The Kiddos love their new Baby

Besides Parker ignoring Paisley completely for the first few days everyone is adjusting rather well to the new addition to the family! They can't give her enough kisses and Parker asks to "pet" her everyday.

Introducing Miss Paisley Mae

I haven't made a post in almost a year so I figure the arrival of our precious Paisley is a good time to start! Paisley was born on January 28, 2011 at 12:11pm. She was 8 lbs 3 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. It was the longest labor ever!! I went in on January 27th at 8:30am! We are absolutely in love with this sweet spirit that Heavenly Father has blessed us with.

Vegas Baby!

So I am no longer a Vegas Virgin! Doug and I had the opportunity to go to Vegas for a business meeting... well Doug had a meeting and my only meeting was relaxing in our hotel room. I had fun walking the strip during the day and doing some shopping. We enjoyed relaxing away from our normal life and sight seeing. Next trip to Vegas I would like to stay at the Paris Hotel. It was so stinkin' cute! I ate breakfast at a little cafe there one morning. Fun!

Papa's Helper

My dad is such an amazing man! He has helped us so much with all our projects with the "new" house. Landen is the best helper ever! He helped Papa put together the pantry one day. It was so awesome watching them work together. I am so blessed!!

Family Fun

My cousin Natalie came to Turlock for a visit from Oregon with her 4 kids. My kids had the best time playing outside and running around at Great Grandma's house. They all tried grapefruit straight off Grandma's tree, sour faces all around. Parker loved following 3 year old Ashely around. They played for about an hour and then we needed to head back to Fresno. They are still talking about their cousins and all the fun they had.

St. Patrick's Day Breakfast for Dinner

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a yummy and fun dinner! Green pancakes with chocolate chips, green milk with a shamrock straw, green eggs, bacon, and for dessert was a cookie brownie... the kids loved it!

Parker turns 2!

Wow! I can't believe my baby is 2! Time is just flying by. We had a few people over to help us celebrate. Parker was a little under the weather, but still managed to scarf down some cupcake, play the wii with the boys, and bowl a few games in the entry way. Parker is such an absolute joy! We all love him so much!

The Huber Cabin for New Years

We were lucky enough to get invited back to the Huber cabin to what has turned into an annual New Year's Funcation! The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE going to the cabin and we think it is pretty sweet too. A snow playground is a few steps outside the backdoor and then the hot tub is where to be after the snowball fight. The kids also love playing games and hanging out inside too. It was so much fun. This is one of those trips that the kids talk about the whole year. Thank you Kris and Dawna for sharing your amazing cabin and thanks to everyone else for making the cabin so amazing!

Our 10 year Anniversary

Doug and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on November 25th! It's crazy how fast the past 10 years has flown by. My parents watched the kids for a couple of days and we shopped for Christmas, ate lots of yummy food at some of our favorite restaurants... El Jardin, Yosemite Ranch, and Casa Carona. We enjoyed spending time together and catching up on some sleep. I am so blessed to have such an amazing man for my eternal companion.

P-DAWG

To say that Parker has personality would be an understatement. This kid cracks us up! He could be upset and crying and you pull out a camera and he does the hugest, over dramatic cheese ever. We were out to dinner with my mom and he was getting a little fussy. Landen got my camera and Parker said "Cheeeeese" then Landen put the camera down and Parker got all serious and pouty then Landen pulled it out again and big cheeser again. At Serentiy's birthday party he wanted to be part of the action too. The girls were sitting in a circle and he started going around the circle and patting each one's head (trying to play duck duck goose). He loved the boxes that Ren's toys came in, especially this one that had a clear front, a perfect helmet. Our Parker is the sweetest thing ever!!

A few more of the DL

BTW every ride home from the DL I look back and my kiddos have devised some get up to entertain themselves. This trip it was some headwear using those handy dandy pillow cases.

Disneyland

We were happy to return to the happiest place on earth to celebrate the halloween festivities. All of Main Street was decorated in fall colors and lots of pumpkins. The kids had a blast seeing the characters and riding their favorite rides. Landen's favorite ride was the Go Gadget coaster in Toontown. It is a super short ride but a good little roller coaster. Serenity's favorite ride is still California Screamin' - crazy girl! Parker was content with just about everything however we rode the ferris wheel in California Adventure (the one with the rocking car) he wasn't too sure if he should be happy and frightened, he had the whole laugh/cry thing going on :)

Girl Scouts visit Cobb Ranch

Serenity is in Girl Scouts and it has been super fun! This is the last year for Cobb Ranch so the girl's decided to go to the pumpkin patch for one of our meetings. They had fun looking for pumpkins, petting the animals, and eating the yummy pudding that Hannah brought.

Bowling Lessons

I signed the kids up for bowling lessons! It was an AWESOME deal! 4 weeks 2 games each week with shoes, then each week we got an email for 2 free games that week all for $40 for both of them. No one else signed up so it was just the coach and my kiddos. Landen LOVED it! Parker would sit in the stroller and watch the whole time without complaining. He would even clap and cheer for his big brother and big sister, so cute!

Deborah and Marshall's Wedding

My friend since kindergarten, Deborah, got hitched this last weekend! My best friend Cindy and I were in the wedding :) Marshall is a huge SF Giants fan so the theme of baseball and all the glory of orange and black were scattered throughout the night. The favors were cracker jacks, big league bubble gum, and peanuts. The flower girls carried old catching gloves with petals and instead of a guest book the guests signed 2 wooden bats and 2 baseballs. They even had a big screen to show the World Series game after the ceremony, but the game was already over. It was a really nice evening and I enjoyed hanging out with Cin without any kids :)

Landen's First Day

Landen is in the transitional kindergarten class at Children's Activity Center this year. His teacher's are wonderful, Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Whalen. Serenity had the same teachers her second year of pre-school so Landen already knows them so that always helps. In fact the day we went to meet the teachers and visit the school he said, "I already know all of this, I just want to go out and play on the playground." I guess technically this is his 4th year of being involved with CAC since Serenity attended CAC for 2 years and now this is Landen's second year. He loves singing songs and of course playing outside.

Serenity's 1st day of 1st Grade

Serenity was very excited to start school, but that first week was killer. Such long days, in fact one day after school she got in trouble and it seriously was not a big deal and she started crying and was so emotional. She said, "Daddy, but I've had such a LONG day!" She seems to love it and loves her teacher, Mrs. Jackson! Here is to a wonderful year!

Book of Mormon Read-a-thon

I had an AMAZING experience this past week that I will NEVER forget! Thanks to my mommy who came and watched my kiddos, I had the opportunity to join the Young Women of our ward and read the Book of Mormon cover to cover in just over 29 hours. We started on Thursday, August, 12 at 4pm and ended with a testimony meeting around a fire at 9:00pm on Friday, August 13. The Young Women are crazy but amazing girls and I am so happy I could be a part of this wonderful experience. My testimony of the Book of Mormon grew so much. It is such an inspiring book that changes people's lives. It is most definitely another testament of Jesus Christ and how blessed we are to have it in our lives. I was humbled by the stories and sad that i have taken it for granted for so long. Thank you Kolette for inviting me... I had so much fun!

What happens when my kids get a hold of the camera...

My kids LOVE to take pictures. And you never know what pictures will show up on the camera. But I LOVE to see the world from their perspective. Sometimes I see their little fingers in front of the lens or their toys lined up or every wall in the room that surrounds them. My FAVORITE pictures that they take are of each other. Here are a few of the most recent pics from my little photographers.