iowa...you make me smile.

my precious neice, aubree and the sweet pea...

these two are thick as thieves.

and oh so cute.

the puddin cup on the 4th of july...

all dressed up in her red, white, and blue.

and a smile.

us with the randazzos...

my best friend

chad's best friend

and our liters of kids...

here we have

3 possible future marriages that will make us a real, bonafide family

couldn't you just kiss the girl?

the little one,

obviously

cousins and best friends

colton and tayler

4 months apart

and truly...the first girl he has ever loved...

she might as well be his sister

me and chad's grampa lew

annslee and sawyer...

the youngest cousins...

i just love the way she is eyeing him.

they didn't leave each other's sides all night.

that there is a LOT of clarksons.

the family reunion that chad planned was a huge success.

i love big families.

the thieves...watching fireworks.

these two are fun to watch.

magical fireworks...

do it again, daddy

chase...

a boy and a sparkler.

doesn't get much more fun than that.

my niece, ava...

overcoming fears, left and right.

she actually let me put a firefly in her hand and she watched

it magically light her way toward

bravery.

the start of the trip...

"are we there yet?"

dilly bar break...

somewhere in small town, texas

passing the time with bracelet/anklet making...

a trade my oldest niece is learning quickly.

chad leading the kids in calisthenics after being in the car all night.  we are almost in iowa.

the des moines capitol building...

right before the yankee pops symphony 4th of july concert

me, tayler, colt, and julia at yankee pops

i love this iowan

i like to call this one...

"um, excuse me.  maybe you didn't remember that I'M your baby."

this is margo.

and she is a lover.

while all the cousins played...

i got to hold this sugar plum.

grampa lew has a whole little league park named after him.

that's pretty impressive, if you ask me.

look at my man...

killin it on the court.

followed by,

"i can't move my knee."

a reunion with sparklers.

"look at the fireworks, brother!  did you know about these things?"

lew with the girls.

chad and his grampa.  he's the oldest grandson.

annslee's first kiss.

ricky masamo plantin one on her 10 minutes after they met.

it's fate.

i call these kids "the bee's knees"

they are a few of my favorite things.

aiden and luci

zoe and colt

mia and chase

catching fireflies