Sweet times...

These kind of days are what memories are made of...

Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time.  :)

Atlanta trip

After 10 hours stuck in the airport because of plane problems,

we finally made it to Atlanta.

It was a weekend to remember!!!

We got to be apart of a 20th anniversary celebration for one of our favorite brokers that we work with at Wawona.  She is absolutely phenomenal!

Her husband planned the whole surprise party for her and her company!  It was amazing!

My first time staying at the Ritz.  Yes, I felt VERY spoiled!

And we got to fly first class.  I am telling you...we were SPOILED!

Talk about reality check upon returning to our babies at home.  ;)  It sure was a fun reunion though when we got to hug, squeeze and kiss them again!  

On the road again...

We have been on the road having fun!  In a matter of 15 days, we will have been home for 5!  July has been BUSY!!!  Just a day here and a day there at home to unpack, do laundry and pack up again!

The morning after Aubrey Rose was an adorable flower girl, Blake flew to Denver for work and I packed the kids up to go visit my sister and bro-in-law in Alameda. I was definitely glad we went.  It was fun to see their new place and to enjoy their world.  LOVE it there!!  I wish we could pick up our house and all the peach orchards and move there!  :)

Thank you Auntie Christy and Uncle Aaron for your patience helping me with the kiddos...at meals, around the house, in and out of the car, everything!  Thank you so much!!!

 My sister planned a fun outing for the kids to Fairyland.  (For Fresno friends, this is very similar to Storyland.)  Aubrey Rose LOVED it!!  Austin loved it too, but for a 4 year old, it was a perfect place to spend the day.

 TWO days later, we packed back up in the car and drove to Carmel to visit my parents.  We relaxed, we walked, we looked for seashells, we relaxed some more and Mom and I even got to escape during the kids naps and enjoy girl time!

Thanks Mom and Dad for being an extra couple of hands and loving on our little ones the way you do.  We are so thankful for you!!

We were home for 2 days,

then back on the road to Monterey and Salinas with Blake's family...

I love going to the Salinas Rodeo.  The events they have are so entertaining to watch.  I love it!!  Austin wore a shirt to the rodeo that Linda made for Blake when he was a baby.  It was so cute!  He is getting to be such a little man.  

We loved being all together!  I am so bummed we didn't get a group shot of everyone though!  Guess we need to plan our next trip already.  ;)  Thank you Big Papa and Mimi for spoiling us and making the trip a wonderful, refreshing time away.  What a treat in the middle of peach season!!! 

Home for 3 days and now we are packing for Atlanta.  All of this in the middle of peach season.  WHEW!!!  Go, go, go!  :)

Miss Sami's Wedding

One of our favorite babysitters got married about 2 weeks ago.  She asked Aubrey Rose to be one of her flower girls.  Aubrey loved EVERYTHING about being a flower girl.  She loved walking down the aisle and standing up in front with the beautiful girls.  She loved her dress.  She loved the way it twirled.  Even the color of her dress.  :)  She loved following Miss Sami everywhere.  She didn't want Miss Sami to be out of her sight...EVER.  :) She loved dancing with Miss Sami.   She loved passing out bubbles.  She also loved taking pictures, especially with Miss Sami.  Miss Sami was the SWEETEST to Aubrey Rose, holding her hand and letting her be apart of her special day in such a special way.  Christian, Sami's husband, was beyond cute with Aubrey too.  We love both of them! 

We are so excited for Christian and Sami.  They are going to be starting their new life in Germany.  He already had to go back, since that is where he is stationed.  I am so happy for them, but selfishly we are going to miss them!!  Everything about their special day was so beautiful!  I loved all the details.

 We danced the night away.  Actually, Blake and Aubrey Rose danced the night away.  They would not stop.  It was such a fun night.  At 11pm, Aubrey cried because she didn't want us to leave Mrs. Sami.  :(  She loved everything about being a flower girl.  Thank you Sami and Christian for choosing our little girl to be apart of your wedding in such a special way!!  We love you guys!!

Peach Party tonight!!

Tonight in Old Town Clovis we are celebrating our annual Wawona's Peach Party!  Come say hi and enjoy some samples of our favorite fruit at the Farmer's Market tonight from 5:30 to 8:30.  Can't wait to see you there!  :)

Austin...

Austin James...

You are 17 months old.  

You don't have a ton of words yet,

But you have enough words to get the job done.  :)  

You barely ever call us Mama or Dada, 

but you say "Vroom, Vroom" or "Woof, woof" probably 100 times a day.

You did just recently start calling Aubrey Rose, "Sissy."

You absolutely adore your sister.

It melts my heart.

You absolutely love it when the music plays.

