Domino sleeping on the way down!

Our good friends, Robin and Larry, invited us to travel to Branson for the weekend. The highlight was of course, Silver Dollar City, a wonderfully clean and friendly theme park. It was a blast.

Anjelia was rather attached to Larry for the weekend. Robin and Larry were brave to invite a family of six on a get-away weekend!

Elaina and her daddy.

I enjoyed the ginormous Flemish Giant bunny!

And Anjelia liked the little goats!

The girls were curious about the old school house. Kinda wish things were still this way for my kids.

The girls loved the roller coasters. Elaina jumped on the barn swing with Lydia and my blood pressure went up. This thing is a beast of a ride. Elaina and I both survived the experience! Jessica and Olivia were roller coaster riding machines. Lydia was brave and tried them all. Larry bought the video of Lydia riding Wildfire, a 66 mile per hour ride with five upside down loops. Her expressions are hilarious the entire ride! I was proud of them all for being brave. Anjelia loved the Powder Keg. It starts by going from 0 to 60 in two seconds! Pretty daring for a six-year-old!

Our family at The Landing. It was beautiful. Would love to see the fountain show at night.

We toured Marvel Cave. It is a one hour walk underground! Very cool. It’s amazing that there are gorgeous water falls underground! The girls got to see some bats and lots of beautiful formations.

A big thank you to Larry, Robin and Olivia for sharing their bring-a-friend tickets with us! We had a great time spending the weekend with your family. Thanks for the memories!

Tom and Karen have been good friends of ours since early adulthood. Some of my funniest and fondest memories are associated with our newlywed years spent hanging out together. We’ve grown up some and now have become full-fledged adults with strong marriages and a great history together. I am so thankful to have their friendship, which will undoubtedly last a lifetime.

We’ve always tried to be there for each other and help out when we can. Tom really came through for me big time this weekend when he showed up at my home with a pick-up truck full of cleaning supplies, including his beloved carpet steam cleaner! I really needed someone to intervene!

My stinky and disgusting mini-van has endured much at the hands of my four children. I could hardly stand the smell each time we got in it to go somewhere, especially in this summer heat. Over the years there’s been every kind of food and drink spilled on the seats and carpet. Where there’s babies and small children, there’s formula, puke and a mom with a strong cup of coffee. Countless times I’ve spilled my coffee all over the front seat and floor. It was really gross.

My van now looks fantastic and the stink is GONE!!! Tom dedicated two afternoons and an evening to detailing the beast. I am sure it was his biggest challenge to date. THANK YOU, TOM!!! I PROMISE I will keep it clean.

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I have much updating to do. I am sorry for my absence. My summer highlights post will be up soon!

We’ve been going on hayrides with Mom and Larry each year since Jessica was 6 months old. I think the kids are growing up with fond memories of our rides down dusty gravel roads in the cool of Autumn. It’s always a yearly highlight. This year was chillier than usual but it wasn’t uncomfortable or miserable. We just bundled up and got cozy under blankets.

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We had the good pleasure of being a part of Rob and Sarah’s wedding in Colorado Springs! We loaded up Tuesday evening and left at 5 am Wednesday morning. As you know, it’s a long boring trip across the state of Kansas. Even the stuffed animals Mug and Pumpkin got bored!

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Everywhere we go we are accompanied by stuffed animals!

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Jessica, Kat and Lydia, just before lights out.

Last night I had one of those moments that totally grabbed my heart and caused me to stop and reflect. I couldn’t stop smiling as feelings of nostalgia ran through me. Lydia and Jessica had my bestest childhood friend’s daughter, Kathleen, over to spend the night. The three girls enjoy each other tremendously. I remember sleeping overnight at Elizabeth’s– sharing her full size bed. We’d stay up half the night talking and giggling. We dreamed together about how someday we would have daughters and they would stay up giggling and talking just like us. Last night it happened. Sometimes childhood dreams really do come true!!

