Gene Coulon - 13 Years Later...

Greg proposed to me at Gene Coulon Park in June of 1996. We were out on the floating docks and it was sunset. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of us that night.

We've not talked a lot about that story with our kids. So today, Greg had the great idea to take the kids down there and also take me on a trip down memory lane. The kids loved the story of how we were engaged. They thoroughly enjoyed the park and were disappointed that we weren't prepared to go swimming. The fries at Kid Valley were yummy and the bird sanctuary was cool.

We had to promise them that we would come back one more time this summer with our friends and have a big barbeque and playtime. Can't wait!









Before doing that, we had the pleasure of celebrating James' 7th birthday with him. The guys got to go on a hike and then we all met up at the park for festivities and lunch. We all had a blast! Happy Birthday James.




Then after the birthday party and the trip down to Gene Coulon, we were priviledged to go and celebrate our first nephew graduating from High School. What a fun time with the Earnhardt family! There was tether ball, a very lovable dog, and Jordan was so excited to find out that one of his cousins is a real baseball player!! Uncle Keith even got out one of the motorcycles and gave all the kids rides before we left. Yep, that's right mom. All three kids rode a motorcycle today with Uncle Keith but they all wore a helmet! The proof is in the pictures!! Immediately after getting off the motorcycle Jordan walked over to his dad and whispered, "You've got to get one of those dad!!" Congratulations Andrew!

Mikayla is Nine!

My sweet Mikayla turned nine today. I can't believe it has already been that long. It seems like just yesterday that I was having contractions and trying to figure out if I should even go to the hospital. 14 hours later around 9:15 p.m. she joined us. Greg announced the news and entered his mother's embrace as they shared tears of joy together.

Mikayla has kept us on our toes ever since. Today she announced that this has been the best birthday ever because it was so relaxed. She got to wake up to the regular rendition of happy birthday, followed by the opera style of happy birthday (per her request), and then thanks to Aunt Chrissy she got to get the dying cat style of happy birthday. Then it was off to school where she got the birthday hat and they sang to her again. It was a half day so that left a lot of play time today.

She had a friend over and they played with her new sand crabs. Well, the baby went back in pretty quick but Silverton stayed out for awhile. Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpas house to celebrate with them. She got a great watch and beautiful necklace and earings (unfortunately she says the ear piercing thing ain't happening!!). Then it was off to Toys R Us to spend a gift card and get some candy. She of course requested PLAIN Spaghetti with parmesean cheese for her birthday dinner. Her dessert of choice tonight was homemade ice cream sundaes which she loved making.

Mommy had to sneak off for a couple of hours tonight to take her last final for the quarter but then it was right back home for the ice cream celebration.

I am so thankful for Mikayla. She is such a gentle spirit and she feels with everything in her at all times. She loves animals these days and her favorite toy right now is Puppy in my Pockets. I pray God continues to protect her fragile spirit and grow her into the young lady He has prepared for her to be.

I love you Mikayla Grace Earnhardt!

The Garden is Growing!!

The kids were ecstatic to look out their windows on Sunday evening and discover that the garden is already growing. They are so excited. Greg just built it a couple of weekends ago so we were a little surprised. It's very fun to see the kids really invested in a family project! They even helped paint the garden box. Definitely gives them some ownership in it all. The pumpkins, carrots, corn, and tomoatoes are all sprouting.

It's a Guys Night Out

Greg and Jordan got to go to the Mariners Game together tonight. They were 30 rows behind home plate. It was model train night and they both got one due to being part of the first 20,000 fans in the ballpark. Greg and Jordan both have been really looking forward to this all week. They got to go out to dinner, take a walk around the field, of course Jordan got his very first foam finger, they had fun taking pictures of each other, and the game was great. The Mariners fell in the 10th inning but it was a close nail biter to the end. They left at the beginning of the 10th inning around 10:00 p.m. Jordan was still reeling from the night although it only took about 10 minutes for the tuckered out boy to fall asleep on the way home.

Of course, the girls decided to make the most of our girls night alone and ordered Beverly Hills Chuaua (spelling?). It was really cute and the girls enjoyed sitting with me and eating popcorn and laughing together at the funny parts. Then it was time to dance until the credits were done rolling

I am so blessed. I have a husband who loves and enjoys his kids and lives every day looking forward to being a part of their lives. We are both blessed to have been given three beautiful children who are not perfect, but whom we adore and love. Tonight is a night that our kids (and Greg and I) will hold onto forever.