Happy Birthday Travis~

I love to do birthday tributes on my blog! Travis is 25 today and I can't very well do the 25 things I love about Ashlyn and not do one for Trav.So if you would indulge me one more time as June shares a little about this fabulous kid of ours.
Here's the "25" things that I adore about him.They are not all be good, but in true Mom style I love the 'not so good' just as much.Its what makes us real and even more endearing.

1-He loves the Lord with his whole heart

2-And loves my daughter in law the the same way

3-When he gets frustrated he makes this little scowl and I swear he looks like he's 9 again.It just happened this last weekend and Ash and I both just cracked up

4-He laughs with his whole body.His head tilts back and it's really a whole body giggle

5-His nickname was "Thor" because he is so stinkin strong!

6-His shoulders literally fill the booth at a restaurant and so none of us want to sit by him.You end up squished with your bum half off by the time dinner is over

7-He loves his Mom and Pops!

8-He gets cranky when hungry but is easily soothed once the food arrives

9-He LOVES a bargain! He will call and say "Mom I was so Greek" and tell me the great deal he got with so much enthusiasm

10-He is a great "puppy daddy" Bentley loves him! He has surprised me with his patience and how proud he is when Bentley listens

11-He has a very grateful heart!

12-He LOVES Chad! I will never worry about their friendship because they love each other too much to ever be mad for more than a minute

13-He expresses his heart so tenderly on greeting cards and I have never been able to throw a single one away

14-He is a little boy when it comes to play! He loves to wrestle,surf, skateboard,run,and climb

15-He is extremely savvy about budgets and saving

16-He truly appreciates all the little things Ashlyn does for him.Clean towels,sheets and home cooked meals

17-He also loves that she buys her taco shells

18-He is faithful! To the Lord and to doing what is right. He doesn't waver even when it isn't the easiest path to take

19-He has his Momma's Greek calves

20-He loves his sister in laws and is very protective of them

21-He is turning into quite the handyman around the house. Fixing pipes and building fences

22-He wont go to sleep if he thinks someone is upset with him. He likes to smooth things over and he never carries a grudge

23-He is adorable in a baseball hat. But his mother in law saw his cutest outfit yet, Ashlyn's fuzzy robe over his trunks to go surf one morning!

24-He planned for two weeks how to propose and wanted there to never be a story like theirs

25-He is just plain fun to be around and his joy for life is contagious!

The pride we have in who he has become over flows our hearts.
Travis you stole my heart from the second they laid you in my arms
Happy Birthday ~

Sunday Six...

Another week to pause and say "Thank you" for the blessings of my week. I often find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for our many blessings.Here are six that come to mind this week.

1- Spent a great day with the kids yesterday!! Travis will be 25 on Tuesday so we went down to celebrate with just our family. It was so fun!! The boys surfed while Steve and I watched from the cliffs on a perfect,sunny late afternoon. Then off for a fun dinner at "Corvette's Diner" They are all such good company! My very happiest moments in life are those spent with them.

The birthday boy and his precious wife.
Sweet sis in law with Chad...


2- Some of the Bunco gals decided to meet up last minute for dinner and a movie! So we went to PF Changs and to see"The Proposal" It was such a fun night and I am glad I dropped everything to go play.They are such fun girls and the cleaning & errands can always be done another time. ps. What a cute movie....Loved it!

3- My boys are such sweet gentlemen and it doesn't go unnoticed by this Momma. Travis carried my chair down to the cliffs while carrying his board and Chad insisted on holding my hand while I walked down. They are very sweet and attentive and I adore that.
I wasn't as close as it looks, and I just love this shot of the boys down below before they paddled out....4-I love to find great new products! And I have fallen in love with these. You put them in your wash, then in the dryer, and your clothes smell amazing! They are so simple to use and they really do get your clothes clean and soft. Anything to make laundry more fun is good in my book!
5- We get to vacation with the Tennessee Krikacs!! Just confirmed it today for a 4 day get away next month with our fabulous family! Sara will be at camp and so we all thought "lets go somewhere" If you hear loud clapping, and squeals of delight that's me!! "Brotha my Brotha" & "Sandy my Sissy" I am counting the days!!

