True meaning of a FATHER.

With Father's Day coming up I started thinking about the true meaning of a Father. Out of curiosity I decided to googled it. First I googled:

The Definition of a father

1. The father is defined as the male parent of an offspring

Then Meaning of a father

1. A male person whose sperm unites with an egg, resulting in the conception of a child.
2. A man who adopts a child.
3. A man who raises a child.

What do you think when you hear the word Father?

For me a father is SO much more than it's definition. It's not just the name but the actions. A father is a very important role in every child's life and every child deserves to have an active father.

As a child I was always close to my dad. I never feared going to my dad with a problem. I always knew I could talk to him. Something I always remember my dad telling us kids is a family that plays together stays together. We were always doing things together as a family. Not just with my mom but with both my mom and dad. From learning to ride my first motorcycle at about 8 to learning to drive at 16, my dad was right there guiding me. Things weren't perfect but at least I always knew I was coming home to both of my parents. Even most of my friends had fathers that played an active role in their lives. So, as I got older I realized how fortunate I was to have both parents. I met several people that had grown up with no real connection with their fathers. They always talked about how growing up they always felt like something was missing. Now with kids of their own they still all have one thing in common. They are determined to ALWAYS be there for their kids NO matter what. To be the best father they can possible be.

I am extremely lucky to have married an awesome husband and father. I know that he will always be there for our kids no matter what. What's more important in life than your spouse and your children. So you might ask...what qualifies him to be an awesome father. Just ask the kids what they think.

Kayla: My dad is the best dad. He always comes to my things at school. He fixes all of our bikes and scooters and watches us ride them. He makes popcorn and lets us eat it while watching a movie with us.

James: I love my daddy because he plays games with me and watches movies with me. He reads books with me and lays with me when I'm scared. Daddy takes me outside to play and shows me how to work on things with him. He said he might get me a chiuaua one day.

Haylie: Even though she might not be able to explain to you how she feels about her daddy, her actions show more than words could explain. When Haylie wakes up in the morning the first person she looks for is her daddy. She follows daddy like his shadow all day and even helps herself to every meal he has. When her favorite show comes on daddy is right next to her singing along. She loves to go BYE BYE with daddy to see the fishies and go out to lunch. In her mind he is only her daddy!

Notice how each one of the kids said something that he does WITH THEM!

Jimmy has a special relationship with each one of our kids. He cares more about our kids than anyone could imagine. Sometimes we lay in bed and talk about how we just can't imagine life without one of our kids in it every day. After looking into the eyes of your child how could

you ever abandon them and live like they don't exist. You know statistics say that 24 million children (34 percent) live absent their biological father. Crazy HUH! And we wonder why so many kids have issues. This statistic shows why a fathers involvement is so important.

Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, and avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy, and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers. Studies on parent-child relationships and child well being show that father love is an important factor in predicting the social, emotional, and cognitive development and functioning of children and young adults.

Jimmy,

Thank you for everything you do for our me and the kids. Every day you plant another great memory that they will always have with them. Every day you give them the courage and strength to be themselves and that no matter what you will always be there for them. And most importantly you teach them about our Heavenly Father and without him nothing is possible. I couldn't have asked for a better husband and father. XOXO

This isn't the best pictures of Jimmy with the kids. As you can see they are not all willing participants for pictures. This was taken right before we left for breakfast on Father's Day. We met up with my grandparents, mom and sisters. We ate till our stomachs were ready to explode and laughed at all the crazy people around us.

Happy Father's Day to all those great father's.

Enjoy every minute with your precious children, time doesn't go backwards. Once it's gone, it's gone!

Today James turned 5!!!

I can't believe that I just typed that number. It seems like just yesterday I was painting his room and waiting for the day I would get to hold him. James has the most lovely personality. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is finds me and gives me the biggest hug and kiss. He's also ALL boy. We definitely have the best of both worlds with him. I aways said I wanted a son that enjoys all the boy things. James fits right into that role. He loves to go outside and help Jimmy in the garage. He loves to take things apart to see how they were made. Most of time he is taking his bike apart instead of riding it. Here are some random pics since he was born. There not the best but remember I lost most of my pics when my external hard drive dropped (no I didn't have them on disks:( ). On James' birthday we took the kids to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch and then to Makutos Island for some fun. James has been asking to go there the entire summer. They all had so much fun and were so tired at the end of the day.Since we already had a party for James with all of his friends we just had family over for a BBQ and some swimming. James had a blast playing with all of his cousins and got a lot of great gifts.

Good Morning!

What a fun morning we had with the kids.

When Jimmy was little he used to spend the night at his friend Chris' house. In the morning they used to make donuts using the Pillsbury biscuits. He's talked about how much he loved them for a long time but we had yet to do it.

Having the kids home for the summer has given us a ton of time to do these things with them. The kids love donuts and love to help in the kitchen. They had a blast forming their own donuts and getting to decorate them however they want.

James and Haylie went to town on the sprinkles. The more the better....right!

What an easy way to make homemade donuts. We all had so much fun and they were YUMMY!

A cup of coffee and a deep-fried donut covered in sugar.

A great start for the day!

Time to go for a run. Remember....from the lips to the hips!

Don't I look PRETTY!

Haylie's new thing is to get into everything she is not suppose to. From makeup to markers, she finds them ALL! Usually she doesn't get it anywhere but on her, but try and get this stuff off!!!

It takes several baths and showers to get all of it off and this WAS her new swimsuit.

Not so NEW anymore:)

Ask her what she is doing and you'll hear," I look so pretty."

