Happy Third of July!

Because of conflicting plans, we knew we wouldn't really be out and about for July 4th this year. That made it extra nice to get to celebrate our nation's birthday a day early! We started with Nana's famous flag cheesecake and fresh fruit on Saturday afternoon. Delish!

Then Brett and Ryan headed to a gaming convention while Katie and I tried to get her stuff to fit back in her freshly painted room. We entertained thoughts of going to a local fireworks show, but we had too much going on and we were pooped.

So imagine my surprise when we heard fireworks and found out we could see them from our front yard! We quickly ran up to the gameroom window to see them above the neighboring rooftops.

Yes, the show was far away, but for a patriotic girl who hated to miss out on the Fourth fun, it was a treat!
Happy birthday, USA!

Fun Friday, Parts 2-3.

When we returned to the church building after Six Flags, our campers had just arrived. Since I knew I couldn't get there until 4, Brett had gone up at 3:30 to pick up Ryan. I was afraid I'd missed them, but Ryan waited for our Six Flags group to arrive. I was thrilled to not have to wait a minute more to hug and kiss my boy!
When we got home, he got to see his de-arked bedroom and his welcome-home present, a Star Wars Trouble game. Trouble is our unofficial family game. We play it A LOT. Ryan was excited to see this variation of the game.

Then it was time for welcome-home cake! This is another tradition we started the first time Ryan came home from camp.

After our sweet appetizer, we grabbed fast food for supper and then went to Nana and Papa's to help Nana celebrate her birthday.
While we were there, Kelly, Chris, Cara and Jeff came over. Since Cara and Jeff's first wedding anniversary is Sunday, we watched the video of their special day.
It brought back a lot of great memories of their ceremony and reception, and it was a nice way to wrap up a fun Friday!

A celebration of fathers.

After sending Ryan off to church camp, we paid a visit to Brett's dad to wish him a happy Father's Day. We love our Papa, so it was good to be able to spend a few hours with him.

It was also a treat to hang out with Brett's cousin Rick and Rick's son, Ben. Ben's baseball team had a tournament nearby over the weekend, so we got to visit with them in between games.

Father's Day got me to thinking about how much our fathers help shape us as children, so I dipped into the ol' archives for some pictures of us with our dads.

Brett and I both love this photo. He loves it because of the KISS T-shirt he's wearing and that his dad has on his Bell Helicopter work shirt. (Brett gets his incredible work ethic from his dad.) I love it because Nana still makes birthday cakes for us and takes our pictures sitting pretty much in that same spot!

These are my parents at Christmas 1967. That panda under the tree was my first Christmas present, but it would be another month before I'd be able to receive it!

Another photo I adore: Daddy with me at an airshow when I was 1 or 2. He shed his jacket, but he's still wearing his tie!

My dad loved to sing, and for a few years, he sang with a barbershop chorus and quartet. Barbershop music will always remind me of him. Certain church songs also make me think of Daddy ("It Is Well With My Soul," "The New Song," etc.). It's almost painful to hear them because I can remember him leading them so well.

Here we are in front of our fireplace during Granny and Papa's 50th wedding anniversary reception. I love that you can see the owl I made in school, the porcelain doll Daddy bought Mama in Gatlinburg, and the Mickey Mouse we bought at Disneyland in '78. And that fan. That fan was above our mantel for YEARS.

I miss Daddy terribly, but I'm so thankful for the 26 years I got to spend with him!

Happy Father's Day!

Since Ryan leaves for church camp tomorrow, we celebrated Father's Day a little early.

Brett was pleased to get The Wolfman DVD! When we signed up for Netflix a few weeks ago, that was the first movie Brett added to our queue. Knowing his history with monster movies, we decided this is one movie he needed in his collection.

Then he opened his cards from me, Ryan, Katie and Frisco:


Then he found the card addressed to "My Sweetheart":
At first he assumed it was another card from me,
but once he saw the litter box on the front, he realized the card had come from the other lady in the house who has a crush on him:

ChaCha!

Hello, goodbye.

Ryan & Katie, First Day of School, August 2009

at Holiday Inn Express (post-fire)


Katie & Ryan, Two Days After the Last Day of School, May 2010

back at the Holiday Inn Express
(this time just for fun—and the cinnamon rolls)

Another May Shot

And Another from the First Day

I love how all of these first/last day pictures are like a race: Ryan gets taller, Katie catches up, then Ryan takes the lead again...

Last year I bemoaned the changes our babies went through in the course of one school year, so you'd think I'd be used to this transformation thing. But they're my BABIES!!!

The HI Express "after" shots were taken during our Memorial Day Weekend get-away. The kids had been wanting to return to our former home for a while, so we figured this holiday was as good a time as any. It was camping, Dub-style: indoor pool, air-conditioning, board games, soft beds. Works for us!

For the record, here are the kids on our new porch on the actual last day of school, May 28:
And here's how the kids feel about being finished with this school year:Happy, happy summer!

The mother of all special days.

Our Mother's Day tradition is pretty atypical. Instead of looking for a nice restaurant, we try to find the least likely place other families would take their moms. After years of searching for the elusive deserted Mother's Day eatery, I think we've found a winner.

A&W/Long John Silver's! For much of our visit, we had the restaurant to ourselves. A few men came in later, but otherwise, there was no waiting, no crowds, no fuss, no muss. And the kids got their burgers while we dined on grilled salmon!

Memaw didn't mind the restaurant choice one bit. And she loved her gift

and enjoyed reading her cards.

We even got one of the round corner booths. Hooray for togetherness!

Later that afternoon we went to Nana and Papa's house to give Nana her gift and cards.

And I was treated to flowers and candy: SWEET! It was a great Mother's Day in the midst of a busy May.

Hunting season.

Hunters need FOOD.

And there's no food like Nana's special feasts!

With full bellies, the hunters await the signal.

With their prey in sight, the hunters must bury their primal instincts and put on civil airs.

Then they're off!

These hunters must have keen eyesight.

Just watching the hunters at work is entertainment in itself.
SUCCESS! One hunter finds the prized prize egg. (The Christmas "camo" must've given him the edge.)

Meanwhile, the hunters' elders observe the activity from their safe perches:




At hunt's end, the eggcellent hunters assess their haul.

A-tiskit, a-tasket...

No green and yellow here, but ol' E.B. managed to find our new house to deliver Easter baskets!

Brett's

Katie's

Ryan's

Sorry, ChaCha and Frisco! Maybe next year.

Nothing like Easter candy for breakfast before church!