6-I don't know why this last one is on my list but I had to throw it in. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Vince Gill. I have often said I don't love him more than Steve, I love them both the same. There is just something about that man that gets to me. He has a killer swagger and a voice that is melodic and amazing! It has been a long time crush and I look for him every time I am in Nashville! Well guess who sat right next to my sister in law at church today?? VINCE! Now Sandy I know you are in the house of the Lord and all, but couldn't you have snuck one little photo with your cell phone? One little video clip of his hands? Or better yet pass the bulletin and have him sign it "I adore you Karen" She said he smelled really good(of course he did,he's Vince) Just hearing about all this made me happy. And from now on all visits to see my family will include a Sunday service. I know God understands.

I wish you all a fun week filled with giggles,love, friendship and blessings galore!

Silly Sara~

Silly Sara!! The name I lovingly call my precious niece. I even made up a jingle that I sing to her and she laughs every time. Sara has so many amazing qualities and she can melt a heart faster than anyone I know. She has had a few little crushes, mostly on people from her favorite TV shows. At church she loves to visit the boys on Sundays and is quite a popular young lady. Well it seems a very special boy now has a little crush on her! She told me he calls her all the time and they love to talk on the phone about their day. She said last week sometimes he calls too often and she is a little too "busy" to be on the phone so much. Well sweet "Tripp" took Sara out for a date last week. She got dressed up and they went out to dinner and then for a long walk through shops and out for a ice cream cone. It's just the sweetest thing for her to have someone who adores her. Apparently he is quite smitten, and they are building a fun new friendship.They are very similar in maturity and are about the same level of disability. I just cried when I saw the sweet, innocent joy on their faces in these pictures and asked Sandy if I could share them.Only God knows all that Sara is capable of,but she sure shows us constantly how much goodness, kindness, love and joy we all should be capable of giving to others.

Fabulous Fathers Day!!!

The Beach-Our Kids-Family-BBQ-Sun-Puppies-Surf-Umbrellas-Baseball-Sunsets-Smores-
All the ingredients for a perfect Fathers Day! And how I hope my Daddy watched from heaven at the legacy of love he has left with his kids.We are blessed beyond belief....

Pups learn what they live...

And this little guy is so much like Steve and I its crazy! The traits I recognize from me...
He is quite the social butterfly. He loves "drop by" company and has had lots of fun visitors! He gets all excited when the doorbell rings and people come to see him.Rhonda came by with Gus her 120 lb tender heart dog (who does not know he is a big dog) And Brody loved him! They played so sweetly and Gus just let him climb all over him.Brody loves snacks, hugs, kisses,and going in the car for adventures. He is a bit of a spazz and is very clumsy.
Just like me

The traits I see from Steve...he loves T.V, hogging all the covers, being in the garage just kickin it & watching the neighbors drive by. He LOVES naps, and having his back scratched.
Just like Steve

I cant believe we are becoming "those" people. The kind who think their dog is the cutest thing ever! If you see me buying him sweaters and having his pictures taken for Christmas cards STOP ME.But in the meantime.....

Fathers Day!

What a blessing to wish my sweet husband a wonderful Fathers Day! We are off to the beach for our annual BBQ and bonfire, Steve's favorite way of celebrating with the boys. Of all the things I love about Steve, I think watching him as a Dad has been the BEST! There is something so tender about a man who cradles his babies and sets his life aside to make his childrens well being of utmost importance. He loves his boys(&girl) more than anything and all he wants in life is for them to be happy and know how much they are loved.One memory I will always cherish was when Travis was 16 and had to drive the freeway to work at a baseball tournament.Steve taught him all the dangers, reminded him of all the safety rules, and then five minutes after Trav left Steve jumped out of bed and "followed" at a safe unseen distance all the way to Riverside to make sure he arrived safely. He then turned around and drove the hour back home.Travis never knew he did that until much later but it was such an example of what a caring dad he is.Now it isn't all good, lest I sound "June Cleaver" again. He is a big ole pushover.Yep he is alllll talk. The other night when I got home late from the play guess who was on the couch watching Conan O'Brien? Brody!! Steve said he looked sad about going in the crate so he thought he would let him wait up for me and watch a little TV. The kids were allowed to eat in our bed, have junk for dinner and donuts on Saturday mornings.He did the big speech about paying for your own insurance once you drive and Travis was on our policy until the day he got married.Chad still is....
So to our big softie "Thank you" for loving us so much! We love you back and wish you the happiest day today!!

