an active role in the upbringing of our children. I appreciate how he is truly present in our lives. Jeff has a good balance of fun and firmness. He reads many books to them, makes up funny games and encourages the children in imaginary play. They never tire of playing with dad especially when it comes to tickle time!

Caleb loves daddy to be his horsey (he loves to ride on daddy's back and get bucked off). And Carissa loves daddy to be her Prince (she loves to dance with daddy, her imaginary prince).

As we say in our home "_______ is the best!" (insert name)

And today we yell: "Daddy is the BEST!"

Mommy get your camera

Today the kids were being 'lovey' and said "quick mom, get your camera! We're holding hands".

This is a dream request for a mom who loves to take pictures.

Here's a few fast takes of the moment.
i love these little closed mouth twin smiles here
this captures Carissa's joyful spiritCarissa wanted me to take lots of pictures of her 'posing'.
Then the kids asked if they could take pictures. I put the camera around their necks and they took these pics of me with each of them. Good aim for 3.5 year old photographers!

VBS

Six hours after returning home from our trip to CA (more pics coming soon!) the kids were up and out the door for their first VBS.

It was love at first voyage.
Caleb was a 'ham'. Some of the stories we heard were hilarious.

Caleb and I had a conversation in the car about him yelling the songs.

Me: "Caleb, you like to sing the songs at VBS don't you?" Caleb: "yeah mom, they are really cool songs about Jesus"
Me: "I'm so glad that your excited to sing. You don't have to yell though, you can sing with a softer tone quality and still mean it" (the voice teacher in me...) Caleb: "no, I just like to sing the songs" Me: "okay honey, have fun"

When it came time for the presentation Caleb was a little less 'hammy'.

Carissa was really in to the motions. Carissa high-fiving Ms. Anna, our Children's Ministries Director.during the performances their friend Julia was their motion buddy Carissa & Caleb were in separate boats.
Even though they spent time together throughout the morning when pickup time arrived they were happy to see each other.
Carissa's class with Ms. Jan and Mr. Chris
Carissa and her sweet 2nd grade friend Maia (Maia, her siblings and parents are a part of our church home group)

VBS was a great adventure!

Home from the Happiest Place on Earth

We are home from our trip to Disneyland. It was a wonderful trip chocked full of memorable moments with our kids, my mom (Nana) and my Aunt Melanie.

Apart from my ankle injury three days before the trip and our 4 hour flight delay on the return leg we had smooth travels and are glad to be home.

Upon entering Disneyland is this quote: “Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy”. The make believe world inside the park turns everyone into a kid.

It was Nana's dream to be like a kid again and take our children to this magical land.And magical it was.

I'll post pictures from our time in the happiest place on earth soon - that is when I have a few moments to wade through all 547 pictures. Seriously!