happy Father's Day weekend!

This Father's Day weekend was a busy one ... but the 3 of us had some great little family time!

On Saturday, Kendall had 2 different birthday parties she'd been invited to ... both were for 2 year old boys ... Mich (a little friend from RHCC) and Nicholas (the son of work friend of Ash's) ... both parties were at different times of the day, with a little break in between, so that worked out well for Kendall's napping schedule!

Mich's party was at a nice secluded park & they rented the pavilion ... although it was pretty hot out, this park had lots of shade and we got to hang out with several friends during the celebration!  They brought everything to the park to grill hamburgers & hotdogs and yummy corn on the cob (and all the fixin's) for lunch.  Kendall enjoyed sliding down the slide & swinging on the swings ... and playing & talking with some of her little friends ... Mich, Landon, Spencer, Ella and baby Madeline (Mich's baby sister who's now 5 months old).  Here are a few shots that we took of Kendall having some fun at the party ...

the Michener boys ... the birthday
boy, Mich & his Dad, Scott

Kendall LOVEd being with baby
Madeline (Mich's sister) ... she told her
all kinds of stories & kept wanting
to go back over to see her and touch her. 
(Our "soft touches" training for Cassie
our dog has worked great for touching
babies, too ... she was very gentle with
Madeline & kept patting her ...
luckily, Madeline enjoyed it & was
all smiles for us!  I think these 2 girls will
be fast little friends!

Landon (14 months) & Kendall ... he was not so sure
about her, probably because she kept eyeing his football!

Kendall with the birthday boy

Mich came in for a KISS ... Kendall's 1st kiss ... I think I'm
going to have to keep my eye out on this guy!  ha!  (Actually,
I hope she & Mich become very good friends ... he is a
sweet boy with super parents that we love spending time with!)

We got home, had time to cool off & relax a bit in the pool while Kendall took a nice, long nap ... and then we were off to the next party ... Nicholas' party was at this fun kids' activity/obstacle course/jump place called "Going Bonkers" in Lewisville. Kendall was too little to do any of the fun stations, but we got to visit with a couple of friends from Ashley's work & their families ... including our friends Deanna & Drew and their sweet daughter Brooke (who's 15 months). Here are some pictures of our time together ...

Nicholas the birthday boy & his Dad, Jesse

Kendall & I with Deanna & sweet Brooke

work buddies with their kids ... Ash & K, Todd &
his 11 mo old son Quinn, and Jesse & Nicholas

After the party, we went to Chisolm park for Kendall's first duck-feeding experience ... which went pretty good, actually. She posed by the water for a few pictures and loved seeing the ducks and listening to them "quack" and watching them eat our bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, at church during Kendall's Bible class, she made him a precious little painted footprint craft ... we were both amazed to see how big her footprint was (it's not that her foot is huge ... it's actually quite small for her age ... she wears a size 2 shoe, which is still a bit big on her, which is a to 3-6 month size) ... but compared to her last year's when she was in the NICU, she has really grown! Here's her Father's Day craft and a side by side comparison of last year's with this year's ...

After church, we went out to eat at Fuzzy's Taco Shop ... Daddy's pick! (We both actually LOVE Fuzzy's ... it's a terrible/hilarious name and we made fun of the restaurant for several months, before we found out our friends actually eat there and LOVE it ... and went there with them ... and we LOVE it too!) After lunch, Kendall took a nap, Ash played his current favorite XBOX 360 video game and I worked on our blog a bit (still trying to get us all caught up here!) & getting us ready for our vacation ... once Kendall got up, we hit the pool & just enjoyed the afternoon together with some family time! (Much like this Mother's Day as compared to last year's, we so enjoyed our time together and are so thankful that we have our Kendall home with us, doing so well and are not spending the days in the NICU as we were last year!)

 

yummy Fuzzy's fish tacos!

all lathered up with sunscreen &
ready to jump in!

Happy Father's Day ... to my best friend & sweet husband of 9 years ... to Kendall's Daddy ... the BEST Daddy to our sweet Kendall! I always knew he'd be a great Dad to our children (one of the many great qualities I saw in him when checking him out on my "husband must-have list") ... but it's even better than I'd ever been able to imagine! Over this past year, I've gotten to experience him at our most broken-hearted & at our restored & joyful ... and he has helped me in ways I can never truly express in this lifetime ... I really don't think I could have made it through this past year without him right there along side of me. This past year brought us even more together ... made us stronger & even more bonded than we were ... and more in love ... which I still really don't know how that's possible, but it's true. I absolutely LOVE watching him with her and it's super-sweet seeing her adore him ... moments that melt my heart! I know the bond that Kendall & I between Mother & Daughter is special, but the bond that Kendall has with her Daddy is unique and special in a different way ... it's just amazing the way God made us all, in these different relationships! We are two blessed girls to have him in our life and I don't want one day to go by taking this precious time we have together for granted!  Thank you for being a fantastic husband & incredible father ... Happy Father's Day!