HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!!!

WELCOME TO THE

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE

PARTY!! We had PRIZES all lined up for the happy little attendees...
We had Finger Foods and Cake and Ice Cream ALL ready for the eating...
And we had Mickey Mouse ALL ready on the top of the cake! Hailey ate a little frosting while I was not looking, but you can't tell anyways... or can you??

When guests arrived to the Clubhouse, they were greeted by Mickey Mouse Himself! Minnie Mouse was there too, here they are with Landon and Hailey ~

(my Mother made these costumes for Halloween a few years ago, and they sure were a HIT for the party ~ Everyone who came to the door was FLABBERGASTED when Matt answered the door in his Mickey Getup!) And here are the kiddo's CLOSEST to Landon's Age. They are just enjoying the LOVE SAC! Macie, Trey and Landon ~ GOOD TIMES!

We played Pin the Nose on Mickey Mouse. A game I came up with ALL BY MYSELF ~ Thank You Thank You! This is Kalos Cluff playing, he cheated... it was REALLY funny!

And before we had Landon open his presents, we all got cake and ice cream! The cake was AMAZING! Save Mart you ROCK my world!!

Landon was thinking the SAME thing in this picture...

Yes, it was a birthday party for Landon, but here is Hailey Bird with her friend Haley Harden. The girls REALLY liked their cake and ice cream! YUMMMMOOOO!!

We had to clean Landon up after he had the cake (next year we will open presents before we do the cake thing) and then he was ready to open presents! Mommy I mean Minnie helped him open most of them!

He really liked EVERYTHING he got!

After all the people were gone, and the house was cleaned up, this is what happened to the Sweet Birthday Boy! SUCH a LONG day for such a Little Boy! Thanks to all those who attended, and made it the BEST FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!!

Here is a picture from the night before. Grandma Andersen took us to Red Robin for Landon's Birthday Dinner! BOY did we have a good time! My mom helped in SO many ways with the party! She really knows how to make a Grand Baby feel special! THANKS GRANDMA FOR EVERYTHING!! You made it a Birthday Landon can NEVER forget!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY MY SWEET ANGEL!

Mommy and Daddy LOVE YOU Landon!!

~~Happy Birthday Melissa~~

And NO I am not talking to myself... My Sister In Law Melissa Bird-Imel's Birthday is today. She is Matt's ONLY sister, and she has put up with alot her brothers have thrown her way, so I wanted to let her know how much we love her!

Melissa is a teacher in Utah, and from what I gather, she LOVES her kids. My personal opinion is that Teachers are the best! She is married to Nathan Imel who is just the BEST brother in law ever! Matt and I first meet him in Fresno, while he was serving a mission! I was really impressed with him, and thought he was a great guy! I told him I was going to hook him up with Matt's sister when he got off his mission, and to our surprise; they got married.

Melissa is a very strong person. I love being able to sit around and just talk with her about what is going on in life. She has a very open mind, and it able to see the good in people. I think that is one of the qualities that makes her a good teacher! I also love hearing her funny stories about her kids she teaches! I am so happy that I was able to gain another sister through marriage. I grew up with lots of sisters, and it is nice to have a sister that I never had to fight! :)

Melissa is also an AMAZING photographer! I WISH she lived here in California so she could capture my kids more with her photos! This is a new hobby of hers, and it is exciting to see her grow and expand her knowledge! She is going to be taking some Photography Classes soon! HOW FUN! She is also an amazing aunt! She HANDMADE some VERY nice things for my children as well. Landon has the COOLEST Fresno State Baby Blanket EVER, and Hailey has a Tutu she LOVES to put on! She also made me a "Hooter Hider" so I can breastfeed in peace! It was VERY thoughtful of her, and it really touched my heart when she gave us these things!

It is for these reasons and SO many more that we salute her on her special day! I hope she is able to have a GREAT Birthday, and that ALL HER WILDEST Dreams come true!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

We Love You! ~

~ 2010 HERE WE COME ~

Our Good Friends Amalia and Brent had a New Years Party to celebrate with family and friends. Amalia's brother Adam was kind enough to bring the RockBand Game for us to ROCK THE NIGHT AWAY!! There were five couples at the party; Spencer and Lauren Baker, Phil and Julianna Iverson, Brent and Amalia Cutts, Adam and his girlfriend Amy, and us.
Amalia is a GREAT host, and had all kinds of goodies for us to eat! My favorite was probably the Pop Rocks! I had not had those in YEARS, and they were just as amazing as I remember them!!
Here is a picture of Lauren Baker, Myself and Amalia before we got into our Grove with our Rock Band!The Boys had fun TEARING up the "Stage" Brent was a VERY fun person to watch sing, and Matt and Spencer are really getting into the Guitar and Bass! Are you giving the camera a wink Baker?? LOL This picture is funny only because it shows us CHEATING on the drums! I was helping with the Pedals while Lauren KILLED it on the drums! I TRIED to play them, and emphasis on TRIED... at one point I think there were three of us playing the drums together! LOL~ Matt is rockin' the guitar GO MATTY GO!

