Love You

Last night as I was putting Rylan to bed, he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said "Love you Mama" for the first time!!! What a sweet moment! Do you ever feel like your heart is going to burst because it is overflowing with love? Well, that's how I felt at that moment! How sweet it is to be loved, especially by a child!

As Bryon walked into the room to kiss Rylan goodnight, he heard a little voice say "Love you Dada." I could tell Bryon was just as touched as I was.

We love you too dear boy...more than life itself!

Big Storm

We recently had a huge lightning and thunderstorm. It was a spectacular sight! Bryon and I sat out on our covered deck and watched the storm. We stayed outside as long as we could and headed inside when the storm got close. It went right over our house. The rain and thunder were so loud that I thought for sure Rylan would wake up, but he slept through it all. Check out these amazing photos our neighbor took of the lightning directly above our house.

A beautiful rainbow after the storm. I love this symbol of God's promise.

Father's Day

My sisters and I spoiled all the fathers in my family (my dad, Bryon, and Jerimiah) by making a delicious meal for them. They returned home from a round of golf to a warm meal of shrimp skewers, pot stickers, rice, edamame, General Tso's chicken, and lettuce wraps (we even used the recipe from PF Chang's). I'd say they are pretty lucky guys! We're pretty lucky gals too to have them in our lives!!!

The chefs

I sure had a fun time cooking with my sisters!

Yum, yum! Dish up while it's hot.

I thought I'd include a few of my favorite pictures of Rylan with the men in his life. Here is one from last summer with Papa. My dad was feeding Rylan icecream, and they were obviously both having a pretty good time. Apparently Rylan decided to save some on his chin for later. Rylan sure loves you Papa!

One of Rylan's favorite things to do when we visit Bryon's parents is to feed the fish with Grandpa. Grandpa waits for Rylan to wake up every morning and then he'll take him outside and let him throw the fish food into the pond. It is the highlight of Rylan's day. Rylan loves visiting you Grandpa! We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

Like father, like son. These two are peas in a pod. This is one of my favorite candid shots of my boys. They are always so happy when they're around each other. Rylan is so blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

I love you because...

• you make me laugh
• you tickle me when I ask you to
• you read me stories and teach me about diggers
• you take me to the park
• you take me to the store and sometimes even let me get icecream
• you tell me you love me everyday
• you make things for me like my cool new sandbox
• you take me on walks every day
• you give me kisses
• you love my Mom
• you cheer me up when I'm sad
• you play with me

You're the best dad in the world! I love you tons!

Love,
Rylan

Congratulations Jeff and Way to go Bryon!!!

My brother, Jeff, just graduated from high school and will be leaving for college in two months. So, my parents threw a graduation party for Jeff out at our lake cabin. While we were there, my mom decided to take a few pictures of Jeff with all his sisters. I don't remember the last time we took a picture with just the five of us kids. Jeff is not big into hugging, so you can see his sisters took advantage of this photo opportunity by giving him one giant squeeze. We love you Jeff and we're proud of you! We look forward to visiting you at school.


For those of you who haven't heard yet, Bryon just got a great job as a Project Manager for a local commercial construction company. They are a large company with lots of perks! He has great benefits and vacation too. We are both very excited! He started on June 16, one day before school is out and I'm home for the summer. The timing couldn't have been better. Way to go Bryon! I'm proud of you!

Party Time

Rylan was recently invited to his good friend Blake's birthday party. Blake just turned two and celebrated his birthday at Mobius, a childrens' science museum. It was quite the hit! Thanks for the great party Blake.

Here's the birthday boy blowing out his candles (with a little extra help from his Mama).

All these kids enjoyed their lunch and cake so much that they sat so quietly the entire time. That doesn't happen too often.

This was the first time we've ever been able to keep a party hat on Rylan. Maybe that was because he was preoccupied with his juice box.

"That's as close as you're gonna get for a photo. I don't want you stealing any of my Pirate's Booty. It's my favorite snack...go get your own."

Rylan loved this little hut and especially like all the pretend food he found inside. He kept trying to eat the corn and the oranges.

"Wow, I'm driving this scooter all by myself. I'm trying to stay on the right side of the road without crashing into the building. Driving is hard work. Uh oh, stop light ahead."

This was by far the most popular center at Mobius. The kids played here for what seemed like hours. Why are kids always so drawn to water?

Happy Birthday Blake! We enjoyed celebrating with you!

One, Two, Three...

Rylan just learned how to count to ten. He likes to count flowers in the garden, objects in books, and even his toys. He gets better and faster at it every day!

Backyard Fun

Rylan loves to be outside! He spends the majority of every day playing in our backyard! He entertains himself for hours by running around and exploring all the rocks, dirt, flowers, bugs, and poop. As funny as it sounds, he loves to watch Daddy pick up the dog poop with the shovel. He points to each pile and says "shovel poop". It is pretty darn funny!
Rylan also loves to draw with his sidewalk chalk. He can even tell you what color each piece of chalk is. His favorite color is blue. Pretty smart, huh?


We have a bird bath in our backyard and Rylan loves to play in the water. He enjoys splashing his arms in the water and telling us when it is time to add more water by saying "water bath".


Rylan claimed this rock in our backyard as his outdoor chair. He also designated a rock chair for Mama. He pats my "chair" and says "Mama sit". Once he's satisfied that I'm seated in the right place, he'll go over to his "chair", pat it and say "Ry sit".


I had to include this picture because I think it is so sweet how Rylan carries his bear around with him, even outside. He's pretty attached to Teddy and Rylan likes to make sure he's included during play time.


Bryon built Rylan a big sandbox and even made seats on all four corners! He did a great job and Rylan loves it! He literally spends hours playing in it every day.

"Thanks Dad! This is the best toy ever!"

We recently got Rylan a new basketball hoop! He think it's pretty cool and likes to slam dunk the ball!

We are thrilled that our son loves to be outdoors as much as we do! We plan to take him on many camping, hiking, and biking trips this summer.

Birthday Cake and Dandelions

Over Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated my sister Jenna's birthday. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the warm, sunny weather. We all got together at my parent's lake cabin and enjoyed a feast of spaghetti and meatballs and chocolate cake for dessert. Thanks mom for the delicious meal!

Here we are relaxing out on the deck with the birthday girl. Awe, what a life!

Rylan has been on a big chocolate kick lately. So, needless to say, he was ecstatic when we served him up a piece of chocolate cake and ice cream. It was certainly one of the highlights of his day!

Rylan just adores his cousin Ava! These two are going to grow up being good buddies.
Rylan and I go on walks together every day and one of his favorite parts of the walk is picking dandelions along the way. So, when Rylan saw all the dandelions at the lake cabin he decided to take Ava on a little walk to pick "flowers". They each had quite the bouquet by the time they were done.

"I don't know what was more fun; eating cake or picking flowers!"

I'm looking forward to many more fun days at the lake this summer!

Happy Birthday Jenna! We love you!