Kites and KupKakes for Kate

2 years!!! Gosh, is it possible that it has been 2 years since we said goodbye to our sweet baby girl? The grieving process is an every day occurrence. There is not one day that goes by that I don't think about Kate. I miss her little button nose, her beautiful brown head of hair. I miss the oxygen cannula that became her signature. I miss sitting on the couch for hours holding and loving on her. Most of all......I just plain miss her. Life can be hard and unfair. But, one thing I have learned these past two years is that happiness is a choice. Everyone has hard challenges and trials in their lives and the true test is learning how to embrace what you have been given, learn from it and hopefully come out a better person. I feel like life is my teacher and I am the student. Since we were not able to go and visit Kate's grave site on her anniversary this year, some people have asked if it has been difficult. For some reason I've never felt comfort visiting her grave site. But, I do love going and decorating and making sure it is well kept, so that was hard not being able to do. What I have found that makes these special days memorable is doing something fun......celebrating Kate's life. As Mia gets older, I want these days to be something exciting and something to look forward to, kind of like a holiday. I don't want her growing up thinking that it is a sad day. So this year we spent the day at the beach flying kites, talking about Kate and then indulging in pretty pink cupcakes. Even better......my best friendTreo and her family were here staying with us for a few days. I would be lying if I said that there weren't breakdowns leading up to this day and the days following, but all-in-all it was a beautiful day. I'm so grateful for the calls, texts, messages, cards, flowers and many thoughts from our friends and family. Thank you!

We had so much fun writing and playing in the sand.

Treo, Miss Jaylee Joy and Nolan

Nolan is such a pro kite flyer. He especially specializes in pretty pink Barbie kites.

Treo's not too shabby herself!

Family Sanders

Family Rosenvall

Mini Kite Flyer Mia

My BFF Treo. Twenty {20} years and counting!

From the look on Jaylee's face......you know exactly what she's thinking. "Mmmmmm!"

Mia wasted no time at all!

We're so glad we had someone to spend this special day with. Thanks Sander's. We can't wait for you to come back!

R a N d O m N e S s

There are 2 things that are just plain UN ENJOYABLE with a 2-year-old: 1) Eating out and 2) shopping. I was out and about and decided to stop and browse TJ Maxx {I love, love the Maxx}. There were a few things that I thought were "try on worthy" and so off to the dressing room we go. I was greeted by a cute little Asian lady {who spoke little English}. Seeing Mia in the cart, she led us into a "bigger" room with a curtain door. I proceeded to try on a shirt when Mia started exercising her lungs. Next thing I know, cute little Asian lady draws the curtain door open and says...."shhhhh." Uhhh.....are you kidding me? Good thing I was fully dressed. Okay, no big deal, right? Wrong! A few minutes passed and I was changing back into my own clothes when helpful dressing room attendant barges in, YET AGAIN, with a stuffed animal shaking it at Mia {Bless her heart.....she was trying to be so helpful...hee hee}. Here I am in all my glory having NO idea what to say or what to do, but I'm pretty sure that this is not appropriate "dressing room attendant etiquette." Lucky for cute little dressing room attendant, I have a pretty good sense of humor and this was just a highlight of my day!!!

In other Rosenvall news.....here's what we've been up to:

Viva Las Vegas

We met my family in Vegas for the Mountain West Conference Championship a few weeks ago. Vegas is a PERFECT meeting point as it is a half-way point. It was so great seeing them and made me a little homesick. Even though the Cougs choked.....we had a great time cheering on San Diego in the end. Mia especially had fun with her cousins.

For some reason, my camera was totally bias to these two.....

Isn't Will a handsome little devil??

Totally caught red-handed!! Watch out slot machines, I think we've got a potential gambler on our hands. Too bad there was no loot to be found!

Oceanside Farmer's Market

Oceanside has the BEST Farmer's Market every Thursday. They have everything from baked goods to flowers to heavenly homemade hummus (my personal favorite) to this balloon man....

Deb modeling this lovely ladybug balloon bracelet!

Oceanside to San Diego.....Coaster style

Saturday we thought it would be a fun adventure to take the Coaster train to downtown San Diego. The coaster runs parallel to the 101, so if you sit on the upper deck of the train you get an amazing view.

While in San D we had to go to Seaport Village to see the birds.

Mia was much more receptive to the birds this time around than the last time we were here.

Disney for a Day

We decided to get annual passes to Disneyland. We're about an hour from Anaheim, so we figured it would be worth getting passes, especially when it only cost me $116. If you've been to D-land before, you know how expensive day passes are so using the pass twice basically pays for itself. Yay! Deb and Little {McCall} spent the day with us at the "Happiest Place on Earth."
Treo {my bestest friend growing up} was there with her family, so she spent the day with us while her hubby, Nolan, went back to the hotel with Miss Jaylee for nap time. What a good hubby!

And of course.......

Beach Time!!!

.....with my 2 favorite peeps!

Beach Babes

Our buddies {Brandi & Tess} came for a visit this past weekend....and a BEAUTIFUL weekend for them to come! The weather was awesome and so we took advantage by spending a day at the beach. The water was still a bit chilly to swim, but we had fun finding seashells and playing in the sand. I must admit I love the beach minus the sand.....I'm still washing it out of Mia's hair.

Mustache Mayhem

What's better than a night out with good friends and great food?........

........A night out with good friends, great food AND vending machine mustaches.