Blessing Daddy

The Prairie Kid and I are so thankful for The Prairie Daddy. He works so hard and is an INCREDIBLE provider for our family. He loves us so much and shows it in the way he works hard, values our family time, prays for us and SO much more!

We had a great time spoiling Daddy for Father's Day.

We started out by serving Daddy a bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs, and blueberry muffin breakfast before church.

Then we showered Daddy with presents.

Dad, we're going mini-golfing!

It's too bad The Prairie Kid doesn't resemble his dad!

He also got some tennis balls, end tables for the family room, a ball pump, Peanut M&M's and The Prairie Kid gave him $0.72. : )

After church we met up with family to have Dairy Queen and then we went to Kung Fu Panda 2. We made Daddy dinner last night and relaxed at home. We also made S'mores!

It was a great day to put extra emphasis on one super-special person in our lives. We love you Prairie Daddy!

In Honor Of My Dad

I've been thinking a lot about my dad today, since Father's Day is tomorrow. He passed away 16 1/2 years ago. It was neat how something happened today the way it did that allowed me to honor him in our home.

I was sitting outside reading and soaking up the sun when a strange truck pulled in the drive this morning. Two guys from out of town that are contractors with the oil field up the road were wondering if they'd be able to fish in our reservoir. We chatted a bit and I called to ask The Prairie Daddy if it was okay. He said yes and the guys went on their way. I did ask them to let me know if they caught anything and with what kind of bait.

This afternoon they stopped back in and brought us this fish. My dad was an AVID, DIE-HARD fisherman. He lived to fish (and eat) : ). I gladly took the fish. I brought it in and told The Prairie Kid to grab a stool so he could watch me gut the fish. Here is a picture of the fish before I "took care" of it.

And for dinner tonight we made the cornmeal-battered trout that my dad used to make. It warmed my heart to get to do this today.
And this week I'm going to buy the same type of flies that the guys caught fish on and go fishing like my dad taught me to do (even though he used a spinning rod only and I will use a fly rod).

I miss you, Dad. Wish we could go fish together.

5 Year Old Phone Call

The Prairie Kid asked me today if he could call his good friend. I said yes. He called and they chatted about toys, sleep overs, etc. And then, for the first time as a parent (and probably not the last!), I said "okay, it's about time to get off the phone!"

I heard my son wrapping up the conversation. He said he had to go. And then he said "I love you."

Silence.

Again, and with more persistence and a bit of questioning, "I love you."

I heard the voice on the other end slowly respond, "Okay."

"Don't you love me too?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay, Bye!"

"Bye!"

So sweet. But I don't think that he'll want to keep saying that at the end of all his phone conversations with his elementary school friends. It is bittersweet to see our kids grow up. Maybe he'll have a special resistance to caving to culture. : )

Seattle Fun 4- Alki Again!

On our last full day in Seattle we all got to go to the beach together and enjoy a beautiful day. The boys definitely enjoyed their time in the sand...so much so that they had it EVERYWHERE! : )

Again, I had fun playing around with the new camera. Check out these action shots:

Sandy Somersaults

Jumping Fun

Feeding the Gulls

It looks like it might have been chilly in these pictures, but really it was pretty warm out. I was glad to finish our trip with some time outside.

Uncle buried the boys in the sand

There was some serious sand art taking place

They boys found some beach friends

He loves giving his sister kisses! (I wonder how much sand came out of that head of hair!)

Seattle Fun 3- Sunset at Alki

After the Georgetown Carnival I surprised The Prairie Kid with a little trip down to Alki Beach for the sunset. He had been so good all day, sitting through a graduation and all, that I really wanted him to get to do something fun to end his day. Plus, he had lots of energy to release! He hasn't gotten to go to the beach much in his little life, so it was fun to get to share this with him. It was a beautiful evening as well!

He played and played. It was so sweet to see him having so much fun!

There was also a street performer who set up to do a performance where we were at. It was fun.He had quite the mark that he showed us on his back after the tire stunt : (

He let the kids mess around with his hula hoops after his little show

And he was nice enough to take a picture of me and my sweet boy

I took a gazillion pictures (I bought a new little point and shoot digital camera on my way to Seattle so I was having fun figuring it out).

Seattle Fun 2

There was a graduation party for my nephew during the trip. It was nice enough outside for the kids to play for a quite awhile and my sister put on an incredible spread of food. It was nice to see friends and family. My step brother and his family came; I hadn't yet met their daughter.

Here are the two little girl cousins meeting each other

We teamed up with some other family members to give him a trip to Wyoming for graduation and revealed the gift through a homemade I Spy booklet

We got to ride on a ferry boat to his graduation the next day because he went to school on Vashon Island. The Prairie Kid loved riding on a boat.

My nephew is the tall kid walking under the flowers

After the graduation we headed back to Seattle and went to the area where my sister has her cafe. It was the day of the big carnival that happens there annually.

A happy boy at the Georgetown Carnival

My mom and her hubby

Seattle Fun

The Prairie Kid and I are in Seattle again! We arrived on Tuesday night and it has been a full, eventful trip thus far! We came out here for my Big Nephew's graduation from high school (this is my oldest sister's son). My other sister decided to make it easy for all of us and had a due date to have a baby within 2 weeks of this event! Convenient, eh?

I have a great story about our trip out here but that'll have to wait for another day when I have more time to blog. Today, I'll share a snapshot of some of the things we've been up to.

Everyone is mesmerized with watching The Baby Girl (I may have even been accused of being a "vulture" when it comes to lingering and watching and gawking of The Baby)

She is about the sweetest thing EVER!
An outing to the zoo was a fun adventure for The Prairie Kid, The New Big Brother and myself.

After her first bath at home...

Okay, I'm going to continue our trip on the next post...