Fourth of July Parade

We took the kids to a parade on the fourth! They had a blast and have never seen so much candy in their life!



They both picked up the candy and put it in their bag, for some reason they were not interested in eating it. I guess it probably had something to do with the popsicle's and chips they had BEFORE the parade started!!!!


As usual, the loud noises did not scare Brennan at all, he just found a place to sit and watched everything! Ayla on the otherhand, had her ears covered most of the time!

Look at that wave.. that looks like a future Miss America wave if I do say so myself!!


At the end we had a whole bag full of candy, and as you can see


Ayla was not letting it out of her sight!!

Happy 4th Everyone

Tonight John and I went out on a partial date, partial meaning we took Ayla with us. Brennan was still asleep when we left, so my mom came over and stayed with him while we went to Chili's to eat. Even though we had Ayla, it was still a treat. One toddler is a breeze, but two at least "OUR TWO" umm, not so easy or should I say enjoyable!! Ayla was so good, she loved the chips and dip and since we sat outside, she was fascinated by all of the birds near our table. I think eating outside made a world of difference!


After we ate, we walked downtown and let Ayla see the water fountain. To take her picture, I bribed her with pennies to throw in the fountain! I can't wait to get a zoom lens (fingers crossed) so I can get some better pics. My kids normally run when they see the camera!!


I wanted to take her picture in her new "Cora" dress that I bought her for the fourth!!

We love this dress and the meaning behind it even more!

You see Cora was 10 months old when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Sadly, she went to be with Jesus only three weeks after her diagnosis. I have been following her parents blog, "The Macs" for quite some time now.

They are an awesome God loving couple and just recently they announced that they are expecting again. Yea!!! I am so happy for them!! So, Cora's mommy and Grandma set up an etsy shop and they have been making the cutest dresses, onesies, burp cloths, shirts, blankets and lots of other cute items. The profits go towards "Cora's playground", a playground that is going to be installed at their church and in memory of sweet Cora. It is almost impossible to get anything. As soon as they stock their store, everything is gone within minutes and I am not kidding. I have tried several times to buy a Cora dress for Ayla and I have not been fast enough. Luckily a few weeks ago I was reading the blog and I saw that they had just stocked their etsy store. I went straight to etsy and snatched up this cute little dress and a red flag shirt for Brennan. I was so happy to get these sweet items and to donate to "Cora's Playground".


So, if you love this dress as much as I do, go straight over to "Cora's Etsy Store" and click on the refresh button over and over and over again and you just might get lucky and catch one of these adorable dresses!! With that being said, I hope EVERYONE has a safe and happy fourth of July!!!

Cousins

A couple of weeks ago John's sister Kelly and her three girls were in to visit from Michigan! We do not get to see them often, they have been in Michigan for a little over a year and before that they lived out of the country in Albania for eight years. In a few weeks, they will be moving once again to California!!



Here is Ayla and her cousins, Maggie, Madison and Morgan. Madison and Morgan are twins! I just love this picture, it turned out so well!! Normally Ayla runs from the camera when I have it out!



Ahh.. .now the picture is complete with Brennan (Kaleb was out of town)... it was so funny, he loved sitting on Maggie's lap and was soaking up all of the attention the girls were giving him. Oh, I think he is definitely going to be a ladies man!!


Maggie and Brennan



Maggie didn't want to leave because Brennan was loving on her so much!!

This is John and his sister. Don't they look like twins?


Family picture with the parents. (Grandma and Grandpa) I thought this picture turned out so well, so I wanted to add it. We are just missing Kevin, John's brother, he was not over on this day. It was so good to see Kelly and the girls, I wish we could have spent more time with them, the week was over way too fast!

Happy Birthday Sis

Yesterday was my "little" sister's birthday so I wanted to say Happy Birthday to Amy and post a few pictures of the Birthday Girl!! Usually we are at the beach every year on Amy's birthday so it was nice to celebrate with her this year!






This is Amy and her husband John, otherwise known as "Dunc"

Don't they make a beautiful couple!

Aunt Amy and Brennan

Me, Brennan, Amy and Tiny (Amy's mom, my stepmom)


The sisters!! Don't we BOTH look 27. Ha-I wish!!!!! To be 27 again...

Ayla Update

SO FAR SO GOOD!!!!!!!

We are on week three of the Enbrel injections and we have been very pleased with the results thus far! The swelling in her knee is down and she can almost straighten her right arm all the way out! She is walking and running more than she ever has, in fact she walked around our subdivision a few days ago which is a half of a mile. That is awesome for her considering other times she has asked to be carried because her feet hurt.


In addition to the Enbrel, she is still getting Methotrexate injections as well so we just do them both on the same night. One injection in the right thigh and one in the left.

She is becoming quite the trooper. She knows when Daddy puts the emla cream(topical numbing cream) on (which she calls lotion) that she will be getting her medicine. Most of the time when John gets ready to do the injection, I can keep her attention and she doesn't even feel the shot. She cries a little bit, but nothing that a chocolate chip cookie can't cure!!! After her injection, she always says, "That medicine will make me feel better" and then she adds, "Thank you Daddy". John and I will just look at each other trying to hold back tears, it just breaks our hearts. She has such a sweet spirit, especially with everything she has been through!


I mean seriously though , look at this face, she know's she can get what she wants on medicine night (like the car she is on in the previous pictures) Um hum, oh yes, she is catching on QUICK!

Happy Fathers Day!

I hope everyone had a happy Father's Day!!!


Can you say wrapped around your finger!!!!!!!! Ayla is definitely a daddy's girl. With one bat of the eye, she gets anything that she wants!!! She has learned at an early age that all she has to do is ask Daddy!!!!


Brennan is a little replica of his father!

He is definitley on the move all of the time just like daddy! He loves cars and trains and most recently pushing Ayla's baby dolls around in her strollers. It's okay, I am sure it is just a phase-HA!

I hope everyone enjoyed their father's day as much as we did. Thank you John for being an amazing father to our children! We love you very much!

I love faces-sepia tones

I thought I would enter a photo in this week's contest at

The category this week is sepia tone pictures . This is one of my favorite pictures of Ayla! It was one of the first ones I took after getting my new camera at Christmas!!!!