Father's Day

For Father's Day this year, the girls made their own cards for Daddy.  They worked so hard on them and were so intent on Daddy not finding them. . . and then were so proud to give them to him!

Daddy and his girls

Being silly

We had Ryan's family over for dinner that night and while we hardly took any pictures, we did snag a couple with grandpa.  Can we say, like father, like son? : )

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

So thankful for the men in my girls' lives and that I know they will have a clear understanding what faith, commitment and leadership looks like . . .along with a certainty that they are loved!

Cherry Trees

One of the super fun finds we discovered after moving into our house was that we have two cherry trees!  We bought the house in february, it wasn't listed anywhere, and no one had ever mentioned them until we got in the house.  They are great for baking.  This was not the year for the baker extraordinaire to come out as we were just trying to get our heads on straight so we had lots of fun sharing them with friends and then freezing some to use ourselves sometime, too.  The girls had so much fun helping pick them and showing them off.

Kate showing us the cherry she had picked

Daddy and Ava

San Diego!

The first week of June, Ryan and I headed out to San Diego for Ryan's yearly conference he's gone to the past few years.  It's been such a neat time away for us and we were so excited to enjoy San Diego together.  Since this will (pretty likely) be Ryan's last conference, we soaked up the last time to enjoy the trip and stayed a few extra days to let him relax some too.  As always, it turned into one of my favorite times of year to just slow down and be with my favorite guy. . . this year was even more so having moved 10 days earlier!!

Our first night there, we headed to a Padres game.  It was pretty chilly out but hey, you can't turn down a free hat and free ballpark hot dog!

Eating out at our favorite restaurant of the week - best Salmon I think I've ever had!

On sunday, we took the ferry over to Coronado Island.  Loved this view of the San Diego from the water.  We spent the day riding bikes around the island and just enjoying an afternoon with nothing to do!

A view of the US Midway from the water

Outside Hotel Del Coronado

Guess who took this picture?! : )  I'm sure he was admiring the minivan.

Riding the ferry home.

Later that week we took a tour of the US Midway. It was pretty amazing and even more amazing to consider all the men and women who served aboard it . . .and to think of all the men and women still serving on our waters today. Seeing the way they live and the huge operation a carrier is, all to protect our freedoms, was pretty humbling.

A view up top

Where all the big battle decisions were made

Looks pretty good in there, doesn't he!

A view from the deck

Right . . .

The chapel - right before we got here I was looking at some near by state rooms of what I thought were officers.  I exclaimed, "Look honey - they all have bibles in their rooms!"  I continued to think that was pretty impressive until Ryan casually pointed out there was the chaplains' state rooms. : )  Still . . .

For my girls : )

Top Gun anyone?

Another night out in the Gaslamp District.  SUCH GOOD FOOD.

We had stayed at the Marriott during Ryan's conference and then when it was over, moved to the Hilton (can we say Hilton points anyone - love it!).  We had some great views of both the water . . . 

 And the gaslamp district.  Let's just say all the walking proved nice for all the fun food. : )

Heading down to the pool for a lazy afternoon

It was so fun to have a few days of beautiful weather after a pretty chilly beginning and even nicer that it worked out for when Ryan could enjoy it too!

Our last night out we tried the famous "Pinkberry" frozen yogurt.  Truthfully? I thought it was over rated . . .although all the unique and healthy topping choices were fun to try and have.  I think I'll still take Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin any day. : )

And then it was back to the rat race . . . : )

So thankful for the times away this conference has been these past few years!

May Numbers!

Now I'm officially only one month behind . . . : )

Boy Number: 65

Girl Number: 87

Good Morning Sister!

One morning, shortly after we moved, I woke up to the sounds of happy voices and found this sweet picture waiting for me in Ava's room.

That is fun for a momma to wake up to.  Now if only this was daily . . .  : )

moving is always more fun with cousins

If I could only do one thing over from our move, it would be the fact that 45 minutes after the girls came to the new house for the first time moved in . . .some of their favorite people showed up.  My sister and her family came in for the weekend to help us unpack and to play.  I can't begin to tell you what a huge help they were and it very quickly let our new house begin to feel like home to the girls. They had fun exploring the new home with such fun playmates.

The girls with Addy and Brynne

 Addy and Ava reading books before bed

snuggles

Olivia and Brecken

Kate and Brynne

Addy and Ava - the glasses twins

Ava wanted a picture with mommy in her glasses too

Cousins!

Thanks for coming and helping us so much!

Moving

I loaded the pictures of our camera on to our computer and realized I took very few pictures of our moving week that didn't even begin to show the hours spent, all the helpers and fun had. : )

One of the things we found really helpful for Ava was trying to make her as much of the process of making our new home as possible.  She did pretty well with a roller brush and loved the chance she had one night to stay "really late."

Helping paint her room

Having fun with Uncle David and Aunt Tara

Watching a movie one morning while Mommy was trying to get stuff done

I couldn't believe how hard and long my girls were willing to work.  We moved almost all of our boxes a couple days before we moved the big stuff and my girls just kept going back out for any box that they could carry.  If only I had that much energy!

Ava hard at work

Kate and Olivia were hilarious.  They would team talk to each other carrying in boxes together - made me smile every time.

Then came the day of the big move - the girls LOVED watching everything get loaded into the big truck. It was a gorgeous day outside which we were so thankful for.  Made it seem like a day of possibilities as opposed to just alot of good bye's.  Although it helped knowing we had lots of time still to come to come back and visit for a bit.

A beautiful day and TWO grandma's -a pretty perfect day. : )

Kate and Olivia enjoying a last "hang out" session in the swingset

The day before we moved Ava got glasses!  She was super excited to have glasses like some of her big cousins and some friends.  If you haven't seen her out and about with them, it's because we're working out a few kinks with her doctor yet.  I think she looks pretty cute though!!