ARRGH, Y'MATEY! Happy Birthday Christian!

Today was a special day for our family. The time has come once again to celebrate our son's birthday. We try to do something that our little guy loved and this year we came up with pirates. We don't like to be home and dwell on the sore feelings we have and think of how we miss him tons-although the hubs and I still do think of all that we are missing with him. We wanted to do something big this year, because our boy would be 10 today. WOW! Enter in this new, fun, adventurous place...It's a fun themed restaurant in Orem and the kids ABSOLUTELY had a blast!

This was our very last birthday with Christian, and lucky him, the Make-A-Wish foundation combined his wish with his birthday. He REALLY, REALLY wanted to go to Disneyland and have a party with Goofy, and poof- they made it happen. The best time ever! This year it was really hard to celebrate and realize he would be 10. Trying not to cry and be upset, I wanted to be out and doing some fun, big activity. We even got the grandparents in on it. The hubs' parents came with and seemed to enjoy hangin' with us. We of course went up to the cemetery first and took our boy some balloons. The weather was nasty, so we just let them go and got back in the car due to the rain and wind, but at least he got his birthday balloons.
This place was so cool. They don't call it Pirate Island for nothing. Pirates EVERYWHERE, and a huge pirate ship in the dining area. The kids were in complete awe, as was I. I love when my ideas turn out and everyone has fun. There were cannons going off, an ARRGH cade, pizza, pirate playground, pirate shootin gallery, and games galore! Poor hubs, he's soooo tired now. He took the kids to the games and fun while I fed Bella and finished eating myself. He's all tuckered out!
This is part of the pirate playground. It had 2 slides, a climbing wall, steering wheel, and a bunch of other things to do. Noah loved it and we couldn't get him to leave it without a little protest. I had to bribe him with getting him a prize with tickets from the games we played.

The canons on the big ship that fired off 3 times while we were there. Maybe more, but I only noticed it that many times.

Miss Kaleigh bugs just needed a pic with the pirate statue sooo bad. It greeted us as we walked in. The entrance alone was crazy. The kids were in awe and then more so once we were escorted to our table.

This is the backside of the ship where we were sitting. Fun, fun. Lanterns, music, pirates singing, cannons going off, crickets chirping-it was great!

The kids all got some balloon animals too. They all loved them. Alexis got a crocodile, Logan and Noah got monkeys, and Kaleigh and Laney got parrots-perched on their shoulders and everything.

Pirate on the plank-loved it. His eyes glowed green when the pirates started talking and getting ready to fire the cannons.

Skull cave that was the entrance to the Arrghcade. Such great detail to everything. We were even served by a pirate that took great care of us.

Pirate shooting gallery. Alexis had some great fun here!

More of the shooting gallery

Even the bathroom hall was decked out. I'm crazy! I needed to get pics of everything.

More of the entrance. Love the detail!

The end of our evening, we had to get a pic of all the kids. They all were so tuckered out they fell right to sleep when we got home. Fun was had by all!

Logan and Noah even got to ride on a train. I think this is where Noah was finally ready to go home. No nap makes for one tuckered out Noah.

Bella on the way home. What do ya think? Think she had fun? I can't believe my baby is big enough now to sit forward in her big baby car seat. Ahh, time needs to slow down. I had a lot of fun with my little family today and I didn't cry once while we were there. It's kinda hard to see my other boys without Christian, but at least I know he's still mine. Logan will be older than Christian was when we lost him at the end of this month. That's something that stings, but hopefully the sting will get easier over time. Boy do I sure miss my Mr. C! May God take care of him until I can again! Love you my dear boy and Happy Birthday!!

Some more pics I just thought were adorable

Here's some more cute pics, all of them of Bella with everyone. I will NOT be posting any pics with me, simply 'cause I look horrid and don't want them on here. Although, my lovely cuz decided to post them on facebook for all to see. Let's just say-Shamoo anyone? Anywho, this one you can totally tell Bella was LOOVIN' Christina and vice versa. Aren't they just sooo caaute, to boot!Bella always happy when she was with Christina, as long as she didn't see me, then not so much.
Loved, loved, loved the cell phones. She even has a "new" one that was sent home with us. It's her new toy-and yes it really is an old one with the battery taken out.
I love that this face was finally caught in a pic. She does this ALL the time and it is the funniest thing ever. She puckers and brings her bottom lip over the top one. She was havin' a good ole time crawling discovering new and fun things.

