July 4th 2013!

3 cousins in deck chairs

You are at the beach right now with your parents, Uncle, Sabba  & Safta. Your parents have “tweeted” several pictures which show you are having fun and growing up so quickly. Since my last post the biggest event has been our wonderful trip to Alaska! It was an amazing time to be with you every day and see you interact with your five cousins…Jacob (12), Abigail (9), Jackson (5), Maggie Rae (5), Eli (2) and Uncles Frank & Eric and Aunts Kristina & Shari and me & Papa Wayne. We were celebrating 20 years since we married. A lot has happened in 20 years. And a lot has happened since my last blog posting!  One day at your house there was a momma bird sitting on a nest on the post of the front porch!  Your mom got sick and I unexpectedly spent a sweet day with you. I got to hear “Granny! Granny!” several times & we went to the pool together. Maggie Rae and Kristina came for a short visit and we ate out together. Then on June 9 we got on a plane to Alaska and returned on June 18. The ship was so much fun. We made stops at Skagway, Juneau & Ketchikan. One of the best parts of the trip was seeing you every morning. One day we happened to run into the whole group of Disney Princesses waiting for an appearance. You met many of the Disney characters and learned to give “high 5’s” and 4’s and even “high zero”. One of the most fun things was a dog sled ride in Juneau where we made the only pictures of all 14 of us. Almost every evening the 14 of us ate together. You enjoyed climbing stairs and riding elevators a lot! You & I went to a Pixar party in the atrium with me & you loved dancing with the crowd and blew kisses to Mrs. Incredible. On the last day we went to a Character Dance party; your parents went too & made videos & pictures of you having a wonderful time dancing! It was such a joy to see you have so much fun. We had a special Pirate Dinner on the last night and Abigail gave you & Maggie Rae dresses so the 3 of you dressed alike. So cute! The staff from 60 countries sang “It’s a Small World After All”. Wayne & I went to the 10:00 pm “till we meet again” party and interestingly as we were leaving it, they played “Sweet Home Alabama”. We stopped to listen. As much as you like to see planes from the ground, you did not like flying! After we finally arrived in Vancouver you said “no more planes!” but we had to do it again to get home! Only the Denver to Vancouver part of the flight was comfortable. Since returning from the cruise I’ve only had one day with you; you had obviously grown up a lot! One thing I noticed was you were more independent. For example, you would ride in your wagon rather than insist on being carried. Although I love carrying you, as you’ve grown it’s hard on my back. When I put you to bed we read many, many books and you reminded me to take the empty bottle when I left your room. I don’t think there are many bed time bottles ahead for me to give you! Because your Dad is going on a long hike in Wyoming this month, I will be spending more time with you which will be delightful. I’m looking forward to it. You grow so quickly. Today the USA is 237 years old but this is just your second 4^th of July. Happy Independence Day 2013! 

1st pose with a character!

 

Three cousins & 2 Aunts!

 

Delicious food every day!