Happy Birthday to Samuel!!

Yesterday Samuel turned 3 years old. I can't believe my baby is 3 already. I keep telling him that he's not allowed to get any bigger, but that doesn't seem to be working.





Samuel is such a joy to our family. Of course I love all my kids, but Sam is the one that just makes me laugh. Maybe I'm realizing that they really do grow up so fast, so I've learned to enjoy him more, or he's just funnier than the others. In any case, he makes me laugh!









This year Samuel has been introduced to the world of puzzles. He LOVES doing puzzles. An hour or two will go by and I'll realize I haven't seen Sam for a while, so I'll head down to the basement and sure enough he'll have completed puzzles all over the floor. He hasn't quite mastered the act of putting them away without getting the pieces mixed up, but we're working on it. Here's a picture of Samuel with his two new puzzles and one of his other favorites.





Another thing that Samuel really enjoys right now is the Little Einsteins. If you have small children about, you might be familiar with Rocket, the rocket that the Little Einsteins use to go on all their adventures. He asked for a Rocket cake this year. While we were at Grandma's she got him a real Rocket cake, but I thought it might be too hard to make for his party here at home. Fortunately I was able to convince him that this one looked nice. He willingly said, "Sure." Then I realized that I was out of red food coloring (since Rocket is red), so I asked if it would be okay if Rocket was yellow. Again Sam willingly said, "Sure." Whew, crisis averted!! I'm grateful to have an easy going child (not all of them are that way!!).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMUEL!

My Dad's Wedding

Last weekend the kids and I (Bob had to work) drove out to Dayton, Ohio where my dad married Janet Ford. The wedding was beautiful. I had not known before this that Janet loves to sing...something that my dad also loves to do also! They sang to each other in the wedding ceremony, and at the reception sang a song every time someone jingled their keys (they didn't use real glasses, so we made due with keys).

There are 13 cousins on my side of the family ranging in age from almost 9 years old to 3 months old. They had so much fun playing together for the weekend. Our hotel had an indoor pool, which is where they spent most of their time together! As soon as Jack woke up in the morning the swimming goggles were the first thing he put on!



My dad asked us if we would be willing to make the boutonnieres and corsages for the wedding party...something I have never done before. Fortunately Karen Borg, a dear friend from Phoenix came to the wedding and knew exactly how to make them!! She did an outstanding job and even made some cute flowers out of tulle for the little girls to wear. Of course that made the day extra special!!

Another highlight of the weekend was that Alyssa, my brother Titus's girlfriend came in to help the girls do their hair. She has been such a good sport for all the attention she gets from all the kids!! Here is Alyssa holding Max.

And here are a few pictures of eveyone all ready for the big event!

"Best Friends"

Marison, Gibson, and Samuel are missing from this picture of all the cousins.

Titus gave the homily and Joel was the best man.

What a blessing it was to be able to see my dad and Janet enter into the covenant of marriage before God and all of our family!

Dad and Janet, may your marriage be one that glorifies God for many years to come! Thanks for a wonderful weekend!

There's Nothing Like A Good Sunday Nap!

Emily just loves to take naps with Bob when he gets the chance to get a little shut eye. She rarely falls asleep. Actually she usually makes so much commotion in the bed that Bob ends up kicking her out. A few Sundays ago, however, she managed to fall asleep...just not in the normal manner!!