Anniversary Dinner

My fabulous parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on June 23 so we celebrated tonight with a family dinner.

Congratulations and happy anniversary to the best parents God could have given to Michael and me. We are who we are because of your love and devotion to each other and to our family! You've always given more than we could ever have asked for and continue to do so every single day. You are not only the absolute best parents, but also amazing role models, exceptional grandparents and supportive friends. You've always been there 110% without question, no matter what and for that we will always be grateful. If I can be to my children even half of what you have always been to me, my children will be blessed beyond measure!

Cheers to another 30 years!

Papa & GG Jackie & Jerry

Shawn & Crystal

Shelly & Tami

The happy couple - I promise my dad is happy, he's just not much for smiling in pictures. :-)

I love you Daddy!

The whole gang

Boog, Dani

Papa & GG (who actually branched out of their comfort zone and tried a little deep fried ice cream....and liked it!)

Daddy & Nakiah making funny faces at each other

Dani, Boog & Nakiah

Dennis, Shelly, Tami and Corey

I was there....I promise.

Welcome Home Auda

Auda was in Alaska on a fishing trip for the past week and Nakiah has asked for him every single day, way more than once a day!! By the end of the week, when she would ask for him and after I told her where he was she would say "oh, no Auda! Home" I asked her if she was ready for Auda to come home and she told me "yeah, meer Auda". I think these two missed each other!

We didn't get to give Auda his Father's Day gift before he left, so today was Father's Day for Auda....with a little help from Nakiah They now have matching outfits for when the time comes that Mommy actually allows Nakiah to be out on the river.....which won't be for some time!

So Mommy made sure that Nakiah's shirt would have plenty of grow room

These two are quite the pair!

Morning Jaunt

This morning, after breakfast, Corey, Nakiah and I headed out to Padilla Bay for a 4+ mile morning walk. It was so nice to spend a Saturday morning as a family. Since Corey works Saturdays we haven't been able to do something like this in a very long time. We all had such a good time!

Getting ready The tide was out pretty far when we arrived and you could really smell the "sea air". Nakiah immediately plugged her nose and told me "pee-ewe"!

A couple breaths to get used to it and she was good to go!

Mommy was secretly hoping that all the walking would trigger some contractions - no such luck!

I think Daddy was glad that he didn't have to run the 2 miles back to the car to get mommy to the hospital....although, that would have made for a pretty good birth story!

A rare family photo

Sippin' on some apple juice

This picture cracks me up. They totally look like they are deep in conversation, just strolling along

Two of my favorite people in this world

Running to "gawchew" Mommy

Resting those little legs

Later I found out she was copying Daddy who was standing behind me trying to shield his eyes from the sun.

But she did keep saying "aarrrrrgghh" every time she put her hand to her head

Pit stop for a snack

She was just as happy as Mommy was that Daddy got to spend the day with us.

She had lots of loves for her Daddy!

One more rest before we head out

Hot, thirsty and sooo ready for a nap....that she never took today!

Horsies

Whenever Auma takes Nakiah to visit Auntie Fave at work, they make a pit stop to ride the horsies, or as Nakiah calls them "hortzies"

It has now become impossible for Nakiah to walk past a mechanical toy without asking to ride them Sometimes, I've heard, she doesn't even want to ride them, she just likes to stand in between them with one hand on each horse as they move back and forth

A Walk In Her Shoes

Nakiah loves her green boots and wants to wear them all the time. If she sees them, for whatever reason, she thinks she needs to be wearing them. She's even learned how to step into them all by herself.

Now we just need to work on getting our boots on the right feet...

Silly Daddy

Nakiah recently discovered that if she is on "mommy's side" of the camera, she can see people in the little screen. She finds this very fascinating and now loves to help me take pictures of people. Its even more fun when someone like Daddy is on the "picture side" of the camera!

From Elephants to Wheelchairs

Here is an extremely small taste of the variety of activities that Nakiah gets to partake in when she visits GG & Papa...

She does everything from playing with GG's yard animals....

To getting rides in GG's old wheelchair.

Pretty much whatever Nakiah wants at GG & Papa's house, Nakiah gets....This is NOT mommy's idea, nor is it mommy approved! :-)

Goldy Locks

I can't believe how long her hair is getting!

Bubble Nose

Nakiah loves for me to make bubbles in her hair and then put them in her bathtub cups. I usually have to use extra shampoo because she likes 3 or 4 helpings of these bubbles. This particular time, she thought it would be fun to put some on her nose.....and then some on mommy's nose!

A much quicker technique

Her favorite part was putting soap on mommy's nose, and then my cheeks and my forehead and then my hair. I stopped her when she tried to dump the cup of bubbles on my head.