Texas Bound!

Mac, Lilly, Alec (my nephew) and I left early this am for Texas.

We are in Phoenix right now and the sunshine feels amazing! Yahoo...bring on the heat.

This will be a good trip. We have a lot going on, including a huge celebration in honor/memory of my Dad. The kids are looking forward to all the festive events that Ft. Davis puts on for the 4th of July. 

I have a few things to accomplish concerning my Dad's estate, but I am going to mostly sit back and relax.

I had a really tough time kissing Griff bye last night. The guilt I feel for leaving him behind is pretty darn HEAVY on my heart, but I know he will be very well loved and taken care of while we are away.

I will miss Pat bunches too...not use to not having him right by my side!

He is working hard on a project at work and just can't make this trip. I think it will be good for him and Griff to have some "boy" time together.

Texas needs rain badly and Oregon needs sunshine...so maybe I can deliver some Oregon rain while we are out here and bring a ton of Texas sunshine with us when we get home!

I noticed yesterday that some of my Lillies are blooming!

I hope they are still beautiful when I get back, so I can enjoy them.

Love to each of you and

BEST OF LUCK to those of you watching my Lil' Griff Monster! LOL...

He has been really good this past week. He has been giving huge hugs and kisses and even eskimo kisses, so soak 'em up for me!

Happy Father's Day Pat

 YOU ARE-

a husband

a father

a son

a provider

a friend

a playmate

We love you. 

You give us your best all the time and you give with all your heart, with all you have.

xoxo

Happy Father's Day to my own dad...up in Heaven...far away in miles-

but never far from my heart.

You defined what a Great Father, Son, Friend, Brother, Grand-Father are suppose to be.

We are forever grateful for all you did for us and others.

I love you.

I miss you. We all miss you...terribly.

xo

 

 

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Jack, Pat's Dad. 

I know that we all thought of you today...we miss you and love you too...

 

and Happy Father's Day to all you awesome Dad's out there!

 

It was mine and Pat's first Father's Day without our Dad's here on earth. I just tried to think of my favorite memories and times with them and made the best of it.

Never take loved one's for granted...you never know when God will need them and when their time here with us will be over.

 I hope you all had a blessed day (0:

Great Weekend!

Our weekend was great!

We had family time, friend time and even alone time!

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL and HOT day. I loved every second of it.

Sweet Summer Time and Weather. It is almost here. Signs are more present each day.

* corn on the cob (grilled)
* berry cobblers
* popsicles
* hose and water play
* laundry on the line
* strawberries 

 * fireworks
* sun-kissed cheeks and shoulders
* bare feet 

 * picnics
* homemade salsa

 * wildflowers
* butterfly's
* frogs
* lazy slow days
  * open windows
* tall grasses
Hands down my most favorite season. It does help that I live in a cooler climate, so I am not suffering in oppressive heat or stuck in air conditioned housing... 

Every day that we get to see and feel the sun is very warming for our souls!

Officer Burdett

Tom is now a police officer! 

WOW!

He will be a great one, no doubt.

Momma B and Jim are very proud of him...as are the rest of us. They had a great party for him on Saturday.

 Lilly and I got to play with Momma B's grand-baby and we loved every minute of it. He is such a sweetie!

 He adores Lilly!

 Christine and I got to visit and catch up on the front porch. I LOVE Momma B's front porch...it reminds me of home. Lilly enjoyed coloring and basking in the sun.

 I also got to visit with Momma B's sister from California. She's a hoot and I enjoyed chatting with her. I got to catch up with a lot of folks that I haven't seen in a while. It was great!

 SO-

You cannot throw a "cop party" without a mustache...

 ...we had plenty of them to go around! Tom's cake was hilarious- it had a police car with a pig driving it! HA- hopefully Momma B got a picture of it.

  Here is Officer Burdett loving on his nephew.

Congrats Tom! We are all so very proud of you.

Thanks Momma B and Jim for a great afternoon. We loved visiting with you!

Another Griff Mis-Hap...

I have another crazy tale for all you Griff followers!

Now...before you read this, make sure you read it with a strong tummy...your gonna need it- it's most definitely gross.

It happened yesterday afternoon and I am still "sick" about it.

We had a busy day, all day. When we got home from taking Mac to football class and Lilly to gymnastics, Griff and I started dinner. He likes to help me cook. He decided to go in the back yard and play not too long after dinner was cooking.

I let him out on our patio and went back to the stove to stir the food. I went right back out to check on him  and found him with a half-eaten, dead bird in his mouth...YES...guts and all. I FREAKED! I immediately grabbed his face/cheeks and squeezed his mouth open and started digging it all out of his mouth. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. It was soooo GROSS...I was gagging the entire time and he was kicking and screaming at me the whole time. I had no idea if he had swallowed any of it...I was just sick...and worried.

