What a Weekend

Mom's 60th birthday was this past Monday, June 6.  To celebrate Crystal, Ashley, Dad, and I planed a celebration weekend full of surprises.

Surprise #1:
Mom's sister Judy and cousin Laura flew up late Friday night from California to surprise her.  We all met in Canby mid morning and they surprised her there.  Mom could not believe it and squealed with excitement when they walked into the room.  To allow the 3 of them to chat we ate lunch and hung around Crystal's house for a few hours.

Surprise #2:
Early afternoon we headed to the Rose Festival City Fair in downtown Portland.  The kids enjoyed playing carnival games and riding a few rides.  The weather was AMAZING!!!!!

 
Surprise #3:
Dinner at Jake's Grill.  The before mentioned family, mom's cousin Mike, and friends Margaret and Dave joined us to surprise mom for a delicious dinner.  We reserved a room that was separate from the restaurant and that worked out great for the kids.  They all were very well behaved but it also was nice that they did not have to sit at the table for 2 hours.

Laura, Judy, Mom, Mike

The whole gang, minus Mike 

Surprise #4
After dinner we enjoyed the Starlight Parade.  Ashley and Paul graciously set up chairs for everyone while the kids were enjoying the City Fair.  It was nice to watch the parade with out needing coats or blankets.

Mike plays the Tuba in the One More Time Around Marching Band

Mom and Dad stayed downtown at the Governor's\ hotel Saturday night while everyone else stayed at Crystal's.  Sunday morning we all met up again for breakfast and more great conversation.

It truly was a magical weekend.

the big 3

Celebration breakdown:

Saturday, May 14, we ventured up to Portland to see Elmo and gang live.  Papa, Grandma J, Remmy, Garrett, and Crystal joined us for the show.

The stage; picture taken with my phone so not the best

Jaden, Remmy, and Garrett; the best picture I could get with 3 children

After the show we met Jeff, Tom, Ashley, and Paul in Canby for a birthday dinner and cake.

Admiring his delicious cake

Thursday, May 19, Jaden took cupcakes to school and had Ashley, Papa, Grandma J, and Amy over for a dinner of Mac and Cheese and hot dogs.

They give him this birthday hat at school, nice expression Jaden

Time to open gifts:

I told him to hold it up 

Bag from Grandma J and Papa, the wheels even light up

Year 3 was big for Jaden, here are some of his accomplishments:

 - became a big brother

 - moved to a big kid bed, also changed rooms

 - started preschool

 - learned to use the toilet and wear big kid underwear

Lastly here is Jaden's quote for the day:

"You can use my bathroom mama, it is clean, daddy's bathroom is icky" 

9 months

May 16th = 9 months old!!!

 Able to stand without holding onto a person

Caleb at 9 months:

FINALLY sleeping through the night more often than not

no teeth

ready to crawl at any moment

eating solids for breakfast and dinner, soon we will add lunch

likes banana, apple sauce, peas, avocado, squash, cheerios

enjoys watching Bailey and Tucker

claps

gets upset in the nursery at church but not at the gym 

loves his mommy, daddy, and brother

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Bathroom redo

Before

During

After 

And.......

 

We added a little color to our dining room

Oops

For some reason I forgot to include the following Easter pictures:

 

Easter 2011

Comparison:

Easter Saturday 2010

Easter Saturday 2011 - temperature near 70 degrees

Our church hosted "Easter in the Park" on Saturday and because of the magnificent weather a huge crowd attended.  I helped with the game area, more specifically bowling which turned out to give me quite the work out.  Kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt, face painting, crafts, games, and snacks.  Jaden specifically enjoyed picking up each plastic egg and shaking it to make sure there was candy inside before putting it in his basket.

Sunday pictures:

We all went to church in the morning, hunted for real Easter eggs in the afternoon, and enjoyed a delicious ham dinner.