Aunt Rachel's Birthday

Two little boys excited for the game.....I know I am partial but aren't they ADORABLE!

The boys with Poppy in the background showing off their Cardinals hats

Zachary giving his Aunt Rachel some Birthday Love

Last Wednesday was my sister's 32nd birthday.  I am not rubbing her age in her face considering I am just 16 months behind her.  To celebrate I got to meet her for lunch at Qudoba.  Believe it or not this rarely happens. With her work schedule, my schedule, and the two boys we NEVER get to have lunch with just us. So it was nice. Later that evening the entire family and in-laws met up at the Cardinals game to celebrate. Unfortunately 2 hours before the game, my nephew, Elliott had an allergic reaction to peanut dust.  This photo is of Elliott asleep on Matt's shoulder. You can see his eyes are swollen. The little man was drugged on steroids and benydryl for the first hour of the game. :(

Yes you read that right, I said peanut dust. He is severely allergic to peanuts!  He did not ingest any peanuts but a snack pack that was "flavored" with peanut butter powder touched his hands on accident. He rubbed his eye and next thing you know he swelled up and was at the pediatrician's for some shots.  Poor little man!  The birthday party continued because Elliott was super excited for it and they thought it would cheer him up.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  Both Elliott and Zachary enjoyed themselves all night.  The bonus was that my parents church sang the 7th inning stretch God Bless America so we got special seats and got to sing with them.  We had a great day and I think Rachel enjoyed her her day minus Elliott's reaction.  

Father's Day 2009

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday and Sunday. Since my dad had to work on Sunday we met him for an impromptu dinner on Saturday night. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so I don't have any photos. I hate that!  However we did have a wonderful time celebrating DAD!  Dad, you are the best and I love you!

On Sunday we let Kevin open his presents before church. Zachary could not wait to show his Daddy his new shirt that said "Son of a SUPER DAD".  

Before church...taken from inside our kitchen cabinet.

Next we were headed to church for an excellent Sunday School lesson from Jeremy and Julie. Then we were headed to Lockwood to celebrate Father's Day with the Lemons family.  We had a fun day full of yummy food, family, and fun.  Ruey had some popsicles that the boys went crazy for. Funny story...she gave them their popsicles and immediately Elliott said that they had to take their shirts off.  Good kid, huh?  So next thing you know Elliott has his shorts off too and is telling Zachary he needs to take his shorts off so that he does not get popsicle on them.  Before you know it both boys are down to their underoos and are headed outside to enjoy their cold treat.  I know they are going to hate me for this but I had to post this pic of them in their shorts enjoying their popsicle.  

Here is a pic of Zachary with his PawPa Austin.  

Technical Difficultlies

My blogging has been delayed because of my laptop.....I am bummed.  The number one reason I do my blog is to journal our daily events and photographs. Since I don't have time to scrapbook like I did before Zachary I plan on using my blog as our scrapbook. Usually I blog from my laptop.  It has all my photos on it and it makes it super easy to type up a bunch of blogs.  However my laptop WILL NOT stay charged long enough to even turn the computer on.  I have purchased an new internal battery (not cheap) and a new power cord but it still does not work. Kevin has decided that there is something wrong with the power board where the computer plugs in.  Who knows???  All I  know is that I can't blog or work on my MOPS stuff for church.  Fortunately I have everything saved to a removable hard drive (THANK YOU KIM!)  However I am unable to use those files because our other computers are MAC's.  I LOVE MAC's except they can completely change the editing of my word documents.  Therefore I am taking my laptop in tomorrow to see if it can be fixed without costing me an arm and leg.  Sigh....the hassles of technology.  Until then I have enjoyed reading all my friends blogs!  I'll be back soon. Thanks!

Meeting up with old friends!

Kevin and I love it when our out-of-town friends call us when they are in the area. I was thrilled when Sara contacted me on Facebook to let me know that her family was coming to the area for vacation. Sara and I set up a lunch date at Incredible Pizza for Friday. Zachary and I counted down the days until Friday so that we could eat pizza and play with Sara, Bill, Chase, and Grant. Kevin and Bill went to elementary school, middle school, and high school together. They also played four years of high school football together. I have this theory that once you play football with someone you will ALWAYS be friends...no matter what. Kevin has a core group of guys from high school that still communicate and get together when they can. I think it is so amazing that all of these HILLSBORO guys married remarkable women and that all the women get a long and share a friendship too. This is such a blessing!! After getting married I realized that it is sometimes hard to have couple friends because it can be difficult for all four people to have something in common. It seemed like forever since we have seen Sara and Bill, so we spent a lot of time catching up. After our lunch we let the boys play in the game room. THEY LOVED IT!
Kevin, Sara, Zachary, Grant, Bill and Chase


Zachary attempting to take a picture of us....not too bad for a 2 year old.


