year 9

 Year 0. Pure bliss.

Year 1. Spent our first anniversary in Hawaii celebrating my parents' 25th! So much fun. Chris' back turned purple with sloppy sunscreen finger streaks after snorkeling. Yay for memories!








Year 2. Dillan is born. A week before our anniversary. Life gets crazy. Then we move to California.







Year 3. Loving life with our little guy. Lots of fun.








Year 4. Our world revolves around him. For a couple more months anyway.

 Year 5. Adjusting to life with 2. Love our cute little family.

 Year 6. Life is busy, but we still try to make time for each other.

 Year 7. These two little monkeys rule our everyday. But it's good!

 Year 8. Then there were three. New challenges, new job, and new hope for the future.

Year 9. Counting on our fingers so we never forget. We've had hard times and good. Really, it's easy to love this guy. I am so blessed and overcome with happiness.

Happy Anniversary to us!

7

 Our big number one boy is seven today. Unbelievable. I don't even know how we got here.
Seven things I love about Dillan:
1-Finishing first grade at the top of the class
2-Plays baseball, basketball, and soccer like a pro
3-Silly with friends
4-Loves playing games with his family
5-Adores his sister and brother, and a good example too
6-A smile that melts mommy's heart
7-Works hard at everything he does

Dillan,
 We are so proud of the big boy you have become and love to watch you learn and grow everyday. You are such a good example to your brother and sister and they love you so much. You make us smile and laugh often. You like to be big and make your own choices, but still know when it's okay to cuddle with mommy. We are so proud of how much you love to read and do math and all the hard work you did in first grade. It is super fun to watch you play baseball and soccer. You always do your best and work hard to get better. You are such a good listener and make everyone around you happy. You also are a good singer, just like Daddy! You are a good friend, lots of boys and girls like to be around you. You are a natural leader around your friends, and you always try to make good choices and be a good friend.
Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we are so grateful you are a part of our family!

Love, Mom and Dad      5-15-12

Party like a Ninja!

And it's birthday season!
Our birthdays seem to last longer than just a single day of celebrating!
Dillan wanted a Ninjago birthday party this year. We decided to try out Sky High. It was awesome. Honestly, a blurry whirlwind for mama, after weeks of preparations and planning, but totally worth it. I've decided sticking with party themes means so much for the kids, and one day they are not going to want a party theme, so I'll get into it now as much as possible.
Thanks to my computer and printer, I was able to make invitations, stickers, water bottle labels, ninja eyes for the balloons, and details for the goodie boxes. Thanks to my very talented dad, Dillan had the best birthday cake ever, Kai shaped! Thanks again Papa!

Dillan invited every boy in his class from school + some extras. Some of those boys had little sisters, which was perfect for Leah.
The jumping room was crazy fun. Sweaty boys all over the place, parents right and left, trying to speak to everyone, meeting some for the first time. Out of control. Then we went to the party room, and thankfully had a very helpful hostess who took care of everything. Cake, presents, then goody bags handed out like a flash, saying our goodbyes and thank yous and BOOM! It's over!
Many of the boys didn't want to leave and wanted to go back to playing, but couldn't.
My head is still spinning.
I was very proud of Dillan, however. He was gracious to all his guests and played with everyone so they weren't left out. He's growing up too fast!