Family!

Mark's sister and her husband have been stationed in Japan (darn Air Force) for the last 3 years. We only saw them once in that time! So, we were very excited to have a reunion together at the lake over Father's Day Weekend.

Below are our 3 GORGEOUS nieces and nephews. Seriously cute kiddos. We had a blast playing with them and getting to see them after much too much time apart.

Also, Jess and Mel are ridiculously talented photographers. ( www.puravidaphotog.com ) They were kind to snap a few shots of our girlies. Of course making sure to document Ava following in my evil Diet Coke footsteps.

Bananaboo!

Our good friends have started a fun new business with DARLING things for babies and young families.

www.bananaboodesigns.com

I have also put the link to their website on the right hand side...go check out their cute stuff! :)

Crisis #413 and The Lake

I just realized I'm missing way more pictures than I thought. Devastating. So, I figured I'd throw this post up before I give my computer away again. We spent Father's Day weekend at the lake with Mark's sister and husband/kids who have been in Japan for 3 years! So much fun! They get their own post though. For now, just a little journal of our time there. Kaiya above, with her Great Grandma Betsy. I only ever had one grandma, so I love that my kids are so blessed with grand-love!

Yep, we let our kids eat frosting out of the container. That's just how we roll. Or how we get our rolls.

Ava enjoying Mark's elaborate sand fort.
Helping Daddy shave.
Party in the bunk beds!
Kaiya's first jet ski ride.
I love LOVE this cuddle bunny. Ava never cuddled with me once she got head control, which is fine-but makes having a snuggler all the more special.
Kaiya had her first graham crackers. Next time we'll give her the full on s'mores.
Happy Father's Day Daddy! Seriously, couldn't be more blessed by this rockstar Dad in our lives.

The Doors

I will highlight just the most important part of the makeover. We'd had a terrible time trying to decide what to put over our couch which is really long. I tried a few different things with no luck. Enter: Dave. (Ty Pennington) I suppose you could call this his "special project". :) He found this old door at a thrift shop, painted and stained it, took pictures to put in it, and somehow had the carpentry knowledge to make it not fall off the wall. I love it.

Crisis #412 and something awesome

I haven't posted for awhile because in a tragic turn of events, all our pictures from 2009 evaporated from our computer. Thankfully my Facebook post brought me to my new best friend, Craig, who found our pictures. But-I was without a computer for awhile.

Now you will have to excuse my compulsive blogging because the fear of not having our life well documented is almost more than I can take. And when they were lost everyone said "at least you have the blog"...so here I go. This blog will be full. :)

If you are still reading-A couple weeks ago our AMAZING friends who are about as generous and loving as they come helped us with a little makeover for our ugly family room. They showed up at our house super early on a Saturday morning with a U-haul trailer of stuff, matching Extreme Makoever shirts for all of us, an air horn, megaphone, and most importantly, donuts.

Currently Accepting Nominations

For parents of the year.

So the girl likes a happy meal. (Sue)persize me.

Weekend Fun...

My dear friend Ruana and her little boy Ben came for a visit this weekend. We had a great time, including:

The first catch of the season!

Park Day! Kaiya's first swinging experience and Ava now brave enough to slide alone. (and sometimes with Dad!)

A random picture I took from our deck of this tree at sunset. Isn't that cool?

Poor Ruana went to start her car on Saturday with no luck. TOTALLY dead battery even after jumping it for 30 minutes! Hopefully my house isn't a swirling vortex of bad luck! Luckily Mark was able to replace her battery so she made it home safely.

I had an Appendectomy last Saturday...

This sign greeted me on the front door upon my arrival back home.
I love my husband. :)

Since then I've done what any logical post surgery patient would do with a 2 year old.

Put her in a dog cage.

Put her in the bouncy seat she outgrew the better part of 14 months ago...

And made her clean the kitchen.

I knew I was glad I had daughters!!