Happy Memorial Day!

I loved this poster I saw in the crowds of the Memorial Day parade near Mom and Dad's house. We definitely salute the men and women that worked so hard and continue to work so hard to keep us safe.

Patriotism lines the streets as hundreds of flags surround the roads around down town.

Love the red, white and blue.


Grandma, Allison and Emma wait patiently for Grandpa to make his way down the street in his first ever Memorial Day Parade.

Jeff, the girls, and I anxiously waited to show our pride and gratitude the men and women in uniform.

Allison loves Mer-fin flags. Along with Emma, Allison and Jeff have a running contest in the car to see who can spot the most American flags on houses, building, cars, etc. Allison gets so excited when she sees one that she shouts, "I spot one there. See the Mer-fin flag, Dad?!"

The colors make their way down the street following the police on bikes. The parade is now underway!

Several hundred motorcycles are the first entry in the parade.

Dad's branch...USMC.

More Marines....Devil Dogs.

The price of freedom.

Here comes Dad and the Del Webb Veterans! They snuck up on us and walked by so fast. It seemed as though all the other entries had time to wait in front of us before they had to continue walking. We didn't get to see much of Dad because the whizzed right by us! Just enough time for him to shout, "Hi Babies!" to Emma and Allison.

There he goes (next to the man in the red shirt)!

These horses did some amazing trick walking and galloping.

Em and Allison loved the sparkles on the horses.

Check out that old fashioned fire engine!

The modern fire engine was the end of the parade.

After the parade we met Dad back at Del Webb where they were hosting a BBQ for the veterans and their spouses. I wanted to get a picture of Emma and Allison with a true American hero, their Grandpa-a Vietnam Veteran.

Mom is proud of her veteran too.

Thank you, Dad and all the others that fight to keep us safe! Happy Memorial Day!

May 31, 2010

Cherry Picking

Spring is in the air and it's time to pick cherries! Cherries are my absolute favorite fruit. I was excited to take the girls to go pick some fresh from the farm! We missed out on it last year, so I was more than ready to go get some this year!

The girls loved searching through the trees for the perfect pick! Two years ago Allison did more eating than picking. This year, she was a good cherry picker and only sampled a few!

Here's Allison's "cherry picking" adventure in the spring of 2008! Notice the evidence from all the cherry eating rather than the cherry picking!

Emma was all business when it came to reaching high up into the tree this year!

She was not afraid to be entwined with the branches. She had to get the perfect cherry!

The girls and Jeff were grabbing those plump, juicy cherries by the handfuls! Check out Allison's boots...literally covered in pictures of cherries! Perfect for a day on the farm because the grass was itching my ankles and legs due to the fact I decided to wear flip flops on the farm! Emma had flip flops on too and was great not to complain about the itchy grass!

Allison was very proud of the red ones she picked. She would ask me if she should pick the dark or the light one. I of course told her the darker the better. She liked the lighter ones better and continued to pick more of those anyway!

Cherries-galore! Yum!
Whoa! That is one heavy bucket full of cherries. It must be time to take it to weigh-in.

Of they go through the orchard to weigh the cherries.

6.65 pounds of cherries at $2.50 a pound! We polished off every last one of them in less than a week. Delish! Gotta go back for some more!

May 30, 2010

Hau'oli Hana Ema!

Emma was so excited for her 7th birthday party! She made a sign to hang on the door to welcome her guests. After she put in on the door, she excitedly came inside to share with me that she used 19 pieces of tape so that it wouldn't blow away! Well, it never blew away. Even a week later it was still taped to the door!

This was a fun theme to work with! The girls all chose a sarong to tie around their waist to serve as a hula skirt.

Brynn, Allyson, Julia, Emma, Gessica, Sydney, Kaitlyn, Allison and Katelyn all model their adorable Hawaiian attire!

After the girls were properly dressed for the luau, they began to make a lei, anklet and hair clip. We bought some leis and cut them apart so the girls could assemble their own leis. We used colored straws in between the flowers. The girls were all so patient and loved making their leis!

Emma was all smiles while stringing her flowers and straws!

Allyson and Jordon needed to use lots of concentration to create their anklet masterpieces.

Kiley even attempted to make her very own lei!

After Em made her lei, it was time to create a floral hair piece to match! I hot glued flowers of the girls' choice to alligator clips and then added a jewel to one of the flowers for a little extra sparkle!

I made a hair clip to match the lei I made as well.

You can't have a luau without beautifully painted toes! A few parents stayed at the party and helped to paint all the girls toes with the polish of their choice.

After arts and crafts time, the girls were hungry! They made fruit kabobs and sandwiches and drank Volcanic Punch. Yum! A light and refreshing snack for an afternoon luau.

We even had a real live coconut to add to the display :)

Allison, of course, loved making her fruit kabob!

Sydney and Kaitlyn are all smiles while enjoying their kabobs.

Jordan takes her time to assemble her yummy, fruity snack.

After lunch, the girls were ready to hula! As Em and I were planning the party we knew we wanted the girls to learn the hula. Online there were a couple videos we could've purchased, but we found something even better! Ashlyn, a dancer and teacher at Emma and Allison's dance studio, agreed to come over and teach the girls some hula moves! It was the cutest thing ever! The girls all had a ball learning the hula with Ashlyn.

Emma concentrates on moving her hips from side to side...

Allison was a good student and followed right along with Miss Ashlyn.

Gessica, Katelyn and Emma had the arm movements down!

Ashlyn was a bit worried being the center of attention, but the girls loved her and had so much fun learning the hula moves.

Lora even made me get out there, much to my displeasure, and "dance" with Emma!

Allyson, Sydney, Emma and Gessica master the hip action.

After the lesson was over, the girls all posed with Miss Ashlyn for a group photo.

Emma thanked Ashlyn by making her a card and giving her a gift certificate for a pedicure.

Pinata time! Emma takes a fierce swing!

After the pinata, the girls displayed their candy. We made sure all was even and that all the girls had plenty of candy.

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday! The cake was super easy to make. After I cooked it, I froze it and then covered it in butter cream frosting. Yum! Then I draped a real flower lei on top and wrote the Hawaiian version of Happy Birthday.

After cake, it was time for gifts...each of the girls sat on the towel with Emma while she opened her gifts. Julia was first.

Then it was Sydney's turn.

Kaitlyn and the other girls followed close behind.

The very mellow party (It was the first time we'd ever done just a girl party. Wow! What a difference!) was coming to a close. Lora wanted to get a picture of Emma and me posing in the flower petals.

Then Emma was next. Love her solo luau picture. Happy 7th Birthday Emma! I love you to pieces!

May 29, 2010