. Hot Season Helpers .

Hey, when it's hot, ya gotta do what ya gotta do-

and these two look pretty cute doing it :)

Levi truly did beg to wash the dishes, so I let em at it!

Sounds good to me... Less sweat rolling off my back, I"ll take it :)

:: Woody & Buzz ::

Woody & Buzz

.Best buds.

 Don't let Riley's "moment" in these pictures fool you, these two have a blast playing together these days... Nothing makes this mama's heart happier :)

SO much love in my heart for these two!!!

. My Mountaineer Girl .

One of my greatest joys....

 There is no denying it, one of my greatest joys in this life is getting to be the mother to Levi & Riley Jo (and soon to be one more little boy!).

This year for Mother's Day, Craig was super sweet and checked us into a fun local hotel.

We all jumped on the bed as soon as we got in to room

(What- isn't that what everyone does?)

Then my crazy kiddos crawled under the covers and pretended they were asleep- 

so Papa jumped in and joined the fun:

 

We quickly went up to the pool to enjoy the lovely water on a HOT day.

Riley didn't last very long, so Craig took her to nap while me and my little water bug spent a few more minutes at the poolside.

When it's this beautiful, how can you leave?

 With the sun beating on the hot deck, it became quite toasty- so Levi took on the task of cooling it down and making a trail from our seat to the ladder.

He had a blast!

Love this little guy to pieces!!!!

 Just me and my little guys:

 Then after a lovely dinner at the buffet, we put on pj's and had a dance party to their favorite song...

"Shake it off"

hahaha

Loved waking up Sunday morning to these cute faces

 And the hotel  brought this fun surprise at breakfast :)

Then we snuck in one more trip to the pool in the morning- we couldn't resist:

After re-entering A/C room- they assumed the snuggle and stay warm position:

:)

 Too cute!

We then decided to take a road trip while the kids napped to a "jungle area" outside our city,

and this was just a glimpse of the beauty we got to take in:

So thankful for the opportunity to love on these littles,

and even more thankful for a wonderful husband who made this year's Mother's Day so memorable.

...:::* RILEY JOANNA: 2 YEARS OLD*:::...

. February 27, 2015 .

 We ended our time in the U.S. just like we entered it... PARTYING!!!!

This time, we got to celebrate our little girl, Riley Joanna, turning 2 Years old.

Here were my little "helpers" during cake making time in WV,

or better just call them "icing lickers". haha

We celebrated "Minnie Mouse" style in WV:

JoJo is the best at doing hair, nails.... well all things "girl time". :)

The cutest little birthday girl we've seen:

 And there was some crazy weather right before we left, so these sweet faces that showed up were quite the troopers coming out, braving the ice and snow, just to celebrate with us and our little girl!

THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Seriously, I am so in love with this little face!!!

(and those pig tails... C.U.T.E.)

Girl loves her some Grammy!

 Sweet "Baby Zene" and those precious blue eyes!

We played some "Pin the Bow on Minnie"

(Thanks to Aunt JoJo for making it for us!)

That's right... we ALL played :)

 Cake.... YUM YUM!

We brought Riley's "fancy shoes" that she loves, but clearly someone else had their eye on these lovely pink high heels ;)

Gift Time:

 She clearly saw things through her own perspective as she insisted on "wearing" her "pack pack" aka the gift bag. lol

And maybe the most hilarious moment ever... Her discovery of money inside the cards!!!
Every.Single.Card. she opened and would hold up with this face and after gasping, say,

"Paapaa.... GOT!"

Nooooo idea why Papa was the person of choice to take her shopping, and when she discovered that money is fun to get- LOL.

But we certainly enjoyed these moments!

We had a blast celebrating with our family and friends in WV before heading north to PA, 

then back across the ocean.

Thanks again for coming, y'all!

Then it was on to good ol' Pennsylvania to continue the party:

We changed it up and celebrated Care Bear style this time.

 

 

My sister, Amanda, did an awesome job decorating her basement in all these fun colors!!!

 And this is why we all love Uncle Jarod :)

 Look at this fancy thing... hair did, earrings, and wearing her bling ;)

If you look close enough, you will notice her rocking her sparkly boots AND her boot cuffs that Aunt JoJo made for her.

She is such a GIRL!!!

"E-pa" always makes us laugh

Isn't this a special moment with her mama? 

haha

 I was encouraged to see it wasn't just me ;)

Apparently the attention and singing during cake time was just too much for her, and she decided to just bury her head in me instead.

She cracks us up!

But a little Papa lovin' can make it all better:

We noticed some icing missing on the cupcakes...

then we found the culprits "rainbow" handed :)

We miss our buddies Colin & Walker.

Her last gift was a surprise for everyone...

she opened the box and out popped a blue balloon wishing his big sister a Happy Birthday from

HER LITTLE BROTHER

(this was how we announced it to our family :))

It was a great way to end our time in America, surrounded by so much love.

Made all of our hearts happy- but I think this little girl felt officially celebrated after all of this.

(At least I sure I hope she did. haha)

 

Happy 2nd Birthday Riley Joanna!

You bring more joy to our lives than you ever will know.

We love you.

All Our Love,

Mama, Papa, Levi & Little Squirt