My Dad

My dad is in Frankfurt, Germany right now and I'm really missing him. We live in the same state and I seem to see my mom all the time, but my dad has been so busy, we haven't seen him in a while. I got my siblings to send me pictures of dad with them and their kids, and my mom too. My mom sent me the picture above. Yep, that's me at 5 years old. That's how I remember my dad in my childhood.
I love my dad for so many reasons...his advice, he's so wise. his generosity, always giving expecting nothing in return. his loyalty and devotion, his beliefs and his kindness.

He is such a fun-loving Grandpa too. This picture is Kaylin around 18months.
Here is Grandpa with Ethan, he is around 1 year.
And with Mika, she's about 9 months.

A very Loved Daddy

I am so grateful I have Travis to raise my children with me. He is very sincere, sweet, fun and involved with our children. They love him so much and enjoy every minute spent together as a family.

He made my birthday very special this year. I came home from England the night before and was so tired. My mom still had the kids, so we just talked, looked at all my pictures and cuddled all night. He also took me out on Friday and we had such a great time laughing all night. I wouldn't ever want a life with out him by my side.
Kaylin loves wrestling with daddy, playing tag and tickles. She loves his kisses. Every day when he comes home from work, she hides so he can find her and give her loves. She is always thinking about him, always wanting him to be a part of everything we do.
Ethan is a mini-Travis. He can hear his truck from a mile away. He's always wanting to do everything his daddy does, from riding the motorbike, scooter, truck, and being on the boat. He loves wrestling, playing games and reading with dad.
Mika-moo loves da-da. I'll tell her to go find da-da and she'll tottle around the house yelling for him. She gets so excited when he comes home and will lean out of my arms to get into his. She'll stop what she is doing to give daddy kisses and when the older kids are wrestling with dad, she'll jump right in on the fun.

We love you dad! Happy Father's Day!

Too many pictures!

I had way too many pictures from my trip to England, so I made a slideshow instead of my favorites. Meagan and Chris were wonderful hosts and awesome, fun tour guides! I got to see so much!! I loved everything!!

More of London

I don't know why but I love the telephone booths that are everywhere. This one was at the London Tower and Chris always gets me looking my best!

We went over to Notting Hill. I looked for the blue door from the movie, but no luck. We did find this gorgeous home I had to get a picture of. The streets were full of shops, markets and people. I got my kiddos some English toys to bring back.
This was taken in Hyde Park. There is a funny story about this park. London has about 3 parks that are beautiful. But this one was near the Theater we were going to see Oliver in that night. (Each play or musical has its own theater.) We were resting our feet, and we noticed there were tons of crowds, bicycles and not many clothes...I saw men with no shirts that had painted "Right for Bikes" on their chests. We go over to an arch to take a picture and Chris says "Whoa" so we look behind us and see naked men, just wearing...socks...not on their feet. :)
This is a really cool bridge right across from the Tower of London. This isn't the bridge Henry the 8th put heads on, it was the next over over, but it was very plain and boring, unlike this one!

Having a Jolly Good Time!

For those of you who don't know, I'm visting my sister Meagan and her husband Chris in ENGLAND!! She took me strait to Warwick castle Thursday, and then we spent Friday and Saturday in London and today after church we went to Oxford. It's a Sunday night and we are all tired....so I figured I'd post a few of my favorite pics of my trip so far!

Meagan and Chris are absolutely wonderful and it's been so much fun sight-seeing with them. I'll post more when I get home...I have so mayn pictures I love already...

Above is a pic of Meagan and I at my fav castle, the Tower of London. We had an excellent tour and got to see a lot of where some cool stories about Henry the 8th and Anne Boleyn took place...it was really interesting to me.

Below: Okay I love telephone booths, so I have a bunch of pictures by them. This one is of me and my bro in law Chris. Have you ever seen someone so excited too be standing outside a phone booth??
This is at Oxford. I was in love with this view, so I cued it up for Chris to take it just right. Although he's a great photographer as well...so this is Meagan and I at Christ's Church. Oxford is serously the most gorgeous place ever. Everywhere you look, there is some beautiful building, garden or street. I loved it.
Meagie took me to the Theater musical Les Miserables. I saw it once when I was younger and have listened to the music all my life, so it was AMAZING to see!!!! It took all I had to not start singing every song and I even got choked up at the end. We sat in the 7th ROW! It seriously can't get better than that!!!!!
That's all for now...off to play some games! Miss all my Georgians! But people here love me for bringing the sunshine to them! It's gorgeous here!

Swim Swim Swim

Today we went with Melanie, Nash and Mya to Britt Butler's pool with Halle and Savannah. We had so much fun as it was so hot today. The pool was perfect. Ethan found a little buddy that had water guns and other fun toys that kept him pretty occupied.

Mika loved standing on the pool step that went half way around the pool. Although she'd try to sit down sometimes or grab her toes and come up with a mouth full of water. She never cried though. But she didn't like the floaties, even mommy's arms weren't her favorite. She also liked being out of the pool throwing pine straw all over the place! Busy girl!
Whenever Nash comes to visit, Kaylin and him are inseperable. She slept over at his Nanny and Poppa's house last night and they played so hard. Nash is very tough and all-boy, but when he's with Kaylin, he'll still play hosue with her and be very gentle with her. It's quite cute.
Brittany Butler, Melanie and Me at the pool. You can't tell from here, but Mel is having her 3rd baby in a month and Britt is due in August. I felt a little outnumbered. :) I love spending time with these girlies--wish we could see Mel more often...(dang Idaho)

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

1. Bee Watching: Ethan is quiet and quite concerned, watching a bumblebee. He doesn't slow down for much, so I was glad to get this picture. He sat there for a good bit, till it flew away.
2. Art Projects: cute Kaylin doing art projects. She is very creative. Gets everything out herself and makes something I would have never thought of!
3. Kisses are always nice too. Even though Mika looks like she's isn't enjoying it too much, she loves her big brother and sister.
4. Brushing teeth: Mika loves her toothbrush. She wants to take it everywhere, yes, even outside. (isn't her outfit adorable? I got it from Melanie's store...I love it!!)

We've enjoyed the summer so much. We love going on golf cart rides, stopping at every park we come to along the way. We love playing with friends at the park, going to the Library, swimming, picnics, jumping at Jump 2 It, playing with Grandmas and getting ice cream at Chick Fila-A!

Mommy Daughter Day

Saturday I took Kaylin to the movie UP with our friends Brittany and Savannah. We had a great day! Below is Kaylin and I at our favorite place to eat, Chick Fil-A!
The movie was fun because it was 3-D. Kaylin grabbed in the air a few times, giggled and got a little scared through out the movie. It was fun.
Kaylin calls Savannah her best little friend. While we were out I heard Kaylin whispering to Savannah that if she married her brother Ethan, then they would be family. I'm glad they got that all figured out! ;)