A Big Event And A Birthday!

Our oldest daughter has moved out on her own! She's been talking about this for a while now and been crunching numbers to see if it was possible. She wants to be closer to the university and, I'm sure, wants her own space. Hahaha! So she is now settled into a peaceful, little housing track with three roommates and right down the street from a park. She also has a brand new pepper spray! Ha ha!
Since this is her birthday month, what do you think we got her?

A laundry basket full of "New House" supplies and FOOD! She was in the process of packing up her room (sniff) when we gave her this. That's why the bookshelf is empty, etc. Later we had a little birthday party for her with family and she got even more new house things. This is her cake!

Here she is with my sissy, her funny aunt!

Thankfully, her new house isn't very far away or I would be quite sad. But this way we will get to see her pretty often. As a matter of fact, she's coming over in a few days for her sister's birthday. Oh what fun we'll have!! Until next time then, Taniya              P.S. I love this picture because she is laughing so much from my sister's antics!

My Dad's Birthday!

My dad's birthday is on the Fourth of July. And what better way to celebrate than with a Bang of a party! We swam in the pool (it was a nice, hot day), played pool and played ping pong. We also had cake! Yum!

We didn't put the proper amount of candles on because it would have covered the whole cake. Ha ha ha! (Sorry Dad!) Look at the scrumptious coconut falling off the side.

We laughed and sang and laughed some more and my dad blew out the candles!

We couldn't actually celebrate it on the 4th but here's some fireworks just for you Dad.

A super happy birthday to an extra special dad! And for anyone else out there with an Independence Day birthday, I hope your day was full of love and hugs and fun! Taniya

A Visit From Grandma!

My Gramsy is 96 years old and she just decided she had gone long enough without seeing some of her great grand babies! She lives in Oregon and we live in Southern California and it's been two years since we saw her. So she jumped on a plane (or pushed her walker on one!) and came down. What a fun surprise! We had a bit of a family gathering at my Mom's place (which is where Grams is staying, God bless her!) and took loads of photos.

My son, Luke, with his Great Grandma!

My sister and I with Grams. (My sister's the blonde!)

With my sissy's daughter, Ciara, on the left and my daughter, Alani, on the right. My older daughter and my sister's younger son couldn't make it but she'll be staying for awhile so they have time to see her. Here's to a nice visit with your Grams and big Grama hugs! Taniya

Happy Father's Day!

There are no ties around here, no sir! At least not this year. This year we are all about the barbeque! Our oldest got her daddy this great little set of  barbeque tools.

He already has several other tools but this one was perfect to replace some worn out pieces. Recently the hubby has been talking about wanting to grill smaller things on the grill that ordinarily fall through. So from our two youngest he got this stainless steel barbeque topper. I think it will be perfect for what he wants to do. Grilling veggies and fish I hope! Hee hee!

Oh, I can't forget to mention the jerky! What man doesn't love jerky? So to all the Dad's out there I hope you got all the hugs and kisses you can handle from your children! Or, if they're too far away, I hope you were able to talk to them for a while. May your day be blessed with your children's love! Taniya

Socks And Puppies!

Today we ran out to do some Father's Day shopping (nothing like waiting till the last minute!) and while we were out I remembered that Alani is in need of some new socks. She wasn't with us so I got some of the kinds of socks I know she likes and took photos of them and texted them to her so she could choose the ones she wanted.

Also these.

She ended up wanting all the ones in the first photo. Kinda funny! So when we were done with our shopping and left the store, what do you think was outside? Puppies! A very nice lady was selling them for $150.00.

This lady ended up purchasing this little guy to keep her long haired dachshund company. How sweet!

This little girl was so sweet and really wanted this one but I don't think she got it. With the price and the shots and all that, it was a bit too expensive. But I think she was happy to just be able to hold them awhile! Have a puppy hugging day! Taniya

Picking Up Grama!

My Grams moved away to Oregon a few years ago to live with one of her daughters and we haven't seen her in so long! She's 96 years old and decided to jump on a plane to come see us and I am so excited and so happy! She's my grandmother so she's my children's great grandmother! She has been talking about missing them so bad so I'm so glad she felt well enough to come down.

Waiting at the airport can be a lengthy affair so the kids were getting restless.

And being goofy.

Poor Clark Kent couldn't take any more! But finally Grams arrived and we're having a family get-together this weekend and I plan to get lots a pictures to show everyone. So stay tuned! Grama hugs to all! Taniya

Two Eggs Short

My 11-year-old son has been asking me to make chocolate chip cookies for a couple days, so today I started to make them. After I had the butter and sugar all mixed up, I realized I was short on eggs. Oh no! My husband took the truck to work and our other car is in the shop so I couldn't go to the store. But luckily I didn't have to because right in our neighborhood are Bill and Vivienne! Bill and Vivienne keep chickens and sell their eggs. So Luke and I jumped on our bikes and went straight over there to find out if they had any. And guess what, they had plenty!

Aren't they cute little eggs with those speckles? So we went back home and finished up those cookies!

We ended up with so many I couldn't fit them all in our cookie jar!

So we've decided to jump on our bikes and head back over to Bill and Vivienne's house to deliver some chocolate chip cookies made with farm fresh eggs. Have a fresh, warm, chocolate chip cookie kind of day! Taniya