Happy Birthday Mom :)

We celebrated Mom's birthday at our house this year...she is __ years old! Years don't really matter...she's still youthful in her actions and looks :) Well, but seriously, I am thankful to have my mom around for all she does and helps out with. I am grateful for her health and ability to do all that she does! We had a good time celebrating.

Here were some of the party-goers...

(All 3 of them were watching the Olympics...I'm taking it that something exciting was happening!)

Can't help myself...

I can't help but to take lots of pictures of our growing and changing boy...

Love, love

Happy Valentine's Day!

Handy "men"

I'm glad I married Ben for a number of reasons...obviously. I guess it wasn't really a reason I married him, but I sure am glad he is a "handy man" to have around. He had been given some used cabinets from a friend of his that is flipping a house a little while ago. During the first part of January when Ben was taking his one college class everyday for two weeks, we decided it would be a good time to arrange the garage a little differently. Since we have the shed in the backyard, we could store a lot of the things that were just taking up space in our relatively small garage. I'm pretty excited about this... 

The south side of the garage..Not really a before picture because he had already taken down the "old" shelving device. So this is an "in progress" picture.

The west side..this is actually the after picture. The before picture would've been an old "work table" and   then some tools hanging on the wall where the cabinets now are. I am REALLY excited about these cabinets here. I have a pantry now!!!

The south side.."after" look.

The next project has been one that we were glad to get finished. It was the bar area downstairs. Before we were even married, Ben started working on this..he had tiled the counter top. Then after we were married, he built a shelving area behind the bar so I could store kitchen things. Dad came over to help complete the job with new outlets/lights...we are quite happy with the look and that it is done!

"Grandpa's Helper"

Ben had put up sheet rock after Dad wired it up..then painted.

THANK YOU!!!!

Happy 1/2 birthday Christian

(one week old)

Our little boy is already 6 months old!!! He has grown and changed so much. Christian continues to bless our lives with such pure joy...

(6 months old)

At his 6 month check up everything looked good and he was doing as he should be. He weighs 17 lbs 6 oz and is 26 1/4 in long...which makes him smack in the middle of average for boys his age.

Here's what he's up to lately...

• rolling over, when he is put on his back he is pretty quick about rolling to his belly...can't do it the opposite way yet
• sits up well with help, but doesn't sit alone 
• growling and making other random sounds simply because he can and he must like the sound..it can be pretty entertaining
• spitting/blowing bubbles...once he gets on a roll of making the face where his lips are pushed together and he figures out what he's doing, he can keep it up for quite awhile
• LOVES to be sung to...whether it be to put him to sleep or just for the anyhow 
• grabbing anything in sight..starting to recognize when we are eating or drinking something..he will grab towards it
• usually enjoys his meal time of rice cereal, we tried some food (green beans) for the first time on his 6 month "b-day" but that was a definite no go for now...

Adios Mexico...hello cold KS

Bye bye Tia C...wierd to think the next time we'll see her Christian will be moving all over the place. 

"Uncle Mitch really?? do we have to leave, I mean, I really didn't mind the warm weather and the ocean at all!"

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR A VERY ENJOYABLE FAMILY VACATION!!! SO BLESSED TO HAVE PARENTS LIKE YOU. WE ALL HAD A WONDERFUL TIME :)

Family photos

I didn't get one of the whole family, but got one of the grandkids with Gma and Gpa.

My two handsome boys, dressed up and ready for supper. We ate at the steak restaurant the first night, the mexican restaurant next, and the brazilian the last. Mexican was the favorite!

What happened to our beach!

Yep, that's a bulldozer on the beach. Our beach. Which meant day 4 was spent by the pool instead. The government was doing a mass upgrade to a number of beaches, extending them out 70 feet. Although it was a tad frustrating not to be able to be on the beach, it was quite fascinating to watch the process. A big ship would go out in the ocean and suck up sand from the ocean floor then come a bit away from the shoreline where a tube would connect somehow. Then, these bulldozers and such would prepare for a pipe that would connect and eventually a BUNCH of sand and water came shooting out of it.

Its still warm weather in winter!! Can't complain about too much here.

Siblings night out

Mom and Dad offered to watch the kids while the bigger kids went into town for an evening. We had fun walking around, going into stores, and a walk along the beach. Not sure how I didn't get a picture of Ben or Carissa...but they were there too!

This is like an optical illusion...it looks like the footprints are standing up, but I think its from the way the shadow hits them. 

More beach photos

Fun in the sand

DAY 2

Piling on the sand...

Ready to be sculpted 

The masters at work...

We had all sorts of utensils to use for making things in the sand. Mom brought a ladle and spatula along with other normal tools.

DAY 3

Ready for a new day..a new sand castle.