Family C Notes

Our New Hammock.....

2010-02-27T23:38:00.001-08:00

May 2, 2008. Garrett & Aaron testing out the new hammock. I had always wanted a hammock in our backyard. We moved into our house in 2001 and we got our backyard done in 2002. It took 6 years for the trees to get big enough so that we could put up a hammock. We searched and searched for the perfect hammock. We finally found one and put it up between our two pine trees. We love it and we look forward to being lazy in the hammock every spring since then.

My Little Goofball.....

2010-02-27T23:33:00.001-08:00

Pictures of Jake taken April 30, 2008. He's 2 years old here. I remember him coming out of his room with these glasses on and no pants. I think we had told him to put his pjs on and he got side tracked and came out with the star glasses. I love this kid. And I can't believe he's not 2 anymore.

I'm Back! Marissa's 5th Birthday (continued)

2010-02-27T22:48:00.001-08:00

I never WANTED to stop blogging.....it just happened.

So I'm going to continue where I left off. I have lots of pictures of the kids and the family that I want to share and blog about.

I want the kids to be able to look at the blog in the future and see how everyone's changed (even if I took a break here and there).

So here we are looking at pictures from Marissa's 5th Birthday (nearly 2 years ago!). This was on April 30th, 2008 (her actual birthday).

Gina & I & the boys followed Marissa & Kathy to get Marissa's hair cut for the first time and to get her ears pierced. She was so excited about both events. She got her ears pierced at the mall so we were able to goof around a little with the kids. Then came time to get her ears pierced. It didn't go quite as smoothly as we had hoped. She freaked out just a little bit but Kathy ended up sitting with her and the deed was finally done. She was glad she got them pierced and she still loves to wear her earrings. I'm glad I got to be part of the event.

Marissa's Birthday Party....

2009-04-29T16:10:00.001-07:00

When Garrett first saw Marissa with her princess makeover, I remember him saying, "wow, Marissa, you look nice".

We celebrated her birthday with family at John's Incredible Pizza. Actually, Jake & I ended up staying home because Jake had a high fever and wasn't feeling well at all. We were sad to miss it but Aaron was kind enough to take pictures for us. Nevermind that he almost lost my camera while they were playing games.

Princess Marissa.....

2009-04-29T15:59:00.001-07:00

Here she is taking her picture at the photo studio. All of her pictures came out great. It was hard to choose a favorite. Here she is also with my mom who came along for the fun at Libby Lu's.

Marissa's 5th Birthday Present....

2009-04-29T15:52:00.001-07:00

For Marissa's 5th Birthday present I took her to Libby Lu's to get a "princess makeover". She had a fun time transforming into a little princess. We also went shopping for a new outfit and got her pictures taken. She loved being pampered salon style and I had a great time watching her.

T-Ball with Lito April 2008....

2009-04-29T15:39:00.001-07:00

Here are Garrett & Marissa on the T-Ball field with Lito. This was taken a year ago. The funny thing is that they are on the Green Team again this year but this time Jake is on the team with them. Aaron & Frankie are coaching the team too. So far so good.

And a picture of Jake enjoying the team goodies after their game. This is the part they enjoy the most.

Spring Water Fun.....

2009-04-29T15:32:00.001-07:00

These were taken in April 2008, a whole year ago. I remember it being abnormally warm and the kids wanting desperately to go swimming. There was no way I was gonna get near the pool water. I did the next best thing I could think of.....I let them play in the garden hose sprinkler. They loved it.

The Best Part of T-Ball......

2009-03-26T19:28:00.001-07:00

Here are the kids after one of their t-ball games. The best part of each game (according to the kids) was getting treats after the game and eating the treats on the bleachers with their team mates. The treats always consisted of a sugary snack washed down with a sugary drink. What more could you ask for? And even though Jake didn't play on the team with Garrett & Marissa, he always got lucky and "earned" a treat too.

Jake's 1st day of Pre-School.......

2009-03-26T19:02:00.001-07:00

Jake's 1st day of Pre-School was April 7th, 2008. He was 2 years and 7 months. Here he is posing with his new "Thomas" back pack. He was ready and excited to go to pre-school. He had heard so much talk about Garrett's pre-school experience and now it was his turn.

Jake had no problems adjusting to his new environment (except for a couple of biting incidents...oops!). He was ready to learn and be stimulated in the classroom. We always laugh because his teachers reassured us that he was an "Angel" at school. He listens, follows directions, is helpful, and friendly to others.

The Jake we know doesn't do any of those things at home which is why it was so hard to believe that he was the "Angel" they claimed he was at school. He only goes to school 3 days a week and when he's not there, the teachers miss him terribly. His favorite teacher, Ms. Stephanie, never wants us to take him home. I'm glad that his school experience brings out the "Angel" in Jake :)

Daddy's 34th Birthday.....

2009-03-04T14:52:00.001-08:00

Here are pictures from Aaron's 34th Birthday on April 2nd. We spent it with the family by going out to dinner for family style Chinese food and then back to our house for cake and ice cream. We got him a golf net so he could practice hitting golf balls without hitting them at the house or over the house. He FINALLY got around to opening the golf net and setting it up this February (almost a year later).

T-Ball Season 1......

2009-03-04T14:42:00.001-08:00

We signed Garrett & Marissa up for T-ball in the Spring of '08. This was the first t-ball experience for both of them. We weren't expecting much from them out there but they actually did pretty well.

The best part for them was getting "snacks" after the games. Marissa played with a right hander's mitt even though she is left handed. Jake loved being outside and playing in the dirt. Garrett was able to hit the ball without the Tee towards the end of the season. We are excited for t-ball this year because the 3 of them will be on the same team. It should make for some entertaining t-ball.

