Celebration of Melissa

How do I even start a post like this a day so full of emotions and memories. Taking the time for family to gather and share questions, memories and beautiful time together. To hear words that made tears flow, hearts stutter and time to stand still. To remember a aunt, a sister, a daughter, a mother and a cousin. She was generous, she was loved, she will be remembered. Thank You Melissa for the time you spent with me, the candy you fed me, the swans we would feed and the State park we would all play at. Here are some pictures of the get together we had after the funeral. Thank you to all that were present and for Debbie (our perfect hostess) who opened her house up for us all to gather.

The Fair

We headed out this morning with a car full of kids and headed to the fair. We took our time and enjoyed visiting every stall of animals. Ashlynn needed to touch every animal in every stall. The baby cows were super cute but I have to say the bunnies were my favorite. The oldest kids even enjoyed a class of Karate. Looking forward to unlimited rides on Wednesday!

The Party

 I have to say this was the most fun party to plan that I have done yet. I think that this was Cahill's favorite Birthday party as she had so many great friends to celebrate with. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great turn out. So many special people packed under one roof. But really I have to admit one of the best parts of the day was after everyone ate my black and red cake. Everyone had black lips and black teeth and it was a hoot..Thanks to everyone who made this Birthday very special for my sweet Cahill.

Birthday Party III

We had tons of fun food to celebrate with thanks to the help of some incredible in-laws who saved me many times over..We had bug juice, bug bites, bug wraps, bug cake, salsa , veggies and salad.

Bugs Part II (decorations)

This year Cahill even became part of the decorations with a homemade pillowcase dress.

Bugs

The day started like every other day but today was BIG, my first baby turned 5 years old. We counted down the days all week both of us excited. As soon as we woke up we dressed quickly and Cahill walked down the stairs and her jaw dropped as all she saw was tons and tons of lady bugs everywhere. (we had decorated everything for her the night before so she would be surprised when she woke up) To say that she loved it would only be a understatement. She chose one present to open and then I carted her off to breakfast with mommy and Pappa. 

Film Festival 2013

Traverse City has a film festival every year in August. We have never really participated in this event for many different reasons. Once my child are a little older I hope we can go watch one of the free movies on the huge blow up screen at the open space. This year Cahill and I headed out to Lars Hockstead and watched a series of short movies (some without sound) and participated in many of the activities after the show. Cahill enjoyed the free popcorn and thought it was super cool to sit in the balcony. We had a blast making our own movie/flip book. We even played dress up together, scored a free bike helmet and rode a antique fire truck.