Father's Day

Despite my thoughts on Mother's Day (the worst holiday next to Valentines Day), Father's Day doesn't actually make me feel violent. I never see my dad on Father's Day weekend because the annual API golf tournament is in Roosevelt, which means my Ballou uncles desend on my parent's house. It's not that I don't love my uncles, but that's a lot of Ballou testosterone to deal with. No thanks.

Bridget will be four in about a month (can you believe that???) and she's really gotten into the spirit of gift giving on the holidays. This year we decided to give James a case for his Nintendo DS and a coupon for a game. OK, I know, a video game for James? Really? Really? Video games are the bane of my existence and it makes me bonkers to watch him spend hours playing those dumb games. But I got what I wanted this year for Mother's Day so I figured James deserved something fun.

We went to church and then spent the rest of the afternoon with James's family. It was a really nice time, the best I've had up there for a while. We had everyone up there except for Alyse and the kids had so much fun playing together. It was just a nice time. I'm so lucky to have a lot of good male examples in my life. My husband isn't always perfect, but he loves being a dad. He is so cute with Bridget and she loves him so much.

And my dad is far from perfect, but he taught me a lot and I'm the person I am today because of him. He taught me not to put up with other people's bullshit, to be kind to others and always be willing to lend a helping hand. He helped me develop my testimony and taught me the importance of the Lord in my life. I got my love of cooking and my sense of humor from my dad. Also my deep appreciation of the cinema classics "The Blues Brothers" and "Animal House".My dad taught me how to fish, how to work and how to to be a good person.

I love my dad a lot. He can be a complete pain in the ass sometimes and there are times, when I just want to strangle him dead because he can be so dumb. But he's my dad and I'm stuck with him. I love you Bob.

I couldn't help but throw this picture in there too. This was taken at my wedding with my two grandpa's. They were so different but I loved them a lot. I lost them the same week and I miss them both terribly.

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. Keep being the best dad's you can be for your kids, it's matters a lot. Kisses!

Swimming lessons with Ms. Lorie

 Bridget's preschool teacher Ms. Lorie has been such a blessing this year. Bridget learned so much this year in preschool and we were excited to see how she would handle swimming lessons with her. As you well know, Bridget is a chicken. She doesn't trust easily and scares even more easily. I knew if she was going to master the swimming thing, she was going to need a miracle.


Enter Saint Lorie. 

She is wonderful! Bridget has been going all week and she already jumped into the pool and went under the water! O.M.G! She thought she was brave enough to go off the diving board today but it turned out that was just too scary. But she told me in the car she probably wanted to try it tomorrow. We shall see. 

Taking a noodle ride

Look how big she is! Putting her face under the water!