Labor Day Weekend

Carly and Sonny made a suprise visit last weekend and although I didn't get very many pictures I did happen to get one of adorable Reese who's getting so big. I love her all of her rolls and her crooked smile.

A very Happy Birthday

Surprise! Well, Sort of. She kind of suspected something.

Friday was Jen's birthday and Christophe planned a very nice suprise dinner. He literally worked all day setting the table, decorating with balloons and cooking an amazing prime rib, huge crab legs, potatoes, asparagus, etc. You get the picture. It was my job to make sure she stayed out of the house until after 6:00. What better place to go than a casino? Such a bad choice on my part because although we met at 4:15 I was out of my alloted money by 4:45. Luckily theres a machine called ATM and you win every time!

We got back to the house, everyone was lined up and yelled suprise and the festivies began. I bought party favors for the girls that I found on Lillies blog. They are really cute pendants made from scrabble tiles. If interested go here, you won't be disappointed. We had dinner, cake, champagne, then danced the night away with the kids. What a great way to burn off the chocolate cake they all devoured. Happy Birthday Jen. May we have many more to celebrate.

Who wants prime rib and crab legs? Not the kids, Dominos is so much tastier.

Funny how she's never hungry for dinner but the cake was gobbled up.

Break dancing the night away.

Del Mar

Last weekend was the annual trip to Del Mar Race Track to celebrate Jen & Christophes birthdays. It's something they've done for the last 10 years but this was only our second time. It's perfect for families. You pack a picnic, bring your chairs and make a day out of it. There are jumpy houses and face painting for the kids and the ponies for the adults. It's something we look forward to all year. Unfortunately the weather was a little like here, hot and humid but we managed. We stayed the night with Randy and Katie and got to see there new addition, Keimo the Bulldog who is so cute. It made want a dog again.......for like a second. Thanks for having us though!

My Winning ticket! The most I won was 20.00 but not too shabby on a 2.00 bet. I was very excited.

The kids taking a quick break before heading to the jumpy house again. Not Drew though. She stuck around with us and tried to nap amongst all the screaming.

Mark worked off all he ate and drank that day by carrying a exhausted Peyton all the way back to the car on his shoulders. If you've ever been on the infield and parked out in the dirt lot, it feels like a mile to get back.

Getting ready for

The first day of school! Peyton's is going to a new school and will be starting 1st grade in just over a week. I don't know if I'm ready to send my boy into the big mean world. He's so excited, very nervous and a little anxious. He constantly is asking me questions, telling me his worries but can't wait to meet new friends. I love that little man!


So, to get ready for his big day he finally agreed to cut his hair. All summer he'd been growing it out wanting to make sure it flopped when he ran. That's a big deal when you're a kid 'cause it makes you look faster. Drew also got in on the action and trimmed the frizzies down so her curls "bounced" a bit more. Poor thing. I'm hoping by the time she goes to kindergarden we'll be able to put a pony tail in!




Drew...before










and during. I forgot to take an after shot but it really doesn't look any different. It's more of a keepsake photo of her first haircut.










Peyton before with his 70's shag do.





And after. His "mohawk". I love that it brings out his baby cheeks. He's growing up to fast.

Lost but Found again

Koda was returned 3 days after she went missing by a nice older couple. The first question they asked us was, do you like her. Um, that's debatable. She chews my shoes, eats the kids toys and sippy cups, and jumps the wall every other day so we're left chasing her through the neighborhood. They were looking for a second dog so we agreed to let them keep Koda for 2 days as a trial. That 2 days has now been 3 weeks and tonight there was a knock at the door. They weren't returning Koda but wanted to just say hi, let the kids see her and let us know they are keeping her. It's nice that she's in a good home and has another dog to play with all day. She's a great dog and although she didn't work in our home I know she's doing good in theirs.

The Suprise

(Horrible pic, I know, but it captures the moment)

Finally, the details to the best birthday party ever. I had to gather some pictures from people so thank you Courtney, Laura and of course the best looking uncle ever, Ruben. He was the professional photographer at my party and I can't wait to see all of the pictures.

Mark had been working for months on what to do for my birthday. Although I was happy with just going to dinner with the kids, it didn't make him happy. He took our phonebook with him to work one day and started making calls and printing up invitations. He called some of my old friends from high school, my girlfriends here in the desert and my family. He planned a fabulous party at the Westin Mission Hills in a small ball room complete with a band, a DJ, an open bar and the best buffett of all my favorite foods. It helps that Mark still works there when needed, so Chef Joel made the food extra special.

