Madison Turns 12

Happy 12th Birthday to Madison!!!!  It is an amazing privilege to watch this beautiful girl grow up!

Here's the gang.  From left to right:  Jessa, Savannah, Katie, Madison and Holland

I love this picture of Elaine and I!  What a wonderful friend she is!!

Adorable cousins.  Jaden and Canaan.

Little Princess Ava

The girls had a lot of fun swimming in the pool.  Even though it was very warm outside, the water was still really cold.  Too cold for us adults.

Jessica and Katie poking their heads through the waterfall.

Will and Mike contemplating the universe or perhaps just being silly!

Savannah and the Birthday Girl

Madison shakily hugging Amy after receiving tickets to go see One Direction in concert.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Happy Birthday Miguel!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND!!! HE IS THIRTY-FIVE TODAY.

A Day at the Beach

A couple of weeks ago we went to the beach and enjoyed the sunshine.  I stayed in the shade under an umbrella and still got a little red.  The sun was so hot off the water Mike and Amy both got burned.  Jessica got her first sunburn ever and actually pealed.

Madison as a mermaid.  Much effort was put into this costume.  Notice the detail of the scales on the bodice.

Mike and I

Little Cano after being buried in the sand.

Mike helping Ian make a whale.

Mike and Amy.

Jessica working on burying Canaan.  She repeatedly covered his stomach and yelled at him to stop breathing because he was messing it up.  I don't think she thought that all the way through.

Jess and Madi.

Ian Michael.

The Sunflowers Are out of Control

The sunflowers are growing out of control.  I've been teasing Mike that I am going to write a children's book about a girl whose dad's sunflowers and tomato plants take over the whole backyard.  Now that our watermelon plants are getting bigger it may even come true.

I'm a couple of weeks behind in my posting.  So these are from the middle of June.  We have huge flowers now and the plants are even taller.  I will post them soon.

Mike is proud of all his plants, but especially the sunflowers.  He's grown them from seedlings.