Happy Father's Day!

These two sure have fun

I really think they look alike

Violet loves her Papa

Jeff's new hiking boots for Father's Day

Brother's pushing strollers.  I love this phase of our lives :)

Grandpa Barney!

Love this one

Princess Vi Vi

The whole crew

Violet wore this face for the first 30 minutes at the zoo.  She wanted to play with the animals!

Love you Dad

We all had matching shirts

Me trying to catch Violet as she ran through the butterfly house

Sweet Ty

     We have had a busy few weeks.  We started our summer with a trip to Saint Louis to visit Jeff's brother.  We lived in Saint Louis for a few years and love going back to visit.   Violet had a blast playing with her cousin Chelsea and was fascinated by her baby cousin Layla.  We got to visit the Zoo and the Butterfly House.  I was so excited to take her I could hardly stand it.  I knew she was going to love all the animals and butterflies.  In reality, she liked the animals but did not like riding in her stroller.  The pathways looked like a perfect runway for her.  She was pretty restless until we reached the petting zoo where she could finally roam freely.  After playing for awhile she was perfectly content riding in her stroller again.  This girl loves to run!   The butterflies at the Butterfly house definitely caught her attention and she was determined to catch one!  The have lots of rules at the butterfly house, like don't touch the butterflies! Thankfully they were faster than Violet.  We had a blast and can't wait to go back.
     We also got to spend the weekend with my Dad for his annual Grandbaby Weekend.  Dad work many weekends which makes it hard for him to make it to birthday parties so he hosts a birthday weekend for all the grand kids.  They make matching T-shirts for the whole family and get a huge cake and presents.  The kids have a blast and we all love getting together.  There are 10 grandchildren on my Dad's side now!  Wow!
    We just celebrated Jeff's second Father's Day.  I get so emotional over those kind of holidays!  He is such a wonderful father and appreciates his role so much.  We got him so purple fishing lures and some crazy all terrain all weather hiking boots.  He is going on a hunt in the mountains with his dad and two brothers in October.  Hopefully they will help him stay somewhat comfortable!  Violet picked out his Father's Day card.  We were browsing when she spotted a card with a giant panda on it.  She was shouting "Panda" with excitement, so that had to be the card.  We also tried the adventure of finger painting.  She loved it for a few seconds.  Long enough to smear paint on the paper and her arms and legs. I was smart enough to her her paint outside but underestimated the mess.  I think she sat in some paint because I was finding red paint on my floor and my wall, after I hosed her off!  Thank you Crayola for washable paint.  Her masterpiece is displayed proudly on our fridge.
     We are getting ready to celebrate Violet's Special Day!  It is actually the anniversary of the day her adoption was finalized.  Many people call them "Gotcha Days" but we feel like we got her the day she was born.  We are calling it her special day and plan on celebrating every year.  We are going to get her a special cake and balloons as well as a few gifts.   We will also pull out her red Special Plate for her to eat on.  Jeff will take off work and we are going to play all day!  This is a tradition we want to start to help her feel good about her adoption and make her feel truly special.   I am really excited about a book I just found called "God Made You Special".  How perfect.