Happy Bday Brookie Brooke!

We had a family birthday party for Brooke on her bday in February but hardly the same as celebrating with the girlfriends! We waited till the weather got a little nicer and picked a great March day to gather the girls.

I love Brooke's friends! They are uniquely different, yet all very tolerant of each others differences.

Our family loves to fondue and was a fun tradition to share with the girls. It's a dining experience and lends to some great dinnertime conversation!

The girls were good sports to play Minute-to-Win-It and found themselves in some crazy problems to solve in a minute! Silly fun!

Happy 17 Brookie! We love you and are blessed to share these days together! xoxo

POLAR BEAR CLUB - March 25, 2011

Kowabunga dudes!

Saturday March Morning Serendipities

So fun to have the kids live close and pop in any time.  I was folding laundry in my room and the kiddos all wanted to jump in my bed to snuggle up and watch cartoons.   Simple joys of the morning!  xo

Hair Crisis

Steve is growing out his hair! Precisely because ... HE CAN! Most friends his age do not have hair or the option to do so, and since he does ... he will! It has been a hoot to listen to his stories every night of the abuse he takes from people's comments.

Steve has sported a buzz for so many years that people don't realize he has naturally curly, curly hair. So the comments stem from mid-life crisis hair ... to, did you get a perm? I have been so amused by the unruly hair trying to grow out and the abuse he is willing to take. Curious how long this will last and happy at least its not a new motorcycle.

Happy Bday Haley Mae!

Snugglin with Wyatt

We have a team of boys and only one girl ... Haley Mae!

We love her and so grateful she leads this next generation of youth (a tough station to occupy).

She is determined to carve the feminine path, creative, smart, giggly, athletic, artistic and loves family, the cousins and especially babies!

The one thing she wanted to do for this 6th birthday was go on a special date with Mom and Dad to get her ears pierced.

These pictures say it all! Happy Day!

Happy, happy 6th birthday Haley Mae! We are so proud of our favorite girl!!! xoxo

Look alikes

Many people say Wyatt (Ashley's baby), looks like Todd (sorry Bobby), ... what do you think?

Happy BIrthday Todd!

I have to recalculate every year how old we all are - ignorance is bliss! Can't believe Todd is THIRTY! The shock factor is all about me ... how can I have children that are 30?! I'm fine with him being 30 (I think). It becomes an out-of-body experience putting a pencil to the dates and having floods of memories validate the years, but then again, he was a baby yesterday! His baby reminds me of him as a baby, and sometimes I blink, thinking ... who's baby is this?

 The dash between the years abbreviates a bigger space of time and I wonder how come life can pass by so quickly. No, these are not ramblings of dementia, just the tricks time plays on your head. Time is moving fast and sometimes I forget I need to move with it. I hope to have a slower year.

Every family needs a Todd!  He has always occupied the station of Peacemaker in our family - Blessed are the peacemakers!

He is a gentle giant ... loving father and husband ... successful ...

righteous example ... patient ...  tender ...  willing servant ...

spiritual ... perseverant ...  thoughtful ... kind ... and

so, so, witty - makes us laugh in unexpected times - such a gift!

We had a great time playing Minute-to-Win It games and watch each other make fools of ourselves!   Love family time!

The 3 newest babies - Brooklyn Lee, Wyatt Silva and Brody Lee

Funny story on this.  Tanner was with me when we bought this kite for Daddy's birthday.   I should have known better and not said it was for Daddy but we discussed secrets and how fun it is to be a big boy and keep them.   When we got home he watched me hide it in Heather's closet (my second mistake), and I again reminded to not tell Daddy.    

Unbeknown to me, when Daddy got home he took him right to the forbidden closet and showed him the kite (good thing the rest of the gifts weren't in there!).    Todd told Tanner, "We'd better keep this a secret from Mimi and not tell her about you showing me the kite."  That secret he kept!

    No big deal because Todd always gets a kite  - synonymous with a March bday!

Happy Birthday Todd!   We love you so much and grateful for the years, laughter and memories!  xoxo

St Patty's Day - the luck 'o the Irish

We go all out - green eggs, pancakes, rolls ... whatever ... and the traditional corned beef dinner ... once a year!

8 days old - shoulda been his birthday!  (look how fab Ash looks already - skinny minny!)

Caleb loves to snuggle up with Papa

Busted!   I thought I heard two little mice in the pantry!

"Mimi, there must be something other than green things to eat in this pantry!"

Splish splash time

Legacy of Love

Wyatt's blanket.  I am not a quilter but do enjoy making each baby their lil bundle of love to cuddle for comfort.  There are many flaws, but am getting better.   This was fun to make all the different monkey squares and turned out to be fitting as Wyatt has many of his own monkey faces.   He's so tiny and when he scrunches up his face, it's the cutest lil monkey ever!

Feelin the love!

Brody's blanket - loved making bundles of love for the twins too.  Didn't get pics of Brooklyn's blanket (Emma can you send me one for the file?)  xoxo

Wyatt John Silva arrives!

Ash planned a normal day of play with Anthony (she's a nanny), and they stopped by for lunch. She complained of a lot of pressure, but after a doubled over jab of "pressure," it was obvious [to me] this was baby day - 9 days early! She was not thinking along those lines so it was a bit of a surprise to begin mapping out the pains ... timing ... putting Bobby on notice and prioritizing the rest of the day.

She played with Anthony outside and he wondered why she kept walking in circles. She would be home about 5pm and I thought it might be a nice treat to have a pedicure before things escalated too far so scheduled one for 6pm. Didn't happen. Baby was coming with a vengeance and labor was all in her back (not her strong spot) so a pedicure lost all its lustre and at this point, who cares about toes!

This is last belly check pic - in between contractions and throwing up.   On the way to the hospital ... life will never be the same!

a new family!

Born March 9, 2011 at 1:42am ... 6 pounds 10 ounces ... 19" long 

He's happy in this position - back in the womb

Nothing better than to snuggle and welcome a new baby to the family at 2am!     Feeling the love from Heavenly Father and His blessings upon our family, especially Ashley and Bobby at this time.   It is a special privilege to be a mom and a grammie!   Again, counting blessings!  

The hospital photos are a huge improvement from our day.  They used to be like your drivers license photo - one shot and the worst they can capture.   Not any more!   She patiently took shots, let us outfit change and then put them all to a slide show on site!  Impressive!   Unfortunately we didn't buy because I shot everything she did.  So fun!

Since he was to be a St Patty's baby, this was his coming home outfit - a lucky charm!  It is a newborn size, still big on him since he dropped to 6-4, but check out those mitts and look how short the sleeves are.  A sign of lanky arms and a lifetime of shirts not fitting properly!   

Auntie Brooke happy to snuggle this anticipated lil one