The Boys of Summer

Dallon ans Skyler are playing baseball this summer and they play twicw a week. Byron and I have been trying to make it to at least one of them per boy each week. Here are some pictures of them in action.
Dallon warming up on the field

Ready for the pitch.

After the game. Notice the knees of his pants. He slid into home, twice. He is a great slider.

This is Skyler warming up before the game.

Standing at first base.

Good follow through on the swing.

Ready to swing.

That's a what?

I found a fun little crochet book full of robots. I have made three of the patterns in the book but have kind of gotten stuck on this one-the Zombiebot. I have made three so far. One for me, one for a sweet little neighbor girl who appreciates this kind of quirkiness and this one for a girl from my knitting group.

Great Family

Yesterday my family threw me a wonderful party for my birthday. The weather was amazing! It was hot and it wasn't cold, even in the shade. We ate and then everyone just sat around and talked while the kids ran around. To me, this is bliss. Here are some pictures of the day that I took with my new camera.

Meghan made these pretty tissue paper balls

She also made these yummy birthday cookie stackers. The green ones were mint and the yellow ones were cream cheese.

These lovely flowers are from Meghan's boyfriend, Dan.

Ashton and his girlfriend, Jesi, gave me these. Jesi drew the cute little heart on the vase.

This is one of the socks that Meghan made for me. She made them in my high school colors. Go Honkers!

Don't you just love this little face?

This one, too. Even if it is wearing the after effects of eating the cookie stackers.

This is Kaitlynn standing by the back door. We had the sliding glass door open and she was so proud of herself for being able to open and close the screen all by herself. Every time she did it she would turn around to make sure we were looking.

At the bottom of this picture are a couple of coasters that Kellee made me. Payten and Lilly drew the pictures on them.

Two Post Day

This is Lilly. This is the cute Polka Dot Skirt I helped her mom make. And her boots. Oh how she loves these boots. I think that they are one of those favorite things that even though an attempt may be made, when they finally bite the dust, to replace them, nothing will quite ever measure up. I have had a few things like this in my life and finally learned that some things truly are irreplacable and I decided to just enjoy the memory and not try to let something else take it's place. Even if it's pretty much the same exact thing.

Isn't this the sweetest face ever? She truly lives up to her sweet name....when she wants to. Pretty much, don't be fooled by the innocent smile, there is a lot lurking behind that grin. But that's OK. She's still a sweetie in my book.

Uncle Charlie

This is my Uncle Charlie. Friday I attended his funeral. He was my father's only sibling. With his passing we are down to my generation on my father's side. It will be 13 years in May since my father passed away. Even though I was well into my 30's when he died I don't think we are ever ready to have a parent die. Heaven help me when my mother goes. I realize that is such a selfish thought. After all they have lived full lives and deserve to go on to that happy reunion with loved ones who have passed on. I am just recognizing how hard it will be. Anyway, I digress...The funeral was wonderful and I think that the words that were spoken by his children and friends were a wonderful tribute to who he was (is). I don't remember specifics but I remember that they were always happy in that home and they were always so happy to see me. This is a trait that he shared with my father who loved everyone! I couldn't quite wrap my head around this as a child and a youth cuz I thought my father truly made friends with some pretty interesting (weird) characters. I have since learned the secret that he knew and I am blessed by it every day. I am not saying that I am automatically accepting of everyone (I'm a little too reserved in my nature) but I have figured out the part about the love Heavenly Father has for all of his children and as such are always worth getting to know better. I have never been disappointed. There may have only been two of them but oh what a ripple effect they (and their parents) created. I can't wait to see them again.

Patrick's Birthday

Today was Patrick's birthday. He is a great son-in-law. Today was Pi Day

so we had birthday pie!

This is the birthday boy.

Payten showing Dan how to Wii.

Lilly was not having the best of days but I did finally get a picture of her.
Max sat on the stairs wanting to be part of the party but not wanting to be in the middle.
The cheese puffs were the hit of the meal.

A cheeser for cheese puffs!

I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of Camryn either.

Thanks Meghan. I guess that if I was going to be adding cheese puffs to my hips I'd rather have them on the outside than the inside.

Skyler. I think that he was happier to be there than this picture looks. This is also a look at the burgers and dogs that we had for dinner.

Jesi and her son, Henry Jack

Skyler was so proud of his new shirt. It was an Element and even at 7 he knew that this meant something cool.

Ha! Ha! I was finally sneaky enough to get one without her hands in front of her face.

Payten singing the Happy Birthday song.

Birthday pie! It was banana cream. We also had chocolate Dream pie. Oh my we love pie!

This is a scarf that my mom made for me. When she sent it to me she sent the following pictures of me as a little girl.

My first birthday.

In front of the house where I grew up. I was probably about 3 or 4.

Sitting on the front stoop. I remember siting on the steps with my dad and brothers just before bedtime, all clean from the bath and listening for cars to come down the road and having to guess what make of car it was before it came into view. That was when you could tell one car from another by the sound of the engine. Later in life, this is where I would sit with my boyfriends cuz it was in plain view but not inside with all of the siblings.