And here is PROFF that I played! It was SO much fun! You can see Julianna in the back behind Amalia, and Lauren was killing it on the drums! I forget what song we were playing here! :)

We got SO into it, that we did not realize that the New Year was upon us until a few minutes before the ball was to drop! It was just good relaxing fun! Phil relaxed most of the time because he was up early, so he won the Champion Award! The Bakers won the MVP Award because they were SO good on everything! Maybe I should play a little more so I can become a pro and get addicted! Thanks Amalia and Brent for the great party! (and a special thanks for letting me steal your pictures... mine did not turn out too great ~ sorry to those who also read Amalia's Blog) We are SO excited for the NEW YEAR! ~

This is Me learning how to be a ROCKSTAR! ~

Christmas 2009 ~ PART THREE

After all the fun we had with my family, we packed up the car, said our goodbyes and headed to Stockton for the Bird Family Festivities! All the Bird Family was able to come home for "Christmas" so it was a real treat.

We went Saturday evening for "Christmas Eve" Dinner, and just hung out with whoever was around. We wanted to stop by Grandpa and Grandma Birds (Matt's Grandparents) house to see the FINAL product since we left before it was finished at Thanksgiving time. It was nice to visit with them. They really love our kids, and they are so sweet to us. The kids went to be shortly after we got home and Matt and I watched a movie together.

The next day Matt's Parents were up early to head to Oakland to pick up Nathan and Melissa Imel from the airport. We just hung out with Kevin, and played with the kids in the morning. We decided we better get ready for church, and about half an hour before we had to leave everyone showed up. We all went to church together, and I know that made Mom and Dad Bird happy. We came home and got ready to head to UOP for Family Pictures. Whenever we can get all the family together we make sure to take Family Pictures. A family friend took the pictures, and they turned out great!

We went home to enjoy our "Christmas Morning" and had fun watching everyone open presents! Hailey loved her Princess Castle she got. It included a Prince and Princess that were able to dance! It was a HIT! She also got another outfit for her Snap n' Style Doll, and lots of fun things in her stocking! Landon got his first FP Boat, and Bristle Blocks from Grandma and Grandpa, but was too tired to enjoy them! Matt got part of his Lift Ticket from the Tahoe trip covered, and garments and I got a gift card from Marshall's. I KNOW LUCKY GIRL RIGHT?? Now all I need is the time to go alone to shop!!

We had a great Ham Dinner, and enjoyed hanging out with everyone. It would have been better if the kids had gotten their naps because Hailey was NOT a happy camper for dinner. We were not able to squeeze any naps into the busy day! It was a LONG night needless to say! And we are not sure how or why, but we ended up getting sick that night. We were up a few times with the kids, and I was up sick myself too!

Matt was not too sick and went golfing with the boys while I relaxed with the sick kids at home. I had good company, and had a nice time just talking with Melissa and Mom about life. Matt and I headed home that night, and we were thankful to get home... just not thankful to come home to a POWERLESS house! OHHHH The joys of LIFE! Right??

We are SO Thankful to be a part of such GREAT Families! We feel very blessed to have so much love around us. Matt and I have talked alot about when we want to break off and have our own Christmas with our little family, and we are proud to announce that NEXT YEAR... Christmas will be in Fresno! We look forward to starting our own Christmas Traditions with our kids!! We hope you all have a VERY Merry Christmas like we did! ~

Christmas 2009 ~ PART TWO

So after we got home from Tahoe, we returned to the Andersen House. It was Christmas Eve Day, and we were SO ready for Christmas Morning. Every year we read the Story of Jesus Birth, and talk about why that is important for us. As kids we used to act it out, and we ALL wanted to be Mary. It is a good reminder of what this Holiday Season is all about. Also, at the Andersen House we have a family tradition that we get to open one present on Christmas Eve. We put all our names into a hat, and pull names for who we buy one present for around Thanksgiving time. That present is the one we open early on Christmas Eve. This year we put the adults in one hat, and the kids in another. It works out well for our family! We really like this tradition, it makes for less shopping and spending money! Christmas Eve is also when we negotiate what time we will be waking up in the morning. We used to get up at like 5:00 a.m. but I think we negotiated 7:00 a.m. this year. We got the kids to sleep, and watched a little more TV and headed to bed. We awoke to Preston telling us it was time to get up!! HA HA. Here is Sharon holding Hailey right before we all head out to see what SANTA has brought our way!

Matt and Landon look REALLY awake huh?

Hailey headed straight for the Tree. She has been wanting to open presents for a while, and when we told her she was able to get them out, she was SO excited!

This lucky girl got an Orange in her stocking! That is another Andersen Tradition. My parents have an Orange Tree, and we ALWAYS got an orange in our stocking! We also got Diet A&W Root Beer in there too!!

Here is one of the presents Landon got from Grandma and Grandpa Andersen. Hailey and Landon enjoyed playing with it together!! The kids always score with Grandma and Grandpa's! Landon got a little FP Baseball Tee with ball and bat, church clothes, Christmas pj's, a puzzle, a Disney Cars little chair and other little items. Hailey got the Princess Tales DVD, Princess pj's, a church outfit, a magnetic ballerina doll, and Mrs. Potato head accessories. (Santa aka Matt and I got her Mrs. Potato Head) We would have pictures of these items being played with, but our camera has seen better days, and was not performing for us very well!

