Relay for LIFE

 Amy, Me, Tammy (our hero) and her husband Tim

 Uncle Roger's luminary...we miss him so much!

I had the EXTREME privilege this afternoon to walk with my friend Tammy and celebrate her amazing journey of beating cancer. I have known Tammy for decades (thanks to her being one of my dear cousin Becky's best friends). Today for about 8 hours, we walked in honor of her and many others to benefit the cancer society.  My day was doubly blessed because I was able to spend many of my laps with my Aunt Sharolyn.  We spent many hours with laughter, shedding tears and catching up on the happenings in life.  She knows first hand how hard it is to lose some one, as we lost Uncle Roger to cancer.  With sadness lingering, mixed with laughter in the air, it was such a great day.  VERY HOT but still a great day (-; and tonight as I sit here with my feet feeling achy, skin a bit sunburned I can hold tightly onto the thought knowing many people that we hold near and dear in our hearts have suffered so much and some still do.  As I was walking out tonight this song was playing....."It's a long, long road, the relay for a friend....a long, long road, the relay for hope...it's a long, long road, the relay for LIFE.  Feeling so thankful for the gift of LIFE.....May God bless you all!

Our time with "Katy" dog

 Miss Katy

Our friends asked us to keep their dog Katy for them while they were on vacation. She is such a sweet dog....we LOVED having her here! I am not sure if this helped put our desires to have a dog of our own at bay for a while longer, or if this made it even stronger. Either way...it was a treat for us to have her as part of our family for a few days and those brown eyes of hers just melted our hearts!!!



My Birthday

Enjoying our dinner

Munching on our shrimp temura & egg rolls

Making my wish....and enjoying my birthday serenade...

I had the best birthday.  It began with a beautiful morning walk, followed by church & brunch.  In the afternoon, Kate & I went swimming for a few hours, then we all went out for sushi. The kids had never had sushi so we started with sharing a chicken tempura roll, a crunchy 2 in 1, a california roll, shrimp tempura and beef fried rice.  It all went over pretty well! They especially loved the chicken roll and beef fried rice. 

Chris and Brian (some of our best friends) came up for birthday ice cream to finish the day of celebrating. The icecream was good, but the company of good friends and family just cannot be beat.  Thank-you all for your kind phone calls, cards, gifts, etc.,. with birthday wishes for me today.  I am going to bed tonight feeling so blessed to have the privilege of enjoying another trip around the Sun!  I love you all ~~ thanks for such a special day......

Ben's WILD Baseball Season

 The WILD team

 Ben and the best coach EVER!!

 Down and ready as catcher...

 Ben loves all positions

fielding and batting...

Ben had a very fun baseball season this Spring.  We met new families, made new friends, watched 7 year old boys hit more balls than some of them ever had and made great memories at the ball park.  Ben is so passionate about this sport, he often after the game remained on the field, asking Dad to pitch more so that he could continue to hit and run the bases....Batter up Benny!!!  This Mom knows that I will be spending many hours at the ball park over the next decade...I am proud of how hard you worked Ben and loved watching you play!

Basketball camp for Kate

Miss Kate spent her first week out of school at basketball camp. She said that her favorite parts of camp were the scrimmages each day and "swishing a 3 pointer at the buzzer". On the last day she earned the "hot shot" award for the week too ---way to go Sissy!! We are very proud of you!!

Welcoming our new fish

 Ben chose "Gary" a blue and red betta

 Kate chose "Fred" an all red betta

Kate and Ben have been talking about wanting fish for a few months. After some investigating/researching and a few different trips to the pet store. We celebrated a successful school year for them both and chose two new members to join our family. They were so excited to pick them out and welcome them to their new homes!!!  



Last Day of School

 In celebration of national donut day and the last day of school!

 Kicking off the summer season with some backyard camp-outs

June 1st was the last day of school. It also happened to be national donut day, so in celebration of both, I surprised the kids with a special treat that morning!  The weekend was such beautiful weather that they both requested to"camp out" in the back yard. So with blankets, pillows, books, flashlights and numerous stuffed animals in hand, out they went and they had a ball!!!  Even sleeping until 8-9ish the next morning, and immediately begging to do it again that night -- amazing!  and the summer fun begins...........................