Records.

The Pacific NW has been breaking records lately, and none that I'm a fan of! It has to do with the heat, and I will call it extreme heat since I think that this area is not meant for these high temps. Wednesday, Seattle broke an all time record with Seatac reporting 103 degrees, the hottest day ever! Many areas were warmer, including lucky us in Monroe where they reported it to be 107. Thursday also broke a record for Seattle with Seatac reporting 96, breaking the old record of 94 for that date.

Now if we had A/C, I wouldn't complain much. But we don't. And let me tell you, that makes for some pretty uncomfortable nights.

Happy Birthday, dear friend.

She can always make me laugh. Always.
She genuinely cares about everyone.

She has the sweetest bond with her nieces.

She is an amazing wife.

She loves surprises.

She loves to laugh.

She supports everyone with everything.

She has awesome hair and a great sense of style.

She loves concerts.

She loves Vegas even more.

She is a small town girl with a big city heart.

She loves being around people and people love being around her.

She has a wonderful attitude on everything.

She is my friend.

She means so much to so many.

Thank you Rachel for all that you are and all that you do. I hope you have the most wonderful birthday :)

Daughtry.

If there is 1 thing that Rachel and I both love, it's concerts..and free ones at that! I happened to find that Daughtry was coming to Seattle July 17th and it was a free show too, so I got us tickets and a hotel and we were ready to go. We got there and found a massive line to get in, like 7 city blocks long. We thought for sure we weren't going to get in, but we did and ended up having an awesome view of the stage being able to stand right in front of it. It turns out that it was being filmed for the Jimmy Kimmel show so it wasn't that long of a concert but we got to hear some great songs. Daughtrys new album "Leave this town" came out on July 14th but we already knew most of the songs. It was a fun night that we ended with a wonderful steak dinner at Ruth Chris and a couple drinks at a martini bar.

Birthday Surprise!

This was the look on my face when I walked in to PF Changs thinking I was having lunch with my Sister, niece, Brother and Dad...and was surprised with Becca, Dailey, Skylee, Rachel, Shae, Cadence, Breanne, Campbell and Cooper! I had no clue and it was the best surprise. Before lunch, they had taken all of the kids to get a group photo taken for me of all "my kids". I love all of these kids so much and I feel so lucky to have them in my life. They are the cutest kids around :)

Thank you to everyone involved! I am so happy to call all of you friends.

4th of July.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to go to one of my favorite places, Irwindale,CA. We flew out Friday evening and arrived in Burbank where Travis and Budah picked us up and took us to In n Out.

Saturday morning, Rachel, myself and Travis's Mom Gale got ready for our big shopping day. We were going to the Fashion District in down town LA, but when getting off the exit, we realized the Staples center was right there so we made a little detour to check out the Michael Jackson scene. I must admit that I never really considered myself a fan of MJ. I knew who he was my whole life of course, but never really got into his music, or him. However, I just can't get over the fact that he passed so unexpectedly. We parked in a parking garage where no one else was and went up to the Staples Center where there was a huge billboard with MJ's picture. We stood in line with only a few people in front of us to sign the board and get our picture taken. Gale couldn't believe we were there :) Funny enough, I have seen the same board on TV many times now and it was reported that people waited hours in line to sign that..guess we were pretty lucky to not have many others there.

After that experience, we headed to the Fashion District which is always fun in an overwhelming way. So many things to see and buy. We were there exactly 2 hours and all got plenty of things to try to get home. We cruised around LA and then headed up to Universal City to have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We sat on the patio and it was a beautiful afternoon. Clear blue skies, music and people everywhere. At lunch Rachel was talking about how lucky we were to be able to go to all the fun places we go and do the things we do. I thought about that the rest of the day and couldn't agree more.

After lunch we went back to our hotel to change and head out to the Speedway. We arrived just in time for qualifying where Travis qualified 14th. There was a huge crowd for the race which I was very surprised by. Rachel, Eric and I headed up to the main grand stands to watch the race and sat with Travis's cousins and their 3 girls. Although Travis's car was great in practice, it didn't appear to be the same in the race and he ended up finishing 12th.

We had such a great trip full of laughs and it was exactly what I needed. I can't wait for the next trip to Irwindale!

Happy Birthday Michael!

12 years ago today, my brother was born at 8:25 am. I was 12 at the time, and was determined to be in the delivery room when he was born. My Mom & Dad left in the middle of the night and when I woke up, my Grandma was at the house to watch us girls. I begged her to drive me to the hospital and we arrived just in time. I walked in the room at 8:20 and he was born minutes later. Later that day I walked the halls with him and showed him off to anyone that would look at him :)
Since I was 12 when he was born, I remember thinking that when he was 12 I would almost be 24 and I can't believe that day is here.

