Happy 9th Birthday Marissa!

Last night we celebrated Marissa's 9th Birthday. We kept it very low key, and it turned out to be just the thing we all needed. I don't think I have ever seen so many genuine smiles out of this girl before. She's beautiful! I'll let the pictures tell the story.













































































































































HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISSA!

BBQ Fun

Ready Gene?












GO!


















M loves the water. I think she was a fish in a former life. She begged many times to go off the diving board. I however, was too scared to let her.


















I let Mike dive though. He used to be a lifeguard.

















This is my cousin Erica. There are 10 years between us. We grew up like sisters though. She practically lived with us. Is she not adorable?! M decided she wanted to dance and strut herself around the pool and Erica needed to join in.























Can you believe I didn't get any pics of sweet little L????? She was there. She had a great time too!

Happy 4th!

We headed down to the beach for the girls to see their first fireworks. We didn't know what to expect, but it was a success!

















M squatted like this almost the entire time!






















“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.”













The night would not be complete without glow bracelets and necklaces.


















Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. We are off to a family BBQ today.

P.S. These were taken on Mike's point and shoot camera. I didn't want to lug my stuff around in the sand, with the kids, in the dark.

What do you do when your kids are bored in the summer?

Bust out the Slip N Slide and you are sure to see some smiles. What started out as the most boring day turned into, " Mommy! This is the best day ever! I LOVE this day!" That's a direct quote from Marissa, BTW.



















Go L! Go, go, go L!











Atta girl!














And she's off!
















Isn't that the wrong way, Gene????
























Okay kids, time for SMORES!!!!!!!





















I think she likes them.
















Of course L loves them.





















Enjoy your holiday everyone!!!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Today is 6 years for Mike and I. During the past 6 years we experienced a significant amount of life changing events. This past weekend was our first weekend in our new house. Each night we were looking forward to sitting outside of our bedroom with a drink, our fire pit , and our kids roasting marshmallows.








Instead, it stormed! But guess what? What does little L see?












Look Dada!!!!















If you look close enough you will see..........















A double rainbow! Both nights this weekend we saw a rainbow out front!







Well honey, we survived the move...barely, but we did it! You busted your butt like a rock star! Happy Anniversary. I love you.... even when you clean things with gasoline. Now let's get settled in and enjoy the rest of our lives together.




XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

i {Heart} faces

BOYS!!!! That is the theme at i {Heart} faces this week.

Here's my boy!







Check out all of the other entries here.

Thanks : )

What to do?

What do you do the day before the day before you move???




Play Doh is all that is not packed.






If only it were warm enough to swim....








That's a serious Play Doh creating face.












Ahhhh, it's the calm before the storm. The storm starts to roll in tomorrow. The final countdown.

This one's for you Dad....

Happy Father's Day Dad. On Mother's Day I posted a little about my mom and how she is a supermom. Well she is actually part of a duo...a team. My dad is superdad. I owe so much to my dad that it is immeasurable. His genes really helped me out some in life. If it wasn't for my dad, I would not be able to take a picture, or play the piano or flute. I have to admit though, I'm a little jealous. I had to work a tad harder at these things that just came naturally to my father. He taught himself how to play the guitar, and well....he rocks at it. Turn the radio on and he can play along to any song he hears. Ask him to draw something and it magically appears on the paper. And when it comes to photography.....

My whole life is documented in photos and even some slides. I wish I appreciated it and understood his passion for it when I was growing up. Taking pictures was a way of life in my family, and I just thought it was the norm. I didn't realize I had the photography bug until recently in my life. Don't get me wrong, I have photo albums among photo albums that I filled as a child and teen+. But it was just normal to me. I never had the desire to understand anything other than push the button and you get a picture until Linhsey came along. I'm not sure why or how it happened, but it did...and my dad was there to teach me EVERYTHING I needed to know. And let me tell you...he has some patience (too bad I didn't get the patience gene ), because I had NO. Clue. He emailed me lesson after lesson and explained in full detail anything photography related, and it was all a foreign language to me. That is only the tip of the iceberg really.

Throughout the years, my father has helped Mike and I just about on a daily basis. Remember how my mom will help clean and do laundry? Well my dad can put together, fix or install just about anything. If it can't be done, he can come up with a way that it CAN be done.

All of the times that Mike travels for work, guess who is hear helping Gene with his math homework? Yup. He has such a gentle nature to him that he was one of the first people that Marissa took a liking too when she came here. And even though he has a bad back, he couldn't say no to her jumping and hanging all over him.

My dad can do anything in my eyes, and he is always willing to. Thank you Dad. I love you. You rock, and without you and Mom....I'm not sure how our little family of 5 over here would survive!

I wish we were doing something awesome here on Father's Day today, but instead.... my parents are coming over here in the early AM on Sunday morning, Father's Day...to help us do the last of our packing. I hope you at least dreamt of fishing today !