Summer Fun

 Dylan has been a great helper around the house this summer. When we got a new to us sofa he helped out by sweeping out our old sofa and the new one!

 We've had lots of friends over this summer also. Thankful that we still have a great friendship with Anna and Emerson, they came over to play in the water and took a snack break and made popcorn.

 Came in one afternoon to find Cadence taking a nap with a pillow canopy all around her. :)

 And we had some swimming fun with Maggie and Eli!

 I found a idea online to make a sprinkler out of pvc pipes. So Dylan and I did the project together and Mark joined in at the end to help out. Dylan was great about following directions and putting together.

 It has created hours of fun!

 Mark thought it would be fun to try to have a mustache...this is as far as he got! :)

 More fun with Eli & Maggie!

Flat Tire

 We unfortunatly got a flat tire while driving home with a full truck load! Thankfully it made a noise

before blowing out and thankfully Mark was driving!

The girls and I (Dylan was at a friends house) sat up on the side wall of the freeway.

 The bad news was that since this was our first time having to use our tire jack since we have had the truck we found out that we don't own the handle or the lock to release the spare time...needless to say not a happy moment when we realized this.

So we called up a friend Ray that lives close by and owns a Ford, but no such luck. Each vehicle has their own specific lock.

He ended up taking the girls and I home while Mark waited for the tow truck. Thankful for his generosity and kindness.

Frustrating experience but could have been a lot worse!

Lincoln's Birthday

 Our tradition that Dylan created for our family continued this year with making cupcakes and sharing one together as a family. This year Dylan and Cadence made the batter while Isabelle was napping. They did a great job of working together and of course trying out by finger licking during the process. :)

 Then they frosted and decorated and we had with our lunch. 

I love that our kids include Lincoln as part of our family when they are talking in conversation. It is something that I had always wanted after we lost Lincoln. I didn't want him to just be a memory that Mark and I had...but that he was and is apart of our family legacy even though he isn't here with us now.

 I also got a tattoo in memory on his birthday day. I've been thinking about it for a long time and I always knew that I wanted this phrase...Weeping for that which has been my delight.

I had read it after Lincoln passed away as a quote on one of the Hospice information papers.

I really love the way it turned out.

I also wanted to include in this post what I wrote on Facebook the morning of his birthday...

7 years ago I was headed to the hospital around this time. The night before I stayed home with my labor slowly progressing. When I got to the hospital and was checked the nurse went into full panic mode...about 20 minutes later our 2nd born son was born. There is something so magical about the moment you get to hold your child. To know they are your responsibility, that you will create so many memories together, that you instantly are in love.

At this moment of joy there was never a thought that by the end of the afternoon I would be in such grief over the news the doctor delivered to us. The doctor's exact words are vague in my memory...I heard "your son has a genetic condition" and then I heard the words "he will probably only live 48 hours". Mark crawled in the hospital bed with me, we held each other and wept. Wept for a long time.

Our son was strong and lived for 18 days.
18 days of heartache.
18 days of joy.
18 days of life changing love.
So thankful for every moment I was able to have him.

Weeping for that which has been my delight.

Fathers Day!

 We celebrated Fathers Day beginning with Mark in the morning with breakfast in bed (Isabelle kept eating all the fruit, I love her little smirk in the picture below :)).

And I totally forgot to take pictures of the rest of our day and celebrating with both my and Mark's dad. Thankful for our family!

Vacation fun continues

 We went on a land to sea tour where we rode a bus through downtown San Diego and then entered the harbor for a little boat tour where we got to see Sea Lions. It was something different and fun to do. :)

 After the boat ride we stopped and got some icecream...as you can see Isabelle very much enjoyed hers!

 And we enjoyed a bunch more beach time for the rest of our trip. I love what Dylan wrote (you can't really see it) for his sand heart "I love family".

Such a wonderful vacation. So thankful!

San Diego Zoo

Our big event for this year was going to the zoo. It was a big day...it is so big! Mark and I haven't been there since when when we were dating. It was fun for us to see all the animals, ride the double decker bus and ride on the sky cars to the other side of the zoo.

 My favorite was the polor bear. They were so active and fun playing with their toys in the water. :)

 Dylan asked me to take the above picture of him, too funny!

And then of course the girls had to have a picture also.

 We watched a 4D small move of the ice age movie.

 I wanted to capture this picture of Dylan and Cadence...it was so sweet. We were riding on the double decker bus and it was afternoon by now so the kids were starting to get tired. Cadence and Dylan were sitting next to each other and she laid her head down. Dylan kept putting a shadow over her eyes or holding his hand above to shade her eyes. It was so thoughtful and made my heart smile!

 This hippo was also super fun. Just kept walking back and forth in front of the window...he was huge!

And at the end they all picked out a toy using their own money (thanks in part to a nice money gift from grandma r.) :)

It was a super fun day!