Our Second Year With Neleha

For our family birthday celebration for Neleha we first visited "Toys-R-Us" because Neleha loves this store just as I did when I was a young child. The funny thing is Molly and Neleha call it the giraffe store. So Neleha first turned in her Jeffrey Birthday gift card which resulted in the staff giving her a crown and balloon. Then we told Neleha to pick out any toy she wanted as our gift to her. She had a hard time narrowing it down from all her choices. Neleha is especially fond of two things in particular, horses and trains (choo choos as she calls them).

Neleha finally decided that her love for trains would win her over and we purchased a beginning train set for preschoolers. I am sure that if her love for this conventional form of transportation continues I will be compelled to purchase the advanced train set pictured here.











For Neleha's birthday dinner we went to a local chain burger restaurant called "Red Robin" the burgers are great and they really cater to kids.






























The staff at Red Robin really made Neleha's birthday complete when they all came and gathered around our table and sang their own version of Happy Birthday and then presented her with a birthday sunday.

Neleha is Incredibly Two

Our little Neleha celebrated her second birthday with Incredible class. Our Neleha has grown before our eyes, she has brought to our family so much joy and happiness. This last year has been such a learning experience for us as we have seen so many differences in Neleha compared to Molly. To see such differing personalities and traits is just amazing.



We celebrated Nelehas' 2nd birthday at Kristys' parents house and everyone gathered in honor of our baby girl. We ate bar-b-q chicken and corn on the cob and drank country time lemonade.

A day prior to the party Kristy put her sweet cake decorating skills to work and created this wonderful replica of the Incredible insignia. Kristy has made it a tradition to decorate the birthday cake for our girls birthdays. She puts her love and hard work into her masterpieces.




Neleha is a such a huge fan of Disney's' Incredibles. It was only appropriate that her birthday theme be the same. The kids all wore their mask and Neleha got such a kick out of the fun.

















Neleha received so many wonderful gifts but she was most excited about a leap frog letters game. The game has a magnet that is supposed to be put on the refridgerator. The every letter of the alphabet is also presented with a magnet on the back of it. Neleha puts the letter on the main game console and the console sings a song about the letter. I think it is the singing that she loved the most about it. Neleha is our little singer, well Molly loves to sing too, as well as Kristy. They must get it from their Mom.

FHE: Swings, Slides, & Smores

One of our recent family nights resulted in another attempt at making smores but this time we enjoyed the snack outside in our backyard. Molly wanted to roast her own smore and she did a most wonderful job at roasting her marshmallow and avoiding catching it on fire. Neleha is more of a chocolate fan over the finished product of a smore. I think this is best explained by the following picture.
After we enjoyed our roasted snacks we spent time together on our new swing set. Kristy and I love spending times like this with our girls. They grow so fast and we know that they will not be our little girls for long. Thus we intentionally make lots of time to spend with them.

Braden Rides Into His Third Year

It seems as if these children just keep on growing and to think they never ask permission to do so. As if we would give it to them.......

Our Nephew Braden hit the BIG THREE recently and we celebrated the occasion "Cowboy Style". From dutch oven cooking, to bull riding, and a hay ride to boot.

Our girls have enjoyed their little cousins' individual personality from day one. He is by far a "pistol" indeed!

Star Wars Vs. Shark Boy & Lava Girl 3D

Recently our local dollar theater showed the two summer smash hits Star Wars Ep. 3 and Shark Boy & Lava Girl 3D. With the same enthusiasm as my girls, our nephew Parker also is a Star Wars fan. So we promised him that when the movie arrived at the Page Manor theater we would be sure to take him. The day finally arrived and equipped with a light saber we reentered a galaxy far, far, away.....What was even more entertaining than watching Episode III for the second time was watching Parker recreate each light saber fight in the isle. As the movie went on so did Parker's performance, with each scene he increased in dramatics and tone. Despite our attempts to have Parker lower his voice and subdue his sword play, the boy went strong through the entire movie. I think he only sat down for the initial previews. Molly & Neleha was well entertained as with Kristy, myself, and the rest of the audience. I must say concerning the audience, they must have enjoyed his theatrics as well since we never heard one complaint.

What was most surprising was that even after two straight hours of Parker's dramatic light saber performance, he still had more left. Parker and Molly went on for most of the night reliving the highlights of the movie.

The next morning we returned to the theater and watched the epic "Shark Boy & Lava Girl 3D". The dramatic theatrics returned only now Molly had an exciting part she could play as well. For the rest of the day we could only do things Shark Boy & Lava Girl would do. We ate at Long John Silvers, Molly had the hot fries and Parker had the shrimp. Our children bring us so much joy, if I ever start feeling old all I will have to do is spend a day with a child and be young again.

Shelby County Fair 2005

Molly milking the Cow

From milking cows to corn dogs on a stick, the county fair is a most unique experience. The Shelby County Fair has been a family tradition since we first moved to Ohio and still remains a source of joy. This year our brave Molly was the only one of the kids that jumped right up and took this cow by the....well lets just say she milked the cow like a natural.

Making Quilt Squares for the Troops

One of the exhibits included this awesome idea of making quilt squares for the troops serving in Iraq. When we were there the lady said that they had already completed enough squares to make two king size quilts. It is most comforting to meet people who have not forgotten about our troops overseas. We each decorated a square with words of thankfulness and encouragement for our armed services.

Our little Neleha

As a father I am always amazed at how fast my girls are growing. It just seems like yesterday that we were celebrating our newest family addition in the Sidney hospital. Now our Neleha is riding the carnival rides at the Sidney fair.

Sherry and the girls on the Scrambler 

Petting Tent