Today is my Daddy's birthday! A few weeks ago, Mom had a birthday party for Daddy even though he could not be here. We took lots of pictures of his party and then mailed them to him in his Birthday Care Package.
Mommy even made the dogs get in on the "fun."
I hope Daddy has a great birthday!!! Mommy and I wish we could help you celebrate! 
We had a fantastic 4th holiday! The 4th will now always have an extra special place in my family's hearts because it was the day my niece Michelle got married. We all had such a great time, everything went smooth, and we could not have asked for better weather!! An 80 degree day on the 4th of July?!? That never happens! Here are the happy couple; Brett and Michelle.
The wedding ceremony was at Brett and Michelle's house in their backyard. It was such a neat ceremony. Because it was going to be such a small intimate ceremony, I wanted to ensure Xavier was super good and was not going to make noise or running around. How do you keep a 2 1/2 year old quiet and still you ask? Skittles!! Some Moms reading this might be gasping right now...let me just tell you all...this mom is not over bribery! Look how content Xavier is...that was him through the entire wedding!
And here is Xavier with Pa-Paw!! That's 2 good looking men right there!
The rest of the night was filled with wonderful people and a fun time dancing the night away! Congratulations Brett and Michelle! Thanks for hosting a great 4th of July party!
Michael called me this afternoon and told me he got his hair cut tonight too. He borrowed some clippers from a guy and shaved himself bald. Yes, BALD! Thank God I was home because I instantly made him get on video chat so I could see this. Ladies and gentlemen...he is Mr. Clean bald! There was a glare off his head from the over-head light in his room. I must say I think it's pretty sexy, but it will take some getting used to.
I think I got coolest Mom points for putting the slide going into the pool. I think he went down it at least 50 times - head 1st of course!
You think there are a lot of toys in the pool with him? Those are just a few of his bath toys that we brought outside. Normally he has all of those in the tub with him - talk about crowded!
The best part of the day was our video talk with Michael!! It was the 1st time we were able to get it all set up and working. The biggest obstacle is actually that Michael is 7 hours ahead of us so we really can only do the video talks on the weekends. Xavier was so cute. He just kept on saying "That's my Daddy!" He also got car after car to show Daddy. "Daddy this is my green hummer, this is my red fire truck, this is my..." I think that went on for a solid 10 minutes. 
Keira is totally throwing some gang signs!! (Or for any of the Gamma Phi's reading this, she isHappy Father's Day to all of the Fathers out there!
This will be an odd day for Xavier and I since Michael is gone and my dad is in Florida visiting his brothers. I guess we will just have to spend the day in the pool! :)
Michael did get his care package jammed packed with goodies for Father's Day. He got a message frame where when you push the button it will replay a message that was recorded. After about 8 days of chasing Xavier around the house with the frame and lots of bribes of Skittles and chocolate, we finally got a good message on there. Xavier says "Happy Father's Day! I love you Daddy!" Michael said she replays it a lot! One of the other things in there was a new video that I made. I figured I would upload this one too so everyone can enjoy!
Michael -- you are a wonderful father and husband! I know today is hard for you but know we are VERY proud of you!! We love and miss you lots!!! XOXO
Up above, Dani, Erin and Judy...then below Josh all making something special for Uncle Michael.
Part of the playground at the park where we had this at had sprinklers and stuff. Judy took the kids over there while I was setting stuff up, etc. She said the kids had a BLAST!! I mention this so when you see the below picture you do not think I just forgot to dress Xavier for the day. It is hard with Michael being away, but I have not totally lost it. :)
Xavier LOVES his candy!!! 
One of his favorite toys is a battery powered Finding Nemo. It swims all over the pool and Xavier chases it. That was at least 1 1/2 hours of our Saturday.
Sunday we went to Ms. Sue's to swim in her pool with her 4 dogs. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Those dogs swam for hours! When they were not actually swimming, they were laying on the rafts.
After a full day of fun in the sun, what could be better than a yellow sucker?
On a side note, I have talked to Michael a few times. He is in Germany and doing pretty well. He said the living conditions are not the best, so he is looking forward to getting to Kosovo where he can settle in. He said he has taken several pictures but has not had a chance to get to a place with Internet to upload them. Well...he had a choice the other day...take a nap or upload pictures. Since you do not see a post on here, we all know what he chose. Ohh well...maybe soon. :)
I am actually surprised Xavier warmed up to the goats because pretty much as soon as we went in with a bottle to feed them, 4 goats trampled Xavier to the ground. He was scared for a while (wouldn't we all be), but as soon as we got rid of the bottle and away from the large group of goats, Xavier was off chasing them.
The camels were being very gentile. They were letting Xavier feed them 1 pellet at a time.
Here is Ms. Julie and Hannah with the camel! I swear that camel is smiling for the picture!
Ok...I think this is one of my new favorite pictures! Here is Xavier throwing a huge fit because he is not getting his way. Xavier is happy about 95% of the time, but when he doesn't get his way...watch out. Just look at this face. Too funny.
We go from him throwing a fit and me knowing why some parents hit their children to him being just as cute as can be! He is just so peaceful. With all of the fun stuff we did at Grant's Farm, he was fast asleep in the car 5 minutes into the ride.
