New favorite

Pied Piper Photography

Looks like several of my friends know about this gal already. Pretty talented photographer. I am a new and big fan.

Burton's Birthday 6

We had a friend party for our little B. This picture shows the pure joy of a 6 year old and a can of silly string.

We had lots of friends and fun. Burton is a sweet kid. Little intense. Burton Loves video games and we as responsible parents try to keep it to a minimum. Recently I told him that I talked to the Dr about his video gaming, and the Dr said that "He can't play more than an hour at a time or it will make him stupid." And he actually bought it. And Wesley. Hey, I'm not lying. I really do think it would make him stupid but, I didn't actually talk to the Dr. So funny how it sounds more official and believable coming from Him/Her. I will have to play that card sparingly.

Pizza on a trampoline. Fun fun fun.

His wonderful friends brought great presents and presence. Ha. Really fun kids.

I made the cake. I am sad to say. It is supposed to be car parts that shape up to be a car. Like fenders and wheels and stuff like that. Burton liked it.

We had a family party with just us and the boys. Love being with these boys. It isn't a quiet life.

I like these 2 pictures with the change of the focus. Look at that face. Fire!

Happy Birthday Burton

Nate's 40th Birthday

Friday Morning is when the fun started. Our wonderful office staff decorated for Nate and surprised him with pictures of him self on the wall as a baby. Awe.

I wanted to make an effort too. (I am usually asleep before Nathan leaves in the morning so I had to come up with some lame excuse about going to the store early before the kids left for school) So as soon as he left the house. I started yelling "go go go! get in the car come one party at dads office" Kids had no idea. I didn't trust em to keep the secret. So they were bewildered and a little unnerved I think. We were out the door in 2 minutes. Record time. We showed up after the surprise but it was still fun. They sang to him.The rest of the birthday was creative i guess you could call it. Amanda called it "weird". Maybe you would too. But let me explain. I wanted to have a party. Do I have it at a restaurant? Ick. Can't talk to any one unless they are at your table. At a hotel? Um that would have to be a big hotel room. Our house? that would mean I would have to clean it. And I wanted to get away. So I rented a house in Gilbert through VRBO.com. 2 nights in a nice clean house close to our house in case I was needed at home. So Friday night we went out with friends and then got to sleep in a silent house, all to our selves. Nice change. Then Nate got up in the morning to golf with some buds. Came back to the house and took a nap. Awesome. Then we went shopping. And got ready for the party. Thai food and pool. Great friends.

Thanks Sarah, for bringing the birthday hat. Nice touch.

This one of Ryan is hilarious. Love it Ryan. Give it all you've got. Take no prisoners.

He said that it was a great birthday. Nathan is my best friend. I'm so grateful for him and his wonderful example. I am so glad he's mine. Love you babe.

Oscar's Birthday

Oscar is 10. What? Pretty fun watching these guys grow up. So I wanted to have a party for his friends and I really wanted to avoid Pizza/Jump joints. I googled what to do for 10 yo birthday party. Video game party. Bingo. I know you can rent the trucks with the games inside. But Im cheap. So I borrowed. Thank you to the Webster, Buyack, Richardson, Livingstone, and Peralta families. 5 Gaming stations and 11 boys. So much fun. Sure there was the occasional glitch and they needed some tech support, but on the whole. Big success. I recommend.

We had 3 wii consoles, PS3, and an xbox360. Lots of games and licorice and lemonade and pizza. A night of Excess.

We had a family party on a different night. Planning parties gets complicated the older they get. So yes 2 parties.
I think I need to try harder on the cake for the next kid. I am just seeing how long Oscar will let me get away with Halloween deco. Birthday is Nov 1st.

Happy Birthday My Boy. Oscar is a smart, wonderful kid and we love having him in our family. Keeps us on our toes.

Chasing the Garbage Truck

YY loves the garbage truck. We missed it on our street so we hopped on the bike and took off looking for it in the neighborhood. We looked and looked and just as we were going to give up, (well I was going to give up) we found it! In the Wiser, Schlerf neighborhood. So we followed it for 3 streets. Oooos and Aahhhs from the back seat. Mitt likes it too. On the last street we ended up being down wind. Well that's it for me. Yuck. But man it was a beautiful day nice ride and YY got his garbage truck fill for today. He is a one-track-mind kind of kid.

Notice we didn't even have time for pants. Not when the garbage truck in on the move.

The 1st Halloween Party

Getting ready for the party means that all past costumes get pulled out and tried on. Emmett really wanted to be the dog. 16 months and he knows what he wants. Cute cute.

Ok so the makeup jobs are pretty awful. Getting 5 zombies ready for the party was fun but I am not good with the makeup. Oh well. Thank heaven they are supposed to look messed up. Brains for dinner. That's how you get that look.

I made all these zombie costumes. Took me about 20 minutes. Only YY and Wes ended up wearing them. They are not comfortable as you can imagine.

Emmett's 3rd costume. Little bat.

Here is the sunset at the Trunk or Treat. Wow.

The ward party was a complete success. Thanks to our primary, there was about 20 different soups and candy galore. What more can you ask for.

Beach Bums

Shields Family Reunion time. We had a beautiful vacation with the Cowley's and Shields and Nana and Bumpa. The beach was cold but that didn't stop the kids.

It was over cast most of the time. Works for me. Everyone else was hoping for more sun.

Love this one of Nana and YY.

The house on the far right is the house we rented.

This was at the Wedge. It has crazy high waves. They weren't that high the day we went or the time of day. But there were plenty of surfer/skurfers. I don't have the lens to take pictures. To do it justice.
There is a wave in this one. But it is just different being there. Look at that shoreline. Those waves are powerful.
We had a relaxing week hanging out at the beach house. We went to a swap meet though. Got some hummus and a helicopter toy. Oh and I got a new purse. I needed one bad.