FOUR, QUATRE, FORE, 4, FOR, CUATRO!

Katelyn is four.  FOUR!!  My little girl is growing up.  She is an amazing daughter.  She sets the example in out house for sharing; she is always kind and loving.  She is funny, sweet and cute.  She loves to sing and dance.  She is loved by all.  I am proud to be her Mom.

She was born at 10:22 pm (which is why this is posting at 10:22), 2 weeks before her due date, but we were completely ready for her.  She really is a blessing to our home and we are so happy that she choose us!

Kate ~ June 25, 2007 ~ 1 day old

Kate ~ June 24, 2008 ~ 1 year

June 24, 2009 ~ She's 2!

Kate proudly display her 3 years! ~ June 24, 2010

And now she is FOUR!!!

Happy Birthday Kate!  We love you!

Before school starts again...

As my Christmas break winds down I come to the realization that I have not blogged about any of the happening in our family since early/mid November.

With a birthday, a baptism, a ballet recital, and of course, Christmas, we have been fairly busy.  It was quite fair for me to say, on Christmas Day, that my break was really beginning (9 days after my last final).  So here a month by moth explanation of what has been going on here.

NOVEMBER

Josh turned 8 in mid November and he was one excited boy!  He always feels that he has to wait the longest for his birthday to come around (Kate is in June and Eric, October).  I try to explain to him that he waits as long as everyone else, but, well, you know how logic works with kids.

His favorite part was, obviously, the gifts, and he sat by them while everyone else around him played.  He was patient, while being impatient.

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and when a child turns 8 we give them the opportunity to be baptized.  Josh made the choice to be baptized and we did this special event on November 20.  Josh was baptized by his Dad.  It was such a special day.  Brandon and I sure are lucky to have such a great kid like Josh as our son.  We are so proud of him for making this decision.

 For Thanksgiving, Brandon's Grandma came from Ohio to spend some time with everyone.  Here is a picture of her with all of her great-grandchildren.

DECEMBER

December brought in Katie's first ballet recital, the reality of finals, the threat of snow (at the same time) and Christmas!

Katie took ballet with Miss Sarah over the fall and LOVED IT!!  She tries really hard to do her best at each class and was so excited for her recital.  She even performed a solo!!  I was amazing to watch her dance with confidence and with pride.  She was not afraid and we all loved watching her.

The very next week brought my finals, the kids last week of school (with all of its accompanying parties/gift exchanges) and SNOW!!!!!

Thursday afternoon, the day before my last final it started to snow and it never let up!  The picture of the kids playing is from that same afternoon/early evening.

Don't you just love Albuquerque snowmen?  All in all, we received 6 inches up in the highest part of the northwest section of the city (where we live).  I studied while watching the news hoping for a delay at UNM so that my final would be cancelled.  UNM has a policy that if the final is cancelled for a delay or a school cancellation then your grade stands as it was on the last day of class.  I was good with that since my final was with my hardest professor in my hardest class at 7:30 in the morning.  No such luck as UNM was the ONLY thing running in the city on that Friday morning.  But, whether it be a gift for showing up to the exam or my incredible knowledge on the subject, I discovered that I did EXTREMELY well on the test and managed a B+ in the class (I had an 84 before the final).  I don't normally acknowledge my grades (because I doubt anyone really cares) but this professor is very difficult and hardly ever hands out A's.  I was happy!

Next up came Christmas. I had the great idea that I would make a lot of gifts for people and the kids.  Not sure that I will do that again.  So stressfull when you cannot devote a lot of time to making them before the 17th of the month.  But all went well and we had a nice Christmas.



So that is just all the big stuff that we did.  I also...baked through several pounds of butter, flour, and chocolate, took kids to various play dates watched a TON of college football (quack quack) and hung out with friends and family.  I also finished painting the bottom half of Katie's room and sewed some curtains for the half bath (that I messed up on and must redo), cleaned out closet and small rooms.  I read books that I did not have to report on or remember in anyway.  Brandon and I finally made it to Harry Potter and had some other time together (thanks Steph) to take care of things that needed to be done.  I also watched a ton of tv and learned to digi-scrap (thanks Steph).   It was busy, but it was good. 

