Merrilee's Birthday and On

This is Ben, I'm taking over for Merrilee since she is in Oklahoma. For Merrilee's B-day I made her the best ice cream cake ever. Check out those curly candles.

Here is Merrilee 8+ months pregnant. Merrilee was just telling me how she can't wait until the baby comes. Mostly so she can breathe and enjoy sleeping with getting kicked in the ribs.

My First Quilt!

Ok, so I guess having kids will inspire you to do things you would never do of your own initiative... like quilting! I decided I wanted to make something for my little tadpole (he's actually probably a full-blown frog by now), and Ben's mom is an amazing quilter, so I asked her to help me create one. It took hours of finding the right materials, cutting, ironing, and sewing, but I finally did it!!! I actually did all the sewing myself, although I had a LOT of guidance and help from Ben's mom. I feel like a marathon quilter (I did the whole thing in less than 4 days). Thanks, Ben's mom, for all the help!! My niño will love it (I'm crossing my fingers that it makes it through all his crazy years... so, that's, what, 21 years it has to survive???)!

Long Beach Beach

Ben and I went to the beach after dinner, just to relax. Ben told me to try to do a cool look... but I'm not very good at the whole "don't smile" thing!

Ben drawing in the sand.

4th of July BBQ

Hmmm... hot dog...

Or Cody's Strawberry Short-dog?
That is the question...

Harry Independence Day! (at least, that's what I accidentally texted to my family!)

Chillaxin' in Ben's parents' yard after a great BBQ, just hanging around before the fireworks show.

Terrific fireworks show. Ok, so it didn't really look just like this (hey, at least we're honest that we fixed it, CHINA!!), but Ben combined some of the pics he took of the different fireworks... he did a really great job with the camera!

Ok, I know this is just a bit late, but here's a "picture" of Ben and me that I, um, edited for Father's Day. You should have seen Ben's face when he came home and saw this picture on his desktop. "What the heck?!!" I know, we make cute babies, right? Hahaha! Seriously, though, I know Ben will be a great dad when our little guy really does come.