SURPRISE

The kids have worked so hard this year in school and keeping their rooms clean we thought it was time for a well deserved vacation! We always tell the kids where and when we go a vacation EVERY time so I thought it would be fun to surprise them. We planned it so that they would get up and get ready for school as if it was any other day. The day before I packed every ones bags and put them in the suburban during school so they wouldn't see ANYTHING! We told them we had to make a stop before taking them to school. Kayla was so concerned the entire time we were driving and watching the clock. She DOES NOT like to be late for school! When we pulled up to the plane Jimmy told the kids he was going on a trip and that he would be back in a few days. Kayla was getting all teary eyed as Jimmy got out of the truck. Just as the kids got out of the truck, they seen Grandma Anna come out of the plane and Kayla started to get all chocked up:( I felt so bad that Kayla was getting so upset. Jimmy has gone on vacation without us before and she has always taken it really good. I told the kids we had a surprise for them and that they were actually going to miss school for the day. The look on their faces were PRICELESS!
Anna had already told the pilots that this was a surprise so they kids had NO idea where we were going. Kayla was so funny, she said she felt like a rich person going to have lunch in another state. Anna had gotten each of the kids a backpack filled with all kinds of snacks and things to keep them busy during the trip. It was like Christmas all over again:)

When she realized we weren't going to give in an tell her where we we going she got comfy. As soon as the plane landed the guessing game started again. The lime drive was also informed of the surprise they couldn't even get it out him. The kids were trying to find signs that would tell them where we were.(Yes Anna I know you won't like this picture but the look on both your face and Kayla's was just too good to pass up!)

As soon as the driver started getting close to our destination I knew it was only a matter of time before Kayla was going to figure it out. Just as we turned to corner into the hotel parking lot there was the BIGGEST sign

WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND!!!

The kids were so excited!! When we told them we were staying for almost a week they were ecstatic!! NO SCHOOL:)What an awesome vacation this was. We had plenty of time to see everything. I thought I was going to have all this down time while the kids took naps. Boy was I WRONG. Kayla and James were ready to Go Go Go.

Kayla

Kayla was finally tall enough to go on all the rides. Her favorite rides were

Splash Mountain and the tube ride at California Adventures.

We were totally shocked at how much she loved the fast rides. The faster the better!

Kayla makes the craziest faces.

Whenever I try to get a picture of her she thinks that it is so funny to mess it up by doing her weird faces. Little does she know everyone going to see them NOW!!

After this vacation I am convinced that Kayla will travel the world when she's older. She is always talking about where she would like to visit and has has such a big interest in other cultures. Every night she packed her backpack with her water, sunglasses, camera and signature book. I never had to ask her twice to get up in the morning. She was always ready to GO! She was in front the whole way, wanting to guide the way.

She had TOURIST written all over her.

James
James loved the Pirates of the Caribbean. I think we rode on it about 20 times. Every time we would come to the end he would say," AWW man I was going to get the buried treasure and someone already got it."

He also had us cracking up the whole time. He always has something crazy to say and he can go from happy to sad in a second!

Haylie

Haylie LOVED the It's a Small World ride. She sang and danced the whole time. It's funny how I remember this ride from when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool and now I look at it and it is SO CHEESY:) Great ride for a 2 year old!

I knew Haylie would want to walk around so we got her a monkey backpack that has a leash on it. She loved it! The only problem was that James wanted to hold onto it and the two of them get crazy when they are together. She loves to be goofy with him but it's not fun when your in a crowd of people!
The pic below is of her waiting for the kids to come down on a water ride. Every time the tube would come down it would get this area soaked. She thought it was so funny to take a chance and get in as close as she could. As soon as she would see it coming she would step back and hold her face. TO CUTE!

Splash

Kayla and James wanted to go on this ride so bad and boy was I glad when they convinced Grandma to go with them.

Meeting New Friends

Haylie has been addicted to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loves Goofy. We couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she got to meet them. YA, that didn't go over so well. See loved to see them from a distance but she was not fond of them getting close to her. So I ended up being in ever picture.

WHO...ME??
This was SO embarrassing. I'm just standing in a crowd of people watching these guys preform. This crazy man comes over, grabs my hand and asks me to do some crazy dance in front of EVERYONE! If you know me, I DO NOT like to stand out in the crowd. It's just not my thing:) So what was I suppose to do. Again if you know me....I laugh. Whenever I'm embarrassed or uncomfortable I laugh. So that's what I did laughed the whole time, laugh and look like a total dork dancing.

I think this is a vacation the kids will remember FOREVER! It was so fun to do it as a surprised. They are still thanking us for the BEST SURPRISE EVER:)

Arrrg Matey

This year we decided to do have a party for James a little early. June is always so hot and and James really wanted to have a Pirate party and search for treasure. I had so much fun planning this with the help of Anna!

I like to make the food for all of our parties to match the theme. I knew I wanted to do the the octopus hot dogs but I couldn't think of anything to put with it. The night before the party Anna and I were getting everything ready and Anna came up with the best idea for a side. The shell mac & cheese. I wanted something that the kids would eat and every kid likes mac & cheese. PERFECT HUH!!!!

They looked so cute!

The only problem was most of the kids wouldn't eat the legs!

James has been on this cupcake kick. For any party lately, his request is always cupcakes.

I MUST admit, these were the best cupcakes EVER!!

Now that their tummies are full, it's time for a a treasure hunt. Each of the kids made an eye patch, telescope, and got an official pirate hat to help them on their treasure hunt.

I split the kids into 3 groups. Each group had their maps to find their treasure. They find the clues that led them to the treasure. They had a blast running all over the yard looking for the clues.

We can't have a party without snow cones and cotton candy. The kids can always use a little extra sugar.....right! Our SPECIAL Friend:) Thanks to everyone who came to make James' day more special. He LOVED all of the great gifts and cards.

Thank you Jimmy and Britta for the cotton candy and snow cone machine.

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