Easter Sunday 2008.....

2009-03-01T17:52:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of our Easter Sunday before meeting up with the rest of the family. We hid eggs in our backyard for the boys and they loved it.

They loved it so much that whenever Grandma comes over to watch them, the boys make her hide eggs in the backyard. (we kept a box of the plastic eggs because we felt bad just throwing them away...we're being green!)

We store the box way up high in Garrett's closet thinking they'll forget about it. But, nope, they ALWAYS make Grandma get the step stool and take the box down to hide the eggs. It drives me a little crazy but it makes them happy.

And yes, I know my boys are NOT twins. I'm continuously reminded by my sister that they're not twins, so why do I dress them as twins? Because I can and I like too :) I don't have any girls to dress so I have to dress my boys. I know that someday they won't let me dress them at all. I've got to do it while I can.

Easter Dessert 2008.....

2009-03-01T17:39:00.001-08:00

We had our Easter celebration at Frankie & Kathy's house last year. I was in charge of bringing dessert. Actually, I was supposed to bring jello. I didn't want to bring boring old jello so I searched for something unique and tasty made from jello.

I found this beautiful rainbow jello creation online and decided I needed to make it. I don't think I'll ever make it again. It took ALL day long (I made it the Saturday before), and you've gotta have a lot of patience to wait for it to set properly. It really was beautiful but it was also a pain in the ass. I remember taking these pictures and telling myself, "you've gotta blog about this because it will never happen again". I also found a key lime cheesecake at costco that I thought was really pretty. It turned out to be pretty tasty as well.

Coloring Eggs 2008.....

2009-03-01T17:33:00.001-08:00

We went to Lita & Lito's the Saturday before Easter to color Easter eggs. The boys were a little more into it this year. Jake was 2 and Garrett was 5. It was a little messier than we would have liked but they had a great time. Their hands were dyed blue for a couple of days and Jake got dye all over his shirt. We're looking forward to this tradition in 2009.

Easter Bunny 2008....

2009-03-01T17:27:00.001-08:00

These pictures were taken on March 15th, 2008. We took the kids to the annual PG&E family Easter egg hunt. They all had a great time hunting for eggs, playing games, and eating Easter Candy. We can't wait to do it again in 2009.

Mommy's Uggs......

2009-01-21T08:53:00.001-08:00

The boys have an obsession with my shoes. They like to use them as toys and whenever they find them laying about the house, they have to try them on. It doesn't matter what kind of shoes they are. They don't like to play with Aaron's shoes because his are too heavy to play with.

This particular day I had my uggs in the dining room and Jake found them. He thought it was funny to put them on and walk around with them. He wouldn't take them off. He said they were soft. I know they aren't the prettiest shoes in the world, but they ARE very comfy.

Snow Trip 2008 (part 2).....

2009-01-04T16:12:00.001-08:00

Here are some more pics of our day trip to the snow. The boys had more fun playing in the snow than riding on the inner tubes. I don't blame them. Some of the hills we found were a little intimidating. That's a picture of me going down a hill right before I hit a bump and fell on my face...I was literally eating snow....not pretty! With the exception of that, it was a beautiful day to play in the snow. Hopefully we can make the time to go again in 2009.

Snow Trip 2008....

2009-01-04T15:46:00.001-08:00

We took a road trip to the Sierras in March 2008 to play in the snow. We are not very far from the mountains but this was the first year we ever made a special trip to play in the snow. The kids had seen snow once before at Grandpa & Grandma Laurie's place. This was the second time in their lives that they got to play in the snow. This time we rented inner tubes and the boys were dressed in their snow pants and boots.

We had fun except the boys started getting tired of walking up and down the snow hills. They didn't like that they kept sinking down into the snow. What a workout for Aaron and I! We had to carry Jake around towards the end of our snow play because he was so frustrated he just wouldn't walk anymore. We helped the boys make a snowman and Aaron & I each had a few turns on the inner tubes.

It's Ruby!.....

2009-01-01T20:41:00.001-08:00

We have a black cat named Ruby. She's an inside cat and we've had her for about 10 years. She's kind of a scaredy cat in that if you come over for a visit, you would never know we had a cat.

She doesn't like to be around a lot of people and loud noises. She especially does not like to come out when the kids are awake and playing. She spends a lot of time under our bed and in our closet. She will come out when the kids have gone to bed. She loves cuddling with Aaron on the sofa.

Imagine my surprise when I came out to the living room one morning to see her laying with Garrett on the oversized chair. She must have really wanted to cuddle with someone because she never lays still long enough when the kids are around. I thinks she's finally realizing that the kids are here to stay and she's gotta get used to them some time.

Second Hand Drum Set.......

2009-01-01T20:29:00.001-08:00

My parent's are next door neighbors with the Spitzer family. The Spitzers have a teenage daughter and a pre-teen son who we've seen grown up since they were born. Whenever the Spitzers have something that their kids have "outgrown", they go to my dad to see if he wants it for his grandchildren. My Dad will never pass up a free toy for his grandkids.

This is one of those toys we inherited from the Spitzer family. We inherited a kid size drum set. Of course we rolled our eyes when Dad said that he got something for the boys. We begrudgingly took the drum set home to our garage where it sat for a couple of weeks until Garrett saw it and desperately wanted to make some music. We hauled part of the set inside and let them go at it. It IS quite entertaining for the boys but I don't think they have a career in it. But you never know.

Garrett's 5th Birthday Party (part 2).....

2008-12-09T19:01:00.001-08:00

For Garrett's Birthday dinner, we ended up going to Home Town Buffet because it's just easier with kids. We don't have to wait for our food, we can just get up and eat. We also got a visit from the Home Town Bee.

