Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. As usual we tried to stay clear of the tourists and crowds. This year Kari and Hoon came down for the weekend. We miss them so much now that they live in LA. We went down to the Coronado golf coarse for a few hours and played some bocci ball and let the kids play in the sand pits. I had a lot of fun and it wasn't really that crowded. We might go down there next year and stay for fireworks.

My 4th of July creation.  I saw a picture of this dessert and I had to have it.  It's a giant chocolate chip cookie topped with cool whip and fresh berries.  

As tradition, we roasted some s'mores.

Kari and Hoon brought with them their adorable bulldog, Chloe. Putty had so much fun with her over the weekend. He was tuckered out. This really made us consider adopting another dog. Any suggestions on what kind of dog to adopt? We want a medium size dog like Putty.

Hoon and Kari. Kari is Grahams cousin. Everyone thinks that Hoon is the one related to me!

Emerson has her ears pierced!

For years, I've been asking Emerson if she wanted to get her ears pierced and she would always say no.  I told her whenever she wants it done, we'll go get it done.  She told me a few weeks before Michelle was leaving that she wanted it done.  She said she wanted to do it before Michelle left.  That's how much she loves Michelle!

She picked out the blue topaz because that's her birthstone.  I was actually really surprised she didn't pick the pink studs.

You can't see from the picture but there is a blue marker dot where the the piercing will go.

She got to hold a little teddy bear to squeeze.

We all thought for sure she was going to cry.  My friends son, Miles, came to just watch Emerson cry.  When Eme told me that "Miles only wants to come to watch me cry."  I told her, "Well Eme, you can prove him wrong."  She responded just matter of fact, "No I won't!" 

She was so brave.  She had a little nervous smile the whole time.  When the gun pierced her ear, she didn't even flinch.  The 14 year old girl who got her ear pierced right before Emerson was way more nervous and had tears in her eyes when she got her piercing.  Not Emerson, she was so tough!!!!

I love this face.  Look how proud she looks.

Happy 7 1/2 Birthday, Emerson!

I bought a cutting machine so I made the birthday banner. I think it turned out pretty good.

Atti loved putting his own topping on his cupcake. When we took off his swimsuit, he had melted M&M's on his wiener. It might not melt in your hands but it sure found a place where it could melt. The worst was he found it and picked it off and ate it and said "mmm, Yum!"

These pizzas were 28" I couldn't believe how huge they were.

Emerson had her 7 1/2 birthday party on her last day of school. Those of you who are wondering why Eme has a half birthday, it's because her actual birthday is a week before Christmas so we decided it would be better if she had her birthday party with her friends on her half birthday. We had a pool party again. We were hoping the sun would shine but June gloom was in full swing. The kids were freezing once they got out of the pool but they didn't seem to mind. They were too busy eating giant pizzas and decorating their own cupcakes at the cupcake bar.

Relay for Life

Graham's work had a team for relay for life so the whole family participates in this event every year. I really like it. The event has games and food and a live band. It also teaches the kids the reasons why it's important for us to be involved in this cause.

Michelle's Graduations

 

Michelle graduated at the beginning of June.  I can't believe this year with her has gone by so quickly.  Her parents and brother flew out for the graduation.  It was so good seeing them.