Isn't this just precious? She really did enjoy everyone she met, well maybe not Micah that much. She had a hard time warming up to the guys, except Dan. She really liked him. Funny that he doesn't like holding babies, but looked like he was in love with Bella while holding her. She has that affect on people. My cute lit'l babe with her cell phone and her kitty. The real, black one scared her to death when he jumped up on this chair on the arm and hopped up onto the back of it. She learned how to say "moew," now we need to teach her it's "meow." Cute baby, cute aunt, and VERY fun trip. Will remember it ALWAYS!

Washington Trip

Bella and I had a blast on our trip to Washington. I went for my cousin, Christina's, graduation. I couldn't be there for the actual graduation-this Friday, but I went for her family party and to visit them all. I last saw my cousins when Eric and I got married 12 1/2 years ago. I saw my aunt 5 years ago at Christian's funeral, so it's been a long, long, long time. My cousins were little kids and now they are all grown up. Man, time flies when you're having fun. Funny story about the pic below. This is my cousin Dan. He's 21 and refuses to hold babies. He scared to DEATH that he'll drop them. He loved Bella, and as you can see, he held her. Awww, so cute.This is my aunt Sue-Sue. That's what I called her when I was little. Now, it's just auntie Sue. She was smitten with Bella, but then who wouldn't be with this adorable, beautiful girl. She pulls everyone in her who comes across her.
Eventhough it rained, a lot, it was beautiful in Renton. It stopped raining just in time for Christina's party, which was good, cause it was outside. I'm in love with their house, because the backyard is actually a forest. LOVE IT!!! It has a grass area, but then behind it are huge, big, trees and into the forest you go.
Here's all three of my cousins. Christina, Dan-holding Bella again, and Micah-the oldest and he's married now to a cutie-potootie gal, Becca.

Christina cutting her grad cake from Costco. Bella was in pure heaven because she just loves, loves, LOVES cake.

Bella, just lovin' finding new "toys" to play with. She also loved their cat, Cole, unless he came right up to her face, then, not so much.

This is what I woke up to one morning. Yep, those are deer in the backyard. Right smack out the door. My aunt sent me out to scare them off, because they were eating her flowers, but they WERE NOT scared of me. They just stood there starring at me. I have never seen deer in a backyard before. Bella loved them and crawled right up to the door talking away at them. She had a blast. I was so sure she would be scared because it's a new place and a whole lot of new people, but she loved them all. My family loved her to death and were sad to see her, I mean us, go.

We went to the locks in Seattle, the neatest thing ever. I have never seen this before, but they lower and raise water so the boats can pass through. This was one of the big fishing boats that they raised the water for. So cool! Bella just loved trying to climb over the fence, and Christina, well, she just loved holding Bella. They were best buds the whole trip. It's funny, Christina's baby pic looks just like Bella. Cutie Patootie girls.

And here's the cutie patootie newlywed couple. I call them that, because they are only reaching their 3rd Anniversary this summer. That's Becca, Micah's wife. She's real nice and sweet. Good match for my cuz. They've been together since 8th grade, WOW!!

The boat as the water raises up. Very cool to see and watch the boat raise up over you. Big fishing boat. Oh yeah, side note, I saw one of the Deadliest Catch boats docked in Seattle. Those are some big boats, whoa! The Time Bandit apparently comes into Seattle quite a bit.

A trip into Seattle wouldn't be complete without a pic of the space needle. It was a rainy day so we just drove by, but man, the city is an awesome place. Loved it and we had a blast. I can't wait to go back in a year or two with my whole clan. My aunt is gonna put us up and probably go a little crazy with my wild bunch, but it will be a fun time to let them all see all the kids.

Sweet Bella all tuckered out by the crazy, fast trip. She was so good and was an excellent little flyer. On the way there she played with the window, ate a snack and had some juice. She didn't squawk at all. On the way back, as soon as the plane took off she fell asleep and didn't wake up until we touched down in SLC. Good times and I was very glad she was so good and proud too cause there were 3 other babes on our plane that didn't do as well as her. Quick trip, but had tons and tons of fun. Hope to go back soon!

