Happy Birthday Kotabug!

This is hardly new news but Dakota turned 2 on August 5. We had a nice celebration at the spray park in Collierville with all of her little buddies that are her age. It turned out to be a lot of fun (I always stress about what to do with the August heat!!). The kids had a lot of fun and I hope the parents did too. And just because my cupcakes melted and the wind blew my birthday banner...I think it was still a success.

Thank you Dakota for an amazing 2 years. We are so proud and happy to be your parents. Thank you for teaching us how to love in a new way and capacity that we never knew existed! I hope you had fun at your party!

Grammy and Poppy

Carie, Chris & Sutton

Steve, Annah Mary, Amelia and baby (she's due in less than a month!!)

Frank, Leigh Ann and Noelle

Gigi and Papa

Uncle Chad, Aunt Lauren, Oliver and Baby Stetson (due in December)

Joe, Meredith and Anna Beth

Tracy, Ryan, Emerson, Palmer and Hudson

Melody, Clay and Lilliana

Melted Cupcakes

She still liked them though :)

Thirsty little kids!

Sutton aka "Shades" and his girl

Food...fruit, cupcakes, sandwiches, chips, goldfish, pasta salad, veggies, etc.

Dakota opening her presents.

Dakota's presents and the party favors. All the kids got a betta fish and a little bowl for them to go in. So far, Dakota's is still alive and I haven't heard otherwise on the other kids'.

Where the Buffalo (or American Bison) Roam

July 15-19 provided a long weekend to enjoy more of America's beautiful parks. Jacob, Dakota, Dad, Martha, Brad and I ventured to South and North Dakota to snag the high points and the National Parks. We had an amazing time with amazing weather, amazing wildlife (including a buffalo traffic jam!!), and amazing sites. Some of the parks we were able to enjoy (in no particular order)...Black Hills National Forest, Wind Cave National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, Devils Tower National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial (sort of...we were too cheap to enter but we saw it from a distance). Whew. We had lots of driving and 2 good hikes. 3 miles round trip at ND's highest point and 7 miles round trip at SD's highest point. Not bad for a pregnant girl huh??...and Dakota did amazing too. Enjoy the photos and if you ever get a chance to venture that way, I'd highly recommend it! And because it's too much work to organize...these pictures are not in order (at all!).

Grammy, Poppy & Dakota at the Badlands
Hiking is hard work!!
Dakota getting her stamp for her National Park Passport.
Poppy and Dakota racing back to the van after bagging the highest point in North Dakota.

Our little family of 4 at the Badlands.

Mommy and Dakota at the Badlands.

We kept complaining about not seeing many buffalo after all of the brochures raved about the herds. We found them! We were stuck for about 45 minutes while 400+ buffalo walked by our car. Some of which were as tall as our van!!

I wouldn't mess with this dude!

Koko tromping through the grass.

Grammy and Dakota at the end of Harney Peak (highest point in SD).

Yay for 43 highpoints!!! 7 more to go!

Grammy and Poppy at Harney Peak.

Dakota and Jacob at Harney Peak.

Baby mountain goat. Momma was right behind him.

She copies everything she sees us do!

Our little family at Mt. Rushmore. Been there done that. Don't get me wrong, it's really fascinating and I certainly couldn't sculpt something like that but God's natural creation speaks to me a lot more.

Devil's Tower. America's first National Monument. There were rock climbers all over the face. Very cool!

Prairie dogs...galore!

Finishing up White Butte, the highest point in ND.

Yay for #42! You should have heard Jacob groaning as he lifted us both up. Ha.

Uncle Brad at White Butte.

White Butte. It's actually on private property. We had the privilege of meeting the owners as they helped us get our van unstuck from the mud.

Daddy and Dakota at White Butte.

Uncle Brad at the Badlands. Brad...isn't that shirt like 15 years old???

Old fire tower atop Harney Peak.

Little Baker

Dakota and I made some banana bread this weekend. She's such a great helper (even if it requires more work for me in the end). Please excuse the wild hair. I believe this was post-nap.

Most of the flour made it into the bowl. My floors/chairs needed vacuumed anyway :).Stirring everything up and saying "Cheeeeese."