After dinner, we headed to Toys R Us because we are official members of Geoffrey's Birthday Club. If you are a member of this "exclusive" club, you get to walk around Toys R Us with a special hat and balloon and get your name announced over the loud speaker. It's quite entertaining when you are 5 years old.

After the toy store we came back to our house for cake, icecream, games and presents. Garrett also got a special phone call from Tia Gina since she wasn't able to make it to town on a Thursday. Overall, he had a fantastic day!

Garrett Turns 5.....

2008-12-09T18:34:00.001-08:00

Garrett's 5th Birthday was February 21st, 2008. He woke up to a dining room decorated in "Thomas the Train" motif, which he loved at the time. He was so excited that there were streamers and balloons all over the dining and living rooms. Aaron and I decorated the house the night before so Garrett could be surprised.

I will never forget how happy he was all day long. His birthday fell on a Thursday so I had to go to work for a little bit. I left at lunch to pick him up at preschool and we came home and spent the afternoon together. We played legos and colored. It was true quality time with my little guy and he loved it. We waited for Aaron and Jake to come home and then we all went out to dinner to celebrate with the rest of the family.

Valentine's Day 2008....

2008-12-09T18:19:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures from Valentine's Day 2008. Growing up, my parents always made Valentines day special for us. We always got some kind of "treat" that day. It was usually candy, See's Candy, and I always looked forward to that day.

I try to make Valentine's Day special for the boys and Marissa too. I know it doesn't mean much to them now, but I hope when they are adults, they will remember this day being made special for them too.

P.S. It's fun writing about this day almost a year later....look at Jake. He still looks "babyish". Marissa looks a lot younger too. They change so much. This is also a good reminder NOT to cut Jake's hair so short :)

Santa Monica Pier....

2008-11-18T21:52:00.001-08:00

On the way home from visiting Great Grandma Patsy we stopped by Santa Monica Beach. We had never been to this beach and we were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was. The kids loved it (they love ANY beach). They especially loved all the rides on the pier, although we didn't go on any of them. We walked a while and played a while and then headed home. We definitely want to go back to Santa Monica Beach.

Visiting with Great Grandma Patsy....

2008-11-18T21:45:00.001-08:00

Here we are visiting Great Grandma Patsy in January 2008. She lives in Alhambra and we try to visit her as often as possible. Great Grandma Patsy is in her 90s but she is still sharp as a tack. She has a great memory and always talks about the fun she had at our wedding in 1998. Unfortunately she is not able to travel anymore so we try to come to her when we can.

I love that the kids get to visit and talk with their Great Grandmas (they have 2). I never had that opportunity and I think our boys are very fortunate to know their Great Grandma Patsy.

DrivingThrough The Snowy Grapevine.....

2008-11-18T21:34:00.001-08:00

On 1/23/08 the four of us took a trip to L.A. to visit Great Grandma Patsy. When we got to the Grapevine, it started to snow. We were amazed that we got to drive through the snow on the Grapevine. We made it safely through and we were even escorted by traffic cops and snow plows.

We learned later that night that they closed the Grapevine shortly after we made it through. There were hundreds of people trapped on the Grapevine that night in their cars. I can't imagine what we would have done if we didn't make it through. We had the kids with us and as you can imagine, that would not have been fun (or warm). We definitely had an angel looking over us that day.

Playing with Grandpa.....

2008-11-18T21:26:00.001-08:00

Grandpa came to visit us on 1/12/08. He got to see all the new toys Garrett & Jake got for Christmas. The big hit of Christmas 2007 was the train table. This thing keeps the boys busy for many minutes (that's fantastic, considering the attention span of kids).

The boys couldn't wait to show Grandpa the train table and of course, Grandpa loved it as well. Jake also thought it was fun to try on Grandpa's glasses.

Ringing in the New Year.....

2008-11-05T14:21:00.001-08:00

Each year we get invited to a New Year's Eve Party and each year it seems we can't attend because one of us is sick. This year it was me. I was sick as a dog but we still tried to make New Year's Eve fun for the kids. Here are Aaron and Garrett making homemade pizza for our last meal of 2007. We spent the evening bundled up in front of the TV. I don't think we stayed up until midnight.....we were too tired.

It's Cold Outside.....

2008-11-05T14:14:00.001-08:00

Here's Jake on December 28th, 2007 in his cold weather apparel. I can't remember where we were going but I do remember that he loved wearing that hat. He's also wearing the cutest Baby Gap puffy vest that no longer fits him :(

Pictures of Christmas 2007......

2008-11-05T13:37:00.001-08:00

I realize that it's already November and I didn't post anything in October but I promise to pay more attention to the blog in the future. Christmas is only weeks away and here I am posting pictures from Christmas 2007.

We all know how hectic Christmas can be....here are some random pictures of our Christmas Day. They're not the prettiest pictures but you get the idea. I'm lucky even to have these pictures considering all the chaos on Christmas Day. Somehow I remember to bring out the camera and snap a few candids. Now I know why there's never any pictures of ME on Christmas day.

More Christmas Eve Traditions......

2008-09-27T21:32:00.001-07:00

I like to get the kids matching pajamas for Christmas Eve & Morning. Here they are showing off their PJs with Lita and Tia and then with Santa (Lito). I'm pretty sure this will be the last year that Lito will be able to "play" Santa. Garrett was pretty sure Santa sounded a lot like Lito. We're gonna have to hire a neighbor or friend to come over on Christmas Eve to play Santa....Any volunteers?

I always take a picture of the Christmas Tree once it's set up with all the loot. It always amazes us how much we have and how long it took to get it all put together and wrapped.

Christmas Eve Traditions.....

