Grace and Faith's first haircut

Grace goes first.

Grace being very brave (w/bunny in hand).

Faith's turn.

All trimmed up.

Grace's new do.

Faith's new do.

Grace and Faith went to the beauty shop today to have their first haircut! Actually, they just got their bangs trimmed. Grace's mohawk was growing out to a point in the front and Faith had some whispy ends on her bangs. Off we went! They sat on my lap while daddy snapped some pictures. They were both curious and quiet and weren't quite sure what this new experience was all about. They both did great and it took no time at all! Yes, for as little as they got trimmed, I could have probably done it myself but Lord knows how many times I've botched my own bangs! It was worth the $5!

It's magic!

"Yay! How'd you do that, daddy?"

Presto!

Morgan has found a new audience for his magic tricks. Faith watches closely as the ball disappears and then magically reappears in daddy's hands. It's so funny to see her squeal with delight when she sees the ball reappear! She makes her daddy feel like he's got real skills as a magician!

Happy Birthday!

The birthday girl.

Uncle Rich and Gracie.

Grandma, Faith, Grandpa and Mommy.

Lil' Santa Claus (Grace).

Grandma shares some of her birthday cake with Faith.

Too much cake.

Grace and Great-Grandma have a staring contest.

We went to visit my parents today to celebrate my mom's 64th birthday. We had lots to eat and yummy birthday cake to top it off! Happy birthday, Mom/Grandma! We love you!

Date night with friends

Grandma and Aunt Mary kindly offered to babysit tonight so we certainly took them up on it! The girls were super tired because they skipped their afternoon nap. They were fast asleep by 7:00. We met our good friends, Robert and Emily for dinner and enjoyed a fun night out. Thanks, Grandma and Aunt Mary! We really appreciate it!

Summer Solstice

The girls in the garden.

Looking at the flowers.

In the United States and the rest of the northern hemisphere, today is the first day of the summer season. It's the day of the year when the sun is farthest north, otherwise known as the Summer Solstice. Of course, where we live, it's been warm for a couple of months now. The last few weeks have even brought temps in the low 100's. We'll see how I survive my first summer in the desert. So far though, I have to say, I'm loving it! People ask us if we miss the beach and so far, our answer is no. Ask us again though, at the end of the summer. :) We certainly don't miss all the traffic and people in the city. After living in a big city for pretty much all my life, it's relaxing to be in this smaller resort community.

They say that you get used to your surroundings and climate. I've already learned to do my errands in the morning and be in my air-conditioned home by noon. Luckily, the heat here is dry and not humid like other parts of the country. I won't be playing any golf this summer (not like I have been lately anyway) because I'm a fair-weathered player, a.k.a "wuss" when it comes to playing in the heat. I don't need anything else to get in the way of my game. We are thoroughly enjoying our pool. The pool temp has been in the high 80's and that's just perfect for us (again, the "wuss" factor). The days seem to just fly by. Sometimes, I don't know where the weeks go. I can't believe it's almost July! Our daughters have been delightful, to say the least. There are so many great moments throughout the day. Lately, they've been making each other laugh hysterically and it's been so funny to watch.

Our summer plans are shaping up and we look forward to having lots of friends and family visit. We also have two family weddings to attend this summer. The first is Morgan's cousin's up in the Paso Robles area of central California and the other is my brother's over Labor Day weekend in Orange County. In addition, Morgan and I will be taking our first overnight trip on our own to Laguna Beach in early August. Grandma and Grandpa will get to spoil... I mean, spend some quality time with the girls. :) Happy Summer, everyone!

Four-fingered pianist

Morgan got this truly inspirational email/video yesterday and shared it with me. I was so moved by its message of unconditional love and courage that I felt compelled to include it here. This is the story of a young Korean woman named, Hee Ah Lee and her mother. Hee Ah is called the four-fingered pianist (she has 2 fingers on each hand). What a glorious example of courage, strength and devotion from a mother to her child. This reminds me that God has a purpose for every human life, whether we are physically challenged or not. Often, isn't it our own minds that keep us handicapped anyway? Hee Ah and her loving mother have touched thousands of people around the world. I hope that you too are touched by their beautiful story.
God is so awesome. What we can accomplish with love!
Click here to view the video: http://dopejam.multiply.com/video/item/6

Happy Father's Day

"A man can have no greater fame than to be loved and admired by his family."

In that case, my husband is a Mega Star! Of course, I already knew that. For those of you who really know Morgan, you already know that he is man of rare character, devotion and heart. He is not only an excellent provider for our family, he takes care of just about everything around the house. On top of all that, he changes almost as many diapers as I do... even the ones we call "blowouts" :). Everyday, he helps me feed the girls, bathe them and put them to bed. He makes time out of his busy day to play with them whenever possible and enjoys all the cuddling, screaming, giggling and laughing out loud that comes with our little girls. He goes into their room when they're not there and arranges all their stuffed animals in little groups around their room. When the girls come in, all the animals are facing them, ready to play.

All that and he still takes care of me! He is my balancer, best friend, support system, partner extraordinaire, my precious gift and the love of my life. Did I mention how blessed I was to be married to this man? Our girls are equally blessed to have an earthly father who is such a loving example of what a father should be. It'll be tough for Faith and Grace to find a mate that compares to their daddy one day. I think that may very well be the whole idea! ;)

When I asked my husband what he wanted to do for his first Father's Day, he said he just wanted to stay home, watch the U.S. Open, spend time with his girls and swim in the pool. That's exactly what's on the agenda today.

