Mothers Day with the Girls

This was one of the greatest days of my life!!! Katie G, Christina, Sandee, Katie S, and I went to the Nordstrom Spa for a wonderful morning of pampering, followed by lunch and some shopping! This was all thanks to our wonderful husbands, who watched the kids so we could go.
This was the relaxation room where we all waited to start our procedures. We soaked our feet, and snacked on nuts and dried fruit, and had the yummiest water that had lemons and cucumbers in it! Katie G had a pedicure, Christina and Katie S had facials, Sandee had a hot stone massage, and I had a massage. It was all so amazing! It was so fun to go with such good friends....we are such lucky girls!
Katie G and Christina...
We aren't drunk we swear!!! This picture was taken right after our massages, when my massage was over I was so relaxed and my legs felt like jello, I had no idea where I was going! I found Sandee in the relaxation room and we were cracking up at each other! Our hair was insane and we were soooo relaxed, it was so great!
Another post treatment picture, we all look like we just woke up, I love it!! Katie S got out of her facial before any of us were done and so she was already changing when we took this picture, we didn't know that and so we were all waiting in the relaxation room for her! This was such a great adventure with great friends, thank you to my wonderful husband for my fantastic mothers day. I am one lucky girl.

Golden Gate Bridge

We finally did it! We walked across the golden gate bridge! It was the most beautiful day outside, warm and sunny which made for perfect walking weather. We walked across with Dan and Ashley Henry, they are so patient to walk with us especially when we have to stop periodically to help the girls. As you can see they wanted to walk too! They were actually such good little troopers, poor Maddie wanted to get out and walk sooo bad. I think I might have had a panic attack! We did let her get out and look down at the water a few times though, it's no fun being strapped into your stroller all the time!
Sweet little Olivia, she just loves being outside!
It was a longer walk than we all thought it would be and I think we were all pretty tired and hungry when it was over, but that didn't stop us from driving up to the outlets in Vacaville! We had a short pit stop in San Rafael for lunch and a quick browse at the REI sale. We met up with Jen and Ben Lowry from our ward at the outlets and we all shopped until we dropped (and the stores closed!). Needless to say it was a very long, full day, but we had so much fun we can't wait to do it again!

Dress ups

About a week or two ago we were having a morning at home and Maddie was playing in her room. She came to me and asked if I would help her put on her "princess booty" (sleeping beauty) dress and her sunglasses. A few minutes later she came in with her pilot wings she got the last time we flew Southwest, she wanted to wear them. I tried to put them on her dress but she wouldn't have it she wanted to wear them as a mustache!!! She is so funny, she kept those babies on for as long as they would stick!
In case the first picture wasn't enough!!! Classic Maddie stance! I'm not sure she has ever seen a mustache before, so we aren't sure where she came up with this one!

Fountain Fun

Maddie and Brock playing in the fountain. These little "city kids" are impossible to keep out of any public fountain!
Cute little Maddie, her hair is just long enough for pig tails again...I love it!
Blake and Olivia taking it all in. I can hardly wait until Maddie and Olivia can run around and play together outside.

Trolley Cars

The other weekend Matt and I decided to go downtown to do a little shopping. We decided to take the trolley, it was a beautiful day and plus Maddie just loves it!
It was kind of windy to ride on the outside of the car so we rode inside which was just as fun! Maddie squeeled with delight the whole time pointing at things out the window!
A picture with the whole family!
By the time we were done playing downtown it had become pretty windy and cold out, so we were desperate to get on that trolley as soon as possible. Instead of waiting in the big long line downtown we tried waiting at this other trolley stop. A few cars stopped but they were stuffed full. We were all starting to get a little grouchy, and I didn't pack jackets for anyone! Finally, a car stopped and the driver couldn't pass us by, he asked everyone to scoot down so I could sit with the kids while Matt stood with the stroller. He was such a nice guy, he later asked us if we had already paid to ride (which we had) because he wanted to let us slide! We just had to get our picture with him, some people are so nice!

Pinewood Derby

Matt has been serving in the scouts, he's having a lot of fun. One of the fun activities they recently had was the pinewood derby. Matt bought the kit to make his own car, and needless to say we had a busy week. He didn't start working on it until the day of, and barely had time to sand it before we went to the church. Maddie helped us pick out some stickers to decorate it and it looked just great. The derby was really fun, Maddie loved watching the cars race down the track...we were actually surprised our car made it to the bottom of the track! Maddie is still playing with that car, she loves it!

Sunshine fun!

Sandee and I met up with some girls from my ward at a really fun park. There are some water fountains that they turn on in the afternoon. The kids were in heaven, it was such a hot day and they had a blast! Their favorite part seemed to be this little puddle they found in the mud. Just thought we'd share the pictures.
Bathing beauties!

More Bridal Shower...

Jessie telling the story of how she and Aaron met and started dating! Opening gifts with a special little helper....Maddie and Emma loved playing with all of the pretty ribbons and bows that were on the presents.
Olivia taking in all the action. She loved sitting on the floor, peeking through the legs of the chairs. It was just too cute, we had to share.
My best friend Lex! I was so glad she came to the shower, we were able to catch up and she got to meet Olivia for the first time. It was so fun, sometimes it feels like no time has passed.
We did it!! The shower was wonderful, Jessie was darling, and I think everyone had a lot of fun. We were so tired by the time it was all over, but it was worth it for our little Jessie. We're so excited for Jess and Aaron! I love my sisters, it is always so fun to be together, we sure missed our mom and dad. We can't wait to be together for the wedding in June!
PS Alisha left early so she isn't in this picture, and I'm not sure where Maddie is...

