Happy Birthday Malaki

2 years ago today we welcomed our wonderful Malaki into our home. He had to be different then his sister, so he come breech (resulting in a c-section for me)and was born with a complete unilateral lip and palate cleft. He's had 3 surgeries in his 2 short years which he's taken with stride. We had a little family party Sunday before grandma left town and of course we had swimming because Malaki loves the water.

Two things that I love about Malaki!

1- He has a great disposition and a mighty temper... smiles at everyone, loves to laugh

2- He mimics everyone and everything.... monkey see, monkey do

Newborn
1st Birthday

2nd birthday

Mom's jogging partner

Mini Family Reunion

Last weekend we had a mini family reunion with some of the Cottrell cousins. Steven and Liz both live in Texas, so along with their families and Lisa, Cheryl, myself and mom all gathered at the Angeli's for 24 hours of fun in the sun. Our fun just happened to fall on the first day of triple digits this summer. Friday night we had a family dinner and swimming. I left early to put kids to bed but I understand the group that stayed played games and watched movies. Saturday morning we did a scavenger hunt that Cheryl was in charge of and launched water balloons. Went back to Lisa's for swimming, lunch and more getting to know each other games. While the kids played the adults sat around and shared stories about our dads and their families. A great day of getting to know each other and I'm sure the start of many more. Thanks Lisa for hosting!

First Cousins

The whole group as we left for the scavenger hunt
Water balloon launcher

Olivia helping her team