“Friendships are what our dreams are made of. We hold onto each other with its binding love. We stand close to each other, hand in hand, showing each other we understand. Some friends may come and go, but you are the truest friend I know”

As promised, I have a few more pics to show off. Our Independence Day celebration at our home was small, relaxing (if you don’t count the traffic) and fun. Check out my gallery to see all my favorites from the holiday.

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Independence Day would be a very sad affair without my beloved pyro James. I have many smoky, loud July memories thanks to him!

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I’d like to share a couple of pics from my birthday. I wish I could turn the creative part of my brain back on. I somehow feel like forming a complete, coherent thought is difficult these days! I catch myself wandering around Wal-Mart in daze; I so easily shut down! Maybe it’s a mom thing because I spend most of my energy on my family. It’s definitely making blogging difficult!

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My bestest, longtime childhood friend, Elizabeth, spent three days with me last week. It was so nice to have her company. She left the morning of my birthday, after James snapped this pic of us. I think we’ve aged well, girlfriend! (Some of our childhood pictures are rather scary!) We met as pre-schoolers and became friends in first grade. She looked like Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls. I looked horrible with my giant cow lick. Liz thought I’d cut my bangs off! Our friendship grew stronger during our Duran Duran days and has perservered throughout all the joys and pains of our adult lives.

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My girls decorated a cake for me at Mom’s. Anjelia kept blowing the candles out while we were trying to get a picture! They are such sweet girls when it comes to birthdays. They were so happy for me and I so enjoyed them.

I have been so lazy with my camera. I wish I had more pictures to show. James and I kept waiting to ask someone to take one of us but we never got around to it. We need to have more pictures taken together.

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” Morrie Schwartz

I adore pictures of cute old ladies! Here we are Mary! I can see us now!

In honor of my friend Mary’s birthday, I thought I’d give one of her favorite drinks a nod! As you know, I’m a proud coffee consumer. Mary has a more refined taste for Earl Grey tea. It’s always a pleasure to sit and share our favorite hot drinks together, especially when it involves a yummy dessert! Happy birthday, Mary!!! I hope you and Carl have a wonderful day together.

Mary and Carl.

In honor of your love for children’s literature, I give you this childhood poem.

TEA PARTY

I had a little tea party, this afternoon at three
Twas very small, three guests in all, I, Myself, and Me
Myself ate up the sandwhiches, while I drank up the tea
Twas also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me!

Friends and fellow bloggers, Rob, Melissa, Jim and Sarah (a new friend) came to our home for a visit last evening. They’re in town for Chistmas and it’s always a treat to see them. We had a good time eating pizza, visiting, and playing Sudoku. I excitedly showed them my new washer and dryer. My lovely washer sang it’s perky little song for them. I’m sure it had to have been an evening highlight for the guests. I also decided to do a physical demonstration of the immense capacity of my awesome new dryer. If I remember correctly, I was egged on.

A good friend will come and bail you out of jail…but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, “Wow…that was fun!”

Now it’s time for ‘This Day In History’ brought to you by Carl who is celebrating his birthday today!

1946 Harry Truman becomes 1st US President to travel in a submerged sub
1945 Goldie Hawn was born
1963 Nicollette Sheridan was born (Desperate Housewife)
1959 Max Baer US, heavyweight boxing champ (1934), dies at 49

This was the only picture I could find of Carl but it sums up his family’s relationship with our family. Simply put, they are a part of our family. They are like any aunt, uncle and cousin.

When we sit around the house and warn our kids about talking to strangers we, of course, talk about the people who are safe to walk up to. Carl, Mary and Tori are at the top of the list. That’s quite a big deal, in my opinion. When it comes right down to it we all have a short list of people we would trust our kids too. They have provided Julie and I with a lot of opportunities to go out on dates over the years by giving up a lot of evenings at home to watch our kids. You guys have been a source of rest in a busy world!

Carl, today we celebrate you. We celebrate your love of friendship. We celebrate your love of gift giving. We celebrate you being an important part of our lives.

I invite everyone to join me in wishing Carl a Happy Birthday!

“Carl is really cool.” -James D