Three years ago tonight

My happy and healthy Mom had dinner here with my family. It was simple and they just stopped by and ate with us. Nothing major, no photos taken....  just time spent together eating and hanging out for a bit. Then, sometime within the next 24 hours she died. That was it. She was gone forever and I had no clue it was coming. I cannot stop wishing I had known what was coming so I could have appreciated that simple dinner a little more. I miss everything about her. She was honestly my best friend and I talked to her at least a couple times every single day. To go from that to her just being gone is still hard to accept. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday, sometimes it seems like a lifetime since I heard her laugh in person. I have an audio file of her laugh I play almost every day. I could not even handle listening to it tonight. It just broke my heart. I hope there is no pain in Heaven and I hope she can see down and view the awesome things the kids say and do. I just want her back. I know that is wrong to wish for, but I cannot stop.

This picture just sums up how most people remember my Mom. Happy and laughing. She made everything more fun just by her being around. I am sad that my kids will not have her love surrounding them their whole lives. I was very lucky to be her kid.

Please go to www.memoriesforeveryone.com

to see constantly updated photos of the girls....  as I have started that site, I have failed to keep updating this one....  go here and click on BLOG to see photos of the girls at Christmas and lots of other fun photos.

Thanks for checking out our site....  when I can catch up, I will put some updates here....  but that could be years, so please check us out here for now.

More new photos....

Finally - some new photos....

I have to let anyone reading this blog that I am way behind here because I am trying to keep up with my new work focused blog Memories for Everyone - if I fail to update this from time to time, it is because I am having to focus the little time I have there. So, you can check there to see a few photos of what is going on with us. Just know that once in a while, I will get back on top of things and post a whole bunch of photos here that no one but those who truly love our little monkeys would really care to look at!

And, I have a ton to post.... I wish I knew how to post them faster than only 5 at a time....
We have had an amazing summer so far already. Kal loves softball, and I love coaching her team the last game is tomorrow and we are all sad to see it end. We have been in a parade, to a water park, and just had lots of fun at the town festival. Father's day was quite a big deal for us with the kids making a super sized outside picnic (which we pulled in just as it started to storm) and they just loved spoiling Neil.

And, the big news is that Kalli lost her first tooth - yeah, I totally cried. She tried to get Neil to get it out by using string and a door slam... but that never worked. She finally got it out all on her own and she was TOTALLY excited. The tooth fair spoils them with $10 for that first tooth - Amazing if you ask me! I tried to get her to let me write a note to the tooth fairy asking if I could please keep the tooth for her scrapbook, but she would simply not have that!

Both the kids are amazing. So kind and so much in love with each other. I am grateful I have so many amazing photos to pull out and show them when they are teens and want to kill each other! Life is good. We are truly blessed every day we get to be their parents. I am thrilled to have so many good memories of this summer. I am starting to teach on line classes, and my first class is called One Summer. I will end up with one amazing little booklet full of summer memories from this one little summer in our lives. I cannot wait for the girls to have that one day.

Hope anyone who checks this is doing well. We love you.

Kalli, Kaya, Neil, and Kristi

(I am having a hard time uploading all the photos so I will break this into two posts)

Thank you Auntie Julie!!!

We had an amazing morning thanks to some gift cards from Auntie Julie! A great trip to Target followed by an amazing time in our very own front yard. This is totally how Fridays in the summer are supposed to be!