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

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....

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.....

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....

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.

Daddy's 34th Birthday.....

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).

Garrett Turns 5.....

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.