Memorial Day with Friends

Monday evening we were invited over to Larry and Dendra's for a cookout! Zaina and Cara enjoyed the time to play together!

Yummy kabobs!

Cara had been playing in Zaina's play jewelry and stopped to model it for us

Dendra's fluffy kittens turned into big cats! They got so big since we saw them last!

Cara holding Cream Puff

And the rain subsided so the girls were able to play on the trampoline, a first for Cara

So Much To Do...

For the long weekend we headed to Grandma and Grandpa A's house for some fun and rest and relaxation


Cara playing with bubbles down by the boats

On a paddle boat ride with Grandma and Grandpa

Swimming, well wading in the alligator pool, but it was very refreshing to cool our feet off in the pool especially while we ate lunch outside

More bubble fun

Chasing Daddy's bubbles in the yard

An evening cookout with friends

After dinner it was fishing time. Cara wanted a closer look at a fish caught by Chris

Daddy caught this blue gill

We had a nice relaxing time playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was great spending time with friends and family whether it was swimming, boat rides, or fishing. We also got to watch the Indy 500 live on tv for the first time in years, which is way better than listening to it on the radio like we usually do (For the non-Indy readers of this blog it is blacked out on tv locally but shown later in the evening).

Face to Face

We finally went to meet Baby Lydia on Tuesday. She is the beautiful baby girl of our friends Lindsay and Travis. Cara was pretty excited to hold her!

And more holding!

Then on Tuesday night we went to the Face to Face concert with Billy Joel and Elton John!

Waiting for the concert to start

Sing us some songs Piano men!

Great concert! Although we liked Billy a lot more than Elton, he was much more of an entertainer! We had a great date night!

New Clothes

Last time we went to American Girl we were disappointed in the clothes selection to match the dolls. Grandma F even said "that pattern is so easy, I could make that". Soo.... that is what she is doing, making matching outfits for Cara and Baby Cara! Grandma brought this one over for a fitting, so we had to take pics! So cute!! Thanks Grandma!!

Park Fun

On Tuesday we met Kitty and Ali at the park for some fun and a picnic! The girls had a great time. This park had some great walking trails!

Walking around the big pond, the girls had buckets (thanks to Kitty) to pick up flowers, sticks, rocks, whatever they wanted. They decided to hold hands and it was cute and picture worthy!

I should have taken a picture of this big hill we had just climbed, but they girls got to scale these giants rocks like the one they are standing on.

And a goodbye hug! Thanks for the fun day friends! In Cara's words "we'll have to do it again someday"!

Getting So Big

On Monday afternoon Cara and I were playing outside and I looked at her and realized she looked like a little girl, no longer a baby or toddler! So I ran inside and grabbed the camera and started snapping away.

Smelling the flowers

She got her pen and paper to take my order for dinner

And a special thank you to my two most favorite people in the world. Thank you for my roses and special picture for Mother's Day. Also thank you to my in-laws for the new pictures of Cara wearing her Princess dress! What a great surprise!

Yeah For Daddy

For the past month Daddy has worked really long days with rehearsing for the school musical. It has been hard (especially for Cara) with not seeing Daddy at all during the week. Some weeks we would spend Sunday together and not see each other again until Friday because of our work schedules. But it has finally come to an end with this past weekends performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Everyone did a wonderful job and the show was so entertaining.



Grandma and Grandpa F joined us for the Friday night show

Daddy in the orchestra pit

Cara was so fascinated to talk to Daddy and look down at all the instruments in the pit. As soon
as intermission started Cara took off for the pit to tell Daddy "good job".

Daddy and Cara after the show


We went back for the Saturday show with Grandma and Grandpa A

When Grandma arrived on Saturday she brought Cara this new dress. Mommy absolutely loved it! We had the most perfect hairbow to match the bows on the dress! So cute!!

Cara and Mommy waiting for the show to start

Again fascinated with the pit and what was going on down there

Most of the cast on the stage at the end of the show!

Great job students and directors on a wonderful show. All your hours of rehearsing paid off!!

Happy Mother's Day 2009

We are so lucky to be blessed with wonderful Moms!!



Thank you to both of our Moms for babysitting anytime we want, being so helpful to any project we undertake, so generous with everything, and being so active in our lives. We are so very fortunate and want to take this opportunity to tell you! We love you both very much!!!


Cara and Grandma F



Cara and Grandma A





To our Grandmothers (Cara's Great Grandmothers):


Thank you for raising your children to become the wonderful parents and grandparents that they are. We know we don't get to visit as often as we would like, but know that you are always in our hearts!

Cara and Great Grandma A





Great Grandma E, Grandma F, Cara and Mommy





I hoped, dreamed, and prayed about being a mother for so long, but the feelings that come with it are not even close to what I imagined it would be. Thank you God for giving me the chance to have a child, it is the most rewarding thing in my life! I was planning to put a picture up of me and my girl, but I couldn't chose just one, so here is a brief highlight of my joys of being of mom this past year.

July 2008

August 2008



October 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009


April 2009

First Time for Everything

From Sunday:

You know my girl doesn't feel well when she goes upstairs to get a binkie (she is only allowed to have them in bed for naps/sleeping) and comes down and puts herself down for a nap in our comfy big chair! This is the first time she has ever put herself down for a nap!