2008-09-27T21:24:00.001-07:00

Christmas eve always consists of us taking a picture of the kids in front of the tree, going to my parent's house, making cookies, and now, decorating a gingerbread house. Here are some pictures of Christmas Eve 2007.

Notice Jake in the picture with the cookies? He's sad because he put way too many sugar sprinkles on his cookie. His spirits were lifted when he saw all of the candy we were using to decorate the gingerbread house.

Tamale Time.....

2008-09-27T21:04:00.001-07:00

If you know anything about Tamales, you know that they are very popular around Christmas time. It is a tradition in most Mexican families to make tamales to give to friends and family. I remember making tamales growing up and I wasn't a very big fan of it. It's hard work getting the Masa spread evenly onto the husks.

Our family stopped making tamales years ago because it was way too much work and it was just easier to order them from the Tamale Lady. I'm not sure who brought it up this year but someone said, "we should make tamales this year". We all agreed to meet at my mom and dad's house and spend the evening making tamales. They weren't the prettiest tamales and my mom & dad kept arguing about how to spread the masa but it was fun hanging out with everyone and eating the finished product. Maybe we'll do it again in 2008?

Garrett, Jake, & Wyatt Christmas 2007....

2008-09-27T18:55:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of the boys and my best friend Sherry's little boy, Wyatt. We were forced to drive out to the boonies and visit their family last year for Christmas because she was on bedrest and couldn't leave her home. She knows I'm joking but I really don't like driving out to her house because it's sooooo far from town. But because she was on bedrest and 7 months pregnant, we made the trek out there and celebrated Christmas with them for a couple of hours. The boys love Wyatt, they especially love his toys. This year I'm gonna make her come to town to visit with us.

Almost Famous.....

2008-09-27T18:47:00.001-07:00

This is my niece, Marissa. When I saw this picture I had taken of her back in December, it immediately reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Almost Famous. I know it's a bit of a stretch because she really doesn't LOOK like Kate Hudson, but she DOES remind me of the character Kate Hudson played, Penny Lane. She's very stylish, laid back, spontaneous, and fun. Marissa personifies this character in this picture. She's has a lot of those traits and I know she'll be a hell of a lot cuter than Kate.

Christmas Village Train Set 2007....

2008-09-10T09:52:00.001-07:00

Here are the boys watching the Chistmas train which is set up at my mom & dad's house every year for the kids. My parents love setting it up for the kids almost as much as the kids love playing with it.

My parents have always gone all out with the Christmas Decorations. They've become even more spirited since their grandkids were born and it's fun to see them having as much fun as the kids. You should see their front and back yard during the Holiday Season. My dad starts putting up lights right after Thanksgiving and he won't stop until Christmas Eve. He's a big kid at heart.

Trip to Grandpa & Grandma Laurie's......

2008-09-03T14:10:00.001-07:00

Here we are again playing in the snow. After we had our fun we headed to Grandpa and Grandma Laurie's for a yummy dinner and relaxed at their cozy home in Sonora. Auntie Isis (Aaron's stepsister) came for a visit to play with the kids too. We all had a great time.

First Trip To The Snow......

2008-09-03T13:58:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not we hadn't taken a trip to see the snow with the kids until December 2007. We had planned a day trip to see Grandpa and Grandma Laurie in Sonora. Along the way we found a snow patch and Grandpa and Grandma Laurie met us there for some fun in the snow. The kids were not shy about playing with the snow. It was as if they had been around it before because they sure knew what to do with it.

Gymkata......

2008-09-03T13:49:00.001-07:00

We signed Marissa & Garrett up for a Gymkata class at the local Rec. Center in November/December of last year. Gymkata is a cross between tumbling (gym) and Karate. They had fun learning the different moves and techniques. Here they are at their last session where the parents got to come into the room and watch what they learned.

Baking Season.....

2008-09-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

These pictures are proof that baking season was in full swing. I took these on December 7th, 2007. I usually start my baking at the beginning of December. The kids are always by my side to help with any "clean up" that needs to be done.

Christmas Parade 2007.......

2008-09-03T13:26:00.001-07:00

Here we are at the annual Christmas Light Parade. Every year we decorate the kids' wagons with garland and lights and wheel them out to our designated spot to watch the Christmas Light Parade. We come prepared with a hot dinner, hot chocolate, and lots of cookies. The kids enjoy it every year and it's become a tradition that we all look forward to.

I can't quite remember why Garrett is giving me the look of death in the picture below. I think this was towards the end of the night and the kids were getting grumpy.

Fall Fun.....

2008-08-16T23:37:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to a local park one day in November to ride "the bikes". It was a beautiful sunny day and perfect to ride around the fall leaves. They had a blast being able to ride "the bike" with no boundaries and wide open range.

Christmas Photo Shoot 2007 Part 2.....

2008-08-16T23:27:00.001-07:00

Here are the last 3 proofs of the annual Christmas photo shoot. I forgot to mention that we couldn't get Jake to smile at all. He is one stubborn kid. He'll only smile when he feels like it and this particular day he did NOT feel like it. Good thing he's cute enough without the smile.

Annual "Cousins" Christmas Photo Shoot 2007

2008-08-16T23:16:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned in earlier posts that every Christmas since the kids were born, we've taken them to get their picture taken together. We usually dress them up in their Christmas pajamas but this year we tried something a little different. We dressed them in their Christmas best and headed to the local studio.

I usually dread this annual photo shoot because it can be a little stressful getting the kids to look at the camera let alone get them to smile at the same time. But surprisingly, this year was not so stressful. We had a couple rounds of stubborness and frustration from the kids but overall they did VERY well. We'll see how it goes in '08.

Garrett's PreSchool Pics Through The Years.....

