A St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Saturday, March 17th, the munchkins and I went to a local shopping center to watch a St. Patrick's Day parade.  Unfortunately, Jon was not able to join us.  He was at a youth conference in Virginia with the youth group that weekend, so we decided to get out of the house and go to a parade.  It was an abnormally warm Spring day, a great day to watch a parade!

The munchkins and I waiting for the parade to start.  

They were handing out green balloons, so the munchkins were all set when they each received a balloon!

 We saw lots of dancers...

a man on stilts...

and men playing bagpipes.

I had never heard bagpipes being played live, right in front of me.  It was really something to see and hear.  It brought tears to my eyes for some reason.  I guess there's something emotional about hearing bagpipes being played... at least for me!

 The munchkins really enjoyed all that the parade had to offer, especially the groups that handed out candy!  We got our fill of candy, that's for sure!

 We saw more dancers...

and some clowns.  

One of the clowns was riding a bicycle a bit too small for him.  That made the kids laugh!

  The munchkins had a fun time at their very first parade!  It was a great day to see a parade.

A Valentine's Day Gift

For Jon's Valentine's Day gift from us this year, our friend, InShil, took some pictures of me and the munchkins.  She came over in January while Jon was on the annual youth group ski trip, so he had no idea we had this done.

I printed out the picture of us three and framed it so he could put it on his desk for work.
He really liked his gift and can enjoy seeing us everyday while he works.  We love you Jon! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Birthday Party

 The day after our girl's official birthday, we invited a few of our friends over for lunch and birthday cake and ice cream.

We had pizza, salad, carrots, and apples for lunch.  There were a lot of friends here to celebrate.

 Then, we enjoyed birthday cake and ice cream.  She wanted a princess cake, so I made a cake and put a few of her princess figurines on top.  She loved it!

 Cake is good!

 All her friends enjoying some birthday cake and ice cream.

 I also made a yellow bundt cake with chocolate chips, sprinkled with powdered sugar and filled the middle with strawberries for the adults.

After we had cake and ice cream, she opened her gifts.  Her friends were very excited to see what she received. 

Here's a picture of the birthday girl with a few of her friends that came to celebrate.

 We all enjoyed the company of our friends as we celebrated our girl's life on her 6th birthday.

Our Little Girl's 6th Birthday

Our little girl turned 6 on February 3rd.

Here she is at Grandma and Grandpa Herman's house with Grandpa's hat on when she was just a year and a half old.  So cute!

 And here she is the morning of her 6th birthday, all ready for school.  She's a kindergartner this year and growing up so fast!  

 Grandma Jean came out to visit.  She, Buddy and I went to school at the end of the day to share mini cupcakes with her classmates.  Our Sweetheart's birthday was on a Friday this year, as it was the year she was born.  She was born at 1:11 PM Friday afternoon that year.

 We enjoyed crunchy tacos for dinner at her request.  Then, after we ate, she opened her birthday gifts from us, Grandma Jean, Uncle Pat and Aunt Teresa, Uncle Kenny and Aunt Tracey.  Grandma Jean was able to read her birthday card to her in person.  A rare opportunity!

 We gave the birthday girl a crocheted blanket with her color choices and a princess bedtime story book that she had been asking for.

 Our Sweetheart and her Daddy!

 Her cupcakes with 6 candles on our special birthday plate.

 Waiting to blow out her candles...

Although, I think Buddy may have beaten her to it!

We had a fun time celebrating our girl's 6th birthday.  We love her so very much!

Snow Day

On January 21st we experienced, I think, the only snow that fell (and stuck to the ground) this winter.  It also happened to be my birthday and the Saturday of the weekend that Jon was out of town on the annual Youth Group ski trip.  So, that meant the munchkins and I were left to shovel the driveway.

 The kids used the shovels they used at the beach this summer to 'help' me out.  It ended up not taking very long, as we only got about an inch or two of snow.

 The munchkins also had a fun time playing and...

 eating the snow.

I'm glad I decided to get a few pictures of the munchkins in the snow since it ended up being the only snow that fell this winter.
After we shoveled the driveway and played in the snow, we went inside where the kids thought it would be a good idea to take pictures of me wearing a birthday hat, since it was my birthday!  

Happy Birthday to me!

A Special Blanket

In January I finished a blanket I had been working on for a few months.  This blanket is very special to me since it was inspired by a blanket my Mom had made for my Dad way back when they were dating... a long time ago!
(They have been married for over 41 years now.)  

A picture of my blanket...

and a picture of her blanket.

Her blanket was also crocheted in the zig-zag pattern like mine, but she used yellows, tans, and browns.  I remember my siblings and I loved to cuddle up with her blanket when we were younger.  If you look closely, you can see how well loved this blanket is as it now has many tears and holes.  My brother said he remembered seeing a picture of him, as a newborn, laying on it.  I also remember cuddling up in it with my sisters while we watched TV as young children.  It was definitely my favorite blanket to wrap up in!

I had no idea at the time that my Mom had crocheted it herself while she and my Dad were dating.  This makes the blanket such a special treasure.

Here's a closer look at my blanket to show the texture.  Not only is it in a zig-zag pattern, it also has a ribbed effect - every other row is raised.

Here's a close up of my Mom's blanket.  You can see she was much more symmetrical than I was with the colors.  She used a different color for each row.

I love this blanket for many reasons, but it's especially close to my heart because of the inspiration behind it.  I hope this blanket will give our family many wonderful memories through the years just like my Mom's blanket has given for me and my siblings.

Celebrating Christmas Part 2

On the day after Christmas, we headed almost 600 miles west to Indiana.  It was an uneventful road trip, which is always good.

Here's a picture while we were traveling in the car.  I really liked the sky in this shot! It was a beautiful day to travel!

 We arrived at Jean's in the evening and stayed with her for the week.

 Here they are with Grandma Jean.  They love each other so much!

The munchkins with Aunt Tracey

It snowed a little bit while we were in Indiana, just enough to cover the ground.

 For my parents' Christmas present, we had a big family picture taken of everyone since we were all in town.  This was my mom and dad's idea as they wanted to update the picture we had taken about 4 years earlier.

Here's our whole family as of December, 2011. (Minus little Lucy whom my younger sister's family is adopting from China very soon!)

 My parents with all their grandbabies.

 My older sister and her family.

 Here we are!

 My younger sister and her family.

 My brother and his family.

And here are the two people who started it all... my Mom and Dad!

My siblings and me
(I've noticed from this picture that I am the shortest in this bunch and my brother, the youngest, is the tallest.... hmmm!)

 My Dad gave each of the guys a jacket of their favorite sport's team.  They were really impressed and very happy with their gifts, as you can see!

 We headed back home on Jan. 1st. 

Once again, the munchkins did great traveling/sleeping in the car.

We enjoyed our visit with our families.  Our time with them always goes by way too fast, but we are always thankful for the opportunities we have to see them all!