Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mark!!

Today is Mark's birthday! (So get those well wishes out there!)
Mark, we just wanted to tell you how much we love and appreciate all that you do for us. We hope you have a wonderful day! Love, us

Mark's b-day celebration updated....

We got to spend the weekend in OC hanging out, relaxing, shopping, eating, watching "Up" with the family and just celebrating!

Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory

Daddy/daughters moment

South Coast Plaza for some b-day shopping at Nordstrom
With a few rides on the carousel

Grandpa even got in on the action!

All in all a great birthday celebration week!! However, I think Mark is still owed some golf...

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Our Darling Kids

This pic was taken at my sister, Mandy's wedding back in May. Will was only 3 weeks old!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Preschool's out FOR-EV-ER!!

Well, for Ellie it is anyways--she is now officially a preschool graduate!! She had such a great time at school this year. The school's program is terrific, and they got to experience so many fun things. Ellie enjoyed being in Mrs. Turner's class and had some wonderful teacher's helpers and made some really great friends!
But now, she is off to bigger and better things! Ellie is so excited to go on to kindergarten next year and even more excited that we get to walk to school everyday!!
Now we are ready for an awesome summer!!!

This was Ellie on backwards day at school in April

Ellie at the preschool end-of-the-year Open House where they had 2 bounce houses, treats, activities and displayed some of the children's artwork and had a special surprise guest

Meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog

Ellie and her good friend Lily

Ellie with the girls from her class on the last day of school picnic (Allie, Jenna, Lilly, Ellie, Kierra)

Ellie and her teacher Mrs. Turner

This is my favorite shot! I love comparing Ellie's growth on the last day of school to her first day.
And of course we had to take it at the "rusty door"!

First Day of Preschool

Last day of preschool

Goodbye Preschool...Hello Kindergarten!!!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Not so little anymore!!

Believe it or not, Will is already 7 weeks old (and a little under 13 pounds!!!!) I'll post more pics soon--but, here is just a sneak peek...

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tom's graduation

My little brother Tommy ("little" meaning he is younger than me--this guy is not so "little"-he's 6 foot 4 inches!!!) graduated from high school in May. We foolishly thought--"hey we already survived a wedding with a 3 week old, why not do a road trip to St. George, UT with a 4 week old?!!" So we drove up for Memorial weekend and got to spend some time with him, my other brother Eddie, my mom (and her husband) and my dad (who was visiting from Palm Springs, CA). We were only there for a short trip, but we had a great time! We did some shopping, ate at a couple of yummy restaurants, and went to the movies. On the way back, we got to stop in Henderson, NV and have a bbq and pool party with Mark's oldest brother and his family. (Oh yeah--and the kids were angels in the car. All 3 of them slept most of the trip--thank goodness!!)
P.S. Did I also mention that Maddy was potty training that week?? And she can now proudly that there was not one single accident the entire road trip!! Yeah for Maddy!! Now we only have one kid in diapers ;)
Tom the newest SCHS graduate
The gang--when Tom's name was read, the girls were shaking their maracas and blowing their horns like crazy! His graduation was at 8 AM!! That's 7 am our time--and we pulled in to Mark's parents place at 2:30 am that morning. Needless to say, we were a bit sleepy!!!

On the way home we had to cool off in Vegas with Gary and his family

I'm glad we could make it to Tom's graduation and cheer him on! Yeah Tommy!!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Mandy's wedding/ Will's first trip to Utah

My oldest sister, Mandy got married on May 8th and we couldn't let anything get in our way of being there--even if it meant hopping on a plane with a 5 year old, a 2 1/2 half year old and a brand new 3 week old !

This was Will's first plane ride. He (and both his sisters) were amazing on the plane! As soon we got on, the stewardess ripped Will out of my arms and whisked him up to the cockpit to meet the pilot and crew. Everyone was oohing and ahhing. We are so lucky to have children who are such great little travelers!

Mandy and my new bro-in-law Bryan right outside the Salt Lake Temple--their sealing was beautiful. It was the perfect day for a wedding and Mandy looked so pretty!

This pic was taken at Mandy and Bryan's wedding reception at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (the same room we had our wedding breakfast in!!)