Friday before the party Mark decides to tell me that I needed to go shopping for a dress. Um, I don't wear dresses and a day is just not enough time to find a cute one. Not to mention that Carly and Sonny were coming over and I needed to clean. Whatever we're doing couldn't I just wear my uniform of jeans and a cute top? Nope, I had to go buy a dress, with my kids in tow Saturday morning. It wasn't easy. At 5:15 Saturday afternoon Mark then tells me I needed to be ready by 6:00. Gees, couldn't you have told me at 8:00 this morning? We headed off to Roys for appetizer and as we're walking in Mark tells me he has a small suprise. Uh oh, my anxiety is kicking in. There waiting to suprise me were Alec and Erica. I felt relieved because it was a perfect suprise and we got to just relax and talk along with Carly and Sonny. At some point Mark realized that his watch is 15 minutes slow and demands that we finish our drinks because we have 8:00 reservations in Palm Springs. Well, we never made it to Palm Springs and detoured over to the Westin, blind folded, and was literally pushed into a room of about 70 people. Holy moly. It was a lot to take in but absolutely perfect. We ate, laughed and danced the night away. Grandpa always gets the first dance with me. :)

I wish I could describe how happy and blown away I was. It was more than a girl could ever ask for and I felt so special that all of these people were there for me. Carly took all the RSVP's and Courtney put the personal touches by decorating the tables with flowers and pictures of me, family and friends. Of course Mark gets the husband of the year award in my eyes. I can't thank him enough for making my birthday so special. It still blows me away and I wish I could do it again. It went by so fast. The biggest question of the evening: Were you suprised? Absolutely. I knew something was going on because as I said before, I'm a huge snoop, but I didn't know to what extent. As soon as he said we had reservation in Palm Springs, my thoughts were on a party at Courtneys house. I was way off.

More Party Pics

I don't have a lot of pictures with my family. Hopefully, I'll get them soon. This first picture is with my brothers and my mom's best friend Lori.

My Birthday!!!!

Today is my birthday and I had the BEST suprise party ever last night. Lots of pictures and details to come. A special thank you to Carly & Courtney for helping Mark pull it off. You guys are such awesome friends and it means so much that you were so willing to help. Of course the biggest thank you goes to Mark for planning such an event. I knew something was going on because I like to snoop, but I never, ever, expected a big party like last night.

A Birthday Suprise

Well, the big 3-0 is just around the corner and I was pretty bummed when I found out that Jen and Christophe were going away on vacation and wouldn't be here to help me celebrate. Of course if I had the option to lay on a beach in Mexico I would probably choose that as well. Little did I know though that they had a suprise up their sleeve. I don't know how this got by me because I'm very snoopy and a bit like Nancy Drew when it comes to birthdays or Christmas! Much to a lot of peoples suprise, I don't like suprises nor do I like being center of attention in front of large groups. Small groups sure but big groups, it gives me anxiety and stomach aches. But, they planned a wonderful dinner party with just the right amount of people.

Jen and Christophe had called over Courtney, Julie, Tasha and Zoltan over for dinner along with Mark and I. They had gotten Claudia to take all of the kids back to my house so we could relax and enjoy ourselves in the beautiful backyard. The dinner was a spectacular payella (sp?), buffalo mozzerella salad and macaroni salad. YUM. I couldn't ask for a better evening.

Thank you so much to the hosts Jen and Christophe. It was such a fun and memerable night. I almost can't wait till I turn 40!

One topic of conversation: Scrunchies. I believe they went out with Saved by the Bell, but others believe if you can still buy them, they're in.

Me and my cute husband who was so excited at suprising me.

Drew got decked out with Princess shoes and all. Little did I know, she was headed right back home.

Tehachapi

Every year we go to Tehachapi for Mark's family gathering. We eat a ton, relax, then eat again. This year we took the kids to the lake for fishing, softball, ladderball and a playground to play on. The kids were so excited to cast out and reel back that they didn't care if a fish was actually caught. The weather couldn't be better. Growing up there you don't appeciate the beauty of the little town but now I absolutely love it. We got to visit with my mom and dad as well. Drew took a turn to help grandpa mow some of the weeds down.

Peyton and Delaney waiting until it's there turn to cast. 3 cast each then on to the next person!

Drew and Grandma Ann feeding the ducks.

Drew and Grandpa driving the tractor.

Jorja, a girl after my own heart. She's waiting patiently for the food and can't wait to dig in. This was just one of the many buffets.