Papa's Birthday Party at Kyoto

In celebration of Dad/Papa's birthday, we went out for teppanyaki at Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse.

Entertaining & Delicious

Yum!

This is so fun & so tasty!

My yummy steak & shrimp

Leah, Joey, and Melissa

Melissa picked up a surprise Baskin Robbins cake!

Joey made us all laugh as he replicated the Japanese chef's chopping and clinking skills when he cut the cake. ☺

Even though we all wanted to treat him, Dad picked up the tab.
Thank you so much, Dad - and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dad/Papa!

Today we not only celebrate Greta being four months old, but also my Dad's birthday! I thought this photo (taken just last week) fit perfectly for this special occasion.

My parents are visiting from Minnesota for much of June and into July. Soon, I'll post many new photos and stories of our time together, much of it up in the mountains at our family cabins. As often happens, I'm behind and have much catching up to do on this blog, which more than anything, serves as my photo album/journal. ☺

Happy Birthday, Dad/Papa! We love you!

Greta Brielle -- Four Months Old

Wow! Another month has flown by quickly, and our baby girl is growing so much! She's nearly rolling over now, is almost always smiling, she loves to chatter and coo, and she is an absolutely wonderful sleeper! For the past few weeks, she averages sleeping 8 to 9 hours consecutively each night. She loves music, having books read to her, kicking and playing on her play mat, riding in the car, being talked to and replying in return, being held and rocked, and still loves going for walks in her Sleepy Wrap. She loves her big brothers and her Mommy & Daddy, as well as anyone else who holds her and loves her. She is such a happy and sweet-tempered child ~ we are enjoying every moment! ♥

We are in awe of the miracle she is, and love seeing her grow and learn new things each day.
Oh, how we love her!

Happy 6th Birthday, Gordon!

Our little sweetheart is SIX! It's become tradition that we spend Gordon's birthday in the mountains at our family cabins, and that's just what we did this year.

Gordon was up bright & early, ready to start celebrating his special day!

We are so proud of Gordon! He is a bright, sensitive, curious, comical, outgoing & friendly little man! I'm repeating myself, I'm sure - but he truly has a heart of gold. ♥

Gordon was very excited and appreciative to receive $50 from Grammy & Papa!

He also received many other great gifts from family members, including these Legos.

Grammy, Papa, Auntie Lassa, and Uncle Doe-Doe made sure Grayson had some presents to enjoy also.

This is Gordon's reaction when Daddy presented him with the remote-controlled helicopter he's been pining for.... ☺

Always a good sport, Gordon loved the not-so-sturdy Jeep cake I made for him.

Let's use our imagination and say this Jeep is climbing some major rocks in Moab! ☺ (With the support of two plastic forks on one side).

Happy Birthday, sweet Gordon!

We love you so very much, and thank God for you every single day! ♥

Happy Birthday, Gary!

Happy Birthday...to my wonderful husband and beloved Daddy to our children!

Gordon & Grayson drew lovely pictures for Daddy's birthday.

Grayson went shopping with me and helped me pick out this gift from all of us -- a signed and numbered Ward Hooper print. It's #125 out of 125! I'm getting it matted and framed for him as well - just wanted to be sure this was a print that he liked before doing so. Turns out, he loves this design, and so do I! It's an autumn scene of Rainbow Bridge over the Payette River, which we cross on many adventures heading north. Including the drive that took us to our mountain top wedding at Brundage Ski Resort just outside of McCall almost eight years ago.

And here's little Greta. She watched Daddy open his presents from her Bumbo seat, which she just started sitting up in last week.

Happy Birthday, Gary/Daddy!
We love you!

The Boys' Jeep

Gordy & Grayson have been saving their allowance and birthday card money for some special things: battery-powered driving toys. When Gary found this Jeep on Craig's list, they didn't hesitate to go look at & test drive this little treasure.

As you can see, they decided to pool their money and close the deal on their new vehicle together.

Checking under the hood and looking over their tool box.

Check this out:

Kodak Moments

Here are some snapshots of the quiet moments as we kick off summer vacation....Greta loves to kick and play on her play mat.

It always warms my heart to see our boys enjoying time together.

Little Princess.

We enjoy our quiet moments -- though this week, they have been few & far between.
We've had something on the calendar for every day this week - a birthday party Monday afternoon, play dates with friends at various parks on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and a nice long bike ride to the library on Wednesday.

Let the summer fun begin!

Evening in the Backyard

We've been enjoying dinner outside on the patio, now that summer weather has arrived. It's wonderful to have daylight well into the evening. The boys have become interested in climbing the trees in our backyard.

Our little monkey, Grayson.

Gordon enjoying a nice, summer evening.

Hanging from tree branches - another monkey.

Little Greta loves her very 1st doll baby!