The Adventures of Miss Tippy Tail, Kitty Boo Boo, Lily Lollipop and Jilly Bean: A Time of Ups and Downs

Emma making a special picture for Grandma Poma when she was in the hospital

Meilynn making her picture for her Grandma

First of all I would like to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers for our family and Mike's. We had a beautiful funeral service that was uplifting and a great tribute to Mike's Mom. There were so many people there was standing room only in the Chapel. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

We have a lot going on right now. We have begun a major remodel on our house. It all started with needing a playroom. When Kami and Meghan were little we lived in a one story house. They kept there toys in their rooms or in a room that we used as a playroom. They would bring out a toy and then when they were finished they put it back in their room. My house never felt over run with toys. But with a two story house Meilynn and Emma cannot go up and down the stairs by themselves, so all of the toys are downstairs in our main living area. It is a mess all of the time. So we decided that we would add on a playroom. So then it turned into expanding and re-doing our kitchen and then our eating area. Of course if we were adding on downstairs we should add on upstairs at the same time. So we are adding a new master suite and re-doing our bathroom. We are making our old master bedroom into a guest bedroom and bath and then we are moving a wall in Emma and Meilynn's room, expanding and re-doing their bathroom. I haven't decided yet if we will keep them in the same room or separate them. They are doing great sharing a room, but maybe when they are older they will want their own. So this "little playroom" is going to take 9 months. We will need to move out July through November. We will be gone the whole month of July in Italy so there is one month. We haven't decided yet what we will do. We may move down to the beach or live in our motorhome or both. We have to have everything moved out of most of the rooms. So the next two months should be quite a challenge.

We also are very proud that our second daughter Meghan will be graduating on May 24, 2008 (Meilynn's birthday) from the University of Redlands with a math degree. She is graduating with highest honors. We are so excited for her. She will also be moving out to her first apartment next week. We are so very proud and honored to be her parents

Meghan's Senior project in Math.

This is the only picture she would let me take. She presented her project to a room filled with students, friends, Math Professors, and family. She did this presentation the week that we were spending in the hospital with her Grandma. Her Grandmother would have been so proud of her.

And our oldest daughter Kami got accepted to the Masters program in counseling at the University of Redlands. She has been busy helping me with the girls, coaching soccer, tutoring, and substitute teaching. You can see with such two wonderful daughters the reason it was so easy to decide to start a family again. How could I not?

Kami will not like that I posted this picture, but I am so proud of her. She ran in after a soccer practice and opened her envelope of acceptance!

The new foundation for the playroom and kitchen nook.

Emma getting her handprints in the foundation with Daddy. She would only do one hand.

Here is Emma's handprint. While we were doing Meilynn's she stepped on the concrete with her shoes!

Meilynn getting hers done.

Emma's hand print with her name and star underneath and Meilynn's two hand prints with her name and heart under hers.

Since bringing Emma home Mike has helped me out so much with the cooking. It started with Emma not letting me put her down or not allowing me to leave her site. So Daddy just started doing the cooking when he had time. Here he is with the girls making his specialty, Meatloaf!

Emma taking some bread from the bowl for a little snack.

Daddy asking her to save some for the meatloaf.

Watching Chef Daddy. ( as you can see Daddy is actually using the learning tower that he hates and that I love)

Our cousin Dylan had a birthday. Daddy played a joke on him and bought a Ken doll. He put a gift certificate to toys-r- us in the box. He thought it would be funny to give him a doll. Our daddy is quite the jokester. He once gave his sister Sue a present when she was a little girl. She was so excited to get a present from her brother. She opened up in front of all of her friends and in it was some fresh dog poop from their dog. I don't think that his Mom and Dad were very proud of him.