{Michael, Taylor, Hunter..best friends}

Hello, July.

This month I plan to:

Celebrate the 4th of July at Irwindale Speedway watching Travis & Eric race.

Try some "summer" recipes like this, and this.

Enjoy the new Daughtry CD when it comes out on July 14th.

Celebrate my birthday and Ashley's 21st birthday with a trip to Las Vegas!

Take advantage of Strawberry season.

Wear flip flops pretty much everyday.

Play with and enjoy all the kids :)

2 months.

I can't believe that little Ava is already 2 months old! On one hand it seems like she has been here forever, but on the other it seems like she is still a newborn.

Last weekend my Sister turned 21 so we celebrated with a dinner at her favorite Mexican resturaunt and then I got to take Ava home for the night while my Sister went out with family and friends. I was so excited to keep Ava over night. She is such a good baby and so fun to cuddle. She slept through the whole dinner and didnt even budge until we got home. She woke up, I fed her around 10 and she was out until 4am. I loved watching her sleep. I love all of her sounds and the way she stretches her arms like she is just soo tired :) Sunday morning was spent in the rocking chair, feeding her, cuddling her and watching the race..I can't think of a better way to spend the morning.

UP.

To celebrate Campbell's last day of school, I took her, Cooper and Lizzie to see the new Disney Pixar movie "UP" in 3D. I really wanted to see it too and it did not disappoint. It was a cute story of love, friendship and the passion for adventure. I just love the effect of the 3 D movies. It is so magical and feels so real. Cooper jumped out of his seat a few times thinking something was actually going to hit him :) Take your kids to see it, and if you don't have kids, take yourself to see it :)

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello 1st grade!

That's what Campbell was saying as she left school today for the last time as a Kindergartner. She is really going to miss her teacher, but she is excited for 1st grade and most importantly, to get her own desk! She was telling me this morning that her friend Isabella is scared to get first grade socks. I said, what does that mean? Campbell said, you know, the socks you have to buy when you go in the first grade! I said, oh yea, those socks :) I love the way kids think :)

Winner.

After nearly 2 seasons of struggles, Jay finally got a win this weekend at Stateline and I couldn't be happier. So many times he felt like giving up, but would still keep on keepin on.

Campbell and I headed over Saturday morning, did some shopping in downtown Spokane and then headed to our hotel for awhile. We got to the race around 8:30 and saw that Jay had qualified last which told me the day must have not went too well. We cheered him on the whole race as he moved his way to the front. At the end of the race, he was in the right place at the right time as the 1st and 2nd place cars got together on the last lap. There have been many times that he has been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this was not one of those times. I am just so proud that he was able to be in contention and able to get the win. Seeing the look on his face after getting out of the car was just priceless. I have been hoping for a good finish, to get that confidence back and build some momentum and I am so happy it happened. There really is nothing like a victory.

Campbell was so excited and proud of Jay. She is usually pretty shy around him but this time went right up and gave him a high five. He gave her the trophy and she got her picture with him :) As you can see from the last picture, the trophy didn't leave her side all the way home and that's the first thing she showed everyone when we got home, too cute :)

Down on the Farm.

Yesterday afternoon I took Ava and we went and picked up Campbell and Cooper to bring them to the farm to do some planting! We started corn about a month ago, so now we were ready to do the next round of corn and also a few other things. The kids were so excited to come out. They started with the corn. My Dad made the holes, Campbell planted the seeds and Lizzie covered the holes. Cooper just stayed by me and watched and then when they were done, they all ran down the rows to make sure they were packed in good. They also planted the carrots and Campbell was amazed at how small the seeds were :) We didn't have time to do the Pumpkins last night, but those will be next along with some Zucchini and even some Watermelons.

Campbell's Birthday!

We had so much fun celebrating Campbell's birthday. I made cupcakes for her to take to school yesterday and she was so excited. She got to wear a birthday hat and they all sang to her. When she got home, I had her new Hannah Montana bike sitting in the driveway and her reaction was priceless. She was so surprised and excited and didn't waste anytime taking it for a spin. She even left the balloons on it :) We had taco's for dinner and then her Poppa got her an Ice cream cake from DQ like she requested. We opened presents and she was SO excited to finally get a DSi. She has wanted a DS for awhile now. We had Ava for the afternoon so Campbell was in her glory being able to hold her. It was a fun day and I can't believe she is officially 6!