And now, back to our regularly scheduled life.

One year older and wiser too

Eric turned 11 this month.  I could mention how I CANNOT believe that he is that old, but you know how it goes and so we will skip that part.

The fun part about Eric's birthday this year is that his birthday fell on a Monday, the same day that he was born.  It was fun to remember the events that led up to his birth, thinking about how 11 years ago Brandon's and I live changed, for the better.

The Saturday before his birthday he wanted to take cupcakes to his baseball team for the after-game snack.  This is what I made.

Then I had to make the cupcakes for his class AND his birthday party.  He wanted mint frosting and that's what he got.

This was the birthday cake that he wanted.  No sugar in this sucka.  No one drop.

We had a great big family party.  We had Grandma and Grandpa Piñon over, plus Uncle Aaron, Aunt Marissa with Gabe, Carly, and Lauren.  We also had our good friends the Browns and the Milbergers over.  Grand total = 23 We would have had more as we also invited the Johnson's, but they got sick.  Eric picked out a dinner or hamburgers and hot dogs.  Everyone ate and had a fun time.

And like any kid, Eric loved opening his gifts.  He got a couple of cool toys, books, and some fun stuff for his room.

It is was fun night for an awesome boy.  Eric is really growing up and often amazes me with his actions and his knowledge.  He is going to be a wonderful young man in just a few short years! 



Oregon (August 2010): Day 4 ~ the BIRTHDAY!

Okay, maybe I should clarify, we could not celebrate my Dad's birthday on his ACTUAL birthday because I was sitting in class that day (and he had to work).  So we celebrated his birthday the Saturday before the BIG day.  His best friend drove down from Canby for the event. 

We had lunch together.

 The "cake" that I made for him.

The birthday boy!

Best friend Mike with his wife Vicki.  Our family have know each other for 20+ years.

My Dad's birthday gift from myself; a feisty three year old.  She sang him a special song.  I wish that I had video of it.  It was so sweet!

Grandma and Kate.

Mike was playing with his iPhone and recorded this video.  There is not really anything specific on it, but it is fun to watch all the same.

This was my last day in Oregon.  Kate and I were homeward bound the next morning.  It was a nice visit.  I would have preferred to have my entire family with me and to have stayed longer, but it was not meant to be.  Being there for my Dad's birthday was the goal and we achieved it.  It was a wonderful visit. 

We had a birthday, shout hooray

Katelyn had a birthday recently.  She was so very excited for the day to come.  She is very into birthdays and so we started to plan her big day several months ago.

She turned three, as you can see, and loved to wear this shirt that I found for her.  She wore it on her actual birthday and for her birthday party.

The day of her birthday I had class from dawn till dusk (seriously, all day) and other than some extra love from Daddy and brothers plus her choice for dinner, nothing much happened. 

Since both Mommy and Daddy were home the next day we gave to her our gift.  A  B I K E.  She has been asking for one for months.  We even scored an excellent deal on a princess bike.  She was estatic.

The next day was it -- the big girl birthday party.  She was very excited and was happy that Mommy had pick out things to do that would make her friends so happy.  Kate had requested a Tinkerbell birthday party and I was happy to help the birthday girl get her wish.

She wanted purple Tinkerbell cupcakes and this is what I came up with.

While the girls were here we made visors, bracelets, and played pin Cinderella in her window.

And of course, we had cake and ice cream.

Kate had so much fun... but it was not over.  Grandma and Grandpa Pinon could not make it to this party and so we had another small family party for Katie on Sunday too!  What a loved little girl!

At this party I was able to get pictures of her opening gifts.  It was to hard at the little girl party because they were all so excited about the gifts.  This is my favorite of the group.  She loves her Cinderella doll.

She also had a second cake.  For this one I got creative and did fondant.  I had been wanting to try it for a while and this was my chance.

All for our little princess...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATELYN!!!