HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISSA!! March 25, 2011 Day party!!

Birthdays at our house start with your favorite breakfast. My kids always pick waffles. It's basically a dessert with whip cream and fresh fruit, throw on some sugar and your on a sugar high for hours.

Luke is in to it.

Marissa's birthday party starts off with a movie with Mindy and Zoe.

Oliver came along but Luke had to stay home with a babysitter.

After the movie we grabbed some Mcdonalds drive through. Picked up Luke, dropped off the babysitter and went to The Play Factory. We love this place.

Mindy and Marissa, taking a 3 second break from running around.

Oliver and Luke loved every second.

At one point I had to make everyone stop and rest. They were all red in the face like Marissa in this photo. We stopped and had a rest and a big drink.

Then back home for cake and ice cream. Wow!! what an adventure. Even Marissa's birthday cake had an adventure getting to this point.

Super cute group of kids.

We bought the cake this year and at one point it got tipped on its side on the way to the car. Then while we were unloading the cart I asked Andrew to put it in the front so it wouldn't tip again. After unloading I got everyone in and jumped in. I went to secure the cake before pulling out and couldn't find it. I asked Andrew and he said he put it in the front. We argued back and forth for a second before he says. "Oh, I put it in the front of the car." So I found the cake on the ground in front of the van. Then I understood why he was concerned someone would steal it when I first asked him to put it in the front. HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOO KITTY!!

The kids had some very colorful cupcakes and after opening some great presents from her friends the day party was over.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISSA!!!

YOUR 6 YEARS OLD.

March 25, 2011

Evening

This is Marissa's family party. She was taking in all the attention all day and all night.

Cards and Presents

Wrapped up in crepe paper. This was not planned. The tape holding up the decorations started coming down so the kids came up with this.

Blowing out the candles part 2. Double wishes!! I wonder what she wished for?

We decided to go all out and since living in Arizona comes with abnormally warm weather in March. We had a sleepout for Marissa's birthday night. This could only be pulled off in Arizona in March.

We completed the evening with "Tangled", one of Marissa's b-day presents.

This was lots of fun. We filled up the blow up mattress and all squeezed onto it for the night. It was a great ending to a great birthday. We love our Marissa so much and are so grateful that she is in our family and proud of the wonderful girl she is. WE LOVE YOU MARISSA!!!

It should be noted I slept great, only because I chased a birthday party all day. The next night we slept out again and added Oliver to the mix. It was managed, but only just barely. There was without a doubt one to many on the blowup mattress but no one wanted to sleep on the ground or go inside.

March 13-23, 2011

You have to love that every day there is something picture worthy. Oliver loves to "nuggles" as he calls it. Here he is nuggling with Dad and he fell asleep. He is so sweet.

Luke playing dress up with his sister.

Discovered that Luke LOVES popcorn. He gets really excited about popcorn and eats every piece he can find.

Luke and his messy face. It's just cute.

December 20-21, 2010

Homemade Family Pictures

December 20, 2010

We didn't have a chance to get family pictures this year.

I got everything ready in the summer but it didn't turn out.

I decided I had to get some pictures of the kids one morning. I

literally mean in the morning. I woke up today. Got the kids dressed

and cleaned them up and found a place to take some pictures.

Amateur photos at their finest. I posted the pictures in such a fashion as

to demonstrate that for every somewhat decent picture you have there is atleast one that is off for one reason or another. Cracks me up. Not at the time, but now.

Nailed it on the left. Add Marissa, Oliver looks behind him. Note, there is nothing of interest in that direction. Never has been so far as I know.

Luke won't look up, then Luke won't sit still.

Oliver pointing. I'm sure he was pointing at a car. Then success. YEAH!!

Marissa rarely takes a bad picture. So she is

sitting pretty in all her photos.

The best picture I could get with just Luke is on the left. Then we have him looking away.

Luke looking away and Oliver running away on the left. Then Oliver looking innocent and sweet as pie on the right.

Eyes closed on the left. Turned out on the right.

Hand the camera to Andrew to get a picture of Marissa and I. Turns out he is a natural. I should have let him take all the pictures up to this point. I can't believe that we even had any success considering my terrible timing. The kids were hungry and tired as photo prep time took all morning and now its lunch.

DECEMBER 21, 2010

Hotdogs at Sams Club

I should say hotdogs and pizza. Andrew prefers pizza. This has turned in to one of our traditions. I remember getting hotdogs at Sams Club when I was a kid with my Mom and siblings. Now I take advantage of the cheap hotdog meal deal with my kids.

Perhaps it's not considered much of a tradition but we thoroughly enjoy it every time.

See how much fun Marissa is having. She was having fun and then she wasn't. It's a girl thing.

We get really silly. It's really the little things in life. It is for me anyway. Hopefully when my kids are older they will see it that way to.

Playing at the Park

December 20, 2010

Just days before Christmas.

Luke has stood his ground and has made it clear he is to big to sit in the stroller and play spectator at the park. He is going to run and play just like everyone else. Now he just doesn't know where to start.

Here is Oliver and Andrew starting a trench.

I had to take these pictures. It was really strange. Playing in the sand at the park. With the green grass and a breeze. With Christmas right around the corner. Our first Christmas with no snow.

Its almost short weather all the time. Oliver loves pants so he is wearing them this day. They were not necessary by any means.

We bought a lighted Christmas cactus to decorate our desert home. We felt it was appropriate.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

November 13, 2010

The Hangar Cafe with Emma.

We were blessed with a visit from my niece for the weekend.

We couldn't wait to take her to our favorite little restaurant.

The Hangar Cafe is attached to an airplane hangar. Of course its all little planes like this one. This airport is super close to our house. These little planes are frequently flying over the neighborhood we live in.

Oliver loves airplanes. So this is the perfect place for him.

This little plane went by a couple of times. The pilot waved to Oli.

We often see vintage cars in the parking lot here. I love the experience here. It's the only airport you can get this close to without a full body pat down.