Birthdays and Celebrations

Greetings friends and family,

We celebrated Barbie's birthday with much fanfare.  The twins sat not-so-patiently by the front window waiting for Casey to bring the birthday girl over for her party.  

There is a tradition in Ouma's house that whoever's special day it is eats from the "celebrate" plate.  It's been around in the family for a long time and represents a rite of passage into the family.  Hey, it's better than hazing!

The twins gave Barbie homemade cards.  They worked hard on the words and pictures, which means more than probably any other card she received.  

It's difficult to compare gifts, but Ouma's handmade blanket is the clear winner.  She quilted a big blanket for Barbie with stars on the material and star-shaped embroidery.

Her homemade lasagna dinner and homemade funfetti birthday cake were baked and delivered as requested. I didn't take a picture of the lasagna because this isn't a foodie blog, but trust me, it was good.  Kendra pampered Barbie by painting her fingernails a happy pink color.  

It was the most homemade birthday party I've ever seen and also one of the most enjoyable for us and the birthday girl.  

For Father's Day I took Oupa golfing.  I didn't ask for anything because I didn't really want anything, but it was good to spend the morning on the course with him doing what he likes.  My Dad sent me a few boxes of golf balls to go along with the set of clubs he sent.   One of the boxes contained balls stamped with "Roy Boy" because they were designed for my Uncle Roy (Dad's brother).  Not sure how they got from Roy to Aunt Gay to Dad, but they ended up on the receiving end of my driver.  

I had a great day on the course with Dad and my former boss.  A leisurely day of golfing is rare for me, but the extended hours away from work, family, technology, and friends made for a pleasant break from the norm.  I'm used to mountain biking being my "you must focus on what's right in front of your feet" time.  Golf isn't nearly as intense because there is no fear of going face-first into a cactus, but it was still good for clearing my mind.

There is one picture I didn't post from the last post about our trip to the Lake of the Pines.  On the way home Layla fell asleep and Easton was wide awake.  This has never happened as far as I know.  The funniest part was watching Easton staring intently into Layla's face.  He was looking in her mouth and noting her eyes slightly open.  All of his inquisitive nature was on full display.  Kendra and held in the chuckles as we watched Easton take advantage of this rare occasion.

This is the summer of golf camp.  Oupa is taking Easton and Layla to the driving range a couple of times per week for easy-going time at the range.  He isn't instituting a regimen with drills, but is just letting them have fun and take some swings at the ball while working on learning one thing at a time.  Layla's sun visor makes her feel like a part of the golf team.

The most desired photo shoot of the summer is of the four generations.  The ladies graciously agreed to let me take a few pictures of the four of them together.  The rocking chair GG is sitting in goes back to the days when she rocked Ouma to sleep as a baby.  Ouma had the family heirloom re-covered a few years ago.  It made for a good prop because GG was able to sit and relax while the other three moved around to get just the right shot.

I like everyone's bright eyes in this next picture.  I like to see how their features change from one generation to the next.

This is the best one, in my opinion, because it is in order.  Not that it has to be, but when I envisioned the shoot, I had this image in my mind.  I'm really happy with how it turned out and I'm even happier Layla has such a great heritage and quality time with her Ouma and GG this summer.

See you soon!