2008-07-23T13:48:00.001-07:00

Garrett is almost done with preschool and I thought it would be fun to compare his preschool pics from when he first started to now. It kind of makes me sad looking at these pictures. Where did the time go? In the first picture he looks so baby faced and in the last picture he's a grown boy. He started preschool when he had just turned 3 and now he is 5. His school took pictures in the fall and spring of each year. I'm glad they did so I could see the difference between each season.

Christmas Card 2007....

2008-06-27T21:12:00.001-07:00

And here is the final product. You can see we DID get a pretty decent picture of the four of us. Jake's not smiling but you can't have everything. Overall I think it turned out pretty good.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot 2007......

2008-06-27T21:01:00.001-07:00

Ever since the boys were born, we have a tradition of having a photo shoot on Thanksgiving Day for our annual family Christmas card. My sister is gracious enough to take a whole bunch of photos of us so we can choose the perfect one for our Christmas card. I always try to coordinate our outfits and this year we dressed up a little more than usual. We took about 15 pictures and it's quite challenging with little boys (all kids, I'm sure) because they don't always want to look at the camera or smile when you want them too. Here are a few of the pics that didn't make the cut. Aaron and I look pretty much the same in all the pictures but you can see the different moods of the boys. It's a tradition that I hope to carry on throughout the years.

Garrett's Preschool Thanksgiving Program......

2008-06-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

Garrett's preschool had a Thanksgiving program. The parents were invited to the program and then we had lunch with the kids. Here is Garrett at his program with his Indian hat and singing on stage.

The Boys.....

2008-06-18T08:31:00.001-07:00

I took this picture of the boys in November. I liked it so much that we made personalized stamps for Grandma and Great Grandma with it for their Christmas present. It's rare that we get a photo of them with such great smiles.

Linayah's Birthday Party....

2008-06-18T08:19:00.001-07:00

Our friend Linayah turned 2 in November and we were invited to her Birthday party at Gymboree. We had never been to Gymboree before but we loved the experience. It's basically a big room with lots of stuff for the kids to play with and climb on. We also sang songs and played with a giant parachute. This place caters to babies and toddlers but even Garrett & Marissa had a great time doing all the activities. Even the parents had fun doing the activities with the kids.

Target & Ruby......

2008-06-18T08:10:00.001-07:00

And finally, after all the excitement on Halloween night we stopped by Target to visit Grandma. Grandma puts out the cards for American Greetings at the local Target. She took advantage of the slow night at Target to organize her cards and get ready to put out the new Holiday cards. We stopped by to say hi and show her the kids' costumes. She was pleasantly surprised. We also stopped by the Halloween display to take pictures next to the scary skeleton. And we always take a picture of Ruby on Halloween because of her "black cat" status. We pretend it's Ruby's birthday on Halloween.

Candy Time & Jake's Other Costume.....

2008-06-18T08:04:00.001-07:00

Here are the kids enjoying their candy treasures and we thought it would be funny to put Marissa's princess crown on Jake. He didn't seem to mind.

Trick or Treating...

2008-06-04T08:47:00.001-07:00

We always go trick or treating with Marissa in my parent's neighborhood. The kids love this part of Halloween although they DO get a little spooked from the scary stuff. We try to stay away from the "scary" houses and costumes. We usually make it around the block and then the kids are ready to go home to eat their goodies.

Our Superheros.....

2008-06-04T08:33:00.001-07:00

Here are the kids in their costumes. Garrett was Mr. Incredible and Jake was Superman. Garrett went back and forth trying to decide what he wanted to be. He couldn't decide between a Toy Story character or Mr. Incredible. After we showed him a picture of the incredible costume, he made up his mind.

Jake, on the other hand, really had no idea what we were talking about when we asked him what he wanted to be. Aaron and I decided that he would make a good Superman.

Halloween Spirit....

2008-06-04T08:23:00.001-07:00

Halloween was on a Wednesday last year so I was home with the kids. I dressed them in their Halloween shirts and made them pose for more pics. I gave them each a mini pumpkin and a ton of Halloween stickers. Their mission was to put as many stickers as possible on their pumpkins. This project kept them busy for a good hour. They really enjoyed it. Here they are showing off their pumpkins.

Pumpkin Carving....

2008-06-04T08:12:00.001-07:00

Here we are carving pumpkins. Garrett & Marissa enjoyed getting their hands all gooey from the pumkin seeds and Jake wasn't quite sure about the whole process. He might be more interested next Halloween. Lita dressed Mugsy in his own Halloween costume, a pirate. I think Mugsy was embarrassed because he wouldn't look at the camera.

More Pumpkin Patch Pics.....

2008-06-04T08:01:00.001-07:00

These were taken the night we carved pumpkins at Lita & Lito's house. We always carve pumpkins at their house and take lots of pictures of the kids. They got the kids these matching shirts so of course we had to have another pumpkin patch photo shoot.

And Then It Got Wild.....

2008-05-24T22:47:00.001-07:00

Here's the proof that we all had a lot of fun. Lot's of funny stories about that night. I wish I would've taken more pictures but I was having too much fun to remember to do so. The funniest part was when we all went to a bar across the street from the reception hotel to continue the party. It was the weekend before Halloween so there were a lot of people dressed up in various costumes. If I recall correctly, we encountered a "rainbow brite" that night. Do you remember? Fun Times. I Can't wait until the next wedding (hint, hint).

Wedding of the Year....

2008-05-24T22:33:00.001-07:00

We attended one wedding in 2007 and it was for our friends Mikey and Janelle. This was a fun wedding because Frankie was in the wedding and all our friends were there too. It was a beautiful wedding and a little wild too. Here are some pics of the event before it got a little wild.

Last Soccer Game of the Year.....

