A night in San Francisco to watch American Idiot Musical.

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Already so soon another year has passed and our sweet baby girl is now a big three year old! At her three year check up she weighed in at 29 lb 8 oz. and is 3' 1" tall. She got her blood pressure taken for the first time, which is right within normal range. She was very animated with her doctor this visit. He asked her several questions about what she could do now that she was three. One particularly memorable question was, "Do you know what a circle is?" Camille responded, "YES!" "What does it look like?" He asked. "Well, it doesn't have any corners!" She told him. "You're right! Can you tell me a shape that DOES have corners?" He questioned further. "A hexagon!" She said emphatically. I think we were all surprised and impressed with that answer! She doesn't miss a beat! Along with knowing all her shapes, she can hop, balance briefly on one foot, wash and dry her hands, pick out her own clothes and get dressed, jump, skip, whistle, "sign" her name, copy a line and a circle. She knows all her letters and is distinguishing sounds, she reads her own name along with several other family names, counts to 50, and has mastered 1-to-1 correspondence. These days we hear a lot of, "I do it!" and "I'm NOT a baby!" Camille is independent, caring, helpful, happy, and every bit a social butterfly. She loves playing outside in the dirt - uh- garden, visiting the zoo, going on trips, playing with her dollies, riding her bike, learning new things, having play dates, exploring, and visiting the library. Early this summer she became a full-fledged swimmer! She can now jump off the diving board and swim to the opposite side of the pool entirely on her own! The first time she did this was shortly after the Olympics began. She apparently paid such close attention to the Olympics that she climbed out of the pool and kissed the ground after swimming that great length! Such special precious moments each day that we continue to treasure with our sweet Camille Scarlett.

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For her birthday Camille thought it would be fun to take her cousins to the water spouts at a local park. She and Reid squealed with delight as they ran through the water spouts! A fun way to celebrate her special day!

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Curious George - ✔
Curious Camille - ✔
Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks - ✔
Fruit Skewers - ✔
Hot Dogs, Buns, Barbecue, Drinks - ✔
Popcorn Machine - ✔
Cotton Candy Machine - ✔
Snow Cone Machine - ✔
Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine - ✔
Happy Birthday Banner - ✔
Lots of Camille Photos - ✔
Huge Lollipops - ✔
Banana Candy - ✔
Curious George Colored Everything - ✔
New Bike - ✔
Friends and Family to help celebrate - ✔

It was a fun-filled day by the pool and we can't believe our sweet baby girl is THREE!

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This year we celebrated at Gary and Janet's with Uncle Mike and Aunt Susie. It was a perfect day full of yummy food and lots of swimming!

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She was a very special lady and we miss her immensely.

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A few photos from a fun Father's Day with Tara's dad, the first in many years! After a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy we headed out in Dad's '67 GTO to the car show and then a joy ride! Pretty fun!

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On June 15 another sweet baby was born into the family, just in time for Father's Day! Tara's brother, Kurt, and his wife, Trish, welcomed their new baby girl, Ellewyn Delcia. We were thrilled that she was born before we had to head back home and felt very lucky to be able to drive over and meet her when she was just one day old. We are looking forward to seeing them all again in September!

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From Orlando we flew to Quincy to visit Tara's family for a very special event. As many of you know, Tara's mom was diagnosed with Stage 2c Ovarian Cancer in January of this year. On June 12, Diane had her final chemo treatment and has since been declared cancer free! To celebrate family and friends gathered together to participate in the local Relay for Life event. It was a special evening for all those who were able to attend. We certainly have a lot to celebrate! The following Sabbath we had a small dinner celebration at Gary and Diane's home again with family and friends. It's always such a blessing to be able to spend time with family.

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Another work trip for Christian, another fun adventure for Tara and Camille! Christian was able to take off several days before his show started in order to have a bit of vacation with his girls. Some of the highlights were: Camille learning to swim to the side of the pool, our trip to SeaWorld amidst a downpour, and Camille being the "Honorary Duck Master" at the Peabody Hotel.

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A special treat for us to be able to spend the day with Tara's brother, Chad, and his daughter, Keira. We travelled up the coast a bit to the beach town of Carpinteria and spent hours playing in the sand and chasing the waves. The girls' giggling was infectious and we all had a wonderful time together!

