Four Years Old

Our little Abby is now FOUR years old!  I can't believe it.  Abby is really starting to show pieces of maturity these last few months.  She is able to do little chores around the house and can be very helpful with her sister.  She can even hold pretty thoughtful conversations, though I must say she is also becoming good at selective listening.  She's my little helper and Kate idolizes her every move.

When I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted, she gave me a new theme every time we talked about it.  Finally, when I was getting ready to send the invites, she decided it would be a Flower Birthday.  We invited her friends over to decorate some flower pots and played a little game of 'Pin the Bumble Bee on the Flower."  The kids seemed to have a great time and Abby loved being the center of attention.  To end the day Abby requested we eat at Cafe Rio since that is her new favorite place.

We love our little 'A-bu'.
Happy Birthday Abby!

The party, iphone style

I love watching her blow out the candles in this video, it's pretty cute.  

(You don't have to read on.  We just have the annual letter for her birthday below.)

                                                                                July 19th, 2012

Dear Abby, 

Happy Birthday!  We sure love you.  You make life fun and help keep it exciting as well.  You have had a year full of adventures.  Some of your favorite adventures have been to visit family out West and trips to the beach, particularly the Outer Banks. You love getaways so much that you frequently pretend you are 'going on vacation' when you play with your friends.  You will gather up the backpacks in the toy trunk and load them with plastic food, cameras and doctor supplies to make sure you are packed and ready to travel.  You'll wander the house traveling to your favorite destinations, carrying your purse wherever you go. (We can't forget the purse, and of course it's pink. ) We love watching you play, it can be quite entertaining. You have a good imagination.  

This year you have really grown to enjoy dancing.  You had your first dance classes this year and savored every moment.  You would look forward to dance all week long and loved getting dressed up in your leotard and ballet shoes, in fact, you would want to wear them all day.  We now often find you dancing through the house, twirling in your dress-ups and admiring your moves in the big mirror.  You're a beautiful dancer.  It's fun to watch you sway to the music. 

Bar none, your favorite thing of all is to be with friends.  When your friends are over you are the  happiest.  You love to play pretend, and dance around the house giggling and squealing.  We are quickly learning that giggles and squeals are what little girls are made of because our house has a lot of it.   

Another change this year was advancing from Nursery to Primary at church.  You are now officially a 'Sunbeam' and feel so grown-up now that you can sit with your class and have a teacher.  Mommy gets to help with music time in Primary and loves watching you sing your heart out while everyone learns the songs.  Your favorite song is definitely, 'Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam' and you can sing it with a lot of enthusiasm. 

A recent accomplishment that you are very proud of is the evidence you have grown taller.  You are so happy that you can now reach the light switch. You happily exclaimed the other day, "Mommy, Mommy, I am a big girl now because I can reach the switch, that's because I'm four."  Apparently being four means you grow an inch overnight.  In reality we know it's not the way, but it sure feels like it when we see you changing so fast.  We can't believe our little girl is only a year away from Kindergarten.  

We are excited to see all you will do this year. Thanks for your bear hugs, and kisses.  

xoxo

Love,

Daddy and Mommy

A Fantastic 4th

The 4th of July is definitely one of our favorite holidays.  It's a great day to relax as a family and sit on the grass for a good show of fireworks.  I have such fun memories as a kid of lighting fireworks in the street and Dad's BBQ with homemade ice cream and a cold glass of root beer. Mmmm. Gotta love Summer Days.  

This 4th was a fun one because we had my brother and sister here to celebrate.  The day started with a great breakfast with our church with a nice ceremony to celebrate America. After that, we stayed indoors most of the day just chillin' as a family. We tried to go to the Vienna Festival and lasted 15 minutes because it was so hot.  Phew!  I'm still glad we went to get a taste of a little hometown goodness at the festival.   Amy and Dillon were nice and had us for a BBQ at their place later that afternoon.  As usual, our girls were super excited to spend some time with their new baby, Lily.  Cute Lily got a whole lot of lovin', and maybe a few too many squeezes from Abby and Kate.  Oh dear.  We finished off the day watching the Falls Church Fireworks on top of metro parking garage.  I must say it is quite the party up there.  People parked their cars and ripped out all kinds of sparklers and treats.  Abby and Kate had a fun time with a few people we found from church.  The view was fantastic and I must say the actual fireworks were better than the what we saw in DC last year.  I think the best part of these fireworks was that you could see for miles in all directions, so we not only saw Falls Church but Vienna and part of DC.  Pretty awesome.  Kate was a bit weary of the loud noises at first, but quickly got accustomed to the idea and loved it. My favorite part of the night was seeing Abby on the car roof with Daddy behind her, both looking to the sky and admiring the sparkles.  They looked like a Norman Rockwell painting just sitting there. I love the magic that comes with the 4th of July and childhood.  

We love this beautiful land and are so grateful to enjoy our freedom!  Thanks to all those who sacrifice to make it that way.  I know our Founding Father's were inspired and courageous as they all gathered on a hot July day in Pennsylvania back in 1776.  They signed a document that would change government as they knew it.

Classic Kate face with squinted eyes.  

Look how hot it is...poor Kate's face is so red.  It feels hotter than Texas.

Brittany and Jack joined us, we just love them.

Abby and Kate adore their friend Gabbi.

The Bishop's Garden

We now have another favorite spot we like to visit in DC, the Bishop's Gardens.  I remember first discovering these gardens when I came with my dad ten years ago.  I always wanted to return someday with my family.  So, when the weather was ideal, we packed a picnic basket and headed for a family night outside in nature. It was perfect.  There were gorgeous flowers everywhere and a beautiful field of thick green grass.  The girls were in paradise to run through the grass in their bare feet and roll around on the ground.  It was honestly a little taste of heaven, a hidden treasure in the heart of DC.  You better believe we will be returning soon.

The gardens are just behind the National Cathedral.

Laura was nice to get a picture of the family, but the girls weren't so interested.  Haha.

Pretty Sippy

Diana Krall Concert

A couple weeks ago we went on a date to a Diana Krall Jazz Concert at Wolf Trap. A big reason we went was because it brought back memories of when we first met. We danced in the park to one of her songs when we were dating and I have loved her music ever since. Such a fun night. Nothing like cuddling on the lawn and listening to a good concert.  There were even a few fireflies. :)

Derecho

(This is an actual picture the news printed from the storm.)

It has been a bit of a wild week with the weather.  

Last Friday we were winding down the night watching a movie and we saw some lightening out the window. We didn't think much of it until the wind started picking up and tree branches were flying.  By this point, the storm had really caught our attention and we watched as the sky literally turned colors of purple, green and blue as the lightening flashed.  Our light came on and off about five times and gratefully stayed on when it was over.  We woke the next morning not thinking much of it since we had power, but then we drove on the streets.  Wow!  Trees were down in roofs, streets, and yards.  Electrical wires where everywhere and looked it like a spaghetti bowl in some places.  It really was quite the sight.  We found out later that day that the storm was called a Derecho.  

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21056819

Most people around us lost power for almost an entire week, so we were very grateful to have ours. You forget how much you rely on electricity daily to provide refrigeration, AC, phones, ovens, lights, and even purifying water in the sewage systems.  A bunch of our friends were out of power, so they came over and we had a fun time eating random food from all of our refrigerators before it went bad.  The kids were in heaven to have company and it was nice to just be with friends and talk.  All I can say is we have a whole new appreciation of Thomas Edison's great invention: Electricity! I'm glad everyone has their power back and can enjoy some cooler temps indoors.  

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Kids surveying the damage at the park.

They built a pretty cool fort.

Tom read many a book.

I love this picture of Hank.