And She's Back... With Birthday Wishes

Well, that was quite the hiaitus.  Sorry about that!  July was a very busy month for us - we took a second Disney cruise, among other fun activities.

Today is Ranger's birthday!  If that doesn't mean anything to you then I'd say you are missing out on one of the funnest (and funniest) series around - Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.  Beginning with One for the Money and most recently with Sizzling Sixteen, Janet Evanovich has captivated audiences everywhere with her wit and humor, and with the girl-next-door turned bounty hunter character Stephanie Plum.  Her books are laugh out loud funny - I've successfully gotten a number of people hooked on them - will you be next?  I hope so!

Getting back to the point - Ranger is one of two love interests for Stephanie in the series; he's also her bounty hunter mentor.  He owns and runs RangeMan, a security firm.  He's the best of the best and we love him.  Personally I love him more when he's not trying to steal Stephanie away from Joe Morelli, her rightful boyfriend, but Ranger is Batman so you can't hold too much against him.  Janet Evanovich sent Lisa an email (OK, she sent an email out to her fan distribution list, but according to Lisa these are direct links between her and the author, lol) to remind her that Ranger's birthday is August 12 and that we should celebrate with cake.  We already knew Ranger's birthday was coming up because Tabatha had added it to the MyFamily site calendar. 

Lisa thought the cake was an excellent idea so she went to the Publix bakery to see what they could do for her.  She ordered a Batman chocolate birthday cake that said "Happy Birthday Ranger" and the rest is, as they say, history.  We all dressed up in black shirts (that's the official RangeMan uniform, all black) with Lisa wearing the actual RangeMan shirt that I'd given her for her birthday.  It was my opportunity to wear one of the Oakley shirts I'd gotten as an early birthday present from Dad.  Even Trinity wanted to get into the picture so Lisa put a Twilight shirt on her and turned it backwards so you couldn't see the logo, lol.  Mom helped us out by manning the photo shoot, and we taught Lisa how to smile (she hates having her picture taken, so now you know how much she loves Ranger).  Afterwards we ate cake, and it was awesome.  Take a look (yes, I did indeed throw together a scrapbook layout of the event and we sent it to Janet Evanovich via her Facebook page):

Supplies used here were Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Visual Stories - Comic Book Templates and Bella Gypsy Design's Drops of Jupiter 2.0.

Happy 4th of July

Independence Day - it is the day our forefathers fought for and bled for and dreamed of for us.  It is the day that made all of our freedoms possible.  It is a beautiful day.

I love the 4th of July but I do not love the traffic that comes with it, or the ever predictable rain, so I watched my fireworks a day early at Disney.  The view from the beach of the Polynesian was perfect, and we had only a slight drizzle of rain, unlike the all-day downpour we experienced on the 4th.

Here it is - because of the drizzle I didn't take my camera but I took these pictures on my cell phone.
A Tribute to the Good Ole USA, using ACOT's digi doable challenge template and the Solids paper pack from Little Mrs. Liz.

Love Doesn't Need Special Events

Love is a gift that we can give and receive every minute of every day.  It's the most precious gift God gave us.

Congratulations to Dana and Nicole - by this time next year they'll need a new family photo to highlight the new addition to their growing family.

A Shout Out for Dad's Day

We saw Dad this past weekend so he got to celebrate both Mother's and Father's Day this year.  He let us crash and fed us breakfast as we made our way down to Miami for the weekend, my dad rocks!

Here are some recent layouts I've created of him from our Disney Cruise last month.  Kay Eflin's new kit Dad Knows Best was perfect for them.  Good times!

Dad
I took these pictures of my Dad on a recent vacation; we were at the Atlantis Hotel on a tour of their replica of the Lost City of Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas.

Dad and Me 2010
Here we are on the guided tour of the aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas.

Dad and I always have a lot of fun together.  Our next planned outing is for the American Idols concert in August, our yearly tradition.  Can't wait!

It's Nice to Know That Someone Is Waiting

Being away from home for any length of time always makes me extra-sentimental.  I was away for 4 days and I really missed my husband - I'm so glad to be back home with him even though I had a fun trip.

Still the One
Here is my dearest husband all dressed up during our recent vacation.  Kay Eflin's new kit Still the One and the lyrics from Sara Evans song "Some Things Never Change" said exactly what I wanted to say.

Lyrics:
In a world that keeps turnin’ and movin’ so fast,
When you can’t hold on to nothin’ and nothin’ seems to last,
It’s good to know that love still remains,
I’m so glad that some things never change.
 
Remember to say I Love You, even when you think someone already knows you do.
Have a Blessed Day!

Something Silly, Something Sweet

Here's my something silly today - my niece and I trying on silly hats on New Year's Eve:

I used The Busy Elf Designs' kit Maternal Jem on this layout, I thought the multi-colored background went well with all the colors in this picture.  We were definitely not coordinating here, lol.
 
Here's my something sweet - our niece picking blueberries last year.  She was very protective over her prize berries.
 

I used Werinka's kit Hyacinth for the colors and gemstones included in it.
That's it for today, I'm scavenging from last week's work because I'm out of scrappy commission for a few days while I'm on business travel.  Hope everyone else has time to get creative!

Next Stop on the Summer So Fine Blog Train

Hi, I'm Tania Ruiz, Creative Team member for E-Scape and Scrap.  Welcome to the E-scape and Scrap Summer So Fine Blog Train. This is stop #11 on the blog train. Download my quickpage, created from papers and elements included in the fun new Designer Collab Kit named Summer So Fine, by clicking on the image below. After downloading this quickpage your next blog train stop will be at designer Rose Thorn's blog where you will download a beautiful set of brads/buttons. The blog train downloads will be available through the end of June 2010. Thank you for visiting my blog.

Click this image to download the quickpage:

Don't forget the Summer So Fine Collab Kit is available for free for a limited time with a $10 purchase at The Nifty Boutique. Details on this deal are available in the product description in the boutique.

Click here to go to your next stop on the blog train: Blog of Designer Rose Thorn

Click here to go to the E-Scape and Scrap Blog if you've missed any stops on the blog train: The Nifty Boutique Blog

Thank you for stopping by, have fun on the Summer So Fine Blog Train!