June was a fun and busy month.  We went down to Lake Monroe for a get together with some of my college friends and their families.  We had a great time but just wished we had more time together.

Of course June means Emma’s birthday!  Her third birthday was loads of fun for everybody, but most importantly, she had a great time!  Her actual birthday was on a Wednesday, so we went to Dt and Opa’s for dinner and cake.  Dt made the most delicious ice cream cake.  Emma then had a big party on Friday the 16th.  Sittoo and Giddoo and cousin Michael came from Cleveland, Auntie Suzie came from Michigan and Uncle Eddie and Auntie Roula came from Houston!  Our Indy relatives, friends and neighbors came as well.  Emma had a bouncy slide (which was a real hit with the kids—and adults too)!  "Funny the Clown" came over and played games and face painted and made balloon animals for the kids.  Emma’s beloved doll, Pnine, was on her birthday cake.  When I brought a picture in to the bakery, I was expecting a simple painted version (anything closely resembling the doll would have been fine).  When the cake arrived I couldn’t believe how unbelievable that cake looked!  It was literally a work of art!  Taylor Bakery, Baby!!  The end of the day was celebrated with fireworks (amazing fireworks) set off by our neighbor Craig Ford.  Thanks, Craig! 

The next day we headed up to Warsaw, Indiana for a fundraiser for our friends’ little boy who is fighting Leukemia.  It was a terrific event that culminated in a comedy show by Henry Cho who flew in for the event.  Little Max Elliott is an amazing little boy with determination to win his fight with cancer.  We pray every day that he will! 

We drove to Cincinnati to visit our friends, Elizabeth and Doug Enders and their kids Ella, Terese and Brendan for Doug’s 40th birthday.  We had such a great time.  We took the kids to the Cincinnati zoo while the party was being set up.  We were able to see my dear grade school/high school friend Kathleen Ford and her kids at the zoo.  It was great to see her, but we sure had our hands full with all of those kids on a hot, hot day!! 

Ruthie is so adorable with her blonde hair and little curls in the back!  She is a very active little gal.  This month (at 10 months old) she began walking—on June 28th!!  She took a few steps, but still prefers to crawl.  She absolutely loves to climb the stairs and has begun to blow kisses!  While she has been saying “Dada" and "Mama” for awhile, this month she began to clearly say, “Emma.”  It’s so cute and of course big sister is so proud! 

A couple of new Emma-isms for ya'll:  I was putting Emma to sleep one night and she said to me as I was going out of her room, “Mom, I’ll be right here in the next room if you need me.” Another time I was taking a bath and I had the Enya song “Orinoco Flow” playing.  The refrain is “Sail away sail away sail away.”  Emma really liked that song and she asked me to play it again.  After listening to it a second time she said, “Mom, sail away like in a sail boat?  Where are they sailing away to?  Maybe they are sailing away in to the sunset!”  I thought that was so cute and thoughtful. 

Thanks for visiting this month.  Next month is probably going to be just as busy! 

Hope you are having a happy summer!