June iMoments

Johnny has decided to call Joey "Joseph Woseph Poseph"...and I love it!

This is what our summer evening look like...pizza by the garden while Mom and Dad work. :)

Joey had to hang with the girls while Daddy and Johnny were at Father's and Son's. Next year, Joey!

While Joey held down the fort as the man of the house, the girls and I did matching manicures. 

We love our Sunday evenings at Great Grandma Calls, and she loves her Sunday evenings snuggling Joseph!

Seriously, this is the face I wake up to. My smiley, happy, handsome boy.

Sibling contention is frowned upon. However, I do like getting a weeded garden out of the deal. :)

School's out and it's time for summertime fun with the neighborhood kids!

And Italian Ices after a long day in the sun. 

The girls decided that Joey would make an adorable little sister! :)

Every morning, Joey is surrounded with love and attention just as soon as he's opened his eyes. This child will never feel unloved or unwanted.

First session of swim lessons at Surf n Swim!

Joey keeps me company while the kids learn how to swim. This boy is too much for me!!

With every single one of my babies, I wish I could capture how they look as I hold them in my arms after feeding them. I got pretty close with this picture of my Joseph. I wish I could keep him this little forever!

Jeff's sister Tiffany has a business, Daisy Farms. She makes these beautiful crocheted baby blankets, and she made one especially for Joey. We took this picture so she could post it to her Instagram page. Another happy (and ridiculously cute!) customer!

Ever since Claire was a wee baby, she has had this blonde spot in her hair. We call it her "Anna Spot" from the movie "Frozen". 

Seriously, this is how he wakes up every morning! Oh, I want a dozen more just like him!!

Sophie did her own hair before swimming lessons. She has become rather talented at doing her own hair! She's getting so grown up...

Johnny begged for a mohawk. Against my better judgement, I finally acquiesced. After all, it's summertime...and you're only a kid for so long. I told him he could keep it until Sunday. Then when Sunday rolled around I had gotten used to it...and now he can keep it until school starts. :)

Air Show 2016

We love it when the air show comes to town! Unfortunately, it was just too hot for Joey and I to go this year, so Danny took the older three kids. We got smart this year and just invested in noise cancellation headphones for each of the kids instead of dealing with ear plugs all day. They got there right when the show started and stayed all day! The kids said their favorite parts were the Thunderbirds (obviously!) and the static displays.

I love that we can share Danny's passion for fighter jets as a family, and Joey and I are excited to go to the next air show!

Claire's Baking Debut

Our kids love to cook and bake. Claire and Sophie have been watching a lot of "Cupcake Wars", and Claire decided she wanted to try creating her own cupcake...and bake it all by herself. I felt like I had to encourage that! So we went to the store and Claire picked out a cake mix (I do have a newborn...I couldn't handle a batter from scratch). Claire picked out a frosting on Pinterest and then picked out some embellishments at the store. 

Claire did an amazing job! Her finished product? Chocolate Cupcakes with a Salted Caramel Frosting and a Chocolate and Caramel Drizzle. :) Perfection!! This girl is destined for great culinary adventures!

Summer Science Experiments

Claire got an awesome science experiment kit for her birthday. She was kind enough to let Sophie and Johnny help her with some of her experiments. They started out with the baking soda volcano, which was a huge hit! Then they tried making a tornado in a jar, and while they weren't quite as successful with that one, it still provided quite a bit of entertainment! I love watching the wonder and pure joy in these kids' faces. What a fun way to spend an afternoon!

ROK Summer Picnic

We love the ROK events! They are so awesome, and alway gives us a good reason to see our dear friends the Schultz. This get-together was extra special, though. This was the first time Joey and Stetson were going to meet! These boys are just two weeks apart, and such a blessing to each of our families. They are destined to be buds, just like their big brothers. All day before the picnic, the kids kept telling Joseph that he was going to meet "big brother Luke's best friend's little brother". :)

We met the Schultz for dinner before the picnic. This way we could chat and get a decent meal before all the fun at the park. It was so fun to hold Stetson! It warmed our hearts to be enjoying our boys "again". It's a strange feeling, and pretty hard to explain in words. 

After dinner it was time for fun and games! The kids scattered as soon as we got there, playing every game they could to get every prize they could get their grubby little hands on. :) Danny and I got to spend the evening catching up with nurses, staff, and our social worker Jo. It was so fun to show off Joey! But my favorite part of the summer picnic is the Remembering Wall. I stressed for weeks about what picture to send of Luke this year, because I have treasured the one we got last year. Seeing that wall of photos is somehow heartbreaking and comforting...all at the same time. Oh, how I miss our Lukey. It helped to ease the ache to take some fun pictures of all the boys together. And Todd just had to get one of Stetson with hair like Joey. :)

We all had a wonderful night, and it ended all too soon. I'm so grateful for the good men and women that put on these events so that we can remember our son and brother, and so that we can be around people that have walked the road we have. Can't wait until the next event!

Father's Day

Father's Day started early this year when Danny just wouldn't wait to get his present. :) We've been looking at upgrading our smoker for a while now, and smoking (meat) is all the rage at the lab where Danny works, so when the smoker Danny wanted went on sale we decided to go for it. He was one happy camper!! 

It gets harder every year to think of a fun gift for Papa for Father's Day. Danny had a stroke of genius this year and ordered him specialty pumpkin seeds for a pumpkin patch! The kids and I decided there needed to be signs for said pumpkin patch, though. So I painted these signs! I'm rather proud of them, actually. :) 

Because Sundays are such a crazy day for Danny, we decided to have our big Father's Day meal on Saturday. We also decided we should give the smoker it's big debut! On the menu was smoked pork sandwiches, macaroni salad, watermelon, and pina coladas! We invited Papa, Grandma, and Forrest to join us for dinner, and it was delicious!! Definitely befitting our two awesome fathers. :)

Even though Danny technically got the smoker for his gift, we couldn't have Father's Day without a present for our Daddy. The kids and I went to our local specialty kitchen store and got some fun stuff: Traeger Apricot BBQ Sauce, Blues Hog Smokey BBQ Sauce, Traeger Salmon Seasoning, and the kid's favorite...Butt Rub. :) It was decided that the Blues Hog is hands down, by far, the best BBQ sauce ever! And Danny was happy to have some fun stuff to try with his smoker.

Joey was sleeping, but here's Danny with the oldest three kids. I love this picture. I love it when my sweetheart's eyes look so blue amidst the chocolate brown eyes of our children. :)

Papa loved his pumpkin patch, and we are all so excited to see how it turns out! I dream of beautiful exotic pumpkins for our Halloween photo shoot this year! :) We love our Papa, and we are so grateful for all he does for us.

Even though we did our big meal on Saturday, we couldn't let actual Father's Day go by without celebrating. Dad didn't have as many meetings in the morning, so the older kids and I cooked a big breakfast for our Daddy while he cuddled on the cough with Joseph. Pretty good gig for him, I think! 

After church, we had a simple dinner at home and then headed over to Grandma and Papa's for dessert. This year I made a Strawberry Marscapone Layer Cake...and it turned out perfect! It looked beautiful and it tasted even better!! I think I'm getting better at this whole cake thing. :)

We enjoyed cake and visiting with the Call family, celebrating all the Dads in our life. Then we came home, read scriptures, and called it a day. We are so grateful for Danny and the father he is in our family. He leads us in righteousness, and is an example in all things to each of us. One day really isn't enough to celebrate his pure awesomeness. But we try. :)

We love you, Daddy! Happy Father's Day!!