2008-05-24T22:18:00.001-07:00

Their last soccer game was on October 27th at 8am. They played a team that was short of players so we had to lend them a couple of our players.

The kids had fun and they earned a trophy and certificate at the end of the game. They enjoyed playing the game (or trying to play the game) and they got to work with other kids and they had a great coach too. It was a great ending to their first year of soccer.

Pumpkin Patch Pictures.....

2008-05-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

We didn't go to a real pumpkin patch this year to choose pumpkins. We just picked some out at the grocery store. To compensate for not having real pumpkin patch pictures, we used my parent's man-made pumpkin patch as our photo backdrop. I like to dress the boys up in Halloween shirts and pose them with their pumpkins. Aaron and I even got involved in the pics too.

Halloween Party 2007

2008-05-17T23:39:00.001-07:00

We usually get invited to at least one Halloween party a year. This year we went to my friend, Chee's party. We didn't get too creative with the costumes this year. We actually used two costumes that we've worn before. Aaron was a "Mexican" and I was an Arabian princess. We had a good time eating, drinking, and mingling with Chee's family and friends.

Soccer Pics.....

2008-05-17T23:31:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more soccer pics taken in October. I tried to get a group shot of the kids but you can see that Garrett was not cooperating. There was 8 kids total on the team but only 6 were here this particular day. Garrett & Marissa were so funny on the field. They weren't really that into the game but they sure loved running around with each other. It's a good thing we had a couple of "star" players on our team.

The End of The Day (at the fair)......

2008-04-23T10:23:00.001-07:00

These are the last of the pictures. You can see that everyone is worn out, the kids are getting grumpy & tired, we have to bribe them with ice cream, our feet are tired so we have to stop at the foot massager again, and I realize that I'm not in any one of the pictures. (How will my kids remember what I look like when I'm gone?) So I have Aaron take a picture of Jake and I (Garrett was too grumpy to pose with me). And then we try to get a group picture of Tia Gina with the kids because we don't get to do that often. But as you can see from the pic, the kids were done. Marissa had a melt down, Garrett is just plain Grumpy, and Jake doesn't know what the heck is going on. It's a good picture of Gina. Enough of the fair, at least for a few more months!

Rides at the Fair....

2008-04-23T10:13:00.001-07:00

I took a lot of pictures at the fair. Here are some more of the kids on the various rides. It was more fun this year because they were able to experience more. Jake went on a couple with Daddy but he wasn't too sure about them.

More Fun at the Fair.....

2008-04-23T09:59:00.001-07:00

Jake's favorite thing at the fair was the reptile exhibit. He loved the turtles. We couldn't pull him away from them. One of our favorite attractions is the foot massager. We all take turns and the kids love them. We played some games and rode some rides.

Fair Time.....

2008-04-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of our annual trip to the fair. Every year, we all take a day off from work and head to the fair for a day of fun. We even got Gina, Grandma Carol, and Grandma Loma (Marissa's Grandma) to come this year. There were a lot of new attractions for the kids to experience. Garrett & Marissa were a little taller this year so they were able to go on more rides. We ate lots of good food and the kids were definitely worn out at the end of the day.

Hot Air Balloons....

2008-04-16T09:46:00.001-07:00

Every September our city has a hot air balloon festival. It's a weekend event. This year's event got canceled on Saturday. We got up early, got everyone ready and then got a phone call from my brother that it was too windy and they canceled it.

On Sunday, I happened to get up pretty early and remembered about the balloons. I quickly got Garrett dressed and we drove to the rodeo grounds. We left Daddy and Jake at home sleeping.We got there just in time. The balloons were just taking off and here are the pics we got of them. Please excuse the puffy eyes and face.

Autumn's Treehouse Openhouse......

2008-04-16T09:34:00.001-07:00

My childhood friend Kathy has a daughter who is one week younger than Garrett. Her name is Autumn. Kathy and I met in Kindergarten and have been friends ever since. When Garrett started preschool when he turned 3, we learned that Autumn was in Garrett's preschool class too. Garrett and Autumn became friends, in fact Autumn developed a little crush on Garrett.

At the end of September, Autumn had an "open house" for the reveal of her brand new tree house. She invited lots of friends and all the kids had a wonderful time playing on the awesome treehouse. The boys loved the treehouse and they also got to play in a bouncehouse at the party. The party was a great success.

Jakey On The Sidelines......

2008-04-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is Jake playing by himself at one of Garrett and Marissa's soccer games. He wasn't the greatest spectator. He always need to be on the move. There were a couple of times when he wanted to join the kids on the soccer field. It was a good thing that Grandma came along to most games so she could take him for a nice long walk. Jake will get to play soccer in 2008 when he turns 3.

Anniversary Flowers.....

2008-04-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

September 26th was our 9th wedding anniversary. Here are some flowers I got for my anniversary. But I didn't get them from Aaron. Nope, I got these flowers from my parents. Aaron forgot our anniversary. (I'm not telling this story to mean, I actually think it's kinda funny).

Yes, Aaron did not realize it was our anniversary on this day until he got home from work and the kids handed him his anniversary present. The look on Aaron's face was unforgettable (and priceless). He felt really bad about forgetting (and rightly so). We ended up going out to dinner with the kids and having a nice time.

Aaron felt so bad about forgetting our anniversary and that night he booked two flights to Hawaii for our 10th wedding anniversary. We are going to Maui in August to celebrate 10 married years. There's no way he's ever gonna forget again.

StoryLand, PlayLand.......

2008-04-08T20:27:00.001-07:00

One Saturday in September after one of Garrett's soccer games, we took the kids to Storyland/Playland. This is a type of amusement park that's been around since Aaron and I were kids. I remember going there when I was little and being amazed by all the attractions. I honestly hadn't been there in years. It is very different from an adult's point of view. Of course everything looks smaller but it sadly seems to have lost some of it's charm. That may be because I'm an adult now, I don't know. Anyways, I know the kids had fun and I hope the trip generated some happy memories for them.

