Birthday & vacation ketchup

2-3 months behind...better late than never??

This Christmas we were able to visit Mike's family in California. We were also joined by his sister & her family from Oregon. Since we never take actual "vacations", we included a mini day trip to Hollywood this time. It was the first time any of us (except Mike) had been there.

December 31st is always a big day at our house. This year Tyler turned 7 & Annie turned 1. And we can just quickly skip over the fact that mom turned 33 a few days later. (Not nearly as exciting). I have included a few pictures from their special day.

I wanted a picture of them together on their birthday. Annie had other ideas.

Dances in Heaven

This is my Grandpa.

He passed away a few years ago. My boys still miss him so much & talk about him all the time. He left this earth before Annie was born. However, I am convinced that she knows him very well. You see, Annie loves to dance with people. She doesn't just like to be moved around like most little girls. She lifts your hand, and puts her hand flat in yours. When I was little, and also my kids, my Grandpa would hold us close & dance hand-to-hand, cheek-to-cheek, just like Annie does now.

We have been remodeling the living room the past few weeks and had to take down the pictures to paint the walls. When I was deciding where to put the pictures back on the walls, I placed one of my Grandpa on a small table. Annie walked over to the picture, pointed to her Great Grandpa, put her hand up just as if she were dancing with him, smiled & moved around. I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes.

Here is a picture of her dancing with her Daddy. You can see how happy he makes her :)