Bridal Shower

My little sister Jessica is getting MARRIED!!! My sister Mel and I gave her a shower in San Diego. There was quite a guest list, (Jessie is getting married in Spokane, Wa so our parents can be there) this shower was her only celebration in San Diego. This picture is Alisha, Jess, Mel and I getting the romaine lettuce ready for one of the salads. We had quite the assembly line going.
The scrumptious cake! Mel and I worked so hard on this! Mel found a cake picture similar to this and we fell in love with it. We found a cake lady who could copy the idea for us and her cake was so yummy! The bottom was chocolate brownie cake and then a layer of mousse filling and the top was white cake that had a little hint of almond. It was so delicious and looked so pretty on the table! All thanks to Mel for her great idea!
The guest book table. The shower was at Susan Hilbig's home ( Mel's mother in law) we could not have done this without her. She had so many beautiful dishes and trays and things to put out-like this one that is holding the cards. Susan was so sweet, she helped us know where to put what, it was almost like having our sweet mom there. Mel and I realized we had so many ideas and executing them is kind of hard, so Susan was such a great help.
We served four salads, we made one of them but ordered the other three from a restaurant. We also ordered yummy rolls from this little place called Bread Bites. Susan went to a farmers market and picked up flowers, they were so pretty! Each bunch was different, they were bright and colorful and just perfect.
The drinks! Mel found these cute bottles of sparkling lemonades, they were so yummy! There was pink, mixed berry, and two regular lemonades. Delicious and so cute!!

Palace of Fine Arts

I have lived here for almost two years and had never been to the Palace of Fine Arts. It is so beautiful, and so peaceful, I don't know why we had never been there before. My favorite part was walking around the little pond. Sandee and I walked down there and let the kids feed the ducks. They were in heaven! Maddie liked to break each slice of bread into little bite sized pieces, Brock preferred to feed the ducks by the slice! It is so funny because Maddie really eats like that too, little, itty, bitty, bites one at a time.

Brock just checking out the water...later Maddie got herself soaked playing in a puddle. Brock got wet too, playing in the sprinkers. It was such a chilly morning those poor kids were freezing by the time we made it back to the car!
Maddie had an entire flock of birds and ducks surrounding her, she loved every second of it! It kind of reminds me of the bird woman from Mary Poppins..."feed the birds, tuppins (sp) a bag, tuppins, tuppins, tuppins a bag"...The last thing we need is a crazy little bird lady!
This picture is too funny! Maddie was such a good little mommy to the birds and ducks, they would follow her anywhere. I think they knew slowly but surely she would keep feeding them! Maddie just loves animals, I think for some kids it is just in their little hearts to not be afraid, and to love animals. Someday we can't wait to get her a little puppy!

Go Giants!

Well we did it, we went to our very first Giants game! It was so fun, I love baseball games and Matt and I haven't been to one since we were dating. We went to dinner before the game with Dan, Ashley and Matt's(dan's brother who was at sea for the coast guard) cute wife April. We were even able to find free street parking not too far from the stadium so that was awesome.
PS Don't mind that only my hair is blowing straight up, it was windy...I promise!
Maddie had so much fun at the game. She loved to stand up against the railing to watch and cheer along with the crowd. Her favorite part was when the big orange mascot came out and we could see it (if anyone knows what it is please share with me) from our seats. It was such a beautiful evening and we had great seats. We were right between home plate and first base, and not too high in the nose bleeds. We were just high enough to have a great view of the bay bridge and the bay.
In this picture you can see the sailboats in the background. That was so neat to see, we all agreed it would be so fun to take the boat out, sail around for a bit, then come into the dock and listen to the game on a radio with the real crowd cheering in the background! Someday when we are rolling in the big dough!
PS It was so freezing all night, we had on lots of layers but that didn't cut it. Lucky for us Dan and Ash were there and so prepared with extra blankets and hats. The seventh inning hot chocolate helped out too!! We have such great friends!

Better late than never

We decided to go downtown for Katie's birthday and what better way to celebrate than to bring all the kids with us!!! It was pretty crazy, and we had a lot of help scrounging for enough high chairs! It is always fun to go downtown and eat at the fabulous food court...Happy Birthday to Katie!!

The Beach!

Sandee and I walked down to the beach with the kids, we had so much fun! It was well worth the walk to get there, I realized just how out of shape I am! The kids had tons of fun playing in the sand.
In this case Brock had a lot of fun playing in the basket of his stroller...Maddie just watched. Notice that she is wearing tights, thats San Francisco for ya.
Blake loves Olivia's hair! He can crawl (Olivia hadn't quite mastered it at this point) and so whenever they are sitting together, he goes in for the kill, and she has no choice but to sit there and make sweet eyes at him!
Cute little sand babies!

Just for fun

I love it!!! These are my most favorite jammies for the girls, they make me so happy!
"What you talkin' 'bout Willis..."

Easter Dinner

Dan and Ashley were so nice to invite us over for Easter dinner, and it was fantastic! They put on such a spread, we had a delicious roast, mashed potatoes, salad, homemade rolls and sparkling cider! We ate way too much and then had a little Easter egg hunt for Maddie. Liz hid the girls Easter baskets in a room down the hall and we turned off the light and gave Maddie a flashlight so she could find her way to her basket. She had a ball! Every holiday becomes more fun as the girls get older! We are so lucky to have our little family.
The baskets!! Olivia 's basket was just a baby one this year, but she loved shaking the eggs to hear them jingle and jangle.
Happy Girls! I'm sure that everyone is bored of all the same pictures and poses of the girls but we can't help but share them!