Can you walk the walk?

California, Christmas, Halloween, Birthday...Whoa...

Playing catch-up. Again. These are a few things that couldn't go without being posted.

Leaves. Leaves. And more leaves. Our yard was filled with them this year. We still aren't completely rid of them! But, this is a huge plus to having big trees:

HALLOWEEN!! Casey's mom always does a party for the kids! They love it! And, I love kids in costume...

What would be a party at grandma's without sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags??
Bob the builder (Maybe next year he'll want to wear his costume more than 2 minutes??)
Our little ladybug

CALIFORNIA!!!

Sea World. Disneyland. Beach. What a trip... I want to go back!! Everything was perfect!

Grandpa had the magic touch. It's not easy getting an over tired baby to sleep at Sea World.
My cute little nephew Emmett!

We all LOVED the beach! Even in the November weather! The water was ice cold. But that didn't stop any of us from playing in it. The kids loved running from the waves. The adults loved boogie boarding no more than 100 yards from the dolphins! I think could live in San Diego....





After Casey and myself turned Dillon down when he asked us to carry him 100 times... He turned to Grandma, Jed, and Jens. He knew they couldn't say no.
Disneyland is the. best. Everyday people pull out their best animated self:)

Dillon's proudest moment...

BIRTHDAY

Hazel's ONE!! love her. love her. love her... That's all I have to say about this little one!

CHRISTMAS...

Our failure of a gingerbread house. Yes... I know... they're supposed to stand up...

Christmas was wonderful! Filled with family time, gifts, and way too much food!

Here's hoping next fall (and year) is just as fun filled! Happy New Year Everyone!!

Family Pictures!!!

Dillon the Menace

Me: Dillon... did you color on the couch?!?

Dillon: ya mom... look... more color.

Then he proudly led me around to the other side of the couch where there was, yes, more color on the back of the couch.

A few minutes later (after a little Resolve and some intense scrubbing on the couch)... I found him here.

And this is what the carton of strawberries looked like.... one, just one, bite taken out of every strawberry.
He's independent... He just wants to do things his way, on his own terms. The scribbles on the couch were his masterpiece, and he didn't see a reason to bother Mom for a snack if he could just help himself to those juicy strawberries. His intentions were good.... although I'll be the first to admit that's not always the case :). He'll figure it all out someday....
Will he soon have a partner in crime?? I sure hope not :) But aren't they both sweet?

Summer Lovin'

We can't get enough of summer. I'm so sad it's just about over. We'll miss the hot days at the pool, camping, parades, fairs, fishing, jogging outdoors, and swinging on our front porch as the sun fades in the west. Goodbye summer... We'll miss you!

Confession...

I am a horrible, horrible swimmer. I LOVE the water, and I can stay afloat, but it's nothing to boast about. Casey has even tried to teach me how to swim, with no success. I'm hoping my children will be more like Casey in this way (and many others :) ). My friend Jennie told me about a "mommy and me" swim class. Nothing completes the summer like swim lessons right? It was perfect. I loved it. Dillon loved it. And even Hazel didn't mind too much.

His teacher was super cute. We mostly sang songs and played in the water for a half hour every day for two weeks. Sure... it was kind of like being in a wrestling match in the water for a half hour (Dillon's a maniac), but it definitely made him more comfortable with water. He plunges into the water without thinking twice now (even if I'm not there to catch him. yikes!)

The pool was just a private pool in the back of someone's yard. It was beautiful!

Dillon LOVED jumping off the diving board, and I really loved Bonnie, his teacher.

These are the kiddos in the class: Dillon, Kate, and Milly.

And these are the cute babies that just sat at the edge of the pool, watching us sing songs. They were really good sports about it all.

Tire rolling, anyone???

Happy Easter everyone! It's one of my favorite holidays. We celebrate a pretty traditional Easter... We all enjoy the spoils of the hunts:

pretty dresses

Lots of eggs and goodies

New swimsuits

A few toys and time with cousins

Traditional egg rolling? We did that... We prepared our eggs with dye and even applied plastic wraps to them to make them more durable.

And if they made it down the hill in one piece... we threw them at each other...

We played. a lot.

We even froze our little tails off... this has also become a tradition over the last few years.

And last year... this became a tradition...

This isn't the best video... the freezing tradition led to a pansy, shaky camera girl. The grand finale tire clocked in at a whopping 118 mph rolling down the hill. The dually pair jumped the rocks at the bottom and split in two mid air. We huddled in our trucks at the bottom of the hill honking in approval of destruction on wheels.

Needless to say... at the end of the day we. were. exhausted.

Can't wait 'til next year.