Summer fun

Big D and Mak have had sooo much fun playing in the backyard together this summer! Dylan loves the fact that Mak can actually "play" now. They love to get out the pool, slip-n-slide, water toys-- and just get WET! Then they jump on the trampoline to get hot again... We have really enjoyed some nice hot weather this summer, and the kiddos have turned into brown little berries as proof.

DYLAN LOVES TO CHASE MAK WITH THE HOSE! SHE SQUEALS AND RUNS LIKE CRAZY...

Reading Habits...

Makena is so funny when she "reads"- this is her favorite position to read in... and she'll sink farther and farther until she folds in half and falls through! She says mumbo jumbo on each page and then at the end yells "all done". I could watch her do it all day!

DS maniac!

This picture truly speaks for itself! Dylan loves his DS... :)

ZOO DAYS!

We went to the Boise Zoo with about 5 other moms and all the kiddos! It was such a nice day, and all the animals were out and playing... The kids had so much fun looking, touching, climbing, and playing! Its so fun to see your little ones have buddies---

Twilight Fevah!

My mom, sister, and I recently went (as is our tradition) to the midnight pre-screening of the recent Twilight series "ECLIPSE" movie... We always have so much fun, and this time came prepared for the 2hr. wait for it to start with magazines, DVD player, and snacks! As you can see below, Edward stopped by my house for a little visit before the movie! Make believe is so much fun- even as an adult! Thank you Stephanie Meyers for giving us ladies something to laugh and bond over...

Dylan's 2010 baseball season

Dylan had so much fun playing PAL baseball this spring/summer... He played for the Dodgers and had his Dad as an asst. coach. He learned alot about the fundamentals of the game and is definitely ready for the bigger and badder league next season! He loved playing pitcher position (behind coach pitching) and 1st base, and did awesome at bat- a lefty just like his Dad! We are so proud of Dylan and what a wonderful team player he is. At their end of the season pizza party when he got up to receive his trophy, he went around to all his teammates to give them high fives and tell them what a great "year" they had! God really blessed Dylan with a big heart and a social personality! His favorite moment? Last play of the last game of the season, he slid into home plate and I got it all on film! (he loved sliding- even though the ball was nowhere near home plate!)

Father's Day!

So here's what I know: I have a pretty good hunch that I lucked out to not only have the best father in the world, but to have found one for my kids too! We feel so blessed to have both had Dads who raised us with love and gave us such wonderful upbringings. Now I can see Brendan emulating the same relationship with our kids, and I couldn't be more proud... Thank you to my Dad and to my Father-in-Law for being such fabulous grandpas to our kids and loving our family! For Father's Day, we were lucky enough to have a beautiful day to be outside and play- Brendan started the day with some daughter-father time on our porch... she loves her Daddeee! We then got to go downtown Boise to the Brick Oven Beanery with my family to eat lunch outside and play in the fountains! The kids had so much fun and it was actually really relaxing for the adults too! What a great day to celebrate all the great men in our lives.

LITTLE MAK

MAKENA LOVES TO POSE FOR PICS NOW IF YOU SHOW HER WHAT FACE TO MAKE! THEN SHE WANTS TO COME IMMEDIATELY CHECK OUT THE FINISHED RESULT! SHE'LL SAY, "SEE- KENNA!" SHE IS SOOOOO MUCH FUN...

The Food Network star that is dying to come out of me took over as I volunteered to make Super Mario Bros. mushroom cupcakes for my nephew's birthday party! I had such a blast, and it was all worth it when I saw the look on Will's face... His biggest wish was to get fondant on his cake somehow, so I made the white mushroom dots out of fondant on top of my homemade buttercream frosting... they turned out cute if I do say so myself! Not to mention my arms got super-mario buff from rolling out that darned fondant!

Makena is becoming such a beautiful little woman- as her brother likes to call her! She really looks up to "Bubba" and calls him her buddy all the time now. They love to play outside together, watch Tom & Jerry together with snacks, and play their DS's side-by-side... I love to watch their relationship blossom just as I love to watch her grow up.

GO DODGERS!

It's that time of year again, and Dylan started U-7 league coach pitch baseball! He is on the Dodgers, and loves playing 1st or 2nd base. He still bats left-handed and can really smack it good this year! (thanks to lots of good practice with his Dad in the backyard!) At his last game, he was up to bat last on his team, and hit a GRAND SLAM to bring everyone home! It is so much fun to watch him enjoy the game, and to watch his Dad enjoy him playing!

GLEE! GIRLS TRIP TO CALI!

To celebrate my Mom's 40th birthday and Mother's Day for all of us, my sister and I took my Mom and headed off to LA for a fun Girls only weekend! From start to finish we had such a good time, and packed it full of memories... Our biggest event there was going to the GLEE! Live in Concert at the Gibson Ampitheatre on Universal CityWalk. It was such an awesome show and since we are all bonified "Gleeks" we sang along to every song and laughed at all the fun routines from the TV show. The weather was gorgeous, we ate good food, we shopped, we had a pool & hot tub at our Hilton (right on the CityWalk), and we bonded over chickflicks and good chit chat! ALSO: a big shout out of thanks to our 3 super-hubbies who held down the forts at home and took care of the kiddos while we were gone!

Cool Uncle Benj!

When I went down to LA in May, I got the chance to meet up with Benj for dinner at Universal CityWalk's Bucco de Beppe's. We had enough food to feed a small army and it was delicious! It was so fun to see him, and of course, he brought tons of cool "swag" for the kids! Thanks for being such a rockin' Uncle!

Fun at the Thompson's!

We always have such a good time hanging out and playing with our friends... and yes, I'm talking for our kids & not about us adults! :)

This was such a fun night with beautiful early summer weather... we BBQ'd, played outside, went on a walk, & the kids even found "dino eggs"!

Mother's Day 2010

For Mother's Day this year, I had a little boy who is almost 7 and a daughter who had just turned 2... Each of them are such a blessing to my life, and I spent a lot of the day in reflection of how lucky I am to have them! Being a Mom is the hardest job I've ever done, but by far the most rewarding. To get a hug from Mak, or for D. to tell me I'm the best Mom he could have ever hoped for is simply priceless... I'd also like to thank my Mom and my Mom-in-law for being such loving women in my life, and for being the best Gramma's for my kids! Now that I've written the special stuff I felt, I'd also like to add in the funniest moment of the day-- nothing puts things into perspective like a kid's honesty! Dylan told me that he loved me on Mother's Day even though I had really bad morning breath. Thanks Love!

Makena Dawn's 2nd Birthday Bash!

Makena is 2! She is such a beautiful borrowed gift and we love her to pieces! She is our little Diva girlie-girl... She had such a great time for her birthday this year: She is in LOVE with Diego and Dora, so we did a little theme with those "guys". We started by having a party at the Build-A-Bear store in the mall. Everyone got to create, build, name, & accessorize a bear! The kids had so much fun, and we had the whole store to ourselves! Her friends were: RyRy, Will, Abby, Bubba, Aiden & Addison, Devon & Cam... (Lauren was sick :( )

After that, we all went down to Old Chicago for a pizza & cupcake party! Ema & Papa joined in... they sang, opened gifts, and chowed down!

Then just family came back to the house (Uncle John & Auntie Sue joined in) and we opened more gifts and had ice cream... by the end of the night, Mak came up to her Daddy and said, "Daddy- bed please!" We had one tired little Mamma... but she had a super-special day!

She loved pushing "Meow Meow" around in this little stroller!

The kiddos had such a blast building and creating their bears!

She wanted to make it nice & fluffy!