Makes my heart melt

There aren't many things as sweet as watching my baby pretending to be a sweet mama to her baby. I am often hard on myself and think I should work harder to be a better mom, be more organized, more patient, etc. Then I catch a moment like this and think....I'm teaching my girls about love and that's pretty special. I pray that I keep my priorities straight and trust God that with his help I can be a great mom.

Another special "mom" moment was when I was tucking Danielle in for bed and she said, "Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a mommy and a princess". So sweet. I told her that she could be both....her kids' mommy and God's princess. She liked that. Again, my heart melted.

Uncle Tim Update

Uncle Tim is still enjoying his trip through the 48 states! I printed off a map for Danielle to color in the states he has gone through. This picture is a little old. He has done all of the lower states except for Florida. He is on his way there now. This map and Tim's trip are a really fun way for Danielle to learn the names of our states.

It sounds like he is sweltering a bit in the hot southern sun so he is moving through the south as quickly as possible. He's loving the roads and the scenery, though. He did have the excitement of riding through a tornado in one of the states. Yikes! Glad his family heard about if AFTER they knew he was ok.

Please pray for safe travels and a wonderful, memorable trip for Tim. Thanks!

Loving summer

The girls' loved this water thing....though the box made it look a lot bigger than it really is. Oh well.
My blue-eyed beauty drying off on the deck!
Danielle loves this hat and her princess towel!

We had a nice week at home getting back to normal life. Now we're on to all of the other summer activities. Lots of water fun in the backyard, bbq's, lemonade & popsicles, getting stuff ready to go camping, etc. It was difficult to get good pictures of the girls' splashing because I was trying to keep my camera dry! They had a blast in the little pool/toy thing. I didn't find a pool I liked and then I saw this and decided it would be easier to move around and store. Also, a big wading pool ends up so dirty and would need much closer supervision.

Family Vacation - Part 3

Samantha and Uncle John
Daddy & girls in the pool!!

We ended our vacation with a visit to Grandpa Steve & Grandma Judy's house. We had a fun-filled family gathering for Father's Day. The girls loved the pool, the attention, and the cousins to play with. We sure are blessed to have so much family to love and who love us in return.

Family Vacation - Part 2

Ready to see Shamu!

The girls pose with a camel at the San Diego Zoo.

Here we are after a wet ride at Sea World! Samantha was quite upset that we got all wet, but we had a great ride.

We had an amazing trip to San Diego! Jeff had a great idea for us to take a little family trip during our visit to see family in So. Cal. It was perfect. The girls had so much fun and saw more sun than they ever have in one week. My little fair-skinned Samantha even browned up a little. Of course I smothered them in sun screen all day long but a little sun still gets through.

We all loved Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. It made for some long days, for the girls especially, but we kept it simple and enjoyable. At one point on the trip Jeff asked Danielle what she liked the best so far. We all laughed out loud when she said, "the hotel!". I think the beach was probably her favorite, though. It's amazing how much time kids can spend just digging in sand. Samantha loved the beach as long as she could keep her shoes and socks on. She did not like it on her feet at all.

I enjoyed being together as a family and my dinner out with Jeff at Seaport Village. Grandma and Auntie Kay watched the girls which was a wonderful treat for us (and them).

Next post will be of our fun, Father's Day, weekend at Grandpa Steve and Grandma Judy's!

Family Vacation!!!! Part 1

Our big girl bouncing.

Samantha's first amusement park ride!!!
Tired out.

We are having a great time on our family vacation. The very first thing we did after waking up at Grandma's house was go to a cousins' birthday party at a place filled with bounce houses! I'm talking slides, obstacle course, bouncing and more sliding. The girls had the best time. It's difficult to get good pictures while bouncing but I did the best I could. We all had a lot of fun.

Then we went with Grandma and Auntie Kay to Adventure City. It's an adorable little amusement park for little ones. It takes a pretty special Dad to go on every single ride with his little girls, but he did it with a smile on his face...even when he was a little too big for the ride.

Today we are heading to San Diego to see Sea World, the beach, etc. Should be a nice couple of days. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.

Happy Trails, Uncle Tim!!

Uncle Tim is very brave and adventurous. He's taking a trip across the country on his motorcycle!! Samantha was too shy to sit on the bike with him but Danielle climbed up and posed the day we said goodbye. We'll miss him and worry about him but this is a wonderful opportunity for him. We are incredibly thankful for technology, gps trackers, digital pictures, etc.

Here are a few pictures from our goodbye. Many of you would probably like to see some updates so I may update you on here from time to time. His plan is to head toward Yosemite and then the Grand Canyon. From there he'll head toward Colorado. I e-mailed with him last night and he already said he's having a blast!

A Lefty?

Lately my mom has noticed Samantha doing things with her left hand. My brother is a lefty so I just thought she thought it was cute. I'm starting to wonder if she might be right...I mean correct! Here is Samantha eating her applesauce this morning. Hmmm....guess we'll see what the future holds.

Our littlest girl sure is growing up! She still signs words like "please", "thank you", "all-done", and "cookie!". Many words she has some sort of sound she makes or says all of the word. "Bird" is pronounced "Bee" and "Duke" is pronounced "Du-du". If she wants to dance she raises up her arms and says "Dee". So, she's definitely figuring out the first sounds of words. Although she's getting the ends of other words likes "shoes" are "oos" and "swing" is "wing". It's all a lot of fun.

She's a fantastic sleeper, eater, and a tough little girl. Her favorite activity is to swing and I try not to even say the word unless it's time to go out and do it! She wants to be just like her big sister which is precious. I love watching them play babies, have tea parties, etc.