Ameya and Aunt Carol

While we were in California, Ameya spent the night at Carol's house. Ameya went with Carol to pick out Ava's walker and then Carol got something additional for Ameya. Carol let Ameya pick out her gift and Ameya picked this Princess Cash Register. Ameya is really into play shopping and Princesses right now, so this was perfect.
We all had a good laugh over what she picked out. Here she is play shopping in her room after we got home.

Thank you Carol for making Ameya feel so special and treating her to a fun girls sleep over. She loved the shopping and the beach.

A Year Ago

MY FATHER WAS AN AMAZING MAN.
THE OLDER I GOT, THE SMARTER HE GOT

MARK TWAIN

I can't believe it has already been a year since my Dad passed away. His anniversary was on June 14th, the day before Father's Day. I can't believe how much I've already not been able to share with him. I miss talking to him on our weekly Sunday calls and I know my sisters feel the same way. I'm glad that I was in California during this past week so that I could spend some time with one of the sisters at his grave site. I'm sure he knew we were there and thinking about him.

One of my favorite memories of my dad was from a very long time ago. Over the years I've done a lot of running and competing. If at all possible, my dad would always be at my races. When I was in elementary school and just starting with my running, I can remember running the 440 race. It is 1 lap around the track and not one of my favorites as there is really no pacing involved - you sprint and go as fast as you can the whole way. As I came around the last part of the lap, I could see the stands. My dad was at the bottom, in the very front, cheering me on. I couldn't hear him but I could see him.

He was there for me!
He was standing for me!
He was cheering for me!

This is who my dad was for me. He was not perfect but I never doubted that he loved me, that he was proud of me and that he believed in me. I could do and be what ever I set my mind to.

Thank you Dad for that wonderful legacy!

Branden's Graduation

My handsome nephew just graduated from Newport Harbor High School this past Thursday. We were able to travel to California for the big day. We are so proud of this accomplishment! He is a great person and I know he will go on to do wonderful things....which we hope will be done in Colorado.



Scott and I have lived in Colorado for most of Branden's growing-up time but we've still had some fun moments with him. This picture is when he came out for Thanksgiving at our home in Colorado with his Mom. And the lower picture is at his birthday party when he was very little. Time sure flys!

Happy Graduation Branden!

Another Last Day

Yesterday was a sad day in the Morris household as we said good-bye to our BoBos. Boris Morris was with us for almost 13 years and we will miss him a lot. He was an awesome dog who gave us lots of love. He was one of my original 'babies'. The vet told us in December that we needed to pick a date in the next few months to say good-bye so we feel very lucky that the time was extended.



I love the picture of him with this big bone. My dad got both Dakota and Boris these huge bones for Christmas one year when we lived in California. So like my Dad to do something crazy like the bones and so like Boris to love eating them. I think he took over Dakota's in time.



Ameya took this picture of Boris last week. You can see he is old, tired and his body is ready. The hardest part for us is that Boris still acted in many ways like the puppy that we always knew. He still chased around the soccer ball outside and loved his walks....because there was a treat waiting. Boy could he race up the hill back to our house for that treat - even at the end.

We love you buddy. We miss you but we know that you're playing with Dakota and having a great time.

Ameya, The Photographer

Ameya loves taking pictures so after the bathing suit humiliation, I gave her the camera so she could shoot away. She usually takes some great pictures and it is fun to see what she captures.

I love this photo of Ava that Ameya took. Ava was out in the garden with us, so as not to be left out of the traditional yearly garden activity. Ameya started taking pictures and took this random one of Ava.

A Hot Day

We spent part of the weekend in our backyard planting our garden. It got really hot so I had Ameya go and put her bathing suit on. She came outside with it on backwards and as you can see from the picture, it's not really suited for that view.


But being the good mother that I am, I told her how cute she looked, while I tried not to laugh. I then ran for the camera and took the first shot. Then she kind of caught on and said, is it backwards. We told her it was and that we should switch it around. At about that point, we noticed that she still had her underwear on, so I had to take the another picture. As you can see from the picture, this time it wasn't so fun. I'm sure she didn't know why we thought it was so funny.



She went back inside and switched her bathing suit around and then all was right with the world.

Caught in the Act

Ava is getting around so fast these days and is fascinated by anything new on the floor. We have to keep a close eye on her as we never know what she is going to find.

Ameya loves playing with balls in our house. They bounce great on our floor and are fun to chase around. We've got all kinds of different sizes but Ava is always trying to get the smaller ones and you guessed it, put them in her mouth