Me with the happiest little guy, Grant. Isn't he adorable!


The ladies with Grant
Bill and Chase getting ready for the big race
Kevin and Z getting ready to race Bill and Chase.

Chase and Bill were the BIG winners of the race. However the nice ticket man gave both the boys a 1st place ribbon. Chase did not want to wear them :)

Kevin and I left our lunch day so happy to have spent it with Sara, Bill, and the kids. It was a wonderful day. The only thing better was to have more time to catch up. I love that our children became friends too.

P.S. Mary if you are reading this....CONGRATULATIONS! We are so excited for you guys! We got your message and by no way were upset that you had not had a chance to tell us the good news about #3. Please keep us posted on all the details. We love you guys too!

Two Boys and their Rue Rue

A couple weeks ago we got to celebrate my cousin, Lucas' college graduation. We had a wonderful dinner and had some great time together as a family. Zachary and Elliott spent most of the evening admiring "Rue Rue". My "grandmother" Ruey recently had a full knee replacement, but you would not know it by looking. She is still as spunky as before. The entire family has been so impressed with her recovery. Ruey calls Elliott and Zachary the "Greats" because they are "great-grandchildren". I think that is sweet. Both of the boys can't get enough of Ruey and Freddy. They love them and talk about them all the time. Cousins and Best Friends

Congrats Lucas! We are so proud of you. Here's a picture of Lucas heading out the door to med school....I mean to a graduation party. However he will be attending med school in the fall. CONGRATS!

A first for me

For those of you who know me well, you know that I really DO NOT like BBQ, BBQ sauce, smoked meat, or eating meat off of a bone. I know it is very un-American. But for some reason my tastebuds do not like it at all. I have tried and tried through the years to eat BBQ but nothing has changed...I still do not care for it. On a side note...I love grilled hamburgers, steaks, etc as long as it has not been smoked or has BBQ sauce on it. In fact we grill almost every single night in the summer because it is so yummy and fast however we just avoid BBQ sauce.

Anyways, last week I was talking to Melody about trying to find some new meals for our family. She mentioned she made some baby back ribs that were excellent. I thought, Kevin would flip his lid if he came home and I had made ribs. Immediately my wheels started turning on how I was going to pull off this surprise without Kevin finding out. Well, I spoiled the surprise myself when I was singing the Chili's theme song, "I want some Baby Back Baby Back Ribs...Barbeque sauce" around the house. Kevin figured it out. Anyways, I made ribs and they were a hit. It was a definite first for me. The boys loved them. I had one rib and it was not too bad, if I say so myself. So there you have it. I can cross making ribs off my bucket list. Sorry Ladies, I just won the title of the BEST WIFE IN THE WORLD from my husband because I made BBQ Ribs.

Mother's Day 2009...again

So I have been having some computer issues as well as being overcome by my allergies and some virus. I am starting to feel a little better...lets say well enough to turn the computer on and update the blog. Hopefully, I will get back on track with my journalin. I hope my readers know that this is more for my family and I in the future but I do enjoy sharing our adventures with you as well. So for with that said I am going to back track a little bit with the hopes of becoming caught up.

I'll start with Mother's Day 2009. Ever since I have become a mother, Kevin really goes out of his way to show me how much he appreciates all that I do for our little family. Not that he really has too because he tells me on a regular basis how much he appreciates me and loves me. I really don't need a special day, but to be honest...I LOVE IT. This year we got ready for church. I could tell something was going on downstairs because Z and Kevin were being super secretive. Before leaving for church the boys (Kev & Z) escorted me down stairs to get my presents. Zachary was so proud of his gift to me. So much so that he almost dropped it on the floor. He gave me a wonderful card and orange plant for my outdoor pots. It is so unique and very colorful.

Kevin then presented me with a beautiful card. I know this sounds like a commerical but I really do love the handwritten notes in my card more than the actual gift because it comes from the heart. However this year Kevin gave me something he knew I would use daily and LOVE. He got me a new iphone. He was right I use it daily and I love it. Thanks Kevin for spoiling me.

Later that night we went to my in-laws for a lovely dinner. I felt bad that my mother-in-law cooked dinner on her special day. But she insisted. Unfortunately, my sister had to work so they could not make it out. I enjoyed being surrounded by my mom and mother-in-law on this day as well. You can notice a small theme with our photos. Zachary had to have his golf club in both of the pictures. I did not realize it until later that night when I was looking at the photos. A memory we will have forever. Mother's day and golf!