Meeting Hannah Grace

At the beginning of March I was able to spend a long weekend in St. Louis, MO. I went specifically to meet my adorable new niece, Hannah, but seeing Laura and Jon was great too!! Hannah is so cute I couldn't get enough of her. She is such a good baby and we are so glad to have her in our family!

My dad flew in for a couple of days also so we all did some sightseeing there together. Laura and Jon took us to the gardens(beautiful) and then we headed downtown and saw the arch. It was a really nice day and fun to see where my sister is now living. While we were there they blessed Hannah(something we do in our church when a baby is born). I was so glad to be there for that; it was very special.

Here are some pics from my trip. Since it has been 7 weeks since I went I am sure Hannah has changed a lot, but these pics are so cute I still had to post them!

Me with my dad,Laura, and Hannah at the arch.

Isn't she beautiful?!! Hannah in her blessing dress.

Ethan's 3rd Birthday!

Last week my "baby" turned 3! We had grandparents over to celebrate the night before the big day. I asked Ethan what kind of cake he wanted me to make him and he said "surprise me". I didn't have to think too long to know that I should do a Lightning McQueen cake. He is completely obsessed with all the cars from that movie. He will sit for hours and play with them on his car mat. He was so excited when he saw his cake!! On his actual birthday we took him to Arctic Circle for dinner and then let him play on the indoor playground for a while. Definitely fun for a three year old!!

In honor of Ethan's birthday, here are my 3 favorite things about him:

*Ethan has the best personality. He is so funny and makes me laugh all the time. He knows how to make people laugh and LOVES to get a good laugh out of people.

*Ethan is so smart. I know every mom thinks their kids are so smart, and so do I!! He really understands so much; more than we realize sometimes. He has a great memory, he remembers everything I tell him. He never forgets anything so I have learned to be very careful what I tell him!!

*Ethan is such a loving and sweet boy. He tells me all the time that he loves me and is very generous with his hugs and kisses--which I love!! He gets upset if the kids leave for school before he has given each of them a hug and kiss.

Opening presents. He was SO excited to do this!

All the kids used their own money to buy him something. They were so excited to have him open their present.

Make a wish!

Ethan made sure to eat all the cake that was on the car toppers. He then decided it was more fun to dip the cars into his cake and eat it that way. No forks needed here!!

Mmmm, that was yummy!

Ethan couldn't wait to play with his new playdoh station.

Fun at Arctic Circle!

Happy Birthday Ethan! You are so loved! We can't imagine not having you in our family!!

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

My sweet adorable girl turned 11 on Tuesday! I can't even stand it. She is growing up way too fast, and unfortunately I keep getting older too! It was her off year for a party so she got to pick a family activity instead. We went out on Saturday and saw the Lightening Thief and went to Applebees for lunch. Then on Sunday we had the grandparents over for cake and ice cream and to open presents. On her actual birthday Ethan and and I went to school to eat lunch with her. Then that evening I made her a birthday dinner with her choosing the menu. Then we had a couple of friends over to sing and have cupcakes and ice cream.

My 11 favorite things about Cassidy:

*sweet
*beautiful
*smart
*loves to read
*wonderful pianist
*compassionate
*great big sister
*great example to others
*good artist
*very responsible
*fun to be around

Happy Birthday Cassidy! We love you so much!!!

Opening presents!


Birthday cake just isn't good enough--she had to have a fancy cake!

I was burned out from the previous cake, so cupcakes had to do!

Cassidy with the flowers her daddy brought her on her b-day!

Funny Flashback!!

Before we went to Disneyland all Ethan could talk about was meeting all the different characters--especially Mickey Mouse! We wondered if he would still be excited to meet them when he actually saw them in person--and he was!! It made me think back to the last time we were in Disneyland. The twins were almost four so a year OLDER than Ethan is now. Kaden absolutely HATED the characters and thinking about this reminded me of some hilarious pics I just had to share. Kaden would absolutely kill me if he knew I was sharing!!

2010: Ethan meeting and hugging Mickey Mouse!


2005: Kaden meeting and NOT hugging Mickey(check out the look on his face!)

2010: Ethan meeting and hugging Goofy


2005: Kaden SCREAMING while meeting Goofy! Gotta love this pic!!


I love looking back at old pics and having a good laugh! Hope you did too!

California/Disneyland

A few weeks ago we were able to spend a fun-filled week in sunny CA. We went with our good friends the Atkinson's and had a great time! We stayed in Newport Beach at our absolute favorite resort the Newport Coast Villas. We have stayed here before and loved it so much and were so excited to go back again! We had a great view of the ocean and love all the amenities that the resort has to offer!! We had absolutely gorgeous weather(68 degrees) which made it hard to come back home. We divided our time there between the beach, swimming and hot tubbing, hanging out at the hotel, and Disneyland.

Taking the ferry over to Balboa Island to play at the beach and eat at Ruby's!!

What is up with Spencer's face?? Always a comedian!
Can't go to the beach and not eat at Ruby's on the pier!

We saw a sea lion while walking along the Balboa Pier

Ethan and Kennedy playing in the sand

Ethan wanted Kena to bury him in the sand.

Cassidy and Madison digging for oysters--hoping to find pearls!!
I guess you are never too old to play in the sand!
Playing in the waves

Playing some b-ball at the hotel!!

More sand!!

DISNEYLAND:

We were beyond excited about going to Disneyland for a number of reasons. First, we were going at an off time so the lines were amazing. We rarely had to wait more than 5-10 minutes for a ride, if that. There were tons of rides that we just walked on to. That was the BEST!! I will never do Disneyland again during their crowded season. Second, I was so excited to take Ethan and watch him experience Disneyland for the first time. He absolutely LOVED it!! He still talks about his favorite ride(Dumbo) and how he was mad that he couldn't go on the upside-down roller coaster with me(California Screamin'). I think he will be my daredevil. He wanted to go on all the rides, however his height didn't allow it. We will definitely have to go back when he is tall enough to ride everything. This time was much more fun also because the older kids were able to go on many more rides than they were 4 years ago the last time we were there. Having great friends with us was an added bonus too!

6 out of the 8 kids we dragged around Disneyland for 3 days. Our biggest accomplishment. . .not losing any of them!!

The carousel is always a favorite

Waiting so patiently for the long-awaited Dumbo ride!
Finally. . .Ethan's turn!!
Spencer was able to fight Darth Vader in the Jedi Training Academy
Just had to throw in a cute pic!
Ethan could have stayed in toon town all 3 days pretending to drive all the different cars

The boys in front of Mickey's fireplace

Finally able to meet Mickey

...and Goofy

Can't leave without giving Goofy a big hug!
Ethan's all time favorites and new obsession. . .Mater and Lightning McQueen!
The dads and big kids after grizzly rapids. If you can notice they all wore their ponchos so they wouldn't be soaked afterwards!
The big kids on the rockets

I just love the castle lit up at night!

Splash Mountain--the twins must be ducking since they are missing in this pic
The three youngest after meeting Pooh, Tigger, and Eeoyre

Sorry for all the pics. Sad thing is there are about 1000 more where those came from! Just looking back at all those pictures makes me want to go back already. We had such a fantastic trip and can't wait to do it again!!