August 30

Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

Author: Unknown 

 

 

 

These two little boys define this poem so truly!  Look at these smiles and you will know the meaning of the poem I came across today.  Randy and I are blessed to call these two boys ours!  We will always love you two more!

 

August 24-25

Over the weekend we went to Kansas City with Craig, Peggy, Chris, Sara and Zach!  We all had a blast.  We took the boys to Lego Land and Sea Life.  The kids had so much fun together and all played pretty well together too.  At Lego Land, the kids were able to ride some rides that were there and build their own race car, watch a couple of movies, play in the lego soft area.  It was so much fun for all of them.
After Lego Land we headed to Sea Life, which thankfully was right next to Lego Land!  This was a much more calming atmosphere!  Memphis went right to sleep in his stroller.
Dinner that night we went to Jack Stack BBQ.  Delicious!  We celebrated Craig and Peggy's anniversary.  After dinner we went to the hotel to swim.  But to top the night off Sara and I took Noah and Zach to get Milk Shakes in the PJ's!
Sunday morning we slept in, which meant 7:30 but hey I will take it!  And for breakfast we went to the Waffle House...oh so yummy!!!!!  Good thing there isn't one close or we would be there too often I believe, can't go wrong with greasy breakfast food and a dirty restaurant, but seriously they have good food! 
All in all we had a great weekend!

Having fun at Lego Land!

Watch out for that SHARK!!!!

August 11

Yep, still posting way out of order.  I have completely forgotten about the State Fair!  This year, I had to judge the cookie contest with Nancy that she sponsors.  So I had the pleasure of tasting some pretty good cookies and a few that were not the best.  Since I had both boys with me that day at the fair, I asked my friend Kathy to come with me and watch the boys for about an hour while I judged. 
We didn't stay long but long enough for breakfast and of course snacks!  I got my corn dog, Noah had a rootbeer float, Memphis ate whatever we were eating, we had cookies, lemonade and a funnel cake!  Pretty nutritious, huh?!

There was a lego station set up that day and the boys got to play with legos and Noah even won legos with a contest he did!  He was so proud of himself!

Clifford was at the Fair, Kathy stood with him in line and I do not think Memphis was real thrilled with Clifford!  But we made him do it anyway!

Thursday August 22

So a couple days after my grandma passed we decided to go up to her Cabin, as my Aunt had never been there.  A tradition of ours was to take picture on the rock that is near the cliff.  So we thought that we should do that since it was my Aunt's first time!  As you will be able to see from the pictures there is a blur.  We truly believe that it is "Nan."  She was there with us and proof that she will always be with us. 
These pictures are pretty amazing.  The camera we used was my mom's and she had used it just before we took pictures and there were no "blurs" as she was at her house and when we got to Nan's Cabin the "blur" appeared. 
I truly believe there are angel's among us and I am thankful to know that my grandma is one of them!

You can see "Nan" hoovering over my mom.

Near Brit and on my mom lap

She is really big here as Nan would be so nervous when the kids were near the edge of the cliff

Right above Auntie Peggy and Jaycee

WE LOVE YOU MORE! 

This and that!

So after a hectic summer I am just posting a few pictures of Memphis playing in the Mustang!  This kid could spend the entire day just playing, sitting and Daddy driving him places.  It is fun to watch his expression when the garage goes open and then if the garage door closes and he doesn't get to go for a ride...he is real pissy if that door closes and he doesn't get to "play!"

Over the weekend (August 17-18) we finally started to paint our garage.  We got our neighbor's side primed and painted (just need to put a second coat on) and then the front of the garage is looking good.  We got it primed, just need to paint and add a basketball hoop!  Thankfully, Peggy came over to help us out.

On Saturday, my brother, Tyler turned 32.  Holy crap, little brother, how did we reach our 30's so fast!?!  Seems like yesterday we were little kids out playing with your tonka trucks under the tree in the back yard or meeting up and going out for the night at the "Zone."  I hope you had a good Birthday and we will celebrate soon.  Do you want ice cream cake???  Thanks for being a great brother (on most days, ha) and an even better uncle to Noah and Memphis.

14 years from now, this is what i will be dealing with...driving!

Yep this is how excited he gets!!!!

Grandma and Memphis!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BROTHER!!!!!

August 10

Ok so I am still posting out of date!  But Saturday August 10th we finally got to celebrate Noah and Memphis' Birthdays!  We went to Peggy and Craig's house so that we could swim!  The kids had a great time.  