I had the time of my life....

Last night Chloe Lindsay and I went to see "Dirty Dancing" at the Pantages!!
Even though the story line was not my favorite, the play was a BLAST! When you add in a live orchestra,the incredible dancing, being in that historic building and walking out of the theater onto the "Walk of Fame" it makes for a magical night!
We met up early and stumbled upon our favorite restaurant "The Grand Lux" at the Beverly Center. So after a nice dinner and a little shopping off we went to the play. Wicked is still my #1 favorite play ever! But I am enjoying every live production more and more.And when you can see it with some of your favorite friends it's perfect!


We love to be geeks!

One of "those" moms

I promise I wont be a crazy "dog mom" for long but this little guy has stolen my heart.We spent the day with the kids and both puppies and had so much fun!!! I made sure the boys knew that we love them all the same,but this new baby is stealing tons of my attention. Bentley was very sweet to share his yard and played nicely most of the day. He is just so studly and clumsy that sometimes Brody got a little trampled.But he soon got the hang of it and held his own.After tons of play time we put them in their crates and all went out for a nice dinner.Then home for a long walk through their lovely neighborhood. It was such a beautiful day and me & my pup are tuckered out. Emma (who was the the cutest flower girl ever) and her sweet family came by to play and Emma was adorable. She loves puppies! Here are some fun pics from our happy day....

We needed a new friend.....

And here he is. So stinkin cute !! I realized I have not had a puppy since I was 8 (which is almost 30 years now?) It is amazing the joy this little guy has brought us already. He is a love bug and his puppy breath is so stinky and yet so sweet. And Steve is quite the daddy.He called yesterday from work at least 5 times to see how our boy was. We chatted about sleeping, potty's, and ended the calls with "give him hugs for me" We are completely obnoxious! But it sure brought back memories of when the boys were little. Steve could never make it through a work day without calling to see how his babies were. Our pup has already had his first bath and when they took him from me he cried a little....then I cried a little.The Petsmart guy must think I am nuts.But then he told me "its ok you're a new mommy" and I smiled with a little burst of pride. We are kicking around a few names but so far the one that feels the best is "Carter" Something we lovingly call Steve and it just kinda fits him. We also like Nicky, Caydon,and Charlie.We would love your votes. Our empty nest is not so empty and we can hardly wait to take him to play with Bentley tomorrow.....

Revised 6/13 ** We have named him Brody Carter** (I know Brody wasn't in the hat but we changed hats)


Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about little puppies."

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

As promised today is the drawing for my blog giveaway! I double checked to make sure all 10 follower names were in the hat. Then added all the names from the post about the giveaway!!
I am quite sure this is all FDA and FCC monitored so I want to make sure I did it just as promised. Thanks everyone for joining in! The names in the hat represent such amazing ladies who are all so deserving of a fabulous prize. So I am hoping to do another one soon.

Here are the entrees ( that looks like a dinner option, not one who enters?)
Here are the enterers (that's not right either?)
Here are the contestants...
Kami-Melanie-Kaitlin-Sara-Chloe-Kathy-Casey-Nancy L-Cara-Dave-Abby-Heather-
And the winner is!!! Play a drum roll here to build excitement...
Gosh I feel like Oprah, but you're not getting a car and I'm not rich and famous.But you know what I mean


The winner is...........



MELANIE~

In my best game show voice
"lets hear a little about Melanie. Melanie is a dear friend of Chloe's and has become a good friend of our whole family! We have only met personally a few times, but are regular visitors to each others blogs.When I saw her recently at Chloe's graduation it felt like we were old friends because we have shared so much through comments and reading. She is a newly married wife to Justin and they have two fun little dogs. I learned in our short two hour lunch we both have germaphob tendencies,we love lists, books, movies and when it comes to "gabbing" she can throw it down like the best of us Greeks. She is absolutely darling and makes you feel like you have known her forever. You can visit her blog by clicking here. Congratulations Melanie your prize will be shipped out soon.
Thanks to all of you and I promise to show the fun gifts I send her way. Another contest will be coming soon cause this is so darn fun~
*Photo stolen from facebook without permission!Being that I am the 'contest manager' I am hoping it's allowed? I just had to show her cute little face! Hope you don't mind Mel.

