Happy 9^th birthday to my sweet Julia!! We celebrated by having a Luau-themed birthday party at our house complete with grass skirts, lei’s, Hawaiian music, and our inflatable swimming pool/slide. It was a fun time and I think everyone truly enjoyed themselves. Then yesterday, we made a spur of the moment trip to Osceola. Every year on our birthday, we put a “Birthday Girl” figurine on Rob’s grave. Julia wanted to do this yesterday since we couldn’t make it out today. On the way to the cemetery, she said “I really wish Daddy could’ve made it to my birthday party but I guess a lot of kids can’t say their dads are everywhere they are no matter where they’re at….so, I guess it’s ok.” What a wise young lady. My heart breaks for her because I know she misses her dad so much, but yet she continues to be so strong. Rob would be so proud. I know I am. The start of the school year has also approached. Julia started the 3^rd grade. I can’t believe that! So far, she’s really enjoying it and on the 2 spelling tests she’s had, she’s received a 105%! I’ve decided that 3^rd grade math is definitely harder these days than when I took it. It’s pretty sad when I’m having trouble trying to help her with her homework! But, thanks to my sister in law, I think we’re getting the hang of it! :) Eva’s also blooming in her independence. She loves makeup. I caught her the other day in her sister’s room playing with Julia’s makeup. She had mascara on her forehead, lipstick all over her mouth, and finger nail polish on her feet. She thought she looked so beautiful! I couldn’t help but smile because with all that, she never got anything on the carpet! She was “so careful”. The other night, my parents arrived late to my house for the weekend. The girls were already asleep. In the morning when Eva woke up, I told her grandpa and grandma were in the toyroom sleeping. She walked down there, threw open the door and said “Haha! I woke you up and that’s just what I wanted to do!” Where does this girl come from? Oh, I wish Rob was here to see her. She is so much like him that it would be fun to see how the 2 of them would interact. On another note, I finally got my house sold in Texas! There is a program called Homeowner’s Assistance Program. It was opened up to Surviving Spouses and Wounded Warriors. The US Government will buy your house if you are unable to sell it. It’s a great program and I’m so grateful for it, but at times, it was frustrating because for 18 months, I was unable to rent my house out because at any time, the government could purchase it. But, it’s finally over with. Another chapter in my life closed. It makes me sad because it was a beautiful house Rob and I had built and we really loved it, but it made no sense to keep it. I knew I would never live there again so it’s better to go to another family who will enjoy it as much as we did.

Disneyland

I’m not sure where the summer went, but I know for the Yllescas girls it has FLOWN by! Although Julia said she’s “bored” and ready for school to start, we actually did quite a bit this summer! We finally got our boat back out in the water. As much work as a boat is to have, it’s all worth it when we get out in the water. We sure missed the fun we’ve had on the boat. I wasn’t sure how Eva would be on the boat since the last time she was on it, she was only 4 months old. But, she is so calm and relaxed on it! I couldn’t believe it! She sits there and watches as we tube and will get out and play in the sand with all her water toys. This summer, Julia really has gotten brave and is tubing by herself. Before, she was unsure and wanted us to go slow but this past weekend when we went out, she was by herself and kept telling us to go faster! J I haven’t been able to get my wakeboard out this year yet because I’m trying to refamiliarize myself with the boat, but hopefully next year, I’ll get up and “running” again. Exciting news is that Julia finally lost her first tooth a few weeks ago! She is almost 9 so it was quite exciting! I guess this is what happens when you don’t get a tooth until you’re almost 15 months old! Then today, she lost another one! If she’s not careful, she’ll have to eat baby food! Lol We’ve also been busy building a deck in my backyard. It’s almost finished and we absolutely LOVE it! We spend a lot of time outside and this is a great addition for us. One of our biggest perks this summer was we were able to go to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. This was courtesy of a group called Brat Pack 11. They made all the arrangements and paid for our trip. I was able to have my mom come along and help me with the girls. All of us had an absolutely AMAZING time!!! So, thank you again Brat Pack 11!! Now we’re just trying to scurry around and finish 4-H projects. The fair starts this upcoming weekend and hopefully all the projects will be ready to go. Julia is showing her dog in the fair. This has definitely been a learning experience for both her and D’ogie! Regardless of the outcome, at least D’ogie will have learned some commands and Julia will have learned that it takes a lot of persistant work to train a dog!! J I hope you all have had a great summer. Hopefully it won’t be 3 months before I update again!!! J