Christian's Garden

For the last few years I've had a really hard time getting up to the cemetary to visit my little boy. It brings me nothing but anguish and pain, so I really hate going up there. I decided about 3 years ago we would do a little garden in memory of our Mr. C and we finally got it done. It has been done for 2 weeks now and everything is really growing fast. I had a little kid size bench I wanted to put in his garden, but it needed some sprucin', so enter my BFF, spray paint. Love the stuff, and his bench is gorgeous. I painted his name on it and placed it in his garden. We planted some forget me nots, bleeding hearts, hostas, and some pretty foxgloves. I thought all the plants names fit real well in his garden. We placed the statue we got shortly after he passed away. The lovely in-laws gave it to us and it fits perfectly. We placed all the stepping stones we made and they bring some more color and love to his special place. The kids all love it and they love to see his plants growing more everyday.


It was a long FHE project that took us a good 3 weeks to complete, but well worth it. Everyone had a part in it and the kids loved prepping the area to make it nice and clean, and rock-less, for Christian's garden. They took great care and pride for their brother's special place. They miss him tons, but enjoyed making a lasting place for him in our yard.

House Party Hasbro Game Night!!

It came! It came! It came!I signed up with House Party to try and host a Hasbro Game Night and I got picked! Woot! Woot!

This is all the stuff they sent us for free for our party night on June 17th. It's so we can try out Trivial Pursuit's new game "Bet you know it." We also got electronic catch phrase, taboo, triscuits galore, wheat thins, and some yummy hershey's candy. We also have coupons for all our party guests that gives them $5 off for one of their games. So, don't forget all you party guests, come on down and party at the Game House. If you want to come and somehow didn't get your invite just email the hubs or me and you bet your booty you can come on down!

Oh for the love of STRAWBERRIES!

Being that it was Bella's actual birthday yesterday, I just HAD to make her a birthday treat. Eventhough I was way behind on packing and the many other items on my list that needed to be done before this afternoon's flight, I decided to make this glorious beast of strawberry heaven. Ain't she a beaut!Bella just loves, loves, loves strawberries! If I would let her, I think she would eat a whole 4 pound container of Costco strawberries, if I would let her. I don't think so. I like to keep the diaper changes to a minumum thank you very much. Anywho, I thought what not better treat than a homemade strawberry pie. It turned out so good that I can give Marie Callendar's Fresh Strawberry pie a run for its money. I like this one way better and our crazy, sweet-loving bunch finished an entire pie. Good thing I made two, the rest of the clan can have some more tonight when Bella and I are in Washington.

Here's what the yumminess looked like all sliced up and undressed in all her glory. YUMMY! Makes me want another piece right now!
And here she is all dressed in her white, creamy goodness. Best pie ever and very easy. I made my own pie crust then baked it. Then I filled it with a ton of fresh, washed, Costco strawberries, and then I made my own glaze. Now, you can buy the glaze at the grocery store, but I personally think it is nasty. So I made my own with jell-o! Super easy...
1 c sugar
1c water
3 T cornstarch
3 T strawberry jell-o(I personally didn't have any so I used raspberry instead, still sooo good)
Bring to a boil in a saucepan and boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Pour over strawberries in the pie crust and let set up for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Eat and Enjoy, we sure did!

Bella is 1!!!

It's official... Bella Georgia is ONE today! This little gal cracks me up everyday. I was trying to get cute pics of her in her birthday tutu I made, but she SO was NOT havin' it. I got this adorable pic of her while holding her. She finds the camera fascinating, in fact she finds all electronic gadgets and gizmos simply amazing. Forget toys, this one finds pure joy in our T.V. remote. She's definitely ours, all our babes have preferred non-toys as their play things.I love her sweet face.
This is the pink tutu I made. I can't believe how simple it was to make and now my other two "girly" girls are demanding I make them some too. Fine by me, my craftin and bakin keep this momma from the looney bin!
I just had to include this one. I SO don't blame the gal. Tulle is certainly not the most comfy of things to be wearing. Bella hates it on, but loves to play with it when it is sitting on the floor. Oh well, I made it a little bigger so she can wear it into her toddler years as well. She just looks SO cute in it, I couldn't resist "torturing" her again to get some pics.