60 and counting...

My mom, Naomi, the girls and I spent the last week in Missouri visiting my grandparents. This trip was extra special because we had a family reunion and party. Grannie and Papa were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary and Papa's 80th birthday. What an awesome thing to celebrate! I can't wait until my girls are older to tell them about 2 sets of grandparents celebrating 60 years of marriage. It was wonderful to see my family and find out what's been going on for the past year. We keep in touch through letters and phone calls, but nothing compares to our yearly trip to see them face to face. Here are just a few of the wonderful memories made this week.

A Rough Week

I had the best of intentions. I noticed when I posted last week that I haven't shared much this month and I was determined to do better. And then last week happened. The week started off with all of us not feeling well. The girls and I got better, but Josh just kept getting worse. I knew he was bad when he missed work on Wednesday, but I was terrified when I got home on Thursday and he couldn't say a complete sentence because he would run out of breath. I called the doctor and they said they could see us in 20 minutes. I grabbed the girls out of bed (I had just put them down for naps) and we rushed to make it on time. He had a bad sinus infection and bronchitis. I truly respect the single parents out there. I'm not sure how they deal with the day in and day out decisions knowing there is no help in sight. I often forget how involved and helpful Josh is and I miss him terribly when he's not around. Today was the first day you could see that he was improving.

Tomorrow my mom, Omi, the girls and I leave to go see my grandparents in Independence, MO. I am very excited because Saturday we are having a huge family and friends reunion to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary that they celebrated in May, and my grandfather turning 80 in August. It will be fun to see everyone and to show off my beautiful girls. I made my grandparents a book of 60's. I got the idea 3 years ago when Josh's grandparents celebrated their 60th anniversary. What an awesome legacy for our girls to have 2 sets of great-grandparents to reach 60 years of marriage. Here are a few of the pictures and captions.

60 yards of ribbon that's curly. Don't tell PaPa. It's kind of girly.

60 crayons bright and bold used to make art worth more than gold.

How long will it take to read 60 books? Since we can't read, we'll just look.

So again it will be another week before my next post. Hopefully by the time I'm writing again I will have house news. Love to you all.

A Nearly Perfect Day

Yesterday was Sunday which has many meanings in our house. Generally it is a day that is good because we are able to worship at church, but also a bit crazy because of Josh's hectic schedule which oftentimes becomes hectic for all of us. This summer has been wonderful because we have not had evening services so we get to have extra family time. This week we decided to take the girls swimming. Avery of course had a blast. Reagan is still not fond of water that's strong enough to knock her over. But we all had a good time together.

After dinner we watched "That Thing You Do" and Avery and Daddy danced and danced. They are becomming quite the pair.

A Great Fourth

After talking and discussing and changing our minds several times we decided to go see the fireworks on Friday night. With Avery's fears we weren't sure how it would go but we decided to give it a try. We had a wonderful time. We went to The Woodlands Mall. The fireworks were supposed to start at 9:15 so we decided to take a picnic and get there early. We were early enough to park by grass so we were able to take off our shoes and eat and play for hours. Avery was a little scared, but she handled it ok and the fireworks were great.

Thank you Josh for taking us when I know you were tired from mowing and you knew it would take us forever to get out of the parking lot. It will be a great family memory!

Patriotic Ponderings

I have often wondered how to get my girls to be patriotic when they grow up. I know this sounds strange, but how do I make them realize what a great country America is, and how many people have sacrificed for us to have the freedoms that we take for granted. I consider myself a fairly patriotic person. I tear up when I hear the Star Spangled Banner. I get chills when Avery says The Pledge of Alligiance. I put my hand over my heart and get spittin' mad when others don't. How did I get this way? Was it because my stepfather served in the Army, I went to Texas A&M where patriotism is the norm, my brother served in the Navy? Whatever the reason, I want to make sure that my girls grow up being proud to be an American. That they realize what people and families have gone through to make our country what it is today. I realize that we have our flaws, but I still wouldn't want to live anywhere else.





I took cupcakes to Avery's class today. By the time I got them all passed out Avery already had the sparkly flag out and the icing eaten. Man that girl is quick.

Avery spent the night with Grammy tonight so we had some good one on one time with the baby girl. She looked way too precious so I had to take some pictures. I absolutely love the one of her and her daddy... and I didn't even pose them. We were playing peek-a-boo.

Have a safe and happy 4th!