celebrating my dad and ella and zoe's dad ~

some of my favorite pics of my dad with the girls

and tom with the girls ......  pictures that make me smile and feel

good {but also make me feel a little sad we aren't getting anymore

photos like these}.  dad is missed so much, everyday -- but he's in 

our hearts and still part of our lives in so many ways.

rupprecht's valley ~

memorial weekend we went to the farm and

hiked into 'rupprecht's valley' [where tom

spent lots of his childhood and i visited once

twenty years ago].

the girls were really lucky, all of their rupprecht
uncles were in minnesota at that time so they
joined us for the adventure .....

i love tom with his purple and pink backpack ; )

they stopped different times to use their metal detector ....

they didn't find many 'treasures' but had fun trying! : )

the deeper we got into the valley the more it looked like
a tropical rainforest ....

it was a long hike, and even when it started to rain
the girls never complained or asked if we were almost there.
making it to the waterfall was exciting ......

and then to the cave!!

finding snail friends on the way back was also fun ....

and walking across the creek made us all feel
quite adventurious ....

tom (second from right) with his brothers and youngest
sister ~

remembering belle ~

my sister jen's sweet rescue dog, belle, developed a huge

tumor mid-spring.  we weren't sure how long she would

be with us (she was jen's dog but ella and zoe ADORED

her), but jennifer made it clear she would make sure belle

was never in any pain.

so last spring, whenever the girls saw her they did their

usuals with her, like feeding her people food .....

after painting her tonails ......

accessorizing her ears with her favorite color {purple} .....

or pink ......

and giving her lots and lots of love and attention .....

belle was a beautiful dog and is missed everyday.  we
are so lucky she and auntie jen found each other so she
could be part of our lives too.

xxoo, belle.  we love you!