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Camille has a new little cousin! Cole Christian Anderson was born on May 15 and we were thrilled to get to meet him! He's a little sweetie and Camille completely adores him!

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Christian was called away for work and Camille and Tara were happy to join him in Palm Desert. Cousins Andy, Danielle, and Austin joined us over the weekend for a fun filled day by the pool. Camille and Tara spent lots of time soaking up the sunshine all the while thinking of Christian hard at work.

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Christian and Camille planned a wonderful birthday and Mother's Day celebration for Tara! After a delicious birthday dinner we all headed up to Yosemite! We had the best time camping in the housekeeping units, going for bike rides (great story!), hiking, splashing in the water, spying deer and other animals, roasting marshmallows, meeting new friends, and so much more. It was a wonderful time and we're looking forward to another trip to Yosemite, hopefully soon!

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Camille and Tara were able to fly back to IL to celebrate Diane's birthday and spend more time with family. Camille was not feeling well from the moment they got off the plane and ended up being diagnosed with bronchitis. It was a tough week for her, but she made it through! She had lots of quality time with Nana and Grandpapa which she loved!

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Cousin Brandon and Auntie Abby happened to be visiting over Easter. Camille was thrilled to have Brandon around to hunt for eggs and got such a kick out of Brandon and Daddy racing to see who could be first in the freezing cold pool!

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A few fun photos of Camille

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Although our mini vacation didn't begin very well, we made up for it! Camille was not feeling very well when we first arrived but the hot desert air and sunshine did wonders! We spent each day at the pool with the exception of our adventure to the Phoenix Zoo. Phoenix was beautiful! What a fun trip!

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Some photos from a fun afternoon at our local zoo.

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Little did we know that when we saw Tara's mom just over a week prior we would be seeing her again in the hospital. Diane went into Urgent Care on Thursday, January 19 with complaints of abdominal pain. She was admitted into Blessing Hospital that afternoon and transferred to Barnes Jewish in St. Louis on Friday. By Tuesday she was in surgery with the diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer. Tara was able to be with her when she came out of surgery, Christian and Camille joined a few days later. Not an ideal circumstance but so blessed to be able to be there and to have such amazing, supportive friends who provided a place to stay. Camille was such a trooper as she and Tara made their daily trek to and from the hospital each day. We were thankful we didn't have to leave before mom was home. Now begins the healing...

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Our beautiful girl is two and a half! It is just so hard to believe, we keep repeating it over and over to ourselves but it just seems impossible that time has passed so quickly! She is full of curiosity and relates well to Curious George, her constant pal. At 2 1/2 she recognizes all her letters and is beginning to recognize many of their corresponding sounds. She can count to 20 and from 10 to 0. She is also recognizing many words such as her name, mommy, daddy, and several others. She is hopping with both feet, jumping off steps and rocks, climbing everything in sight, building towers, and telling stories. Camille is Mommy's big helper and often cleans, dusts and puts away laundry. Her favorite daily activities are reading, preschool, park time, "the jumpy place," library, gardening at home, Micke Grove, and playing with the neighbor kids who she refers to as her "big sissy and brothers." She is still just as snuggly as ever and we treasure story time, nap time, and our evening snuggles. She is the light of our lives and just keeps getting brighter!

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Tara jumped at the opportunity to accompany Christian to Auburn Hills, MI. While Christian worked at his company headquarters, Tara and Camille reunited with Tara's Aunt Penni. What a treat to be able to introduce Camille to her great Aunt, Uncle, cousin, and great Grandma! (She has now met all six of her living great grandparents!) We were also able to sneak in a weekend visit to Berrien Springs to visit more of Tara's family there including her parents and brother who were able to drive over for the weekend. Camille is such a lucky girl to be a part of such a wonderful family!

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Continuing with the holiday celebrations we were thrilled to host Tara's cousin, Tamee and her husband, Jason for a couple days. During their stay we were able to aquaint them with some of the local haunts and had the privilege of a mini family reunion with their mutual Aunt Shirley, Ted, and cousins Brad and Jennifer! Always fun to see family!

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