Birthdays

Since I'm a little late in posting about our big days, I thought I'd group them all together and just give you a quick run-down. So here's...

Grace's Birthday--May 7, 2011

The birthday girl:


Getting the party started:


Even Baby was in the party spirit:


One of Grace's favorite dinner's right now is cheese pizza, so a pizza party it was!
Her "personal pan pizza":




When discussing with my mom what to do for Grace's birthday cake, the word "pie" came up, and Grace got really excited about it, so I decided to make her a pumpkin pie (which she LOVED at Thanksgiving and Christmas last year).


She was pretty excited about it. (This is Grace realizing that it is HER birthday :) )


The whipped cream and sprinkles were her favorite part:


After birthday pie, she opened presents. She LOVED these colored necklaces:




Some books and tapes from Grammy & Poppy:


Swim stuff:


And a new toy:


Rachel & Brandon and the kids joined us for the festivities and we loved having them celebrate with her!
A very (belated) Happy Birthday to our sweet girl! We can't believe you're already 2 (where have these last 2 years gone?!)!!


Jenny's Birthday--April 19th, 2011

Travis was a major sweetheart and blew up these balloons and put little messages inside for my "card"...




...and he got me some gorgeous long-stem roses (with another sweet little note) too. I was a happy girl :)


Since I was in prime pregnancy nausea time (and super sweet things were a no-go), Travis made me a dessert pizza for my "cake" (he let me decorate it though). And OH did it hit the spot!!


We brought it over to share with Brandon and Rachel and the kids:


Making a wish:


It was a great day!


Travis' Birthday--March 13, 2011

We invited our friends the Miskin's over for Travis' birthday dinner (of crock pot lasagna), and finished the meal with his favorite--root beer cake:


Blowing out the candles:


Afterwards, he opened up his presents--Madden NFL 11 (for the Wii) and some new (Merrill Trail Glove) running shoes--then played some Wii football with Kory.
Happy happy (belated) Birthday Travis! We love you and are SO glad you're apart of our family!!

Holloway's Visit

Travis' parents came out for a brief visit this past week to attend Brandon's graduation from OCPM, and we loved having them here!

Dave treated Travis and Brandon to a tour of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (in Canton) one afternoon.
Here they are in front of the museum:


Travis and Brandon doing the Heisman:


And a few shots from inside:
Joe Montana's statue:


And some football helmets through the ages:


After the museum, the guys hit up Penn Station for lunch (yum!). They had a great guys afternoon out!

Another day, Rachel and Brandon and the kids, Dave & Anita, and us all went to the kiddie park for some fun.
Here we are riding the carousel:




Kaden, Spencer, and Grace all went on the boat ride (it was Grace's first time and she did great!).
Waving at the crowd:


Riding with the Kaden kid:


Grace also rode on the roller coaster with Travis (which ended up being a little much for her, so we'll be sticking to the low and slow rides from now on!).
The pre-ride excitement:


Up, up and away!


Coming back around the bend (with Anita & Spencer riding in the car ahead):

We always love going to the kiddie park, and it was great to have Dave & Anita in on the fun.

In between outings, the kids enjoyed having special time with "Grammy and Poppy."


While they were here, we also enjoyed celebrating Jenna's birthday, going out for birthday dessert at Applebees, attending Brandon's graduation and eating at Famous Daves afterwards, going on walks, and spending lots of time talking/playing games after the kiddos were in bed.
Grammy and Poppy, we miss you already and hope you can visit us again soon!

A Christmas Story House

One of the things that Cleveland is famous for is that it's where (a part of) the movie "A Christmas Story" was filmed, and where there now is "A Christmas Story" house and museum.
Rachel & I decided that this was a Cleveland landmark that just couldn't be missed, so today we got the families together and took ourselves a tour.
We started the tour in the museum, where they had all sorts of memorabilia from the movie (clothes, antique toys, pictures, etc.), as well as a gift shop full of all things "A Christmas Story." There, we also met and talked for a while with a man who had played a small part in the movie (and become friends with the "dad"), and heard some of his memories from making the movie.


Some pictures and clothes from the filming of the movie:


After the museum, we headed over to the house where many of the scenes were filmed:






The famous leg lamp:


The living room:




The kitchen (I always love seeing old furniture and appliances in places like this; it's so neat to get a glimpse of the past!):


Some of the upstairs rooms:




Also in the house were some costumes/hats from the movie that they let tourists try on.
Here are Grace and I trying out Ralphie's ridiculous bunny costume:


(I'm trying to display how Ralphie felt wearing it)


It was a neat experience, and made us wish we had watched the movie again before going. Definitely something that big fans of "A Christmas Story" shouldn't miss!

Happy Easter!

Doesn't the smell of blooming flowers just outside your door say "Spring" somehow?
I just love their fragrance--and especially how the scents remind me of springs back home in Issaquah--and the sense of "rebirth" that the blooms bring.





Speaking of rebirth...
The day before Easter, Grace and her cousins (Jenna, Kaden, and Spencer) took part in a little Easter egg hunt (or two) in our backyard.
Since it was Grace's first real egg hunt, we gave her a little head start :).
And she's off!


Success!


A happy hunter:


Grace learned pretty quickly that there was candy inside (and that this egg hunting thing was about the greatest thing ever).


She loved L.O.V.E.D hunting for Easter eggs, and could literally do it everyday, several times a day (which we've done some days since)!

A tradition of ours has always been to dye Easter eggs, which we did again this year (sans Grace) on Easter eve.
The dye spread:


My eggy creations:


Travis' works of art:


After we finished dying eggs, we put out Grace's Easter basket. It was SO fun to put it together (like Christmas Eve all over again)!


But even MORE fun to see her reaction on Easter morning! :)
"Ooh! Wow!"


"Yum! More candy-filled eggs!"


We made Rachel's Resurrection rolls for Easter breakfast for the first time this year, and loved them! They'll definitely be a part of our Easter traditions from now on!


Grace and I in our "Easter dresses":




After Church we had a yummy Easter dinner with Rachel and Brandon and some friends (another Easter tradition that Rachel helped us start last year that we'll also be continuing).
It was a very happy Easter for us, and we hope yours was too!