Haley's Super Seventh Birthday

My kids get a big party every other year and on the off year they get to invite 2 or 3 friends and go do something (so Mommy does not have the mess at her house). This was Haley's off year so she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. I found some good coupons and so that is what we did.
Notice the cool dog cake. Mishonne and I found the cake at Albertsons the night before the party. It was better than making it myself. Plus Haley is a HUGE animal lover and it was perfect.
Haley is in the pics with her friends Catalina, Emma, and Lizzy.

Denton Boy Turns 4!

Denton had a little birthday party at the Jambalaya water park with his friends. He loves playing in the sprinklers there. We had a spiderman theme with cupcakes. For his family party he wanted doughnuts instead of cake, hence the doughnut with candles in it. He is growing up so fast, especially since he had his tubes in his ears. He talks better now that he can hear.

Double the Trouble

WE recently went up to Tennesse to visit our friends, The Thompsons while Mishonne competed in Destination Imagination held in Knoxville. They have a girl about Haley's age, a boy about Denton's age, and a baby Aliyah's age. Each duo created their own kind of mischief. The older girls together learned that 2 a whining is better than one. The boys learned that teasing is better done in twos and the babbies learned that exploring is more effective done together. Lets just say I am glad I don't have any sets of twins.
This is pretty hilarious if you know the story. Karen and the kids all went with us an hour away to see Mishonne perform in Knoxville. ON the way back Denton and Matt were at it arguing and what not. I told Denton to stop talking or else. Well Karen gave Matt the same warning, but he decided to back talk. Karen said if you act like that again then we are going to pull the car over. He tested her and sassed again so I pulled the car over, on the highway mind you. Well she pulls Matt out of the car, gives him a talkin to and puts him in time out. About this time I realize we are in a great kandid moment so I grab my camera. Here is the pic of Matt pouting amongst the daisies. It was priceless. After his time out we told the girls to hop out so I could get a pic of them. IT ended up being a much quieter ride home after that.

Katie and Haley in a wild daisy field. They became fast friends.


The babbies got into the garbage and pulled out the watermellon rinds and went to town. MMMM!


Denton and Matt playing nicely with the puppets. It lasted about 30 seconds.

It was really good to see my friend Karen. I got to help reorganize her basement which is the kind of stuff I love to do. We batted our eyes at some guys on the side of the road and got them to transport some free wood shelves we found.
It is always a reminder that my little family is being looked after when I see all the friends we have met along our journey the past 13 years. It is tough not living by family, but at least we have close friends to count on.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

Our baby girl turned one on the 10th! Wow, I cant believe it has been a year since Aliyah joined our family. She has been such a joy to us. We let her have her own cupcake for her birthday. She loved it. The sweet tooth definately comes from her mama. What a fun day.

DAncing Feet

Haley got to dance with her good friend Emma this year. I got to do their hair and makeup for the recital. Even though I love sports I also like to do hair.
Haley was lucky enough to have Grandma Maryann and Uncle Christopher here for her dance recital. She looked so sweet in her adorable costume. We had fun taking pictures of her at the gardens.

Haley's friend Catalina also got to see Haley dance. It was a special night.

A Bitter Sweet Mother's Day

My Mom got to be with us on Mother's Day this year. I have not been with her for a Mother's Day in 13 years or more. Isn't that crazy. It was very cool to have her here. I even got asked to give a Mother's Day talk and so she got to be there. OF course I cried like a baby when I gave it but the spirit was strong. The kids got me all kinds of cute cards and gardening stuff. My favorite gift was a poem by Mishonne. She is a gifted writer.
The other crazy thing that happened on MOther's Day is that my broher Christopher got to come for a visit before he went into the army. We are so excited for him to find some meaning and direction in his life. We love him to death and want to see him happy.
So the bitter sweet part of this day was that I got to spend it with my Mom but Christopher left for basic on Mother's Day. I drove him to meet the sargeant since Mom would have blubbered.

A trip to Wisconsin.

WE decided to spend EAster break by heading up to Wisconsin. It is always good to see the people who became Loren's family on his mission there. I too have a soft spot in my heart for these amazing families. We miss them when we don't get to see them for a long time. The kids had a ball playing the Wii at the Bruettes, football and little Joseph at the Neimics, and the awesome food at the Dentons.

Chic and Mom Bruette with Loren

Our gang of five with the four Bruette grandgirls. Haley made fast friends with the girls and was sad to leave them.



The Bruette girls Megan (and her husband) and Melanie and thier son T.J. with me and Loren.

THis is a cool three generation photo for Loren. He baptized Mary and her son Brian later joined the church when he was 18. He went on a mission and was married in the temple. They had their first baby, Joseph, two weeks before Aliyah was born. Cool!

Here is Aliyah being a bully and trying to take away Joseph's toys. She thinks its pretty funny.
Here is the whole Denton gang. Granny Denton, the matriarch started it all. Loren taught and baptized her and her girls. Loren got to go to the temple with their family to have her and some of her kids and her deceased husband sealed. Now there are little Denton great grandkids running around. The dominoe affect is priceless.

Here are some fun pics from our time with the DEntons.