a beautiful man

I decided I wasn't going to write anything about father's day on the blog, but I'm wordy and I tried to write one sentence and out came 10 paragraphs.
It is so fun to celebrate Devin.
On father's day, I woke up with Naomi, letting Devin sleep in. I'm not even sure if Devin can sleep in past 7am. But he sure did try, even among all the pots and pans banging and Naomi yelling and screeching and me coming back into the bedroom 4 times to look for the long lost beaters and Naomi's binky. Each time I came in, Devin's eyes were closed but he had a smirk on his face. He could smell the breakfast.
He is so cute.
Breakfast was finally served. In bed. Cache insisted that it was "brother's day" and so he should be able to eat his breakfast along side Devin, so we all joined him with our breakfast in bed too. And stayed there most of the morning.



The past four years watching Devin as a dad, has brought me so much surprise and joy.
One of Devin's best dad qualities is that he sincerely enjoys play. And play he does. Devin's sense of humor well..I'll admit I didn't get it at first... but try as I may to not laugh at him... my efforts to roll my eyes or glare are always betrayed by a huge smile that Devin can root from me at any time. His sense of humor is simple, innocent, never at the expense of anyone and full of PUNS. Anyway here is a few pictures of Devin at his best.








I took time to think of all the father figures in my life tonight.
Devin of course, My own dad, Devin's dad, my Grandpa Childers, My grandpa Calvin, and My Grandpa Price. I was brought to tears at how blessed I have been, that EVERY man in my life, is honorable, is hardworking, and cream of the crop. In today's world, when so many people don't even have one good man in their life, I feel compelled to drop to my knees in thankfulness when thinking of these men.
I remember when my Grandpa Childers died about 2 years ago. He was laying in the ICU and they had told us that he most likely wasn't going to make it. It was time for us to say our goodbyes. I had a small moment alone with him in the ICU, I tried my HARDEST to talk to him, but I was too choked up to get anything out. I kept trying to open my mouth and no sound would come out, I finally choked out "THANK-you." but I KNOW it wasn't even understandable, so I hope he was able to just feel me there, and hear my thoughts. Which were:" Thank you thank you thank you!" Thank you for the life you had lead, for being the man you were to all of us, for sharing the gospel with us, for loving us unconditionally, thank you!" I didn't even feel the need to say good bye, all I wanted to say to grandpa was thank you. I love you. During the whole time in the hospital, my Grandma kept telling the the nurses and doctors in her cute Tahitian accent and all the passion she could muster: "He is such a beautiful man. Oh such a beautiful, beautiful man." I feel that way about all the fathers in my life. Here are some of my favorite fatherly moments I've caught on camera.



This day(over christmas break) Cache went to work with my dad . He got to help haul rail road ties and ride in the grain truck. Earlier in the day, all the guys were up working on putting in a new gas tank and Cache kept disappearing out of the house, and I kept finding him up with all the guys, "working" (standing around talking.) haha.

love this one with "Grandpa Motorcycle"













No one can argue, when a man puts his family above all else, a father's love can truly be the most beautiful thing on earth. I know if I were to adequately describe Devin as a father and husband to someone else, "He was a good man, he took care of us, he was a great man, a wonderful man," wouldn't do justice. I would choose the same words as my grandma and with every part of me say:
" He is beautiful, beautiful man."

I will give you a candybar if you can watch this without a shedding one tear. (a joyful tear!)
thank you ann for sharing this with us.



(I'm posting a father's day post tomorrow, so I can not ignore Devin on this father's day.)

i just wanted to share

"Mom when Naomi's hair gets big and she is a growing up, I'm going to
marry her and be her wife."
-cache

Arkansas

Here is a small re-cap of our trip to Aunt Judy's house! Ready?
Here we go on our trip to Arkansas.

First, let me repeat Devin's explanation on how to Aunt Judy's house:
Drive to Arkansas, get off on highway 50, get on a back road, that goes through a little town, take another back road, then another one, then turn onto a graveled road, which takes you to another gravel road, then take the next graveled road, after that take the next dirt road, which takes you down a steep hill and then turn left onto an offroad, keep going till the next mud road, then go through a gate, then a driveway, which is finally Aunt Judy's house! :)

Not many things speak relaxation like a big wrap around porch.

We did a lot of front porch sittin'

And it felt so good.

We love Aunt Judy's laugh :)

When we got there, I asked Aunt Judy how she kept her hard wood floors so clean,
then I met the rest of the family!

FRED didn't make it into the group picture, and I'm positive
he would be upset about that if he knew he was the only one left out.
Sorry Fred.

Cache and Naomi, loved all the dogs.
Old Joe was the cutest and would just lay or sit near the person holding the baby, and give a little growl to any puppies that dare try to come check out the baby. This job had it's perks though.
Naomi had a blast throwing her food to the dogs at meal time.

