Way Back When Evan Turned 5

The lucky kid had 2 parties since his aunts couldn't come the first night. He got a lot of fun things, thanks to sweet friends and family.

That is the Lego cake I made. It's no masterpiece. That's what's great about a 5-year-old boy: it's blue and it's a Lego brick and that's all that matters.

Here is one of many large snowstorms we had this past winter. I spent a lot of time shoveling this year. I had to get a picture of Owen in this hat. It was a little small, but so hilarious.

The boys made a snowman.

Owen was very entertained throwing snowballs at me through the door. That's the best way to get hit by a snowball.

Christmas ... in May

Everyone please just ignore me while I catch up (still). I wouldn't care except that I want to have my blog turned into a book as sort of a family journal/photo album. So here's what happened last December ...

The boys talked to Santa ... together. (There is strength/bravery in numbers.)

We decorated the Christmas tree.

The boys enjoyed playing in the snow. I got to shovel it.

We put Christmas lights on the house with the help of the (in)famous Exterior Illuminator, T-Em.

Here she is posing with our cute snowman who put the burned-out bulbs to good use. (We discovered that even with a soft, snowy cushion at his base, light bulbs didn't make for very safe facial features for our friend. So we took his picture, then defaced him.)

I accidentally sewed my finger and managed to yank it out from the sewing machine so fast that the needle broke off inside. I was lucky--it came down right next to the bone. I was not so lucky when the doctor had to pull off my finger nail to remove the needle.

We enjoyed a cold and brief visit to Temple Square in SLC to see the lights.

Santa did indeed visit this past Christmas. Which proves the boys were good, I guess. Although there were times I would argue otherwise.

Casey designed us a lovely Christmas card with our wonderful new family photos. Sorry if you didn't get one. :)

November 2009 in 3 Pictures

Thanksgiving dinner at our house ... yummmm!

The resemblance is uncanny!

Owen discovered his love of scissors (which Evan didn't even know existed until preschool).

October 2009 in 6 Pictures

Okay. I have to catch up. Have to! I have a new camera now, which I would like to start using and blogging with. So as hard as it is, I'm picking 1 picture per event for the last, oh, 6 months or so. (How pathetic is that?) And then I will try ever so hard to be good at keeping track of life as we go along. Here we go:

Last October we ...

~finished landscaping our yard, which involved lots of concrete, a new fence in the front (including gates to keep the kids contained), and plants and trees.

~made our 2nd (or 3rd?) annual trip to Hee Haw Farms (which was a lot lamer than year(s) past).

~watched Evan's preschool Halloween parade (cute and hilarious, as usual).

~carved pumpkins (with a Disney theme this year).

~dressed up and went trick-or-treating.

~found Owen the morning after Halloween eating the nerds off the floor that Evan had snuck up to his room and spilled all over (such a refined child).

The Happiest Birthday on Earth

Kate suggested I add photos from her real birthday. Now that was a party! She, Emily and I went to California for a long weekend. We visited Grandma Berkline and on Kate's birthday, we went to Disneyland because she got in for free. It was so fun! Kate and Emily are Disneyland die-hards so it's great going with them. We were there from open until close. And it was extra special because the park was Halloween-themed.
(P.S. I stole these from Kate's Facebook. I didn't have a purse-sized camera so Em and Kate have all the photos. I would have stolen some from Em, too, but I didn't see hers on her Facebook.)

Here we are on the tram ride into the park.

I think this is in line for the Haunted Mansion. (One of these things is not like the others ...)


This was on Small World. Thank goodness Grandma gave us her fans to use that day. It was HOT!

This is Mullet Man and his woman. We enjoyed laughing at his expense.

Here is Kate, so scared of the pirates!

Here is Kate's birthday button. We kept track of how many times people told her "Happy Birthday." I think it was close to 50.

This is right before the BEST Star Tours ride EVER!
(If you get a chance, sit on the back row and lift up your feet and arms. Let the craziness take your body where it will!)

The Buzz Lightyear ride.

We got to eat dessert at the Blue Bayou. (Yes, dessert only. It's too pricey.) Little did we know that they were about to close down for good. We were lucky to even get a reservation ... and it was at 9:30PM, if I remember right.

The Blue Bayou.

On my favorite (NOT) ride, Splash Mountain.

Heading home in the deep abyss of LAX.

Fall Birthdays

We celebrated both Casey's and Kate's birthdays back in ... oh, a few months ago. Does it really matter anymore? I'm still so far behind. That's okay. I'm catching up and that's what's important. Right???

Here is Casey opening a present from me (a picture of a new office chair b/c I knew he wanted one for painting but he's picky so I didn't bother with the hassle of buying one because I knew I would be returning it--I was right).

Owen with the candy that Kate gave to Casey.

A cute picture of Kate.

Casey opening a present from Evan: Lego Star Wars Wii game--just what Daddy (read: Evan) always wanted!

Oh, look ... Owen still has the candy.

I made a Mountain Dew cake for Casey since that is his favorite beverage. It wasn't that great, but I'm pretty sure Owen would have been happy with any cake sitting on that plate.

This was right before the spit ...

This was right after.

Owen and Kate playing before her birthday party.

I'm not sure what they're doing here, but it's cute.

Kate is really excited for her party. And her dessert--chocolate peanut butter bonbons.


Oh, look--Owen is joining in.

And Owen is right where the treats are. I think he likes them. They were pretty good. We had fun parties.