May Showers

It has been wonderful having a dog. It hasn't made me an animal lover but this dog I can tolerate ... most of the time. I love seeing the kids, especially Kaleb interact with her. I love the big smiles she brings to the kids faces:

I see moments like this and I am quickly reminded; this is why we have a dog. She has been so good for Kaleb. Today the other kids were getting pretty wild. Kaleb quickly went outside for some peace and quiet. When he sat down Mako came and put her head in his lap and sat with him. Unconditional friendship.

May starts out with a birthday; Jake's. This year, as usual, was a quiet event after Jake got home from work:
Jake requested chicken, veggie lasagna for his special meal:

best chocolate cake I've ever made! I used coffee to enhance the cocoa flavor. Us not being coffee drinkers I asked Jake to grab a cup from the gas station. First time for any of us to buy coffee. But it was so worth it. It was very yummy. Chocolate peanut butter cake with a ganache drizzled over top. It was very rich. Jake took about 90% of it to work the next day so his co-workers could finish eating it.

the kids are always excited to sing 'Happy Birthday' and eat cake.
Here's a random Kaleb fact; he does not like chocolate. He ate, more like licked, a couple bites and that was more than enough. I made sure to have vanilla ice cream so he had something sweet to eat.

Not much else went on in May until the end when we celebrate our annual Memorial Day festivities with family.

Oldest nephew with youngest niece

I invited my family for dinner. Because I wasn't sure if the rain would hold off we skipped the BBQ and made fish tacos instead. No one complained about that!
We had a lot of fun playing with all the cousins:

 newest baby; Gretl

Sadie, 2nd from the right, had to get a short haircut because, as you can probably guess, she cut her own hair. And its not the first time she or her siblings have done so. At least she looks cute with short hair.

A few days with my family and then a few days with Jake's family. He seems to always end up on meat detail; I don't ever hear him complain.

lots more laughter and playing:

grandma's flowers were very pretty:

the kids all wanted a ride on grandpa's walker:

We got to sleep in a camper and then the next morning was Memorial Day. We no longer go around to as many graves and cemeteries as the rest of the family but we always make sure to stop by at least one.  Jake has lost 7 childhood friends so we enjoy visiting their burial sites.

All gave some, some gave all
They fell, but o'er there glorious grave floats free
the banner of the cause they died to save.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
love leaves a memory no one can steal

We had a bit of time to waste while we waited for the appointed time to meet family at the traditional pizzeria. I randomly asked Jake to drive by the temple. We decided to walk around and ended up spending some very enjoyable time there:

I am so grateful to live in this amazing country. I know it's far from perfect but it sure is a blessed place to be.