An American in Paris

To celebrate the last day of school

we dined 'al fresco'

and presented them with a surprise:

We were all excited,

and everyone could hardly wait for the sun to go down!

All nestled in...



We ate TONS of caramel corn & cherries and

by night's end were ready to sleep under the stars!

Heaven!

...

What a great school year, ladybugs!

We love you so!

XOXO

Mom & Dad

Summer Roast

I hate s'mores.

Always have.  Always will.

Now marshmallows and chocolate alone?

Completely separate from one another, and minus any graham action?

That's another story.

Yum.

But what are you going to do?

S'mores are a summer staple

-especially if you have a firepit-

and the kids go crazy for them. 

So here you go...

Oodles of kids with hot pokers:

Very dangerous!

But also extremely fun!



Bella & Hallie





Uncle Nathan getting some sweets on.

And Gabriel wearing the latest in baby summer attire.

2010 Memorial Day: Traditions Old & New

What's not to love about Memorial Day?

We are FREE to live and celebrate with family, friends, and great food!

What a blessing!

Every year we hit the donut shop early in the AM and the kids and Samuel positively devour their sweet pastries. 

I pick...

at the frosting that is. 

Which, in my opinion, is the only thing good about a donut!

Unless, of couse, it's creme-filled.

In which case you would eat the filling...get it?

{Okay, I'm back from my donut-frosting tangent.}

After our suger-induced hysteria we meet up with my family

for the local Memorial Day Parade.

Watching the parade is something I've been doing

for as long as I can remember, and it's so much fun to pass this tradition onto our kids. 

And as we stand for the flag,

hand over heart,

it brings back so many memories of my Grandpa Lopez. 

I know he's there with us.

Later we met up with Samuel's family where the Wylies host an annual Memorial Day BBQ in a truly spectacular country setting.  It is a great place to relax and visit and the kids have an great time exploring.

There are tire swings...

Little toys...

Big toys...

{Note the lack of helmet.  That didn't go over so well...}

Uncooperative toys...

Tears...

Chickens...?

Wild play areas...

...and of course, smiles!

We hope you had fun celebrating too!

Uncommon Friends...And the Tears that Fall When You Say Good-bye

You know what I'm talking about. 

And if you don't, you surely will one day.

I never thought that one of my best friends would reside "just over the fence".  And yet, when we moved to Roseville nearly two years ago now, that's exactly what happened.

We passed sugar, eggs, and who knows what else over that fence.  

We laughed together,

cried gobs of tears together,

and just were.

We not only shared a love of cooking,

but a between the two of us,

we had a bounty of life experiences that tried us,

and yes,

ultimately strengthened us.

Thank you, friend.

Our family has been richly blessed to know you and yours.

We dearly miss you all.

And look forward to keeping in touch.

Queen Victoria:

"You will go when I dismiss you.
I am your queen, and I am telling you to stay!"

Prince Albert:

"Good night, Victoria."

[Exits]

Queen Victoria:

[Storms over to door.]

"You may not go!
You may not go!
I order you to stay here in this room!
Albert!"

{Mmmm.}

I suppose they'll be no ordering you to stay...

Afterall it didn't work for Victoria, did it?

Anyhow, we love you and

we wish everyone all the best!

Thank you again...

for everything.

Olivia

P.S. 
And the Jackie Roll...
How can I ever repay you?

A Grand Excuse to Play

We invited some families from our ward for dinner, and the kids could not have been happier!

{Note: Of course, we were happy too!}

It was a grand excuse to play, and it was fun watching their adventures!

{Can't you just hear them shouting?}

Count your lucky stars you didn't hear this!

Just kidding!

These girls put on a wonderful show...

And they were so pleased with themselves!

There was a roaring hot fire...

which was a perfect ending...

to a perfect night!

Ava Miss Gracy turns 6!

For Ava's 6th birthday we celebrated with my family by roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Though it was a tad warm, as the 8 o'clock hour rolled around we were all in high spirits enjoying our sugar-high!

Can you believe that this was my mother's first s'more?

Owen likes his marshmallows black and crispy!

Yum!

Great-grandma Lopez and Gabriel Dodge

Grandma Rose & Gabriel

Dewey (a.k.a. Petey or Ryan), Ricky, & Nicole

Happy 6th Birthday Ava Grace!

You are a delight to not only your mother and father but to the whole world around you. You bring us so much joy with your sweet spirit, and to this day your big brown beautiful eyes melt our hearts!

We love you sweetheart!

Waterbabies

You wouldn't know it by looking outside, but we did have a few sizzling days there for awhile. The kids could not wait to don their swimsuits and head out back! After being liberally slathered with sunscreen by mom, they were finally free to play with the cool water!

Green Acres is the place to be!

We spent a Saturday checking out Green Acres Nursery in Roseville. If you've never been it's a great place with excellent staff to help you with whatever questions you may have.

Here are the kids...finally sitting still!