Cache made himself right at home. He didn't even wake us up in the morning, instead he would make his way to the basement, saddle up on the couch with the dogs and uncle Mike, shmooze Uncle Mike into find the coolest cartoons on t.v. and get Aunt Judy to feed him breakfast. He could have cared less if he even had parents. Infact, he acted very annoyed by the time we did wake up and started demanding things from him, like getting dressed and using the bathroom ect.

We went to check on Cache to make sure he was asleep, and found something that made us smile:

That is exactly what my brother Ben and I would do at my grandma's house when we slept
there. Calvin and Hobbs and Garfield by flashlight....

Now we can all take a deep breath, the good old days aren't' gone yet completely!

Highlights of the trip:

1. The Look on Devin's face after waking up while I was taking my shift on driving and seeing the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign. Whoops.

2. Going through Aunt Judy's hope chest, that belonged to her mother.(Devin's grandmother)

Inside I saw amazing old pictures and letters and dresses and nightgowns from Devin's grandmother. I loved this, because this is part of my children's heritage, and so now part of mine. I even got to read a letter that was around 200 years old! Also see a picture of Aunt Judy as a baby all dressed up for the Pendleton round-up! This was definitely the highlight of the whole trip for me. I only got to go through about half of it too.. so we need to return and finish the job.

3. The peace and QUIET. If it wasn't for the crickets, it would have been DEAD, silent. More silent than I may have ever heard in my life. And I grew up in the country!
4. Eating at the Outback, which has now been established as tradition with Aunt Judy and Uncle Mike.
5. Seeing the University of Arkansas sport's facilities, was Devin's fave. It really was incredibly fancy and huge.

6. Aunt Judy's lemon sponge cake.
7. Seeing sights like this right next to main street!:

The whole town, came out to fish, right in the middle of town. All lined up,
little kids and all, each with their own pole.I've never seen that before in town.

Then we headed home

You know it really is a bit of a different country over here compared to the West. I've actually gotten a bit use to it. But every once in awhile, I'll see things, and think:

"You know, this really isn't a normal thing to see everyday."

It was a wonderful trip. It rained solid the entire 6 hours home. Really! I didn't mind, I LOVE the rain. It was so nice to be with family and feel like we could take a deep breath from living in the city and let Cache roam free! It was just a feel good trip in one of the prettiest places in the country and I hope we get to go back before we move.
Thank you Uncle Mike and Aunt Judy for showing us such a good time!

Big week for kids=new running shoes for me.

So here is our week in review:
-Naomi turned mobile, learning to employ her toes and elbows in prepelling her self round the house. Now we have to baby proof everything,keep the floors swept and throw away(when Cache's back is turned) All toys smaller than my pinky.

-The same day, Cache asked for his training wheels off, and now he can go A LOT faster than I can. Such freedom for 3 year old is scary for a me as a mom, Especially since he is a very independent(and social) little fellow already. I have given him the "A stranger will take you." scare. But to no avail, Cache will not be convinced that a stranger could possibly get passed his light saber. And if he doesn't have his light saber? Well then "i'll just pooch them with my big muscles." So now with these two new developments, I need a few more prayers and a new pair of running shoes.

And two days later he's gotten it down a bit better.

-And i almost forgot: Devin and I got to go out on a date! It's been a long LONG time, and we were more than extatic to be childless for a couple of hours. Thus displayed in our self timer picture. We are squatting to get low enough to be in it.. so we look like poopers or something. HA!

We went to applebees and spent a gift card Devin recieved from one of the kids he coached this soccer season. Free meals always taste better! Then we went walked off dinner at a convent,,, I felt a little tresspassy, so we went and finished our walk at a store shopping for jewelery, shoes and cologne. Bought nothing, but came home smelling great, or at least smelling stong! haha. It was so fun being alone. We decided that we need to get out more. Alone. With eachother. :)

Things to remember about Naomi at 8 months:

Nicknames: Nemo, Nay(many times pronounced "NNNEIGH!" Like the horse noise), Nanners, Nanny, Nanny Noogets(she's always got a nooget in her diaper, ALWAYS.) And also Nanny Nanny Nooners...Why? I don't know.

Weight: 17 lbs

Clothing size: 0-3 months and 6 months

Favorite foods: avocado, mango, bananas and cheerios. Also most things she'll eat if cinnamon is added!

Dislikes: Frozen peas are a bother to her. She gets angry when they are on her tray and will throw them while screaming.

Special talents: Doing the "inch worm" crawl. Flapping her arms and talking like an E-wok(star wars) and making Cache run as fast as he can (away ) when she screams at him for taking her toy.

Favorite things: MOM, her silky pillowcase, sleeping on her left side, buttons and tags on shirts, the real car keys(plastic ones won't do) and a Slinky! Also having dad lay his head on her lap so she can scratch his head.

Teeth so far: zero

Future predictions by her parents: We think she will be detail oriented, possibly left handed and really silly.

Here is a picture of Naomi 8 months ago.
She may wear the same clothes as she did then, but that doesn't mean she isn't growing up!