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! 

Water Fun

While Vicky was visiting we decided to get the kids some water toys to play with in the heat.  Well three slip and slides and two pools later :) we have had many fun days in the back yard.  Vicky and Ashton had a blast playing water guns and when she left, I had to take over.  Kaylynn was not crazy about the water toys, but she loves swimming.  I guess the hose water was to cold, even though she loves all swimming pools and lakes :)  None the less it has been a fun summer and my kids are just so fun to play with. 

The last couple pictures are of my creative children.  We bought a new storage ottoman for our family room that was twice the size of our old trunk.  Well they thought it would be fun to climb and side and play with the toys in side the ottoman.   They were so excited to see all the toys they literally dove right in to play.  They seriously crack me up.  Kaylynn and Ashton, I love you and love that you make me smile every day.

Snow in May!

Towards the end of May, we decided it would be fun to go up to the Mountains since we hadn't been there since the fall. We thought it would be warm and fun to let the kids run around. Boy were we in for a surprise! As we are driving to the mountains we noticed the temperature keep dropping. This normal when you travel from desert to mountains, but it was a dramatic difference. Then all of a sudden it started snowing. It wasn't cold enough to stick, but it was enough to make everything wet and see snow flurries falling from the skies. The kids thought it was funny and liked seeing the snow. Sadly it was to wet and cold to get out of the car, so we basically went for a log drive. It was a good thing we stopped for lunch before we left. It was still a fun day and pleasant surprise to have snow in May. You will have to click on the picture to blow it up in order to see the flurries, but I promise its there! It's a good thing my kids love driving and are for the most part easy going. Love my cute babies and love our family days.

Vicky's May Visit

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mom (Vicky) came to see us during the week of Kaylynn's first birthday. This was an extra special visit because Aunt Donna (Vicky's sister) was with her for part of the week. Mom had come down for a work conference, which Aaron was also going to for work. They had fun going to classes and lunch together. Donna and Vicky came to our house to hang out with the kids and we went to Outback for dinner. We had so much fun visiting and hanging out. Once the work conference was over, Donna flew home and Mom came to stay with us for the rest of the weekend. We loved seeing Donna and catching up with her. We don't get to see Aaron's family as much, so we always love whatever time we can spend together.