On the move...

Dustin, Alanna and their boys came through this week on their way to moving to Canada. We had a fun day playing in the park and spending time together. Best of luck in Canada guys! Thanks for coming to visit!
What a lucky girl to have such a sweet, beautiful cousin like Taylor!

Cousin Emma...I didn't even have to ask her to pose!

Happy Father's Day!

Eliza loves her daddy for meaning reasons. She thinks that he is loving, caring, hard-working, and handsome. What she really loves is spending time with her daddy. They are looking forward to some fun bike rides in daddy's new bike trailer!

Every day after work Eliza and daddy "make the rounds." After always greeting daddy with a big smile they make their way outside to check on the garden and other plants.

Thank you daddy! We think you are the best dad in the whole world! We love you so much!

Another missionary off...

Our family gathered in Yakima last weekend to wish our cousin Shea a wonderful mission. He will be serving in the Raleigh, North Carolina mission. And although we'll miss him, we know he's going to be an amazing, hard-working, "hop-to-it", kind of missionary. Good luck Shea! While we were there we got to swim in Aunt Sheila's pool, admire Uncle Darrell's flowers (and steal some), visit with cousins and grandparents, and stuff ourselves silly with Aunt Sheila's always amazing food. We sure do love our family!

Last day of school!

Today is an interesting day for me and so I've been doing a little reflecting. This is the first year in 6 where I wasn't beside myself giddy for the school year to be finished. When I resigned from teaching last year I thought I would be having many moments of "huh, I kind of wish I was at school today." I'll admit now that I can count on one hand the times I had that thought. This was evidenced to me by the fact that I was sought after by my school...twice. Once was a couple of months ago when I was asked to finish the school year for a teacher needing to do some required classes. Then just yesterday the principal called asking if I would be a permanent sub for a teacher going on maternity leave for a couple of months. I was flattered that they would want me back but I knew my answer before the conversations were finished. I'm where I need to be now and that's where I want to stay. I guess I'm just feeling very blessed!

Batter's up!

Eliza and I went and watched Daddy play in another softball game last night. We brought her Cheerios to snack on since we're not quite to sunflower seeds yet. You'll notice that she does a very good job of studying Daddy as he plays.

It was perfect weather! Eliza loves being outside and just makes people smile wearing her cute little glasses.

Eliza was studying Daddy so hard in the first picture mostly because she knows that she will be explained to by Daddy that we always hustle to first base. Mommy even got that play on video just in case there was a discrepancy! (Darran's just making it to first base...sorry, not the best picture!)

She's on the move!

Eliza has been crawling around for a little while now. She's not too fast (yet) but she's a determined little girl. If she wants to get some where...she'll get there. It's pretty fun to watch her with her new freedom. Although, with that freedom comes a learning curve for mom and dad. For example, we now know our carpet is full of very tiny things that even the vacuum doesn't find, we can't turn our backs on her even for a second, and mostly we know not to under estimate the abilities of a 9 month old!

If you are really interested in seeing her in action...

Happy Birthday Mom!

I turned the big 30 on Monday. It was kind of a celebratory weekend so that was fun. Darran took me on a date Friday night...dinner and a movie (we saw Angels and Demons...very good by the way).

Then celebrated with my family on Sunday...dinner and cake. I think that as you get older you figure out when you are asked what kind of cake you want you go for the really good stuff. This year I opted for pound cake with strawberries...ahhhhh.

Darran showered me with gifts (I have a very thoughtful husband) some of which I even get to share with Eliza. Which brings me to the best thing about my birthday...celebrating it with her! Plus, you don't ever really feel the age that the number indicates right?

Alfalfa look alike!

Apparently we have our own little female Alfalfa.

However, her hair was not put in place with any

kind of gel, hairspray, or other concoction Alfalfa

may have had to really use. Hers is pure, unaltered

bed head!

I can get anything I want...

Darran's comment to this picture was: "If she gives us this face at Christmas, we're in trouble!" She's just irresistible!

We LOVE vacations...the beach!

The second week of our vacation we spent at the beach. Eliza enjoyed the pool more than the beach but she still had fun. She wasn't a big fan of the sand or the very loud waves!

This was an afternoon thunderstorm making it's way over us. Each day they cleared out the pool and we watched the storm come in. Pretty awesome storms over the ocean!

I'm pretty sure that I'd be fine with doing this every day!

Too cute! How in the world do they grow soooo fast!?

Daddy/daughter afternoon naps by the pool.
This is the way to start each day...go down to the beach, find a nice spot, read, sun bathe, and soak up the sun!

Eliza being a happy girl at the beach!

Eliza and daddy enjoying the waves. People kept asking us how we got her to keep her glasses AND hat on all the time. Answer: I have NO idea. She would just do it!

We LOVE vacations...Orlando!

We spent the weekend in Orlando. Mom's three brothers that live in Florida, and some of their families, came and spent Saturday with us. It was great to see them!

We spent the day visiting, playing games...

catching up on sleep...

and just relaxing by the pool!

Eliza has always LOVED her baths so we were curious how she would react to her first time in a swimming pool. She's like a fish! She couldn't get enough of it!

The house we stayed at had a private pool/hot tub. We hurried to use it in between rain showers!

Eliza even enjoyed the hot tub! But don't worry...it was the temperature of a bath tub. It took an hour to get really hot so we took her in before it was too warm.

We LOVE vacations...Disney World!

Our first week in Florida was spent at Disney World. But even torrential downpours don't keep us away! We had a blast visiting the parks and and enjoying the happiest place on earth!

No Disney trip would be complete without a giant turkey leg! Yummy!

This is in front of Eliza's very first ride...Finding Nemo. Yeah for rides that she could go on!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Epcot.

Mom and Dad thought it would be fun to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge...and it was! It was amazing to look outside our room at this! The Savannah was our "backyard!" Eliza absolutely loved watching the animals. She would "talk" to them and point at them. We saw a lot of animals but especially liked the giraffes and zebras.

Eliza loves her grandparents! Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful vacation and for helping me with Eliza so much! We always make great memories on our family vacations!

This is actually a view from the opposite side of where our room was. We'd go back in a heart beat!

Aunt Elayna and Eliza posing for a picture while looking for animals.