Yummy, Mummy!!

I made yummy OU cupcakes for Katie's baby shower this past weekend...Hudson is still enjoying them. See why I didn't want to bring leftovers home???? We are still trying to get rid of what we have! And, we are doing a GREAT job at it!

Mirror Image???

So, who does Kayli look like again???

Oh those lazy, hazy days of Summer..

Well, I must say that these past few days have been absolutly beautiful!! It really has felt like a California Spring around here. Nice and blue skys with high 70s in the early evenings. Nice gentle breeze. So, today I took Hudson outside to enjoy the weather. Here are a few pictures of him playing in the hose...he was too cute!

Splish Splash I was taking a bath long about a Saturday night.

OK, so I am one of those mommies who really doesn't believe in my children bathing together. first of all for hygine purposes, secondly, it's just weird to me. however, it is much easier on me. So, here is a modest picture of our two in the bath. they loved it and splashed everywhere. I know some of my friends do family baths, you know who you are, and it's just not for me. so while they are still young and cute like this, we'll probably let them play splish splash once in a while.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

My cute little tiger...

0.00009% of the Time...

This is a beautiful sight to me. This definitely is not how our day usually goes...it's much more chaotic than this. Today my kids were cranky and fussy...however, by the time Dad got home they had calmed down. Bath time did that to them. So, when Kayli reminded me that I had promised her some movie time (did I???), they all decided to climb up on the coach to watch The Prince of Egypt. I captured this quite scene. Love it! Then it was all over when bedtime was mentioned...these moments come and go so quickly!! =-)

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

These next pictures are from the Cemetery and Memorial maintained by teh American Battle Monuments Commission. Here are a few facts about this special memorial and cemetery.

The Graves: Our servicemen and women lie beneath precisely aligned headstones of white Lasa marble Latian crosses and Stars of David.


The Chapel: Its mosaic ceiling depicts America blessing her sons as they depart by sea and air, and a grateful France bestowing a laurel wreath upon the American dead.




Omaha Beach

The History Lesson in Normandy

On Wednesday we took the train through French countryside to Normandy. There is so much that happened in France and many stories to tell. We have so many funny memories to share. We could go on and on about all the things that we saw and enjoyed. But there is no way to describe the excitement, awe, appreciation, grief and other emotions felt while touring the memorial and beaches of Normandy. It is amazing there. We took cabs to the museum there and what did we do first? Ate lunch, right! When lunch was over, we watched a movie about D Day and what happened on the beaches that morning at different times and what the Germans were doing. We got to look around and view pictures and artifacts from that time period. It is a very nice museum and apparently there are several there in the city.

Following the museum, we headed out for our 5 hour tour of the beaches and the cemetery there. It was just amazing there. These pictures are from the memorial cemetery and the beaches. The cemetery holds 40% of the men and women who died during WWII. 60% of the lost where sent home to be buried by their families. There are over 9,000 graves. I was just awe struck with the beauty there. Did you know that the government of France granted use of this land, in perpetuity, as a permanent burial ground without charge or taxation? It is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission which is an agency of the United States government which operates and maintains 24 American cemeteries and 25 memorials, monuments and markers in 15 countries. The Commission promises that "time will not dim the glory of their deeds." The Normandy American Cemetery is one of 14 permanent American World War II military cemeteries on foreign soil.

Goofing off in Paris!

Ok, today is the train trip to Normandy...but I need to post two of my favorite silly pictures from Paris. In this first picture, sorry Chris, we are imitating this poster behind us. This poster was everywhere, it intrigued us. We had no idea what it said or why this little girl had her finger up her nose. But, here it is anyway. If anyone can read French and can make out the words....we'd love to know what in the world it is promoting! The second picture is us trying to figure out which way to go to the metro to get where we wanted to go. We relied heavily on Geoff and Carla to tell us where to go and which metro to get on...this is one of those times where we didn't really care how long the ride or how many metros we'd have to hop, we just wanted to get there!!