One of your favorite things to do, is to dance.
Your daddy sure is proud of the way you move like Jagger.  HA!

We call you our little bruiser.

You have to climb up onto everything and
you love to make messes.  :)

 It is very rare to see you without a bruise or a scratch.
I wish I had some good stories to tell about the boo-boo's,
but most of them are just from walking and then falling!

You LOVE to be outside.

You love to get dirty or play in the water. 

You absolutely LOVE to read books.

You find the trucks, tractors, cars, motorcycles, etc...
Anything with wheels.
You find them in every book.

You have NO interest AT ALL in any of the other pages. 

If it is book about animals,

you find the "woof, woof's" and the "quack, quacks" and you only look at those pages.
You have no interest in the bears, tigers, pigs or sheep...just dogs and ducks.

Cracks me up.
You love our own dogs and you love seeing the ducks across the street every day,
so I guess it makes sense, but it still cracks me up.  :)

Austin you are quite the smiley boy.

I am not sure how you are even smiling these days. 

You are currently working on 6 new teeth all at once!!!  

You have been having a hard time sleeping.  

You have not been enjoying eating as much.  

You have been difficult to console.  

We actually went to the doctor to get your ears checked out.

We found out you have 6 teeth you are working on.  

I knew of four, but six???  Really?  Poor little guy.  

You keep smiling though!  We love it.

One of your best buddies in the world, besides your sister,
is definitely your cousin, Jedidiah.
You two are adorable together.
Where one is, the other is right there too.
You sure can bicker like the best of them though.  HA!!
No matter what,
whether you are inside or outside,
you two stick very close together.
Sometimes too close!!

There are so many things you LOVE to do.

I am not sure how you would rank them all.

However, I am pretty sure you would put sitting in the cars drivers seat at #1.

Do not ever leave a door open to your car, 

unless you want to prey his sweet, little hands off the steering wheel.

Unwillingly.  :)

It doesn't matter what door is open.

Austin will find it.

He will somehow get to the front seat in maybe 2.5 seconds 

and he will be pretending he is a Nascar driver at the wheel.

I think you are going to be a car boy.

One of your favorites is speed, 

well one of my favorites is watching you sleep.  :)

So peaceful.

So cute.

My favorite is when you put your bottom in the air

and tuck your knees up.

Can't get enough of you!

We sure love you little boy.

You melt my heart.

When I look at those adorable brown eyes I can't help but smile, 

and praise the Lord for every day we get to spend with you.

A special trip...

Aubrey Rose got to go on a special trip with her Oma and Opa to Carmel.  She is one lucky girl getting such sweet, quality time with two people who love her so much.  Thank you, Oma and Opa, for spoiling our little girl!

Preschool Graduation night

The evening before Aubrey Rose's last day of preschool, she had a graduation.  :)  She has one more year of Preschool before she goes to Kindergarten.  Her class performed a couple of songs at the graduation.  It was a great night celebrating Aubrey Rose's accomplishment.  

Big Papa and Mimi were so sweet to join in the preschool fun.  :)

Oma and Opa were there as well.

You are getting so big little girl.  Can you please stop growing??!!  Please!!!

Love you sweet girl.

Last day of preschool!

Aubrey Rose finished her first year of preschool.  Here she is on the first day and the last day of school...

Her favorite way to drive home from school was with Daddy on his golf cart...

Aubrey absolutely loved going to school this year.  She loved riding her bike to school and getting picked up from Daddy on the golf cart.  She loved her teacher Miss Kristen.  She often called her "her best friend."  She absolutely loved her friends.  She would talk about them all the time.  "Mommy, today, Ava, Riley, Kenna, Dillon and me...we put our hands all together in a circle and then we raised them really high and yelled GO TEAM!!!"

Aubrey Rose, you grew up so much this year.  I absolutely loved watching you grow and learn.  You learned your letters and numbers.  You have started to learn how to sound words out and to read.  You can write your name now and you love to trace letters.  You absolutely love the social part of school.   You light up when you see your friends. You greet them with the biggest smile and hug.  It is adorable.
I think your favorite part of school are the art projects.  All you need is paint, a paint brush and a bunch of paper and you are content for hours.  Add glue, stickers and scissors...oh, and ANYTHING pink, you are in heaven.  

I am already missing walking to school together.  I can't wait until the school year begins again.  It will be the last year we will be able to walk just you to school and be all together.  Everything will change after next year because you will be in Kindergarten and Austin will probably be in preschool, so we will try our best to soak it all in.  :)  

Aubrey Rose, your Mommy and Daddy and all of your family are so, so, so proud of you Sunshine. We are incredibly thankful to the Lord for blessing us with you.  You make us smile and laugh every day.  We love you!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy