DOVE FAMILY

Coach Gretchen and Matthew with his trophy!

Do you remember the days when you could spend hours playing in a huge box from your parents? Pretending that it was a secret house to hide in? Or maybe use it to hide and store your most precious toys? Lemonaide stand anyone? The fun of a good ol' card-board box! My mom just recently purchased a new lawn-mower and the imaginative ways children use boxes blows my mind! This huge cardboard box provided them with hours of fun, fighting and climbing until the box was defeated and we had to throw it out.

Alex, Daniel & Matthew playing with G.I.Joe figures in the box!

Sweet girly-girls! Julia & Amaya relaxing in the box once the boys finally gave them a turn to play in it.

Hmmm. Not sure whats happening here. The boys are out of control and are CLIMBING ontop of the box! I think this was it for that poor box.

It may look like it is a hot August Day in Baltimore County...it's a Sunday in May and the temperature is close to 70 degrees!

It may look like there were no adults in this picture supervising the activities...Lola was the supervising adult!

...means waking up in the middle of the night when the little ones are scared= no sleep

...means kissing cuts, scrapes, boo-boos= hoping that there is no infection and that I cleaned it the right way

...means always having the answers for difficult questions like "why is there a sky"= you have you be quick when finding answers that make the most sense even though you don't know if it is correct

...means teaching what is right/wrong, teaching manners, teaching them about the world and life= I just hope I teach them these things correctly to help them as they grow up

....means I get hugs, kisses, cries, attitudes, talking back= do they learn the attitude and talking back from me?

I get to be my childrens' doctor, therapist, friend, foe and many times I am the bad mom because I will not allow them to watch a specific show, have a certain toy or am always telling them "NO!" I just hope that I am the best mom I can be, help open doors to every possible opportunity for them, help them make choices and support them even though I don't agree with the choices and decisions they make and just be there for them for anything. I hope to be like my mom who is incredibly wise, I hope to have her inner strength, faith and have a heart like hers that overflows with love and care.

Each year, we always hope for great weather for Easter so the kids can enjoy a fun easter egg hunt outside. This Easter we were treated with wonderful weather and we started our morning off by going to a morning church service. I have to say that the kids did pretty well under the circumstances of sitting in a church, quietly and doing their best to sit still for an hour.

After church we headed to my mom's for a wonderful lunch that included her famous pineapple & brown sugar ham, sausage & egg rolls, sweet potatoes and more. Minutes after lunch the kids were so excited that they had to get outside to start the big hunt. It was a great day with family and a great celebration, sharing stories, laughter and family time.

We miss and love you daddy......thank you for the gift of family and love....

Lola (mom), Julia & Matthew



Lola & her girls, Amaya & Julia with their beautiful Easter dresses

My mom ( the greatest woman ever!) and I on Easter

The kids racing to find easter eggs!

Lola & julia taking a stroll and enjoying the beautiful day after the egg hunt



Lola and all of her beautiful grandkids

top- Daniel & Matthew

middle- Dylan & Alex

bottom- Amaya, Lola & Julia

April 7, 2011- David and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Wow- it has been a crazy, fun and loving 10 years. With our Anniversary being on a Thursday- we celebrated with soccer practice, and a quick stop at a local pizza joint to grab some pizzas and breadsticks! The kids thoroughly enjoyed the celebration because we don't normally eat out on a week night.


On a more serious note, I couldn't have asked for a better night with David and the kids celebrating our Anniversary together. It's not about gifts, flowers, a dinner at a fancy restuarant, treating each other to a spa day or golf game- to me this is all about our time together, our experiences we have together and as a family. There is no greater gift out there for me other then being able to spend the time, a day or a few hours with my husband and my kids. The flowers will end up dying, the food from the fancy dinner will subside, and only the memories of being together will last a lifetime. It has been a wonderful 10 years with so many happy, sad and funny moments. I am thankful and blessed to have David as my husband- he is wonderful, strong, loving, caring and most of all he always puts our family first. We compliment each other perfectly- he is more reserved, analytical and cautious where as I am more of an extrovert, outgoing, adventurous and outspoken. He keeps me grounded and most of all he teaches me patience which is something I do not have. I look forward to many more years with David and just know that our love, trust, honesty and respect for eachother will surpass all obstacles that come our way. I also know that we will continue to teach Matthew & Julia about respect, love and family.