Happy 10 Year Anniversary!!!

Ben, Grace and I travelled to Colorado to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. Ben's mother Jane met us there to visit her Aunt JoAnn. We landed in Denver and visited with our friends, the Picolets. They fed us too good and we jumped on the trampoline with the kids to help burn some calories! Then we headed to Boulder where we stayed the rest of the week. After visiting with Aunt Joann, we took Grace on a hike in beautiful Chitaqua park. Grace would walk about 10 steps and then stop and look at the rocks. We didn't go very fast, but we weren't in any hurry! I actually ended up carrying her most of the way. Then Ben and I went tubing down the Vrain river in Lyons. It was a nice float with some exciting white-water rapids! The water was ice cold and refreshing! The next day we travelled to Estes Park to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a cold, wet and rainy day at the top of the mountains, where it got to 48 degrees! As soon as we got down below 10,000 feet, it was sunshiny again! The weather was just about as perfect as it can get for summer. I would love to have a vacation home in CO for the summer. I don't think I could handle the winters, though. Jane and I took a tour of the Celestial Seasonings headquarters where they make all the yummy herbal teas. We got to sample all the teas and get a tour of the production line. I didn't provide a picture because they made us wear hairnets! On our way back to Denver we stopped at the zoo. Grace was able to name most of the animals that she has seen in her books. My favorite was the polar bear. He was playing with his ball and throwing it in the water and jumping in after it. I've never seen a polar bear that was so playful! It was a greatway to celebrate! It's been a great 10 years...I love you honey!

Ben playing with the Picolet kids!

Grandma Jane, Grace & Aunt JoAnn

Ben & Grace at Chataqua Park
Grace & Sharon hiking at Chataqua Park

Grace & Sharon at the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.

Ben jumping off the cliff into the icy cold water!

The new Michelin, um, man.

Sharon going down a rapid!

Ben & Grace at Estes Park

Sharon & Grace at Estes Park


Grace picking wild flower and pulling off the petals.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Grace & Sharon pose in front of the rainbow

Grandma & Grace at the zoo - watch out I see a giraffe eyeing you!

Crazy family of seals!

Family & Friends

This summer has been a lot of fun getting to see old friends and family. My long-time friend Stefanie came with her family to visit us this summer. I had so much fun catching up with her and getting to know her sweet little girls, Hannah (5) and Sarah (1). Grace had a great time having some girls to play with. We went to the beach and water park and enjoyed being able to hang out together! Then our family exchange student Christian and his new bride Silke came to visit the family on their honeymoon. It was so good to see him again and meet his wife. It was a big family get together when Matthew and Natalie came to visit Christian & Silke. My brother Matthew is safely home from Iraq and will be getting out of the military next month. I am so happy for him and that he is home with his wife again.

Here is a pictures of us with our girls.

Stefanie's husband Charlie reads to the girls.

Christian and Silke on their honeymoon in the USA!

Auntie Natalie & Grace

Uncle Matt & Grace - she was so bashful around him at first, I think she had a crush on him. I've never seen her act like that around someone.

Now she talks about him everyday and says "Uncle Matt is silly"! Here they are giggling with each other.

Mountain Lake Vacation

We just returned from a week-long vacation to the beautiful Lake Keowee/Jocassee area. We stayed in a house with a bunch of family! It was so much fun to swim in a cool mountain lake and enjoy the beautiful outdoors! Grace loved swimming in the lake, too! We enjoyed having cousin Roman along, too.

We hiked around the neighborhood one morning to see all the beautiful houses that were on the lake. As you can see, Roman and Grace aren't used to walking up/down slopes.

We took a 1.5 mile hike at Devil's Fork State Park. Grace decided she didn't like the hiking backpack, so I ended up carrying her a lot of the way. Whew, that was a workout!

Grace had to have a stick because Roman had one.

Our view from the dock. The water was so clear! I can't wait to go back!

Ben took Grace for a spin in the kayak. Ben went fishing several times from the kayak.

This was my favorite day. We all rented a pontoon and went to see the waterfalls on Lake Jocassee. This was my favorite waterfall. You could swim right under it.

Ben climbed to the top!

Joy ride on the pontoon

Future skipper. This was her favorite seat!

We climbed this rock quarry and jumped into the lake below.

Here's Ben jumping!

We played hard! Grace was worn out!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July celebrating our nation with my family. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather! Grace got to see fireworks for the 1st time and we were far enough away that the noise did not bother her. Here are some pics from our day...

Grace's festive hair-do

Yummy fried flounder dinner (great fishing Dad) and ribs

Grace's 1st bbq rib

GG Ma & Papa Jack

Grace goes for a ride!

Someone got to stay up way too late to watch fireworks!

My girls!

June Update

Where did June go?! Here are some pictures of our fun family b-day/Father's Day weekend. We celebrated Ben's b-day with a trip to the Bee City petting zoo. It was really fun and Grace enjoyed watching, but had no interest in feeding the monkeys, llamas, sheep or goats. :) We then came home to eat "happy cake" as Grace calls it. Ben requested coconut cake...yum! The next day we celebrated Father's Day with the family at the beach. It was a fun-filled weekend for sure. We are blessed!

These were my favorite to feed!

Bunnies were the only animal Grace was brave enough to pet.

Everyone loves a train!

Grace is not impressed.

The llama in the back had buck teeth on the bottom, just like our dog Saki. hehe

Happy Birthday Ben...George (cat) wants a piece, too!

Grace snuggling with Nana at the beach.

Uncle Andrew trying to make a boy out of Grace.

My Little Song Bird

Grace is growing up so fast! My little toddler is 21 months and has been potty trained since 19 mos, she can almost count to 10, is learning her colors - she knows blue, green and yellow and sometimes gets a few others right, too. She loves to sing! Her favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle; If You're Happy & You Know It; Mr Sun; The Alphabet Song; Jesus Loves Me and Itsy Bitsy Spider to name a few. She is such a blessing I have so much fun with my precious angel. I hope you enjoy the videos. Turn up the volume!

Summer Days

We are having a fun summer! Grace has been busy swimming in the neighborhood pool, spending time with family and going to church.

I love dressing Grace up for church. She likes it, too!

Grace and Mommy

Grace swimming in her "floatie"

Grace and Daddy (I hope Ben's "tennis" tan doesn't blind you). ;)

Bathtime with the cousins...you don't even want to

know what happened right after this picture was taken. ☺

Cousin Julia with her daughter Kinsey (who Grace adored)...
...and Bryce! They live out of state so it was so good to see them again!