"these are the special times..."

The title of this one is true and also a shout out to all of you fellow Celine lovers. love her.

When I went to D.C. I had the chance to be home for a few days. The first night we were there we celebrated Erica's birthday! Oh how I love my sister, Erica. She is a wonderful mom and supportive wife. Erica is highly capable and doesn't seem to be stopped by little things. I love her. It was fun to celebrate with her. I hadn't had that opportunity in a long time. What a treat.

the girls and little drewy matched all the colors on miss mae's dress. unintentional and highly coordinated.

the amazingly beautiful paintings Rachie did for Erica as her Christmas/Birthday present. I'm in awe.

Ammon and Katharine were there to celebrate and I told her that for it to be ideal, she needed to go into labor while we were in D.C. so that when I was back in Arizona for a couple of days, I could meet niece #2. Voila...it happened. Poor girl, it wasn't that easy. Katharine was in labor for 48 hours! yikes! But little Lillian Janeen was born July 14 and she is a cute little thing.

while we were waiting to go meet lilly we entertained Erica's children and visited with ammon. Brylin was wearing Rachel's sweater and as she ran down the hallway she truly looked like our very own little jedi knight.

brylin got a hold of my camera and drew pulls the most classic "cheeeeesssse!" face.

I was also able to take part in my family's world-travels-while-staying-in-Arizona-event. That Thursday we traveled to Laos. Erica made delectible food and I particularly enjoyed the rice pudding dessert!

It was just such a joy to be home with my family and be with them for the excitement of welcoming Lilly and enjoying Erica and her family and my mom and all of my family.

this is how we feel about me being home. and it's wonderful that the next generation has picked up on my same habits I had as a child and apparently have a difficult time giving up.