Jordan-Long Time No See

This past week has been extra special for us! My nephew Jordan flew in from Arizona. Unfortunately, he could only stay for five days. He has year round schooling and he has to go back this coming Monday the 21st. Here's some pictures from his visit.Mamaw and Cherish made this welcome sign for us to hold up at the airport. Papaw and Jordan coming out to meet us.
WOW! Jordan has GROWN a bunch since any of us had last seen him! He is 5 ft. 6 in. and weighs almost as much as his papaw. And he won't be 13 til Oct.....
After we picked him up at the airport we took him out to eat and then went Magic Mountain. He won a 100 tickets at this game. He was sweet and used his tickests on his little cousins.
Mamaw watching Jordan palying a racing game.
Mel and Weston playing around.
Cherish and Jordan being silly.

Jordan couldn't wait to ride the quad. The downside, they rode them so much the dust got unbearable.
On Tues, we went to Tecumsah. It's an outdoor drama and it contains Ohio history.
CHEESE!!!

Lake Erie

We took a few days and went to Lake Erie with some friends. We had a good time and thankfully, a safe trip. Here's a few pictures from our trip. Weston caught a sheeps head, bottom fishing.

Weston on the carousel.
Put-In-Bay Park
Weston and Megan at the Butterfly House
Grace fell asleep on Mel's lap

Even Grace caught a fish, she was thrilled!

Our four and Aaron and Lisa's three girls.
Our Family Put-In-Bay Park
Cherish on the carousel.
Grace on the carousel.
Melody on the carousel. Cherish, Grace and Allyssa
Cherish and Allyssa

Weston and Cherish riding a camel. Cherish is really ok! Just a little
excited.
Melody taking a pony ride.
One of our fishing ventures! :)

WE DROVE THROUGH A SAFARI PARK. WE SEEN SOME STRANGE LOOKING ANIMALS AND SOME CUTE ONES TOO!

Looking back. I didn't get very many pictures of the girls. Grace was SO excited to finally be having her party. When I was making her cake she kept saying, "I'm so happy". It was now her turn to open presents and be sung Happy Birthday to. Grace will turn three Tuesday the 24th. :0 Our baby is growing up much too fast!

Cherish is 10 years old now. She is growing up quite fast! She is such a helpful and responsible girl. Four friends were able to sleepover, which made her day! Cherish pointed out that all her friends who stayed, their names started with the letter A. We thought that was Kinda cool. :)

Cherish and Grace's Birthday Bash

PARTY TIME!!!!

We celebrated Cherish and Grace's birthdays last night (Fri. June 20th). Here are a few misc. photos. We had the party in our backyardbackyard. The kids had a blast!

Mike ordered a whole pig and roasted it in the roaster he recently built. The pork turned out GREAT!

Thank the Lord the girl's cakes turned out ok. I didn't have any real decorating ideas. Cherish wanted a bike instead of expensive decorations so, we didn't have a theme to follow. That made it much more difficult for me. All in all I think the party went well! We didn't have any major glitches! Thankfully, All our kid's birthdays are over for this year! Now we can relax! :)

Little Yellow Dress

This little yellow dress carries sweet, sentimental memories for my mother and I. It all started with a photo of myself my mother had taken of me when I turned one years old. My mother wanted to carry on the tradition and bought my oldest daughter (who is now almost 10) a yellow dress to wear for her first birthday. Looking back, my two other daughters didn't wear it at their first birthday party but I did get pictures of them wearing it. Sadly, Grace was almost three before I took pictures of her . For fun, I wish I had time in this post to put the photos of each of us wearing it together. I'll have to make that a priority. Though, don't expect it anytime soon! :D

GRACE~2yrs. 11 mons.

Mr. and Mrs. Ribbit

Meet (whom I call), Mr. and Mrs. Ribbit. Frogs are an amazing animal specie. For instance, take a look at Mr. Ribbit. Notice how big and gloriously plump he is. (Frog legs anyone?) It amazes me how these amphibians start out as a glob of eggs in a mud puddle or some other water source (in our case our backyard pond). And as the eggs gestate in the water source they then become these little iggly squiggly things called tadpoles. By the way, when we were kids we loved to pop those poor tadpoles. We must not've popped too many of them because I've not heard of any bans on tadpole popping. My, they're almost as fun as bubble wrap! JK! Seriously, it is an amazing process to watch as the tadpole morphs into a frog or toad. I also, enjoy listening to the frogs as they call to one another in the evening as it darkens. We have watched the 'calling' process. One frog croaks or ribbits (whichever you prefer) until the other frog reaches it. What an intricate and beautiful animal kingdom God has created. I feel fortunate to get such a close up shot of the BIG frog. It has been in our pond for awhile but I've never able to catch it unaware. When I would get too close it would jump back into the pond and there went my photo opp. I was happy to get a few good photos before he decided to hop back into the pond. The photo on the right, is right after Mr. Ribbit decided to end our photo shoot.

Another RED Photo

Lilies, what a beautiful flower! They are full of intricate detail and beauty. So far, this photo is one of my own personal favorites. The coloring of this lily is breathtaking and awe inspiring. I greatly enjoy taking photos of plants, outdoor life, landscapes and flowers.

RED Photos

I was visiting From My Cherry Heart's blog today and stumbled upon this http://lejournal.sadieolive.com/. It is an inspirational challenge to take photos of red images. I love From My Cherry Heart's blog! Although, we've never met, we have one thing in common. A cherry kitchen. From what I've seen, her kitchen far outshines my own but I thought it wouldn't hurt to share the photos I've taken of my kitchen. I know I enjoy looking at other cherry themed kitchens so, I didn't think she would mind if I added mine. This is and old pie keeper (I guess). I've had for so long I don't even remember where it came from.


This is Muffy Bear. I came across her at a yard sale a few years ago. She cam with a cute little cabinet.

BUBBLES and SUNSHINE

What is it about bubbles that makes them so intriguing? Is is the act of creating the bubble that is so exciting? Or is it the sheer joy of just watching the bubble float effortlessly through the air? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be able to glide through the air like those bubbles do as they rise up into the air and then gently fall back down to the earth. Would summer be the same without them? My kids would miss the privilege, even as small as it seems.