Friends

John and I have always been so blessed by our friends. We have great people in our lives that we can just be with, support and enjoy. Friends that we can count on and have fun with.

But what is even better than that?? Our kids do too

Julie took some of these, wish there were more of her, but she was having too much fun with her friends.
Hooray for baseball!
Everyone loves a good wresting match.
And helping a friend out when they need a little "push"
Oh, and all these adorable kids who Julie and Andy call friends, have pretty amazing parents too.

Yes, we are one lucky family!

Inspiration

So I am getting ready to make a quilt for our new baby girl. I have only ever made one quilt before and that was for Veda. In order to get inspired, I pulled up the pictures of the blanket I made for her just a few months back.

I love the corduroy the best, it gave it a beautiful weight.

The binding also turned out really well. Thanks to some one on one tutoring from a great and talented friend.

Yup, will for sure do a similar trim and corduroy. But probably brighter colors, with more of a springy theme. She is going to be born in the cold, so something sunny would be good.

Thirty (that's 30!!)

My handsome, wonderful, sweet, loving husband turned 30 yesterday!! He didn't want a fuss, so I invited our friends and family to a local baseball game to just sit, enjoy each other and celebrate John.

The birthday boy with Lauren!! He was the first to scoop her up so he could have ample cuddle time on his birthday!Then it was Auntie's turn!! When did I shrink? Seriously, am I getting shorter?
The kids enjoyed the time with their Pop-pop.

Aren't these little friends adorable? They had a great time visiting and playing. Then Julie confiscated my camera, and she took the rest of the pictures that evening.
Andy making his move. Audrey loved on him a little, but in the end, he was left heartbroken.

Memere and Delma! They were doing their best to keep warm, but it was getting mighty cold. Luckily, it was a good game and we were having so much fun, it didn't even seem like an option to leave early!
Cousins Valerie and Ryan with Dave, and the birthday boy and Cory in the background.
Grammy and her bouncing baby boy! (remember Julie took these pictures, so Grammy got a little chopped, but still a great picture.)
And more buddies. Since he was shot down by Audrey, he ran to his Mommies lap.....or was he trying to make eyes at Lina? Either way, he loves his Arnold girls!
Julie missed out on taking pictures of Auntie Audrey, Aunt Arlene and Uncle Hal, Grandpa Mel and Grandma CC, Cousins Stephen and Sarah and Joe. But they were all there to celebrate and enjoy the evening with us. The home team won and great fun was had by all.

Happy birthday handsome husband. We love you so much.

A Few of my Favorite Things!

These are just a few of my favorite things lately.

• Andy putting on his own flip flops. They are on the wrong feet. And the wrong toe. But he did it all by himself. And he has the cutest toes ever.

• Julie asking if the baby is getting some of my cookie through her "umbilical plug"

• Andy saying, "Julie, you are my best friend!"

• And having my best friend and her family live so close that we can go on little road trips together.

I know the last on sounds silly, but if Christina still lived so far away, we would probably never get to do such awesome little outings like we did today. We met Christina and her adorable family at the Santa Barbara Zoo and had a great day. It included lots of animals, a picnic, duck-duck-goose, a train ride and fish food. My pictures don't tell the whole story, but its a start.

This boy loves his elephants!! He couldn't stop talking long enough for me to get a good picture!

Julie's favorites are always the giraffes. She was being a Grade A Cheeseball!

Julie worked on her big sister skills showing Everett how to feed the fish. We had pretty good success with no one going in the water and very little fish food in Everett's tummy.
And he got a sweet reward.
Yup, super happy our families get to be a part of each others lives. Can't wait for the next trip!

Baby Girl!!

We found out today that this beautiful bundle is a girl! We are so excited, and most of our guesses were correct. We all had a feeling it was a girl. Julie is very excited to have a sister. Andy was a little apprehensive at first, but is now just so happy to be a big brother and is telling everyone about his baby sister.

