All smiles

My date for the day was pretty happy to still be on vacation after we dropped Emma off at school.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First day of school

Off she goes to third grade :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My grandpa, Bud Cook

My heart feels heavy at the thought of losing my grandpa. After visiting him this weekend I can see that his days here on earth are numbered.



I am so thankful I was able to spend time with him, kiss his cheeks and hold his hand.



He shared stories with me that will never forget. One in particular was when he was sixteen years old his little brother (age 9) accidentally died while swinging from a tree outside their home. He told me, with tears streaming down his cheeks, how that event changed his life forever and that he named his first born son, my father, after his beloved brother.



The greatest gift he gave me was when it was time for us to leave. He winked at me and said Goodbye darlin'.



If there is such a thing, I swear I felt my heart smile and I took it as his way of telling me it was all going to be okay.



I love you, Grandpa!

Matching tattoos

(Grandpa (on right) with his buddy from the Coast Guard)

(This bumper sticker on my grandpa's truck made me laugh.)

(Dixie, My dad, Bud, Maxine, Harold, Mike)

(Bud holding Hunter, Zach holding Jordan)
April 2007

Meet Alice

Alice in Wonderland

and here's her sidekick, bodyguard and brother

the

rodeo clown

Sidenote: There is a special story behind Emma's costume. This dress belonged to me as a little girl and was my absolute favorite to wear to church. My mom is a "saver" of her children's favorite things (thanks, Mom) and she brought this dress over to my house about 6 months ago. Emma saw it, proclaimed it an "Alice in Wonderland dress" and decided that was what she would be for Halloween. I love easy costumes :)

Deep Thoughts by Emma

Last night Emma was on fire with the random comments to our bedtime stories. I worked really hard at not laughing at them because she didn't intend for them to be funny.

The Berenstain Bears' New Pup reads,

"Oh" said Sister...I want that one! He is so cute."

"That one is a she," said Farmer Ben.

"How can you tell?" asked Brother.

"There are ways," said Farmer Ben.

First of all, I was really irritated with the Berenstain's as soon as I read that page...like, really? Emma caught my eye as I turned the page and she had a little twinkle and a smirk on her face. I asked her, "How do you think they can tell, Emma?" knowing that having a little brother she is well-aware of the difference between boys and girls or he's and she's.

She spoke with conviction when she replied, "You just look at their eyes. The girl puppies will have really long eyelashes."

I left it at that.

Next up, Happy Mother's Day, Mami! where Dora and her friends make their mother's gifts for mother's day. Except Benny the bull. He gives his gift to his grandma.

Emma: "Are Benny's parents dead or something? Is that why he gives his his grandma the gift?"

Me: "Oh, geez, I hope they're not dead. Maybe his parents are at work or something."

Emma: "I doubt it. If they were at work he still would have made one for his mom, he would have just given it to her when she came home from work."

Both: Long pause

Emma: "Oh, well. At least he has a place to sleep at night."

Good point.

In my mind I'm going to....Colorado :)

"Are we fishing now, Dad?"

"It's biting my finger!"

stomp rockets...

Christina and I couldn't figure

out why the box said "ages 16 and up"

eating

we like fishing 'round here :)

dolores county library...awesome kid's section

Durango FAIR

hanging out

we're smiling because this is the

BEGINNING of the

11 hour drive home

Cinco de Mayo Princessa

Happy 6th Birthday to my Emma

__________________________

Last weekend we had an

"Almost Sleepover"

where we did all the fun stuff

that comes with a slumber party,

but left out the scary part

(the actual sleeping over).

We started out in the pool

then had some pizza

Changed into pj's

and watched Tinkerbell

on the projector outside.

You couldn't really see the movie

very well at the start,

but they didn't seem to mind.

Then there was

singing and cupcakes

And a little dance party to top off the night.

All the little girls

were happy to go

home with their mommies...

and sleep in their own beds.

The End.