Summer Vacation

The girls and I returned last week from a 1300 mile road trip to visit family. This has become a summer tradition for Tara, Lily and I. We would love to take Daddy with us but we are usually gone for an extended amount of time which makes it hard for Michael to take that much time off of work.

Our destination is Utah and we visit our cousins and Granny and Grandpa. We have made this road trip several times over the last 8 years. I was thinking about how much this summer tradition has changed over the years. For starters, our trip keeps getting further away from home. My brother works for Utah State Parks and his job has taken him to 3 different locations; Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Monroe and now Lehi. While his family was living in Monroe, Granny and Grandpa decided to relocate and retire in the same small town. The other ‘change’ is how I use to pack for this road trip. I use to take strollers, pack-n- plays, booster seats, diapers and about 20 binkies (the girls would drop them while I was driving and I could not always stop.) Now I pack DVD’s, DS games, stuffed animals and favorite books. The trip may be longer, but the load is definitely lighter.

Although our load is lighter our memories of each trip will last a life time. We come home with so many great stories to tell Dad. We come home with new favorite foods; Tara loves Neapolitan ice cream now just like her Uncle Dave. We come home with more experiences; Lily can now do the monkey bars. The girls helped their Granny and Grandpa in the garden and planted flowers in the front yard. We come home smarter; Davy taught us Wii games and Nicole taught us new card games. We come home with more style; Rebekah knows fashion. We come home with new recipes from Aunt Janette. We have new silly jokes to tell that Darci and Littlebit taught us.

Even though we come home with such great memories, there is no place like home. We are happy to be home and happy to be with Daddy again. I have more to share from our vacation and pictures I will post, but for right now…all is well.

(Darci, Tara, Davy, Nicole, Lily and Littlebit)

6 Days Late

Last month I posted about Lily being born 9 days past her due date. My beautiful Tara started the ‘late’ trend by coming 6 days after her due date. I remember holding Tara for the first time; she was a dream come true.

Tara is celebrating her 8th birthday this week!

What a celebration too. She got her ears pierced, she had 10 girls over for a swim party and her cousins are here from out of state helping her celebrate.

Tara is an easy going, fun-natured and loving child. One characteristic I love about Tara is her willingness to compromise; she is always willing to give up what she wants to make others happy or to help an unpleasant situation. I see this characteristic on a regular basis with her younger sister. Tara loves Lily so much; she is a wonderful older sister.


Tara makes me laugh, she says the funniest things. She is an excellent swimmer; I am always amazed each swim season at how well she can swim. She loves to learn and exceeds in every subject in school. She loves to watch TV; you can ask her anything about Hannah Montana or iCarly. She also loves to read and is trying to read all the fairy books by Daisy Meadows. Tara is a great kid and we are so blessed to have her in our family.


Happy Birthday Tara! We love you dearly!