Bubble Bath Fun......

2008-04-08T20:20:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist taking these pictures. Jake looks like he's in pain but I promise he wasn't. He just has a goofy look on his face. They were both giggling and putting soap bubbles on each other. Jake LOVES getting all wet in the bath tub. He gets the big cup and pours water over his own head time after time. Garrett on the other hand needs me to pour water over his head. He's not a big fan of getting his hair wet.

More Fun at Jake's Party......

2008-04-08T20:12:00.001-07:00

I love the expressions on Jake's face as he opens his presents. He was so happy about each present he received. After we ate pizza, cake, and ice cream we all headed to the game room for rides and games.

Jake's Cake......

2008-04-08T19:59:00.001-07:00

Here we are at Jake's 2nd birthday getting ready to cut the cake. If you can't tell from the pictures, Jake requested a "Thomas" Cake.

We went to John's Incredible Pizza after Garrett & Marissa's soccer game to celebrate Jake's Birthday. Jake had a fun time except he was suffering from Canker sores. The poor baby had trouble eating solid food because he was in so much pain. He ate a lot of ice cream during this time. He WAS able to sample his cake as you can see from the pictures.

Garrett's First Soccer Game......

2008-03-24T14:58:00.001-07:00

Garrett & Marissa played on their very first soccer team in September/October. They were on a team with 6 other kids. The kids ranged in age from 4-6 years. They played every Saturday for 6 weeks. The games were 30 minutes and it was mainly a "chase the ball" game. Not a lot of skill was involved but the kids seemed to enjoy playing.

There were a couple of "allstar" kids on their team who everyone counted on to score the goals. Garrett and Marissa were not one of the all stars but they were a lot of fun to watch. The team went undefeated (not that we were keeping track or anything) and the parents had just as much fun cheering on the kids.

Jake's 2nd Birthday Photo Shoot.....

2008-03-24T14:45:00.001-07:00

These were taken on the day of Jake's 2nd birthday party. We always try to take pictures of the kid's on their birthday to show how much they've changed over the year. Aaron and I try to take pics with them too. Here are Jake's photo shoot pics. He's not big on smiling for the camera, although he is improving. You can see in the picture of Jake and Aaron, Jake was ready to quit the photo shoot at that point. (Aaron doesn't look so happy either).

Jake's 2nd Birthday.....

2008-03-14T22:07:00.001-07:00

Jake turned 2 on September 13th. His birthday fell on a Wednesday so we didn't have his party that day but we still tried to celebrate as best as we could. We got him an icecream at Fosters and sang to him. He loved that we were singing about his birthday. We really celebrated his birthday a few days later which you will see pictures of soon.

One last swim.....

2008-03-14T21:56:00.001-07:00

These were taken on September 9, 2007. This was the last time we went for a swim in the pool in the summer of '07. After that the weather started changing and we found other ways to occupy our time. We used the pool more than we ever had that summer. I'm sure we will get even more use out of it in the summer of '08. The kids can't wait to go swimming again.

September '07.....Last year of Preschool For Garrett

2008-03-14T21:46:00.001-07:00

These pics were taken on Garrett's first day of his last year of preschool. I can't believe that he will be starting kindergarten in August '08.

You can't really tell, but he has on a "Cars" shirt from the movie "Cars". That is his choice of clothing. Any tshirt with "cars" on it. He has quite of few cars t shirts. I just can't resist buying him a cars t shirt because I know that's his favorite item of clothing. He would wear a cars t shirt everyday if we let him.

I posted earlier about Jake's last pacifier picture. I found this last one taken on September 4, 2007. This is the official last pacifier picture for Jake.

Football Widow.....

2008-03-05T09:51:00.001-08:00

This picture marks the official start of football season. Here is Aaron all set up for his fantasy football draft. Notice the laptop right beside him? Yep, this is what I get to look forward to every August/September. My Sunday's are spent alone with the kids while Aaron is watching football. The only game I get into is the last one of the season, Superbowl. And I only like to watch the Superbowl because of the good food to be eaten and the commercials.

The last day of "Camping".....

2008-03-02T08:12:00.001-08:00

Before we drive home we always try to take one last walk in the woods. The kids love collecting rocks and acorns along the way. We always come home with a bucket full of "treasures". It's bittersweet on the last day. We really don't want to leave but we can't wait to get back to our clean and groomed selves.

More "Camping" Pictures......

2008-03-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

We never take a lot of pictures when we visit cabin 72 because Aaron and I try to relax as much as possible. We love it there. It smells really good and the cabin gets some really great shade cover in the afternoon. Perfect for naps on the deck. The kids just love being outside and getting dirty. There's a little swimming hole down the way where the kids try to catch tadpoles. The water is always a bit chilly but it feels so refreshing.

Cabin 72.....

2008-02-21T21:23:00.001-08:00

Every year we get to stay in a luxurious cabin at The Redwoods in Yosemite. It's a Christmas gift from Uncle Jim, Aunt Kris, and Great Grandma Marian. They give us a weekend to stay in cabin 72.

This is not your regular cabin. It's a fully loaded luxurious cabin. We look forward to it every year. We invite our family to stay with us since it can sleep up to 10 people. Here we are just having arrived at the cabin and looking forward to a long relaxing weekend in the woods.

Lito's 60th Birthday.....

2008-02-19T20:30:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Lito's 60th Birthday by going to Frankie and Kathy's house and barbecuing and playing in the back yard. We stayed cool by playing in the water and we all pitched in and got Lito a digital picture frame. We loaded it with lots of pictures and he loved it.