Our cat, Snickers, catches birds or snakes from time to time and then brings them up to the patio and proudly lays them there...like she is to receive an award or something. I DIDN'T see the bird when I let Griff out there.

I swear...this kid is gonna do me in.

After I cleaned out his mouth as best as I could and things settled down, I put him in his chair for dinner. When I gave him his food, he tossed it aside and screamed NO!

So, he would rather eat a raw, disgusting, dead bird- 

I must be a terrible cook.

He went to bed without much dinner...I think.

I have had kids eat dirt, paper, glue, chap-stick....but a dead bird??

This is the first for me! I was worried about him all night, thinking he was going to get sick.

He is fine and dandy and I am going insane-

LOL!

Hope you all get a good laugh out of this one (0:

Last Day of School!

Well, it's official-

School's out for Summer!
(I am officially TICKED at Blogger over this new picture format! It will not rotate my pictures!!)
So...we have to look at them sideways...

I cannot believe Mac is done with 5th grade. I am shocked...at how fast time is flying by.

 Lilly is all done with 1st grade!
Amazing...
Here's to a great summer kids.
We love you!

Rockin' PIR

I think we have found our new Monday Evening event.

More bike racing at PIR.

This time, Pat and Dave rocked the course with the kids.

It was a fun evening!

 Lilly and Molly's race began before the boys. They were both ready to GO!

 Lilly did a great job. She wrecked once on a corner, but there were no tears or worries...

she got up fast and got right back on the trail!

 Both girls rocked it and were hilarious when we they finished...

the looks on their faces, say it all.

 Mac and Kaymen took off next and shortly after that Pat and Dave took off.

It's hard to see Dave in this picture, but he's coming up the hill and you can see just a small part of his blue bike.

Pat is behind him with the green stripes coming down his shoulders.

 This was the beginning of the track. Mac is in the blue shirt.

 Dave is passing up some guys on his way down a hill.

(Blue bike, brown shorts)

 GO MAC!

 Go, Go, Go...

 Go Pat!

 Mac Attack...

 Pat- green stripes on his shoulders...

 Mac keeping up with some big boys-

 Kaymen totally rockin' it!!!

 Go Kaymen!

 Pat- almost finished!

 Mac making the last climb towards the finish line!

 Kaymen racing it in a for an awesome finish!

 My handsome racer boys and darling racer gal!

Great job Potter's and Izer's!

Friend's Birthdays!

The kids have had lots of fun birthday parties over the last few weekends!

It has kept us busy with all the other things we have going on and added excitement to the "BUZZ" of school coming to an end.

Lilly had a blast at Kaylee's party. It was at a farm in Oregon City called Jump 4 Joy.

Very cool-

 The kids all listened intently about the farm rules before the big tour...

Even these "peas in a pod"...payed close attention.

(blogger still will not rotate my pics!)

 They met Jimmy Dean. He was a cool pig that could do a few tricks!

 Lilly decided to throw her carrot to him...she wasn't too excited about him taking it from her fingers.

 Kaylee, the b-day girl, did a great job of calling in the chickens for some grub!

 Lilly getting some Bunny Love!

 Sweet, Sweet Girls!

 Gotta love goats!

 The end of the tour was Jim-miny Cricket...a fun spirited pony.

 More Sweet Girls.

Thanks Kaylee for a great outing and party!!

Mac went to 2 birthday parties this weekend-

ummmm....he was one of the first boys to fall asleep and it seems the others found a great way to entertain themselves!

I could not stop laughing when he pulled up his shirt...LOL.

BOYS!

He also got to go to a new Indoor Bike Track in Portland called The Lumberyard.

Mac is in the gray shirt, Keaton in the middle and Kaymen- all practicing their mad bike skills!

Sydney's Graduation

Sydney has graduated from High School...seems like not that long ago she was still just a little flower girl in our wedding...

Yes...that's Syd in front of Brittany and Stetson and Doo on the other side.

All of them are on their way to bright futures!

Syd's graduation was very exciting...a little long, but she had a HUGE class!

 She is somewhere in this picture...this was only half of the graduates...

 ...here is the other half!

 TA-DA...she receives her Diploma!!!

 Surrounded by lots of family and friends...she was grinning from ear to ear.

 She was also attacked with silly string by her loving siblings!

It looks like she is giving them "the bird" in this picture...but I am sure it's not intentional!!

(blogger will not rotate my picture!)

 Smiles...

 A Proud Momma and Grandma

 Proud Parents

Congratulations Sydney!

We all love you very much and are so proud of you.

We will miss you while you begin your college adventure in Mississippi, but are also very excited for you!

Go out into this World and GET WHAT YOU WANT GIRL!