Piano Recital ~ July 2022 (Videos!)

Pictures taken July 23 ~

Elliana performed "Journey West" and "Pachelbel Canon" in my piano recital. We are so proud of her!

Video ~ "Journey West"

Video ~ "Pachelbel Canon"

Practicing Piano for the Music Festival

Picture taken July 20 ~

Kiddie Pool Cabana

Pictures taken July 16 ~

We made a kiddie pool cabana on the deck.

Watermelon Hack (Video)

Picture taken July 16 ~

We tried the TikTok watermelon cutting hack!

Video ~

Recipe - Homemade Pineapple Larabar

Picture taken July 15 ~

I wanted to make a homemade pineapple Larabar, so I used a personal blender to chop about 1/3 c. dates, 1/3 c. dried pineapple, and 1/3 c. cashews. They were good!

Elli's "Golden" 11th Gotcha Day! (Videos!)

Pictures taken July 10-11~

We celebrated Elli's "Golden" Gotcha Day! It's been 11 years since Gotcha Day on July 11, 2011.

We got to celebrate while Kaitlyn and Tommy were still here. It's our tradition to do a water activity and we made a homemade slip & slide!

A heart compact mirror and pearl earrings that we got on our adoption trip.

Videos ~

Faith & Family Day at the Baseball Game (Videos!)

Pictures taken July 9 ~ 

We went to Faith & Family Day at the baseball game. We were sorry the Royals lost, but seeing Crowder in concert was great!!

Video ~

Videos ~

"Thor: Love and Thunder" Movie

Picture taken July 8 ~

We went to our first family movie in a long time and saw "Thor: Love and Thunder"!

4th of July ~ 2022 (Video!)

It was nice having Kaitlyn and Tommy here from New York for the 4th of July!

Video ~

The Big Dipper. 

Washers Tournament at Grandma's

Pictures taken July 3 ~

We had a washers tournament and BBQ lunch at Grandma's after church!

My Birthday ~ 2022

Pictures taken July 2 ~

We celebrated my birthday at The Cheesecake Factory!

Kaitlyn surprised me and flew home two days early from New York for my actual birthday!

Horse Riding Water Cup Game (Videos!)

Pictures taken June 20 ~

Everyone at horse riding lessons had to hold a cup of water to practice keeping their hand steady (but would cool them off it if spilled!).

Video ~

Elli brought Halo an apple for a special treat.

Video ~

Marshmallow Conducting (Video)

Picture taken June 21 ~

Elli wanted Marshmallow to conduct while she was practicing piano.  :)

Video ~

Recipe - Chocolate Pecan Almond Granola

Picture taken June 17 ~

Homemade granola with pecans, almonds, and meltyyy chocolate chips.

Chocolate Pecan Almond Granola 

6 cups rolled oats (I used gluten-free)

3 T. butter, melted

2/3 cup honey

1 cup chopped pecans/sliced almonds

Mix in mixer to break up a little.

Bake at 300º about 40 min. 

Add 1 cup chocolate chips the last few min. 

31st Anniversary!

Pictures taken June 15 ~

Sweets with my sweeties for our 31st anniversary!

Baskin-Robbins would have been cute for 31.  :)

Dragon Boat Festival ~ 2022 (Videos!)

Pictures taken June 11 ~

Here are some pictures from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival!

Video ~ Two dragon boats race at a time and row in sync with the sound of the beating drum at the front of the dragon boat.

Video ~

We went to a Chinese restaurant after the dragon boat races.

Outdoor Movie Night

Pictures taken June 10 ~

We had technical difficulties with our outdoor movie night with Grandma, but Jeff's cookout and Elli's concessions were great!

Grand Canyon Trip ~ Day 5 (Videos!)

Pictures taken June 2 ~

We rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad through the Rocky Mountains and San Juan National Forest in Colorado!

Video ~

Video ~

We had a picnic stop along the river at Cascade Canyon.

Video ~

Video ~

Lodge at Wolf Creek Pass - the high mountain pass on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.