Madison's Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, and GiGi all flew in for her birthday party. It was so fun to have them all here. We did miss Homie :) After the party, we went to dinner at The 94th Aero Squadron. It's a great restaurant that overlooks a nearby airport.

During dinner Maddie loved watching the planes and playing with everyone. Then after dinner she enjoyed playing with the ducks.

GiGi was there taking pictures of every moment!

We are so thankful for each visit we get to have with the Great Grandparents!

My two cuties!

Of course Maddie had to wear GiGi's shoes!

GiGi gave Madison her bath.

Here they are doing bedtime stories and puppets.

(Thanks to the package Homie and GiGi just sent!)

Thank you for making the trip! We love you and miss you :)

Maddie's Birthday Party

A special thanks to everyone that came to celebrate Maddie's birthday last week. We had a blast. Maddie likes cookies more than cake, so we had a cookie party.

We also went swimming.

Maddie wanted to spend the most time with Joshua Smith (above). We think she may have a little tiny crush :)

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa flew in from Denver for the day. They loved talking with Aunt Dottie.

She was way more into the chips than the sandwiches.

Here are a bunch of my friends from work. Steve, Mike, Justin, Wyatt (getting food) and Mark.

Maddie tried to read her birthday cards. This was and Eric Carle one, which matched one of her favorite books at home. Thanks Drew and Sarah.

We ended the party with swimming too!

Here's our beautiful birthday girl!

We can't believe that she is 2!

Thanks ,Deidre, for such a cool party.

Summer Days

Since being back from Palm Springs, we've had lots of fun. My sister and her kids are here, so every day we do something new. Here we celebrated Charis' 6th birthday! I can't believe she's already six. I remember sitting in the hospital waiting room in the middle of the night, and seeing Ben round the corner to tell us we could finally go in to meet sweet Charis. She was so tiny! Now she's a responsible older sister and cousin. We love you, Charis!

Pool time at Papa and Mimi's.

We celebrated the Fourth of July at the Sander's home. I only took one picture the whole day. We had a blast!

Another day we visited the train park.

Mimi and Emma

One evening we drove down to Santa Monica for a picnic dinner. It was FREEZING (for CA).

Madison had a pretty fun ride on Daddy's back.

Papa and his Arizona girls.

Papa and his 3 girls, and one more to come!

Today we went to Zuma beach for the day. It was perfect beach weather! What a beautiful day!

The girls had so much fun burring one another in the sand!

Three of a kind.

So, I think she's pretty cute :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Family Time in Palm Springs

We just got back from a fun-filled week long trip in Palm Springs! We originally went out for Resolved, and then made it into a family vacation. My mom and dad were so generous to rent a beautiful house for both my sister's family and our family to stay in with them. We had such a memorable time together. It was sweet watching Mimi and Papa take joy in blessing their granddaughters. Thank you Mom and Dad for all the planning you put into this vacation- we LOVED it!

Praying for lunch as a big family.

(Can you spy the World Cup on in the background?!)

Buddies

There was even a jacuzzi!

Hmmm...

All 3 had matching suits :)

Getting acquainted with Shamu.

Let's play ball!

Matching game

Craft time! Mimi brought a fun craft each day for the girls- she was so thoughtful! I love that Jesse was helping Mads decorate her bag!

Mimi and Papa took the girls out for ice cream...yum!

Madison looks up to her older cousin Charis.

Why not play with the pool floats inside?!

Mimi gave each girl fruit-scented bubbles!

A special movie time and snacks.

Maddie couldn't get enough of Mimi's pasta!