And, everything looks great. She is measuring right on track. Her heart is pumping like it should, her brain is developing great. He even said she had beautiful kidneys.

Now we just have to name this little sweetie, which we will share as soon as we decide.

Family Time

Today we had some great family time. We went down to San Luis and walked around down town. We shopped and ate yummy lunch. The kids each got to pick out a new book at the book store. Then we found a super fun festival where the kids got to go in a bounce house and get their faces painted. Not sure if you can tell by the color scheme what kind of festival it was.

Julie and her pretty Unicorn Mask.

Andy and his Dragon.
Cute kids. This was minutes after they were done. By the time we got home, Andy's chin was all black once the dragon mixed with drool.

It was a super fun way to spend the afternoon.

The kids have been so sweet lately talking and thinking about their new sibling.

Yesterday Andy came up to me and put his arms around me and started singing "Rock a Bye Baby" and swaying back and forth. I thought he was being silly and wanted to play, so I started to pick him up to rock him like a baby. He got upset with me and said, "Mommy! I am singing to the new baby!!"

Then we were at the store with Memere last night and I wanted to look at this and Memere wanted to look at that. Julie, out of the blue said, "We need to go down the baby isle! I want to get some clothes for the baby!" I told her that as soon as we know if we are having a boy or a girl, she would get to pick out some clothes for the baby.

It amazes me, and completely melts my heart, that the baby is on their minds.

4th of July

On the 4th, we went out and celebrated by watching the parade. It is the cutest little parade you have ever seen and we had lots of great company. Uncle Hal and Aunt Arlene were there. So were Grammy and Pop-pop. The Arnold family was there. Julie was so excited to see her buddy Lina! The Cisneros family was there. Andy was stoked to sit with his bud Everett. Memere came to hang out after the parade and we met up with Grandma Hazel, Grandpa, Grandma CC and Elliot and Andie at the park.

These two are serious buddies.

Baby Audrey (who is not even close to a baby anymore) had a comfy seat.
Doesn't that face just melt you into a gooey puddle??
More buddies in their outfits made by their Moms. Love the skirt Lina!!
At the park they had games set up. The donut on a string game was the only one my kids were really interested in. Shocking.
Julie didn't even hesitate.
This was a cool entry. A girl had made a little chicken coop on top of her wagon and was pulling around baby chicks. The kids thought it was great.
And how do you think he got blue all over his face??
Why that would be from a blue raspberry snow cone, of course!

After the parade, the park, some lunch and a much needed nap, we went over to the Cisneros house for a fantastic backyard barbecue! The food was amazing but the company was even better!

Sorry Brian. Since Julie took this picture, and its awesome,
Trucks, rocks and a pretty girl?! what more does Everett need????
I love this picture and how Avi and Andy are inspecting their ice cream cones and Julie is kicking back and enjoying.
4 kids in a tub.
Its amazing how much fun the kids can have in a little pool of water!
We had a great day because we spent it with great people.

Fifty is Nifty!!

Tomorrow my Auntie Arlene turns 50!!! Yesterday there was a huge red white and blue party in her honor. It was a blast!! The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

Andy couldn't be bothered to find a chair. Cake must be eaten immediately!!

Best way to pop bubbles? Get a taller cousin to pick you up.

Or hands always work too.
Andy would much rather be working on those bubbles....
Only she could pull this off!
So much cousin love was flying around. Julie and Lauren in their matching 4th of July skirts!
Julie and Elliot.
Another Julie and Lauren.
Best friends!! Aren't they cute!?
The Banks Family with the birthday girl.
Cousins!
Julie had the very important job of handing out necklaces. She did a great job and went up to everyone at the party.
Sisters!!
Party boy!
Oh no! She must have commented on his silly hat!
And the best part....the cake!! The kids were lined up.

And everyone sang their hearts out.

Happy birthday Aunt Arlene! We had a great time celebrating with you and hope to celebrate many many more!! We love you!!