It's All About Her!

I feel like in a blink my daughter is growing up before my eyes.  I know everybody says it, but in the middle of infancy or toddler tantrums, I have to admit I used to wonder if it was a bad thing that she would grow up fast.  But now I am beginning to understand.  Amelia now holds great conversations with me, and shares so much of her wonder of the world, that I cannot help but be amazed by her.  I have enjoyed every stage (ok maybe not so much the tantrums or night terrors), and don't usually find myself wishing that she was younger again.  Instead I am excited at who she is today, and enjoy watching her blossom.  I love to watch  and listen to her, she is a funny girl and makes me laugh often.  Of course, I often feel the need to remind myself that no matter how busy or tired I am, I need to make the most of how precious the time is that we have right now, in this very moment. 

I took these photo's of her a couple of weeks ago, right after we got home from church, there was no particular reason why, only that I wanted to capture her sweetness at that very moment.

It was only right that whilst I was in the garden with her, that I capture the beautiful flowers that we love to smell, especially the lavender that reminds us of her Nana, since she planted it for us.

 

I love the look of mischief she has when I want to take her picture but she has other ideas and doesn't always care to cooperate.

Even when she is riding a rusty old tricycle (that one day I'd like to restore to it's former glory), she sparkles.

She really is truly the most beautiful girl in my world...

You see no matter how you look at it, it really is all about her!

Sprinkler Fun

Summer came late to Oregon this year, but the first Saturday in July was glorious.  We got up early and Matthew cut the grass.  Not long afterwards Amelia came running into the house begging me to get her swimsuit.  It wasn't until she explained why that I understood.  A few minutes later she was running through the sprinklers, shrieking with delight!  I think this is the first time she's done this and I have a feeling it won't be her last.  As usual I had to grab my camera and capture the fun...enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was just the beginning of a very fun Saturday!

The American Celebration of Independence!

One thing they didn't teach in my history class at school was the day that America declared independence from England.  However, since I have lived in the USA for 14 years, it is a history that I am now  knowledgeable about.  Whilst I am very proud to be British, my home is also here in America and "when in Rome...". So, on the fourth of July of every year, I join in the celebrations that take place, after all my husband and daughter are both yankee doodles.

This year, we started our day by attending a flag raising ceremony at our church building, followed by a breakfast.  The flag ceremony was great, the younger scouts raised the flag whilst three of our other young men played the Star Spangled Banner on their brass instruments.  Matthew is the Young Men's President for our ward, and was up very early cooking ham's for the breakfast.  The Young Women and their leaders also worked hard for this event, it was a great start to a fabulous day.

One of the favourite parts of the morning were the balloon hats that a couple from our ward made for each of the children.  Here Amelia and her friend Tanya model their hats.

It was the perfect weather to fly the flag.

Daddy and daughter pose for a picture in their patriotic colours.

After the breakfast, we headed to Independence for the annual parade.  We went with our friends the Rosenbalm's, each of the children had bags, because they knew that candy would be thrown from the floats in the parade.

Amelia's friend Rylee and her mum also joined us for the fun.

We found the perfect spot, and Matthew looked cool as he enjoyed the festivities.

Just to show there are no hard feelings from this Brit, here I am with a little American flag, unfortunately I forgot to bring my Union Jack that decorates my office at work - maybe next year.

Amelia enjoyed a little snack as she waited for the parade to start, a peanut butter and jam sandwich, it doesn't get much more American than that. 

The Rosenbalm's children's dad is a volunteer for the fire department in our County, and this is one of their engines.  The red headed young man in the picture below is one of his older sons, the yellow helmet he is carrying is full of candy to pass out to the little ones waiting anxiously at the curb.  As soon as he got to Amelia, Rylee and his other siblings sitting there waiting, he stopped, and tipped the entire helmet of candy in front of them...favoritism...yes, of course!  The kids loved it and screamed with excitement.  Don't worry the helmet was refilled for the other kids on the curb.

 

My little girl ended up with quite a dirty face.  I had put sunscreen on her and since she would touch the dusty street and then her face, she ended up looking pretty smudgy, but pretty all the same.  She looked so cute in her red, white and blue.

After the parade was finished, we headed home, as you can see, Amelia just wasn't ready for the fun to be over, especially since we had already told her that she would be going down for a nap as soon as lunch was over.

I teased her by telling her how great her pouty look was and that I wanted another picture of her sad face, after hearing this, look at what she did...was a rascal!  Maybe I'll use that reverse psychology the next time I want her to smile for a picture.

After a lazy afternoon, and naps for Amelia and daddy, we got up and went to Subway to pick up sandwiches to take to the firework display.  We saw our friends the Workman's when we arrived, they have a daughter a few months older than Amelia, so it was fun to sit with them for the evening.  We wrapped up in blankets and at 10:00 pm, the fireworks began.  They were amazing!!!!

 

 

 

 

The firework display lasted an entire half hour.  We walked back to the car and by the time we got out of the car park and drove home, it was midnight.  My girl fell asleep in her car seat, after all it had been an exhausting day, albeit a fabulous day!

Happy birthday America!

Doggies, Chickens and Peacocks, Oh My!

During the past Memorial weekend, Matthew, Amelia and I were asked to take care of Grandma Judy and Grandpa Gordon's animals, since they were galavanting around enjoying a new retired lifestyle.

Even though it was "work", it was very fun and great family time.  Each time we arrived, morning and night, we were greeted by boisterous dogs who were very happy to see us.  We also heard the loud welcome from the geese who were ready to be fed and let in or out, depending on the time of day.

The peacocks looked majestic as they strutted around their cage.  Their feathers are amazing.
 

We collected lots of eggs from the chicken coup.  It made me laugh when Amelia just about jumped out of her skin when she was checking the egg boxes and came across a chicken who was tucked neatly inside one of them.  She was quite surprised.

I have to say though, Amelia's favourite part was most definitely Junior.  Junior is one of the cats that we fed and took care of, she loved him and insisted on picking him up all the time, luckily for her he was a very patient cat!

We saw a couple of small field mice and a delicate red butterfly that was flitting around, every time we saw it Amelia would say "look momma, Nana is thinking of us and we are thinking of her!" it's our special little connection with my mum.

It was a great weekend full of muddy shoes, slobbery hands (from throwing the stick, or should I say log, for the dogs), giggles and fun!