The above picture is the huge water balloon fight!  

Below is all who attended and Noah getting Aunt Sara!

August 14

So, a while back I stated that July was full of Birthdays!  We have yet to celebrate all of them but we will soon enough!  So Happy Belated Birthday to Nancy, Tony and Sara.  I hope you 3 had a wonderful birthday.  We love you all and are so happy that you guys are a part of our lives.

Nancy doing what she does best, giving cookies out!!!

Tony being Tony!

Sara loving Zach!  

Friday August 9

Today we buried a lady that impacted every single person in my little family.  Grandma Palmer passed on August 3.  In the short 8 years that I knew her she was simply amazing.  She could do it all.  She cared for her family, one of the best cooks I know, and just loved everyone. 
Back in April she was diagnosed with cancer and was only given a few months to live.  Thankfully we got her for more than a few months but it still wasn't long enough.  I know she was not my grandma but let me tell you she was!  Randy is heartbroken as Grandma Palmer was his one person he could always count on when he was growing up.  He loved to spend as much time as possible over at her house.  About a year in a half ago Noah spent the night and Grandma asked if Randy wanted to spend the night in case Noah got scared, it took Randy a whole 1 second to say yes!  I think he felt like a kid again staying with her.  I am thankful that my boys knew her and loved her.  Heck it was only about 6 months ago when she was watching Memphis for about an hour so Randy could go and get Noah from school.  We will miss you forever Grandma!  Love you!

Monday July 22

Today was the day I lost my Grandma or as we fondly called her "Nan."  Last year she was diagnosed with uterine cancer.  She went through chemo all last winter.  She did really well through that and was doing well, or so we thought.  Once she got home from Florida she started to feel sick, stomach hurting, bloating and so forth.  She pushed off going to the doctor's office until she absolutely had too.  Once she went they found a large tumor in her stomach.  There was nothing they could do.
I am not for sure how Nan did it, but she took it graciously, she looked at the doctor and said, "well let the party begin!"  She chose to do hospice at home and my mother took the time off to be with her as did my Aunt and cousin.
We were all lucky enough to go and visit her one last time over the boys' birthday weekend.  Noah couldn't come as he was celebrating his birthday at his mom's house and as you saw from previous pictures we got to celebrate Memphis' at Nan's house!  We got to be all together one last time and it was a great time with laughter, tears and smiles.  We left Sunday afternoon and less than 15 hours later she left too.
I spent the following week in Milwaukee to help my Mom and Aunt go through things and help with whatever they might need. 
I am blessed to have had the grandma I had.  She almost always looked at things from the positive perspective and I will do my best to carry that forward.  Thank you Nan!  I love you more!

A fun day at Six Flags!

Us bring crazy!  I have no idea what is going on but it sums us up!  Love you!

July 19-20

Another Birthday post!  Yep, Happy Birthday to my two boys, Noah and Memphis.  Memphis' Birthday was on the 19th and Noah's on the 20th.  Randy and I couldn't be more proud to be their parents and are so blessed that they are our children. 
We had grand plans of celebrating Memphis' Birthday at Chuck E Cheese on the day of his Birthday as Noah was with his mom for his Birthday.  But we got a call from my mom asking us to come to Milwaukee as Nan (my grandma) was not doing well and she was asking for all of us to be there.  So we took off and got to celebrate Memphis' Birthday with my mom, Aunt, Tyler and Tori and cousins from Florida.  (more on my grandma in a later post!).

Celebrating in Wisconsin!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Memphis Dean!

Happy 8th Birthday Noah Matthew!

July 2

Like I said, these posts are all crazy and out of order!  In the middle of writing the last post I realized that I didn't wish Craig Happy Birthday!!!  Thanks for always being there for us we couldn't ask for any more from you! 
By the way, July is chalk full of Birthdays...it is kind of like Christmas for us as about half of our family has Birthdays this month!

Happy Birthday!

July 13

Okay so posts will be a little out of order as we have had a pretty crazy summer with lots of ups and downs. 
Thankfully, on July 13 we celebrated my Dad's and Tara's Birthdays in Creston at Tyler and Tori's house.  We had a good time grilling and playing outside. 

Happy Birthday Dad!  You are an amazing dad and I am so lucky to have you for a father!  But Memphis you could look a little bit happy!