Me and my 4 sisters--right before Mandy left for her honeymoon

While we were in UT, we decided to go ahead and bless little Will. We figured that since we had the majority of our family in UT at the time, we might as well take advantage of it. We had 40 family members at the church where Mark grew up attending and was also blessed at (Ellie was also blessed there 5 years ago!).
It was so neat to have 10 male family members stand in the circle, and that was even missing many more!
We kept attempting a good family pic after the blessing, but I think everyone had had it!!
Attempt #563
These next 2 pics were some of my favorites. I was trying to snap a pic of the 3 kids together,
but one of them was always a little off, and then Maddy was getting all cheesy and then bonked Will in the head and he started crying, The 2nd pic is Ellie screaming at Maddy for hitting Will. So funny!!

Ellie: "MADDY!!! You just bonked Will's head!!!"

Maddy: "HUH?"

Will: WAHHHHHHHHH!!!

Grandma Connie's friend's dog and cat had just had new litters, so we got to visit and play with the new animals one afternoon on his farm. Here is their little pig that Maddy just loved petting.

As most of you know, my mother-in-law has a 13-acre "hobby farm" out in Harrisville (about 30 minutes from their house in So Ogden). She has sheep, goats, geese, a thousand cats/kittens, and even a "guard"alpaca! We always have to squeeze in a visit to see the animals and reminisce about the 4 months Mark and I lived there before moving to California.
We took a picnic out to the farm with our cousins and had a blast 4-wheeling!

Cute Cousins--Jessica, Ellie, Brooke, Emily and Maddy

Cute little farm girls

We asked Ellie if she wanted to trade in living near the beach for living at the farm and she said "Sorry--The beach still wins!!" But they love visiting.

After a crazy (yet very fun-filled!!) week of being with family and attending various wedding activities, we were able to sneak a visit in with my best friend from DHS, Erin and meet her new baby Cambree. Erin and her family are now living in London (how cool is that?!) and she had her first baby in February. They left for England a few days after we left and we are so glad that we got to visit with Erin and meet her beautiful baby Cambree!

How cute are these two?? I smell future romance!!

Ok--so PLEASE keep in mind that I had a THREE week old baby....

Me (aka chubby cheeks) with Will and Erin (aka glamour gal) with Cambree

As always, we had such a wonderful trip to Utah. I love springtime in Utah! We enjoyed spending lots of time with our fabulous families! Sorry to those of you we missed, but I promise--next time for sure!!!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Grandma Connie meets Will

My wonderful mother-in-law came to help out with the kids right after Will was born (and soon after my mom left us). She was such a HUGE help with the girls and I know because of her I was able to recuperate so much quicker. In fact, quick enough to go to the beach and play a bit while she was visiting :)

Grandma and her girlies at Del Mar beach


This was Will's first time at the beach--he was only 10 days old!! A true surfer boy in the making!

I love this shot with Grandma and our 3 kids

Thank you grandma for coming to play with us! We love you!!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Introducing the newest member of our family....

William Mark
Born 4-13-09
8 pounds 6 oz.
21 inches
Will leaving the hospital--he is so alert!

Proud Papa

Tired Mama

Our little party of 5!!

The happiest BIG sisters on earth...

Ellie and Will

Maddy and Will


Grandma Trish was able to extend her stay with us so that she could be here for Will's birth--we LOVE you Grandma!!

Grandpa Ed comes for a wonderful visit

Will already loves his binkie!!

Home sweet home!!

After being 8 days overdue, we are so excited to finally welcome Will into our family. He is such a sweet baby and his parents and big sisters couldn't be happier!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter '09

Our clubhouse hosted its annual Easter Egg Hunt again this year and we never miss it if we can help it! The girls always have a blast running around the park collecting eggs, playing with friends from the neighborhood, eating tons of candy and visiting with the Easter Bunny.

On Easter morning, the Easter bunny had left a carrot trail leading to their Easter baskets. Ellie was so excited to find the baskets full of fun surprises!
Easter Sunday with Grandma Trish right after church
My mom helped make these adorable stuffed carrots--the girls loved them so much that they just HAD to sleep with them!
Beautiful Ellie
Adorable Maddy
Maddy enjoying a peep--yummy!
And it wouldn't be a Southern California holiday without a trip to the beach!
(This was our last family pic before Will was born--I was induced the next morning! He was only 8 days late!! We had even bought a little Easter basket for Will--we'll just use it next year I guess)
Ellie and Grandma Trish dancing in the ocean

Back at home all ready for bed, but not before our traditional egg crack! Believe it or not, Maddy was pretty hard to beat this year!!
Little Will had a great Easter--enjoying one last day before greeting the world!!