Jolene's Baby Shower

Last Saturday I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for my dear friend Jolene. After 3 boys, she finally had a baby GIRL!!!! Three of her friends and I put on the shower for her and we had so much fun spreading the love for PINK and celebrating Baby Kathleen.

Some of the outfits Jolene was given were put on a clothesline as a decoration.

The cupcakes were so adorable!

The kids enjoyed playing together and Sky really enjoyed decorating for the shower.

It was too bad that the weather was kind of cool and the sky was overcast but, thankfully, it did not rain.

There was even a chocolate fountain!!!

Jolene got lots of wonderful girly gifts.

L.A. Sherrif's Training Center Museum

The MOMS Club went to the Sheriff's Training Center Museum recently. It was an interesting history of the changes in the sheriff's department over the years. Everything from transportation to uniforms to weapons was represented. Much of the content was lost on our young kids but it was still an interesting place to visit.

Brad in front of the latest uniform for our police officers.

The motorcycle was a big hit with all the kids.

Lila liked this old Studebaker that used to be used for a police car.

Brad thought the jail was pretty cool especially after he was assured that the man in it wasn't real.

Outside was a huge memorial to all of the officers who have been killed in the line of duty in Los Angeles county since it's inception. Each plaque had the name of an officer who has fallen. Again, this was pretty much lost on the kids but they had fun running around outside.

Mother's Day 2011

I haven't spent Mother's Day with my mom since I was in high school so this year was very special as I was able to spend the day with her. What made it even better was that my brothers and their wives were there too. We went to her church and then out to an awesome Mother's Day lunch at Tucker's, a restaurant near my mom's house. It was an awesome brunch with an omelette station, a prime rib station, and even a chocolate fountain. After lunch we all went back to my mom and Bill's house for the afternoon. It was definitely a special day.

On Monday we spent the morning at my grandparent's house and my Uncle John joined us. They had not met Lila yet so it was so nice to introduce her to them. Michelle, my sister-in-law, made matching Minnie Mouse dresses for Lila and Hannah. They were really cute.

My Gram made a cake and we celebrated Hannah's 2nd birthday.

Lila enjoyed meeting the "Tickle Bandit", my Uncle John.

Lila with Grandma B.

Below is a picture of my mom and her husband Bill at the restaurant we went to for Mother's Day.

Dad's 60th Birthday!

May 6 was my dad's 60th birthday! My brother Eric and his wife Michelle and adorable daughter Hannah all flew to CT from Arkansas. I flew to CT with Lila (as seen above on the airplane). We all flew in on his birthday so we celebrated the next day (Saturday). Gary cooked everyone an awesome brunch and then grilled out for dinner. The food was awesome thanks to him and my dad's wife Jeanne.

Hannah and Lila got some great time with Pepere! Here they are helping him open his presents.

My dad just finished a beautiful classic car, a 1955 Chevy. It's a real beauty!

We helped him wash the car and the windows and armor all the tires and interior.

Then we got to pile in and take it out for a spin. The engine in this car is an engine that Harold, Ken's dad, gave to my dad many years ago.

Pepere needed to test out the engine to see what it could do...

Later that day, my dad's best friend Carl and his wife came over for dinner. Also, my cousin Justin and Jeanne's son Evan came by to help celebrate. I wish I had thought to get a group picture!

Here's Gary getting ready to put the ribs on the grill.

More pictures to come of more adventures that we had in CT...

Strawberry Picking

Strawberries are a big deal around here. On Tuesday I went to a whole party that was themed after strawberries. All of the food had strawberries in some form and there were even strawberry serving platters and napkins. And the strawberries here are so amazing and yummy. They grow pretty easily here-we even have some strawberry plants in our yard.

The MOMS Club had gone strawberry picking a few years ago at a different place. I remember it vividly because I had worn a new white shirt (what was I thinking?) and Brad (who was less than a year old) got strawberry juice all over me. So today the MOMS Club tried a new place and it was great. The strawberries were off the ground and hanging in these special self-watering pots.

Both of the kids love strawberries so we ended up eating our fair share as we picked and getting covered in red, sticky juice.

Then we played in the self-watering system and got wet.

Then we tried to pick up mulch and got really icky. Then we went home to share our strawberries with Sky and Ken. The end.

Operation Shed Assembly

A few months ago we decided to remove this leaning palm tree so that we can move some of the tools/equipment out of our garage. My dad and Ken worked on cutting it down with a chainsaw.

Then we hired a guy to come and grind out the stump. We've heard that palm trees grow back very easily and we didn't want our shed to become a tree house.

We bought a pre-fab shed from Costco and Ken spent much of the day on Saturday assembling it. He had lots of help from Brad and Lila.

The walls are up!

There are a total of 67 steps to assemble the shed and I think Ken made it to step 34 in the sweltering heat. More to come...