What do a blueberry bush, a vacuum, cash, and a spa have in common?

My Birthday!

I received wonderful gifts from my family and friends. My closest friend gave me a blueberry bush that I can't wait to get planted into the ground. My mom gave me cash to spend on what ever I desire. My mother-in-law gave me a gift certificate to a local spa. My family gave me a wonderful new vacuum, which I have been begging for! The note attached said "Because we are so messy!" Although if you know my family, they usually aren't too messy. My husband bought me some Krispy Kream donuts the day before my birthday and he got me a yummy cake from our favorite bakery in town. It is called a Black and White and is SO good! I also had quite a few emails and phone calls wishing me a happy day. How blessed I am to have such great friends and family in my life. Thank you to all of you!!

My blue berry bush.

Yummy donut breakfast.

A fabulous cake with operating instructions right on it.



The inside of the cake. Looks good don't it?



My beautiful girls.

My hubby made me steak with sauted mushrooms and onions, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

The girls made my wrapping paper.

My new vacuum.

Sand Castles and Hot Rods

On Thursday Daddy worked a half day and we all went to the coast. When we arrived we stopped for lunch at a fun place called Hot Rods Diner. It is a 50's cafe with great food and a few real cars inside you can sit in while you eat. When we got there it was pretty crowded so we only got a regular booth instead of a car booth. K's food even came in a cute cardboard classic car.

After lunch we headed to the beach. It was super windy and everytime I tried to take L out of the car, she had a hard time breathing. So I ended up staying in the car while Daddy took K down to the sand. They played for about an hour and made sand castles. Then we cleaned everyone off and headed back home again.

K's hotrod car.

L in her baby b'jorn before we realized she couldn't breath in the wind. But she was protected from the sun.

Daddy and K on a dune.

K making sand castles

The waves at the beach.

K's sand castles.

Tuesday Video

Independence Day with Friends

For the past three years we have gotten together with our close friends to celebrate the 4th of July. We sacrifice a cow to the BBQ God's then we have a burnt offering in the street in front of the house. The children have fun running around playing but don't usually enjoy the light show at the end of the night. The noise is too loud for them, so K is usually the only kid out there playing with all the adults. After the big kids finish playing with fireworks, we sit back and watch the fireworks shot off at the rodeo, which we can see from the front yard.

A Day at the Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo on Tuesday with Grandma. They have made quite a few changes since the last time I was there and there are more animals to come in the next couple of years. We arrived early and left about the time it was getting hot, but there was a lot of shade through out. All the trees have grown up nicely in the past decade.

Here is L with Grandma after looking at the farm animals.

Here we all are in front of the Elephant habitat. We didn't get him in the pic though.

The Hippo was K's favorite animal.

She even got Grandma to buy her a stuffed one to take home with her.

Here is one of my favorite animals.

This was M's favorite shot, for a couple of reasons.

Swim Time

K hasn't been interested in swimming the previous few years. She was fine with it when she was 6 months old, but since then she has been terrified of going in the pool. This year she wanted to try to swim in G-ma's pool. She picked out her own swimsuit this year, very pretty. And we headed down to the pool. We put a life jacket on her since she can't swim and the pool is very large. She said she wanted to go down the slide to get into the pool. So daddy went down first so show her what was involved and see if she was sure she wanted to attempt it. She said she did so Daddy put her on his lap and headed down the slide. When they hit the water, Daddy held her up above his head so she wouldn't go under water. She didn't go under water, but she didn't want to be in the pool any more. Looking back, we probably should have eased her into the pool before attempting such a daredevil act with her. Live and learn. But we were able to convince her to stay on the steps in the shallow water and just play with Daddy there.

K's swimsuit.

Must wear a life vest.

Down the slide with Daddy.

Ready for the splash!

Ahhh, the safety of the steps:)