Travis' Graduation

The day we have been looking forward to for the last 4 years finally arrived--Travis' graduation from Podiatry School!!

 

My parents and I went in on a much deserved graduation gift for him--a GPS watch--which I gave him a day early. He loves it!

We weren't sure how much room there'd be to take pictures after graduation, so we took some at home before we left. What a handsome DPM (Dr. of Podiatric Medicine)! ;)

I married such a stud. :)

Travis with his proud parents. We were so glad they were able to come out for Travis' big day!

 

 His mom saying "He did it!"

The soon-to-be-graduate and his very proud wife.

In Travis' last year of school, Kent State University incorporated OCPM, so Travis actually graduated from Kent State University's College of Podiatric Medicine. Here we are visiting Kent State for the first time for the graduation ceremony.

The graduation ceremony begins!

The big moment: receiving his diploma, then being hooded.

The final processional:

The happy graduate with his diploma in hand:

Dr. and Mrs. Holloway (man I love how that sounds!) :)

Family Pictures:

 

Travis and his good friend Kory Miskin. These guys were best buds all throughout school and we wish him and his sweet family luck in Indianapolis!

Travis and another friend Adam Gerber, who he worked with a lot this last year:

All of the LDS Podiatry graduates (except Kory). He's going to miss this fantastic group of guys, who've been good friends for the last 4 years! (Top, from left: Andrew Burgon, Lee Poston, Jerod Stanley, Dustin Grimmett, Boyd Jensen, Tyler Kelly. Bottom, from left: Adam Gerber, Travis, Adam Brown, and Dustin Hubbard).

Me and some of the other Podiatry wives: Elizabeth Brown, Shelley Stanley, Roni Poston, Tess Kelly, and Jessica Hubbard. I will definitely miss these and the other sweet girls, who've taught me so much about life and friendship!

 

I, and the rest of your immediate and extended family, are SO proud of you Travis. You have been such an example of hard work, self-discipline, and dedication these last four years, and have done an amazing job balancing school, family, and Church obligations throughout. You have more than earned the distinction of Dr. of Podiatric Medicine, and we are so excited to see the wonderful Dr. you will be in residency and beyond, as well as what other great things the future has in store for you. We love you!

 

Mother's Day 2013

I had the best Mother's day yet this year. My sweet family spoiled me!

 

I was woken up in the morning to the sight of my sweet family coming in to my room holding gifts for me. Travis had helped the girls make a card (which is something I really look forward to each year and is always a highlight of my Mother's day). Another favorite part of Mother's day is always the letter Travis writes me. This year he surprised me by buying a beautiful Willow Tree box with a carving of a mother and daughter on the top and tucking his letter inside. Also inside was a bracelet Grace had made for me. I loved it all so much!!

 

Grace wrote most of the letters herself. She's getting to be such a good writer!

 

Travis was so sweet and got up early to make me cornbread and yogurt for breakfast too.

I love to get pictures of me with my kids on Mother's day. Here are a couple of the pictures we got. I truly feel so blessed each day to be the mom of these sweet, innocent girls. I love them so much!

I decided this would be the perfect time to wear the clothes I just bought with my birthday money.:)

We had a nice time at Church, then came home and ate a yummy dinner of stuffed shells, garlic bread, and salad that Travis had helped me make.

 

It really was the best Mother's day! Thanks family for making it so special for me!

Grace's Winnie the Pooh Birthday

Grace is finally to the age where she understands what a birthday is, and boy was this almost 4 year old excited for her birthday! She'd picked Winnie the Pooh as her birthday theme, an obvious choice as those are her favorite toys and movies right now.

 

A couple weeks before her birthday, we went to the local party store and found some great Winnie the Pooh items. This huge wall poster was on sale for $1! This was her first friend birthday party, and it was fun to pick out some party favors! We got each of the kids a reusable Pooh cup, a cute little bear stuffed animal (at the crazy price of .50 each!), a kazoo, and bubbles.  

 

(I knew there wouldn't be a lot of time the day of her birthday, so I set everything up for pictures the night before. :) )

 

A friend at our Church had a Pooh cake mold that she was kind enough to lend me. It was perfect! Travis was the mix master with the frosting and I decorated it. It felt SO good to have a vision for the cake and have it turn out better than I expected! Grace LOVED it!  

 

Travis insisted on Grace having a special balloon (which I thought was super sweet), so I ran back to the party store the day before the big day and found this gem. I loved that it could be personalized! The girls both loved pulling it around the house.

 

Grace was so excited about the idea of a piñata, so Travis and I made her a balloon one. I had the idea to make it a beehive to go along with the theme, and although it took WAY too much time to decorate the night before (we did it while watching the Amazing Race finale :)), I loved how it turned out.

Birthday day finally arrived! We whisked the kids away in their jammies on a donut run--the breakfast of choice of the birthday girl.

We got them from this local joint called Jack Frost Donuts (a must visit for donut lovers in Cleveland). They were delicious!

Yum!

 

Grace loved the big poster and kept looking at and hugging the animals. It was so cute!

 

After breakfast, we got ready and headed out to some of Grace's favorite places for some more birthday fun.

My big girl wearing some new 4 year old clothes. She looked so grown up!

We've made a visit to Toy's R Us a birthday tradition...

They treat the kids like royalty there, bestowing them with a crown, balloon, and toy coupon. And besides, what kids doesn't love Toys R Us?!

Markers were Grace's choice to use her birthday coupon on. That girl loves to color!

And no visit to Toy's R Us would be complete without a ride on the mechanical toys. :)

Then we got back in the car and headed off to our next spot...

 

McDonalds! Grace LOVES McDonalds, but for various reasons, we rarely go. So, we made it a special birthday treat, and took her there for lunch.

 

The girls had a great time!

 

Bethany thought it was fun to walk down the slide instead. :)

 After lunch we came home for rest and naps and finished party preparations.

 

Our friends the Lews came over (Grace's best friend Emi, her brother Devin, and mom Marianne) and the party began!

I wanted the activities to be little kid friendly and Grace favorites, so we started out the party by coloring Pooh pictures.

Emi and Devin:

Then we busted out a game Grace has been dying to play since we found it at a garage sale--Elefun. The babies were a little confused, but Grace and Emi had SO much fun, laughing and squealing, chasing and catching the butterflies. It was a big hit!

 

After the game, we started dinner. Another friend from Church lent us her beehive cookie cutter, and I thought it'd be fun to make little beehive pizzas for the kids (Trav of course was our pizza master).

 

Grace and Emi helped make the pizzas:

Didn't they turn out cute?!

After we filled up on pizza and some of Grace's favorite treats--peaches and Cheetos--we headed outside for piñata time!

 

Emi was a great little swinger!

 

 Grace taking some good swings too:

After many attempts by the kids, the parents took a few swings too. Travis gave it the final blow, and out came the candy!

 

 

 

We divied up the goods between the kids then came inside for cake.

 

I LOVED that she gave her daddy a big hug after blowing out the candles.

 

Then it was present time. Emi and her family gave Grace a Winnie the Pooh coloring book and stickers, which she loved! Emi was a great audience while Grace opened the rest of her presents. :)

 

And finally, it was time for the party to come to a end and to hand out the party favors. The kids were excited about the kazoos!

 

 

I loved how Bethany carried her old and new favorite bears around. :)

Happy birthday our sweet Grace! We love and are so proud of the beautiful, smart, helpful, and fun girl that you are and can't believe you're already 4! So glad you're a part of our family!