Sunday Six...

We started this week with a dog adoption that ended up being absolutely heartbreaking. The details are still too sad to write about, but the dog had to be returned to its owners and Steve and I are hoping to find another one soon. We are so thankful for family and friends. Laughter and love is the balm that soothes my heart. So today I am giving thanks for all things and finding the flowers that grow through the weeds of our life. God is good! Here are six things I am grateful for this week.....

1-When Chloe and Ashlyn heard about what happened they both offered to drop everything and come here to cheer me up! How blessed I am to have these sweet girls in my life. I told them no but to my surprise Chloe ended up on my doorstep and stayed for two days. It was so great having her here! The storms in life will come to every one of us at some time and how blessed we are with people who stand beside us and hold the umbrella.

2- Our work girls met again for our monthly dinner. I was very busy being social this week(oh how I love that) We once again had so much fun and laughed like crazy.It's fun to learn more about the girls I spend so much time with at work. They are tons of fun!

3- A fun lunch with Abby. I have been wanting to take her to lunch for her birthday and we finally had the time to meet up. We ended up sitting and talking for two hours and I could have stayed longer. It's a unique friendship that has grown from when she was just a little girl. It's so great to see her all grown up, living on her own, and being such a remarkable young lady.Here I am almost 25 years older than her and we have so much to chat about. Thanks Abby for always loving me. I adore you!


4-Another fun package came from the Tennessee Krikacs.Dave and Sandy you guys are too much! It had a fun new recipe book, Planet Earth DVD's for Travlyn and more childrens books to add to the "grandma library" Sandy started for me. You guys are much too generous and we love and thank you with all our hearts!

5-Steve~I could really mention him every single week. He is the BEST friend I could ever have.I was telling Lindsay I have come to appreciate him even more the older we get.When life gets hard he just handles it! He shelters me and takes such good care of his family. Life is wonderful when you can admire the man you share it with every day.

6-Our dear friends the Carlson's had a birthday party for Curt and a going away send off for their son. We so enjoyed the night in their beautiful yard playing cards and celebrating. I mostly loved meeting Curt's 90 year old mom who is so young and cute! More than once I caught Steve flirting with her and I loved every second of it. Thanks for including us guys! We had a blast.

You cant make this stuff up

Last night was our monthly dinner with the Moms. And I realized we are fast becoming funny old broads! We have been meeting for years and they are treasured friends. We have often said how thankful we are that we wont have to join the "Red Hats" because we will have our friendships to count on in our "old age" Well last night proved we are not nearly as young as we think, and that the "old age" days are coming full speed! A night with these ladies is better than any comedy club,and to be honest we laughed so hard we might have peed a little. Now of course the names will be omitted to protect our reputations but these stories are just too funny to forget.

1- One friend was called in immediately to go over the results of her mammogram. There was something suspicious and she was really nervous. The doctor came in and thankfully it was OK after all! It was just that her breasts were so 'wrinkled' that the tech should have laid them out flat before taking the x ray. Now for most ladies that might be good news,but can hearing that your boobs are wrinkled ever really be good news?

2- Another went to the dermatologist to find out why her neck was itchy? The doctor told her "be sure to clean the folds of skin on your neck really well" what the heck? So of course she asked us all in a panic "do I have folds of skin on my neck" No honey of course you don't. Stupid doctor probably just wanted to give you Xanax and a cosmetic surgeon referral.

3-After many giggles and laughs through dinner the night ended with this conversation in the parking lot.Janice asked Susan if she could get a ride home because Janice's husband had dropped her off.
So Susan replies...
"Of course I'll take you home ,Come on I'll walk out with you...Where are you parked?"
And for a second Janice actually hesitated thinking "where am I parked"
I was laughing so hard I couldn't see straight.

I am so thankful to have friends who are real and faithful as can be.I truly believe if we meet for another 20 years we will stay fun, fabulous, and young at heart. Or at least continue to think we are.

Memory Lane~

This is love! Just a mom and her sweet baby boy cuddling.I see those little fingers and still want to nibble them. The sweetest days...