Happy Father's Day to both of our dads and all the great dads we know!

Quotes on Fatherhood:
"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." ~Clarence Budington Kelland

"A father carries pictures where his money used to be." ~Author Unknown

"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad." ~Author Unknown

"There are three stages of a man's life: He believes in Santa Claus, he doesn't believe in Santa Claus, he is Santa Claus." ~Author Unknown

Visit from a dear friend

Me and Amy.

Amy and the girls.

Today, my very dear friend, Amy stopped by to spend the afternoon with us. She was visiting all the way from Bellevue, Washington, where she moved five years ago. I haven't seen her in over a year so it was wonderful to catch up and see her again. Oh, how I miss her laugh and enthusiasm! Thank you, Amy for driving all the way out here from LA to spend the day with us. We love you!

Flower hair clips

Faith playing under the dining room table.

Ha, ha!

Grace says,"You've got something in your hair."

"Wait, I do too."

Faith says, "I like my flower clip."

Voila!

The girls are finally starting to grow some hair so yesterday, I tried out these cute flower clips. They didn't last long though because as soon as they saw each other's, they either wanted to touch them and pull them out or just play with them. Ah well!

A fun-filled weekend!

It's time for cake!

Bing's.

Uncle Rich babysits while we go to church.

Uncle Rich and his favorite nieces.

Rich trying to dunk Emily in the waterfall.

Uncle Rich swimming with Gracie.

Uncle Rich & Faith.

Daddy & Gracie.

Faith & Grace in their jammies after a long day.

Morgan & Rick relaxing after dinner.

Uncle Rich and Emily drove almost two hours to babysit for us on Saturday night so that we could go to a surprise birthday party for our good friend, Emily. The party was planned by her dear husband, Robert and took place at one of our favorite restaurants/piano lounges. Amazingly, Emily had just traveled 26 hours to get back home from a business trip in New York. She encountered several delays at JFK which forced her to sleep in a hotel in Brooklyn for a few hours. She had more delays at the airport before finally boarding a plane to Phoenix! She then rented a car and had to drive a few more hours before finally making it home. Whew! Talk about tired!Robert's well-intentioned plan was to take her out to dinner before meeting up with all of us but she was so exhausted that she went straight to bed when she got home that night! Needless to say, she was not in the mood to go anywhere just a few short hours later! She was quite the trooper though and a good time was had by all! We love you, Em!

The girls had so much fun playing in the pool with Uncle Rich and Auntie Emily on Sunday and we were so grateful that they could take time out of their busy schedules to babysit and spend time with the girls. Also on Sunday, Rick, an old friend who lives in Cabo was visiting and stopped by to catch up and have dinner. It was great to see him! Nighty-night!

"I scream, you scream. We all scream..."

Having some fun with Daddy in the afternoon.

Faith hugging her teddy bear.

We love the double seat carts!

Daddy gives Faith some of his ice cream cone.

Then Grace gets some.

Then back to Faith...

It goes on like this 'til the three of them finish the cone. :)

We love the double seat shopping carts they have at Costco and Sam's Club. This way, we don't have to bring our double stroller and the girls really like being at our level, instead of down below. We went out to dinner last night and then did some shopping afterwards. It was nice to get out as a family. The girls enjoy people watching and all the stimulation, too. Morgan stopped to get a soft serve cone after dinner and of course, he just had to share some with his girls. I think we had as much fun watching them as they had eating the ice cream! A woman stopped to say, "You need to get a picture of this!" Luckily, I had my camera in my purse ;)

Note to self: No ice cream before bed time! They went down about 45 minutes past their normal time. It was only 8:15, but still. Oh, well!

NOMOTC

Grace trying to put her arm around Faith.

Here comes Faith!

Well, we've joined the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Club. Luckily, there is a local group here in our area. The NOMOTC was founded in 1960 and currently has over 25,000 members, representing over 400 local groups nationwide. It is a non-profit organization funded by dues, donations and grants. Its purpose is to promote the special aspects of child development which relate specifically to multiple birth children. It also provides support, education and ways to connect with other families with multiples. This will be a good way for the girls to be around other children, in particular, other twins. Already, there is no doubt the girls get lots of attention because they're twins. Although being twins make them unique, we also want them to know that there are other twins and multiples out there. In addition, the group will give me the opportunity to meet and connect with other moms in my area. About every month or so, the kids have playdates, a mom's night out, a date night with other couples and family night out. This should be fun!

Fun with grandparents

Grandpa and Gracie.

Grandma gives Grace some fruit.

"Grandma and grandpa have these neat blocks at their house."

Grandpa and Faith playing with blocks.

Grandma having some fun with the girls.

Grandma and Grace.

"Grandpa is so funny!"

Grandpa with his two little angels.

Grandpa giving Faith her swim lesson.

Grace laughing hysterically with Grandma.

Daddy teaching Faith how to kick.

We had to get another boat :)

Faith tries on Grandpa's cap.

Grace tries it on, too.

The girls had fun this weekend with both sets of grandparents. My parents came to visit on Saturday and we had a nice time hanging out by the pool. We then went to Morgan's parents' for a delicious home cooked Sunday dinner. Faith and Grace are very blessed to have both sets of grandparents who love them very much. I grew up only really knowing my grandmothers. Both of my grandfathers passed away before I was born. My maternal grandmother and I were very close and she passed away when I was 8 years old. Shortly after, my paternal grandmother came to live with us from Korea (the one you see in the pictures). She is now 94 years old and still going strong! Thanks for a fun weekend, Grannies!