Nate the Great is TWO!!!

Today we went to Nate's 2nd Birthday party. It was fabulous. It was a birthday party done just the way I remember as a kid. Tons of kids, a backyard, parents with alcohol ;-), and chaos. Good times. I cannot believe that Nate is 2 years old already. I can think of a million stories I have shared with Kerren since he was conceived, and they all feel like they were just last week. Nate is one of the sweetest little boys I know, and Annie is honored to be his buddy! Happy Birthday Nate, we had so much fun sharing your special day.

Birthday boy Nate.

Nate greeting Annie. Annie is wishing him a Happy Birthday.

Annie ran straight for the train table when she got in the room. I knew I liked that kid.

This is how my mommies do it. Sitting at a tiny table with big beers.

I can't believe how big Kianna looks in this picture. It's insane how fast these kids get big.

Kellen is boy through and through.

Anaya and Kiera showing the little ones how it's done.


Kellen knows where it's at, he found more boy stuff!

Annie is not sure if this is a trick or not. Can she really play with all these ball-balls. (What Annie says when she sees a ball, "ball-ball".

Annie hanging out with the big girls, Kiera and the gang.

So good to see Shannon! Been far far too many weeks.

Annie enjoying her yummy Mexican food. Daddy enjoying his yummy beer.

How adorable is this? I love that Kerren put so much love and handmade creativity into the dessert display. She dyed the coconut green and made all the cupcakes. SCORE.

Kerren made 75!! cupcakes in the shape of balls. Now that is a A LOT of balls! (DO notice her BEAUTIFUL new kitchen)

I love this photo. Nate is SO excited for his cupcake!!




This is the frosting covered face of a kid who had a good time. No doubt about it, fun was had by this child.


Blowing Nate a kiss! Happy Birthday...until next time folks. We hope you had a fabulous weekend!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Today Mommy and Annie stayed home and played all day! We had a great time. Our water table came today, and lucky for us, so did the sun! Annie loved it. Once she discovered she could move the dirt from the flower pots into the water table I knew I was in for it. But hey...you are only a kid one time, might as well make mud!


Oh yeah Mommy...you are IN for it now...

A dozen eggs for your life

This weeks book was a recommendation from cousin Ronna King, and it was great, thank you Ronna!

City of Thieves is the title and the author is David Benioff. I read the entire thing in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. After I finished I did some research on the author and found out he is also a screenwriter which makes good sense as the novel never slowed down.

The story is set during the WWII in the besieged city of Leningrad in January, 1941.

The book was really a coming of age tale of a Jewish boy named Lev, and and his oddly paired friend Kolya, a deserted solider, who considers himself quite the intellectual ladies man. The two demonstrate what a short time it can take in life to feel love for a stranger, and in war time I am not sure if this would be a harder or easier thing, but they manage it.

The premise to me was wonderful in it's simplicity. To save their own lives Lev and Koyla must find one dozen eggs for a Colonel in order to avoid execution. The details beyond that I will leave to you. However, finding one dozen eggs in a city surrounded by Germans with people surviving on nothing but book glue and bread made from dust is a monumental task.

The characters are well developed, even those making a brief appearance. I admit shedding a tear at the end of the book. You wouldn't think that a book like this would be good for the humor, but it was. It was dark, but at times I found my self laughing out loud. In addition, there was a splash of romance. The representation of women in the book existed on both ends of the spectrum, some characters were strong and heroic (often in non obvious ways) others were represented as weak and selfish. I suppose this is realistic.

Overall I would say this novel was entertaining, educational, humorous, and a good read for men and women alike. Adam is reading it next.

Until next time! And keeps the recommendations coming! I would have never chosen this book for myself but I loved it.

It's All Good.

Today we went out to celebrate Lori's bday. It was my first outing since being sick, and it was a lot of fun! Lori always does birthdays right. This year she treated us to a cruise around the FC lagoons. I was really surprised at how cool some of the houses back there were. Who knew?

Lori, Rupal, Rebecca, Kerren, Jen, Me and Lisa, otherwise all known as: Danielle, Avani, Nancy, Kevin, Carmella, Heather, and Natalie all attended. The latter were our almost names, i.e. what our parents would have named us had we not been who we are. My favorite of course is Kevin. Dawn had to miss this time, but we all missed her for sure.

We had a great time, went through many a bottle, Lori had it catered with a beautiful meal. Every year her birthday gets better! Happy Bday Lori, I love you!

Need I say more?

Ready to go with Captain Patty at the helm. (Who rocked btw, we loved captain Patty)





Birthday girl!

Pre-Party
Lisa, Kerren, Rebecca
Jen, Rupal, Ash
Captain Patty!
This pic I love. The old lower building on the right is our current office, the building (tall one) on the left is our new office we are moving into in October. Rupal is doing the whole build out...go Rupal!

Another shot of our new digs...not a bad view right?

Birthday Girl!
These boats seemed to be gaining on us...well..with so many hotties in our boat I can see why!

Another one for the books!



Afterward we hit the grass for some picnic time.






This picture could have so many funny captions. I will choose the one that Rebs is jumping for joy because she is opening her very OWN business in the next few weeks. She rocks!