An Early Birthday Celebration

When I was a kid it was tradition for my Dad to take each of us (kids) to Japanese Kitchen for our birthday. It was such a special treat to get to go to a "fancy" teppanyaki restaurant, and we each looked forward to it every year. As we got older and busier with families of our own the tradition fizzled out a bit, but my Dad and Step-mom decided to revive it for my birthday this year. My birthday isn't for a few more weeks but last Friday was the only time we we could get to Fresno to do it. My Step-mom arranged to have two of my brothers and their families meet us there too. It was a lot of fun to get to all hang out for a few hours and enjoy a nice meal. I forgot my camera of course. Luckily for me my sis-in-law Carroll isn't as scatter brained as I am. Here are some pictures of the fun thanks to her.

Carroll and I.

My niece Brooke, my Step-Mom, Kyle, and my Dad.

My Brother Nolan and I.

Nol and his wife Melissa.

My Step-Brother Bradley and his sweet baby Jace.

Here are some of the kiddos, (we had 7 total.) It got a little chaotic near the end but the kids had fun with their cousins.

It was a fun night.

Thanks to my parents for getting us all together!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was so much fun this year. Our day started out at Carter's school. Instead of traditional Halloween activities the kindergartners had "Scarecrow Day". I was able to volunteer in his classroom. We had a lot of fun. All of the kids were SO cute!

Later Matt, Mandy, and the kids came over for dinner and Trick-Or-Treating. It was very busy getting all 7 kids fed, dressed up, and ready to go out. Of course the boys and Macy were excited because they new what was going to happen. Trying to keep Cammie and the triplets happy enough to get them out the door was a little more work. Once we hit the streets they were all great!

Chaos!

Kyle the Cowboy and Carter the Chef

Carter wants to be a chef when he grows up and talks about it all the time. Kyle thinks he already is a cowboy so there's no need to wait until he grows up.

Mommy and her Angel

She refused to smile for pictures. In fact my usually camera happy daughter started telling me "No" when she saw me coming her way for a photo opp.

The angle from behind.

We met up with Hunter, one of Carters friends from school. He was a transformer. They were quite a pair.

Cammie wanted to hold Macy's hand the whole time.

Still no smile.

Kyle was scared of some of the more elaborately decorated houses so his big brother took him by the hand and coaxed him to the door. He pointed out that none of it was real and that he wouldn't let anyone get his little brother. It was really sweet!

Mandy and I showing a little Halloween spirit.

When we got home the kids played, watched a couple Halloween shows, stayed up way too late, and ate way too much candy. It was awesome! I'm sure next year will be even crazier, and even more fun.

Until then...Ni-Night!

It's Time for Pumpiks

If you know me you know that I LOVE pumpkins! This year we went to the pumpkin patches 4 different times. Its so much fun to just walk around and let the kids play in the hay and see all kinds of pumpkins. Here are some (okay a lot) of my favorite pictures.

The Kiddos

Cammie in all her Halloween accessories, she's such a girl!

Kyle on a big tractor. Very exciting!
Such a serious face.
My sweet Carter just going with the flow.

The kids were trying to count all of the pumpkins.

Don't trip CamCam!

Taking a break from climbing and counting.

Kyle and Cameron were fascinated by the straw.

My little "Punkin's"

And then of course it was time for carving. This year we went to Dustin and Lety's (our neighbors) house to carve with them and their son Ryley.

Kyle very meticulously cleaned out his pumpkin, and did a darn good job of it.

Cammie assisting her brother.

Carter chose a cute little pumpkin and Daddy helped him carve it.

Cammie wanted to try.

The final product. Kyles Jack-O-Lantern is the big one and Carters is the little one. (Please ignore Mommy's disaster in the back). :-)