Happy 28th Birthday Aaron

At the end of June we celebrate Aaron's 28th Birthday. We LOVE birthdays because its an excuse to get together and eat cake! (Not that we really need an excuse anyways :)).  I made some of Aaron's favorites, red and white sauce spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.  He also wanted his favorite dessert which is yellow cake with chocolate frosting and vanilla ice cream.  When we first got married, I made yellow cake with chocolate frosting because it was the only thing I knew how to make.  Even though my repertoire has expanded greatly, this is still his favorite and I have made it every year for six years.  And who knew he would be like my mom and eat his cake with milk in bowl too.  I find it funny, but it is really yummy.

It was a fun night with good food, good friends, and great laughs.  Kaylynn and Ashton are entertainment all by themselves.  For our family who missed it, we missed you.  Aaron got some wonderful presents and he loved spending his birthday money.  It was  fun day and know that Aaron had a special and great day.  We love you! 



Melissa's Baby Shower

As most of you know, Melissa is basically nine months pregnant with a little boy.  They waited until Derek's birthday this summer to find out if they were having a boy or a girl.  It seriously felt like forever because I am one of those people who has to find out right away and am not good with waiting.  She didn't plan on having a shower, but Krystle and their friend Angela had other plans.  They threw her a fabulous surprise baby shower.  I am amazed they were actually able to keep it a secret and totally surprised her.  They did a great job, the food was great, and Angela's house looked beautiful.  Mel got lots of great goodies and I am sure the best part was just having a lot of her close friends and family around to celebrate.  I don't get to see Melissa as often as I like, so it was great to see her and be a part of this special day with her.  I can't wait to meet her little guy.  Should be any day now :). 

P.S. There are pictures of cupcakes because I made them.  It was my third time decorating cupcakes so I had to take a pictures.  I thought they turned out super cute! :)  But of course, I am biased.

This is also just a small sampling of pictures from the shower, I just included our side of the family because they are usually on my blog anyway.

Fun Hiking Day

Well since the last time we went hiking, it randomly snowed, we of course had to go back and enjoy the cool weather of the mountains.  This trip was especially fun because Krystle and Luke joined us for the hike.  Boo for Dan because he had to work and so he missed out!  I have to say that I was very impressed that the boys made on up the entire hike all by themselves.  Hiking with Kaylynn at this point was hard because we hadn't bought a real hiking backpack and putting her in the infant carrier made it really hard on your back.  But somehow we made it to the top and there was quit a bit of water flowing over the mountain and a huge block of ice.  We hiked Mary Jane Falls which has  small waterfall at the top during certain times of the year.  It is quit a climb up the mountain, but it makes you feel good that you made it.  We saw a guy that was actually running up and down the mountain trail.  I was dying just walking and carrying Kaylynn.  I couldn't imagine running it!  The boys had so much fun chasing each other around, playing, and throwing rocks.  It was a fun afternoon and can't wait to do it again.

After a long day of hiking, what is the best thing you can do?  Take a nap!  After nap time we decided to have dinner together.  Aaron threw some chicken on the BBQ and I made us some yummy sides.  The boys had so much fun playing together all day.  We got out some of pipe cleaners and the boys kept asking me to make shapes and different things for them.  They came up with all sorts of creative things they wanted me to try.  They were seriously entertained for an hour.  Who knew such a cheap craft item would be so entertaining.  The last picture shows a few of the things we made.  They are so cute!

Fooled yah!  This is actually Aaron and Krystle.  We so look so much a like I had to look at it twice! 

Last Day of School

Now you may think that this post is out of order, but it's not.  Ashton's teacher had their graduation the week before school got out.  That way they could just play and have fun the last couple days of school.  And boy did his teachers go all out.  They played games and had a water day.  Its funny, I think Kaylynn enjoyed going to school as much as Ashton did.  She wanted to stay with him and see what all the kids would be doing each day.  Kaylynn even made friends with Ashton's teacher Ms. Kim and would give her great big hugs everyday!  It was so cute.  It was a wonderful year and we are all looking forward to school starting again.  Just a few more fun pictures from his class last year.

*Just a fun clip of the kids playing musical chairs