Great Grandma's 87th Birthday....

2008-02-19T20:24:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Great Grandma's 87th Birthday on August 18, 2007. We went to her house for lunch and cake and ice cream and presents. The kids love birthdays and they loved celebrating with Grandma and Great Grandma.

Grizzlies Game Summer 2007.....

2008-02-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

Lita & Lito get season tickets for the Grizzlies Games every year. We always try to make it to at least one game each summer. Here we are enjoying the game, eating good food, and trying to entertain the kids. We don't get to see a whole lot of the game because of the kids, but we still manage to have a good time.

Last Pacifier Pictures For Jake....

2008-02-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

I originally took these pictures in August because Jake took the time to put all his stuffed animals in his crib and then he wanted me to put him in the crib with all the animals.

Little did I know that these would be his last pacifier pictures. Shortly before his 2nd birthday he got a bad case of canker sores and he would not take a pacifier because of the pain. That was the end of the pacifier all together.

I remember having such a hard time getting Garrett off the pacifier but with Jake it was a piece of cake. It makes me kind of sad that he kicked the habit so soon. His baby days are almost over.

Road Trip continued.....

2008-02-09T23:14:00.001-08:00

Here are some more pictures of our day trip to the lake with Grandpa and Grandma Laurie. The kids got to do a little fishing with Daddy and Grandpa and we got to spend time with Laurie's family. We also had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was a warm and sunny day but it wasn't too hot where we couldn't enjoy the day.

Canoeing at the Lake....

2008-02-09T23:06:00.001-08:00

This was the destination of our one day road trip with the kids. We met Grandpa and Grandma Laurie at a Lake near their home and we spent the day canoeing. We all had a great time. The kids loved the canoes and swimming in the water and playing in the sand. Aaron and I had fun rowing the canoes too. So much fun, that we even talked about purchasing a couple of canoes when the boys get older. We can't wait to do this again.

Summer Time Road Trip....

2008-02-09T22:58:00.001-08:00

These are pictures of Jake and I taking a little break from driving on our way to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Laurie. This was a little town we stopped at on the way to the lake to let the kids stretch their legs a little.

Garrett and Daddy were using the potty when we took these pictures. (I know you didn't want to know that but I have to put this in here in case Garrett asks where he was when I took these pictures)

Summer Time Fun.....

2008-02-09T22:51:00.001-08:00

One of our summer time rituals was to head over to Lita and Lito's house on Friday evenings and stay cool by playing in their pool or sprinklers. Here is Jake having a fabulous time in the pool while Lito is spraying him with the garden hose. This kid is not afraid of water. He loves it when water is splashed on his head. You can tell by the expression on his face that he enjoys water time.

Home Run Record.....

2008-02-09T22:43:00.001-08:00

This was the summer of anticipation. Being Giants fans, we were anticipating the home run record to be broken by Barry Bonds. We thought we might get a chance to see Barry hit a home run when we went to a game in July. But that didn't happen. Instead, we were at home watching the game on TV and we saw it happen there.

Of course, the kids are not interested in this kind of stuff but we thought that they might get a kick out of us being sentimental over the fact that we were watching the game when it happened. The next day when the paper came and Barry's picture was on the front page, I took the kids and had a photo session. I think they might appreciate it when they get older.

Jake of The Jungle....

2008-02-09T22:36:00.001-08:00

We took this picture of Jake in August. The boys kept asking us to take down the big lion in Jake's room. We originally bought this lion for Garrett's nursery before he was born. We put it up on the ledge above his closet along with other assorted jungle animals.

The kids look at those animals everyday and they finally realized that if they ask us, we just might take them down for them to play with. We had to do a little dusting and vacuuming before we let them play with the lion. But the wait was worth it for the kids. They love playing and wrestling with the jungle animals from the nursery.

The More, The Merrier.....

2008-01-27T19:09:00.001-08:00

Jake had a slight pacifier addiction at the end of the summer. One evening I was sitting at the computer and he came up to me and tapped on my leg. He wanted me to look at him. When I looked down at him, this is what I saw.

He was so amused with himself about figuring out that he could enjoy his pacifier times two! I laughed so hard which made him very happy. He thought he was so funny because he had two pacifiers in his mouth. He was right.

Our Favorite Summer Past Time....

2008-01-27T18:17:00.001-08:00

These were taken at the end of July. The kids loved spending their summer evenings by the pool. We enjoyed it too. We were able to get them tired enough to go to bed at a decent hour. (even though it was still light outside).

Soup in the Summer.....

2008-01-12T20:51:00.001-08:00

I honestly can't remember why I took these pictures in July. I think it was because I got a kick out of how grown up and independent Jake was acting. He wasn't two yet and he didn't want to sit in his high chair and he didn't want me to help him with his soup. He wanted to be like his big brother. His favorite saying is, "I DO IT!". He never wants us to help him because he wants to do everything himself. This makes it tough for us because sometimes we are in a hurry and we have to wait for Jake to put on his shoes or socks or jacket or something and it can take a while. He throws a BIG fit if we intervene to help him. He is very headstrong.

Visiting Lita.....

2008-01-12T18:48:00.001-08:00

This was one Friday in July. We went to visit Lita. She was watching Marissa. Garrett decided he wanted to wear his "Incredible's" mask. He thought it was so funny to be wearing the mask. He didn't want to take it off. But finally, Lita suggested they read a story and he decided to take off the mask.

Playing with Grandpa.....

2008-01-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Grandpa came to visit us in the summer. We played in the backyard. We played baseball, hide and seek, and tag. The boys always have a great time with Grandpa. He's like a big kid himself and the boys just love him.