PICTURES from NEW YORK courtesy of Emily

Our little surfer girl...not little anymore

M&M Heaven
The Fitness Models enjoying some REAL food !

Meili and Madisyn Visit

My youngest sister Meili and her husband John, have been issued orders to move to Aviano,Italy sometime between November and January. They are currently with the Air Force in New Mexico. Meili and Madisyn came to visit us these past two weeks. Little did I know that I picked a CRAZY time for them to weather here, but it was fun also. We picked up Meili and Madisyn the same time that we dropped OFF Ben and Aaron, who were visiting here from South Carolina...so everyone met before we swapped visitors !

We had many "firsts" while they were here visitng. Madisyn got her ears pierced and had

a few licks of her first lollipop...her first sugarless Gummi Worm ..AND

She also had her first bottom tooth come through

We went to the County Fair, where Madisyn had a ball playing with all the animals.....

Cody rode the mechanical bull for his second year. He was so good that they ran up and put a cowboy hat on him...but the only kid sized one they had was PINK. They spun him and he stayed on, so the man made it go faster. Cody held on until he spun it and DEAD stopped the bull. This sent Cody flying sideways, into a puddle off water, that had accumulated on the mat from water sprinklers. He loved it Ü

We went to lunch at Red Robin where Emily works. Madisyn wanted a lemon and so Emily shared with her. She made the FUNNIEST faces, but went through about three slices! She also LOVES straws Ü

We enjoyed a visit to our Farmer's Market and ended their visit Saturday, with Madisyn's first trip to the beach ! Madisyn LOVED the sand, as you will see in the pictures. Cody had a "first" also, he paddled out on a surfboard by himself and also caught a wave and rode in right up to me! John and he flew kites...Em and friend Katherine surfed and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

Smiles and Goodbyes August 3

It has been quit the week here at our house. Emily is working for John and in Medford and has moved back here, to save some gas and be with us more Ü She returned from New York with some fun stories and a clearer picture of what she wants. She received an award out of 3000 plus people for being a top ten model who could do commerical print jobs. She is still interested in the health and fitness jobs and will continue to purse open calls in Portland and surrounding areas. I hope to have some of her trip pictures soon! Cody made a great poster for her Homecoming !

Ben and Aaron, who are friends of Emily's and both recently returned from two year church missions, came back for a visit. It has been fun having them around. They are both very good musicians . There have been silly songtimes and I have enjoyed hearing them both play my guitar...which I had never played because of my hand surgeries. It brought out the Elvis in Cody however, who went into an intense performance after they left one day...and broke a string Ü Cody has enjoyed having trampoline time with them, as you can see in the pics.

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Today was my Birthday and it was one I will never forget. Our Foster daughter Kaylee was to go home permanently today. She has been with us for 7 months. The caseworker has been very ill this week , so she called me and told me I would be doing the turnover myself. John also had a garage sale listed for Friday and Saturday this week in the paper 8-12..I found out yesterday that I was taking Kaylee back at 8-8:30 am. Needless to say, it was a long night and an early morning as I packed all her things and finished some paperwork. I helped get the yard sale ready and Ben came over to help move things and watch Cody. My mother in law, Pearl manned the table for me while I took Kaylee to be with her family. I have grown to love her mother. She has worked hard and I have seen a HUGE change in her. Long story short, as I walked into the mission house where she was staying, Kaylees mother met me and I saw tears coming...I was holding on until then. She grabbed me and held on and thank me for taking care of her daughter. We both burst into heavy tears for what seemed like forever...it had been a journey for us both; and a good one. We will miss Kaylee and hope to see her and her brother in the future.

Afrer dropping off Kaylee, I came home to finish the yardsale until 12. Emily and Laura took me to lunch...where I spilled water on Em and Laura hit the toothpick bowl at the register and planted them all over the floor! Just like old ladies...We were laughing so hard. We had dinner and then Ben, Emily, John, Aaron, and I went to the movies. I think it was the accumulation of alot for me this week...but I lost it at the movies completely. Emily and I were in tears, laughing so hard a few times...it was good fun. I needed that. We are prepping for day 2 of the garage sale tomorrow and who knows what. We take Ben and Aaron to the airport at 6:30 pm and pick UP my sister Meili and her baby girl to stay for two weeks. I am looking forward to it and will definitely post pics.