To my husband, on Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best dad that I know!  Mark, I hope that you truly know how much Nora and I just adore you.  I am so glad that we have a special day to celebrate you!  You have taught me so much since we have been married and especially since Miss New came into this world.  Here are just a few of my favorite things about you ...

You are such a kind soul, filled with grace and mercy for others
You are a completely hands-on Dad
You are 100% there for all of your daughters
You are funny and can make me laugh even when I want to cry
You love, love being silly with Nora
You know the Bible and apply it to your life (our lives)
You are wise
You are a wonderful husband, father, son and friend
You provide for our family
You are patient, helpful and strong
I could go on and on, but one of the things that I like most about you is the fact that you're modest!  Guess we'll keep it that way!  :)

We love you!  Happy Father's Day!

Honoring our fathers...
Father's Day is also a hard holiday for us.  This will be our first Father's Day without Buddy.  I know that it still seems surreal to Mark that he is gone...  We both miss our fathers tremendously but are so grateful for the amazing impact that they had on our lives.

A Bittersweet Father's Day

We had a quiet Father's day yesterday. Nora and I let Mark rest a bit in the morning - his first treat of the day and then had to wake him up to give him his card and gifts and kisses, of course! We then headed to Sunday School and had another really great lesson from one of our pastors. He's taught our class the the month of June and we've really enjoyed his insight and learned a lot. If you haven't read the book of Philippians in a while, you might want to - it's pretty inspiring!

After class, we went to lunch with our friends Shawn, Kathy and Elizabeth. It was so much fun to watch those big girls sit at the table, eat and be silly! Nora was perfectly content to sit at the table and eat whatever we put in front on her. We could not have asked for a better eater! If only she wouldn't whine when you don't get food to her quick enough. Little stinker! I think that Elizabeth was more interested in checking out everything in the restaurant. Too funny! I just love watching their little personalities come out. So sweet!

We headed home to put Miss Nora down for a long afternoon nap. Poor baby - she was so exhausted that she fell asleep on the way home. We had a quiet afternoon, which was really nice. Mark watched his golf tournament and I got to have some Mommy time alone, so I worked on Nora's scrapbook. It's pretty fun to look back at how much she has already changed so much!

When sleepyhead finally woke up from her nap, we headed down to the Ogle hacienda to celebrate Father's Day and Bill's birthday. We missed out on swimming, but made it on time for pizza and cake with the Ogle, Jorgeson and Malvessi families. It was fun and entertaining, with lots of kiddos running around.

By the time we made it home, the entire family was exhausted (from what, I am not sure). It was a nice day, but I couldn't help but think that it was the first Father's day without my dad. It just made me miss him terribly. Sunday would also have been my parent's wedding anniversary as well, so it was bittersweet for that reason too.

Overall, I think that Mark had a nice day and knows how much Nora loves and adores him. Mark is such an amazing father. Nora and I could not ask for more! He is the definition of a "Hands on Daddy!" However, I know that he missed having the big girls with us. Somehow, someday, in God's divine timing, those girls will know of the unending love that Mark has for them and how he misses being a part of their lives.

We hope that all of the fathers that we know - especially Buddy, Uncle Matt and Uncle Jeff had a great Father's Day!

Father's Day Weekend

Whew! What a busy Father's Day weekend. Mark picked up the big girls (Hannah and Hayleigh) on Friday night and we all headed over to Andrew and Deanna's house for a fun dinner and some swimming. Nora got in the pool for the first time! It was pretty funny to put her in a swim diaper - it went up to her chest. However, she looked cutie pie in her little Lily swimsuit. She loves her bath, so we thought that she would love the water. Let's just say, it was a bit on the cool side, so she didn't quite warm up to the pool, but she still did great! We all had a great time with the Stovers and the Nowaks. Allie and Avery are swimming like little tadpoles!


On Saturday, Mark chilled out with the girls while I ran a bunch of errands. They go so much faster without a little baby with me! In the afternoon we headed to the park for a picnic with our Sunday School Class. We forgot Nora's bottle, so needless to say, we didn't last too long at the picnic...


After my third shower of the day (did I mention that it was 100 degrees each day this weekend?!?), Mark and I got ready for Bill's birthday party. We packed up the girls and headed down South. All of the girls got to hang out in the playroom and nursery with the twins, Wild Will (our new nickname for the baby formerly known as Dream Baby Will), Nick, Isabella and some other cute girls. It was a bit crazy, but fun - upstairs and at the Cuban-themed party. We and I had a great time celebrating with Bill, Lisa and all of their friends. Too bad we had to make it an early night ... the realities of parenthood and lack of sleep were kicking in!


All of the girls and Mark slept in Father's Day morning while I made breakfast. I got the big girls up and we took Mark his presents and breakfast in bed. He loved everything, especially his singing card with a special message from all of the girls, including some grunts from Nora. Too cute! We headed to church and lunch at MiCocina. Nora was so well behaved, so that made it even more fun. That afternoon, Mark and the girls went to see Kung Fu Panda,which they loved! Mattel made toys for that movie, so I'm glad that it is a huge success! I worked on some Panda Paws and a Sparring Bag for the licensing agreement which was pretty cool.


Overall we had a busy, but great weekend! Now we are back to the reality of the bathroom remodel (I'm waiting to reveal the finished product) and Mark is back at work. Nora and I are still hanging out and having a great time. She is totally holding her head up and when we lay her under her little jungle gym, she moves her entire body about 90 degrees. Craziness! No wonder it felt like she was turning somersaults in my belly!