Memorial Day

We didn't do much to 'observe' Memorial Day though we will forever be grateful for the service of millions who have fought to keep my liberties a very real part of my life. I am constantly reminded of how many blessings I have in my life, from my health and kids to the comforts of my home and John's employment. But often the freedoms I enjoy are many times taken for granted, and I am grateful for the holiday's that give my life a pause and allow me to reflect how much has been sacrificed for my happiness and security.







I love the baseball caps - thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Howell for Tyler's new one! And I'm loving that Elayna will wear her hat backwards instead of just taking it off - it is so cute! And check out the hair. I'm just so ecstatic that she is not getting my hair! Tyler's hair is like mine, too bad for him....  Elayna's is not!!!!! And her hair is really coming in now so no more baldness, and it is so cute! Slightly curly and dark brown with red highlights, especially in the sun... it really is getting cuter all the time, and I love how it highlights her dark eyes and dark curly lashes. She is starting to be a real cutie - a dark eyed beauty... just not always so photogenic! Now if she just weren't so serious and pensive all the time (a lot like Weston), I'd be able to get some better smiley candid shots!

Today my parents needed to head home so we had only the morning and decided to head down to Port Williams on a bike ride, since Tyler was now able to join us with that. But after getting everything ready and us ready to go we decided to just let John and Weston make the 3 mile trek and the rest of us would go in the car and follow behind in case it was too far for Weston. But even going up some fairly intense hills, Weston did just great and ended up making the 6 mile round-trip without any difficulty, according to John 'he's still talking' meant that he wasn't being worked too hard that he couldn't talk and that sadly he did talk the entire time! Weston is totally 'all that and a bag of chips'!!!

We enjoyed a couple of very nice hours at the beach watching boats and kayaks, letting the kids climb the rocks and drift wood tree trunks, throw rocks and just run around. The boys did a lot of stick collecting and imagination play with commanders and regular guys. And when Elayna wasn't chasing down dogs and finding sticks for them, she was following her brothers around and trying to keep up!

Those three kids really do love each other and I love that! Elayna will be well protected, though I'm not sure she'll need it, and the three of them I imagine will be getting into a lot of trouble together as the years go on!









by the way - all the shots are from either my mom or John.. Thank you to them for the picts so that I could play with the kids and walk around a bit.. and get some picts of me!