Doggies

This little ball will keep them busy for hours.

These nails grow WAY too fast.

A lucky boy.

Valentine's Day

This year the girls and I went on a date to Shanghai Bistro in Stillwater with my friend Jenny. After we were seated, these flowers were brought to our table for the kids and me from Henry. He's so sweet!

Who doesn't love a dog in heat?

Zoe went into heat while we were in Florida, so I came home to Diaper Dog. It's been a whole lot of fun! This is what we wake up to EVERY morning...

This actually doesn't look too bad, but this wasn't the only spot she chose to chew away.

She's so cute. I can't be mad at her. I don't blame her for hating the diaper. Love you Zoe!

Florida 2012

We took off to Florida again a couple weeks ago to meet up with my mom and dad. They drove down south to visit a few places and met up with us in the Fort Myers/Naples area. We spent time on some beaches, the kids spent a TON of time in the pools (Lara even learned how to swim!!!), and we did some sight-seeing as well. The Everglades was on our list of things to see, so we took an airboat tour. It was really pretty, but we only saw one gator. So a couple days later we went to another part of the park and saw lots of gators! We drove down to Key West, where we had a little more beach time, checked out Mallory Square, Duval Street, I went fishing with the guys, and Lara and I went parasailing! Henry left a few days before the girls and I flew back, and after he was gone we drove to Tampa, where my brother met up with us, and we also went to Busch Gardens. My mom and I went on all the big roller coasters in the morning while my dad took the kids around to the kiddie stuff, then we met up with them around lunch time. We had perfect weather (not too much sun, but nice temps) and I am sad to be back home. But this winter has been nice, so I can't complain too much!

This little guy was kind of cute. 

I love Ayla in this one.

Waiting or our airboat tour. Ayla didn't want to be in the picture, and was very quiet and looked crabby/scared during the whole ride, but as soon as we got off the boat she says "That was so fun!"

Ayla hard at work on the beach.

She was a little nervous!

I'm so proud of her for going!

Mike

The girls lost their dad three weeks ago, on January 28, 2012. They seem to be doing okay, but it was a very sad ending to his story, and I have days that are easy because it still doesn't feel real to me, and days that are hard and confusing. His parents named a star for him, "Big Mike" so the kids know he is up there and is watching down on them. Here are some pictures of Lara and Ayla with their dad...

Lara was 3 months old here.

Almost 2 in this picture

Here Lara was 2 yrs, 9 months

Ayla! 3/25/08

This is one of my favorites.

This is probably the most recent of the 3 of them together. 

I wish the girls could have had more time with their dad and hope they will never forget him. They are lucky to have his parents and sister in their lives quite a bit. This will be Lara's first year doing the Dads n Dolls dance in her recital, and Shannon's fiance Joe is doing that with her. It is going to be so cute, but sad at the same time. We wish Mike could be here for that and for many other things. His kids are awesome, and I have to thank him for that!