Matt scored too! My parents got him garments, lots of socks, Reef Sandals with matching Board shorts and money for his Soda Card for our cruise. I got Twilight books, two Cd's I wanted, garments and a gift card to Marshall's. It was a GREAT Christmas. We also got the kids and ourselves a few things... but not too much. Matt got a Fresno State Polo, and a basketball. I got a plain white shirt I wanted and cute Reef sandals.

Sharon got the New Moon Game (from the Twilight Series) Game, and we played that until LATE that night! We played other games as well, but mainly enjoyed playing with our new toys, and watching the kids be excited about the Christmas Season! We had homemade Clam Chowder for dinner....YUMMMMMMMOOOOOO!

Christmas 2009 ~ PART ONE

This Year Christmas was a little different for our family. We were able to Celebrate with both families only on different days. We Celebrated the real Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family in Sacramento, and then we got to "Celebrate Christmas" on Sunday with the Bird Family in Stockton. It was nice to not have to RUN back and forth like we have done in the past on the actual day.

We actually headed up to Sacramento the weekend before Christmas to spend time with my family before we went to Tahoe with the Bird Family. We were able to relax, and get all our Christmas shopping done, and enjoy my family's company. My family likes to play Card games, or Board games, and we did alot of that while we were there. My sisters and I are what you might call "home bodies" and we just like to hang out at home and enjoy TIME with each other. We watched a few movies, and as always my mom taught us how to make some more dinners! She is amazing at what she can do! (She is one of those people who does not need to measure out everything when she makes something)... I hope one day I will be able to cook like she does! I would have less dishes to do, and less mess!!

So Tuesday Afternoon snook up on us quick! We had planned to head to Tahoe for a Snowboarding Trip with the Birds earlier in the year. Mom and Dad Bird have a timeshare cabin in Tahoe that we got to stay at. We got to stay there the year before, and we were excited to enjoy the place again. The original plan was for everyone to go Snowboarding and the Grandparents were going to watch the kids. Somehow only the boys ended up hitting the slopes, and the girls stayed back with the kids. We were able to get away for a little while and shop and watch a movie. THANKS Grandma and Grandpa for watching the kids for us to get a little break! It was nice because we got a room to ourselves, and I got to hang out in the snow with the kids too!! Grandpa got a sled for the kids, and they stayed out in the snow ALOT longer that any of us expected!! This is Landon before we went out to the snow... he tired himself out just trying to walk around in his outfit!!

Here is Hailey and her Cousin Rylie Bird all ready for the cold...

Hailey loved playing in the snow. Here she is walking up and down a little hill by the timeshare.
Grandma started making a Snowman, but it did not turn out to be the kind of snow that was going to hold it's shape. Hailey and I put a pine cone on top and covered that with snow to make it a little bit taller. Hailey called it her "Princess Snowman"
We forgot to bring my parents Snow Toys, so Grandpa went to find something for the kids while we made the snowman. The kids LOVED the sled!! We even made a little run near the timeshare that the kids went on (with Grandpa holding the rope) all by themselves! Hailey and Rylie had more fun, Landon was not sure what all the fuss was about!

We had great food while we were there, and we got to relax in the spa there too! The drive up and down was easy, and we are thankful we went!!

Tahoe is SO beautiful in the snow! ~

POWER OUTAGE!!

I have SOOO much to tell you all... and so little time to tell you in!! Long Story short, we had a great trip with our family this Christmas, and we were SOOOO excited to get home because I was sick and Landon and Hailey were sick, and we pull up to the house and try to open the Garage Door... nothing... then Matt goes inside and there is no electricity... We call PG&E and the guy tells us he has NEVER seen anything like this, so luckily he hooked us up to our neighbors for the night. He was suprised the house did not burn down... (thank goodness for that not happening) We have to get a hold of our Landlords (thank goodness we are renting) and let them know, and to have them get an electrician out. We might be out of power for a while. I came home and had to clean out my freezer of food we had just bought when we moved into the house. GOOD TIMES! ~ Anyways... we will be back on here HOPEFULLY soon to let you see ALL THE FUN we had! :) Hope you all had a GREAT Christmas and you have a SAFE New Years! ~

Pump It Up AGAIN ~

We REALLY enjoy Pump It Up! It is a GREAT place to go and have fun with the kids. As I have posted in the past about the deal... on Mon. Wed. and Fri. they have a "Open Jump" slot for kids ages 2-7. The usual cost is $7.00. We found out this last time we went that we could get a Super Saver Pass for $50.00 and it allowed you to attend 10 times. We are SOOO going to get that next time we go!! (kids under two are free, and adults get in with paid admission for a child)
I think the favorite attraction this time was AGAIN the big slide. We had to force Hailey to go down it at first, but by the end of the playtime she was dragging me up it to go again and again!! We also decided Landon should try it out. The picture below was just after I let Landon go down by himself. He liked it so much, he was trying to climb back up the slide! What a cutie! Here he is in the Basketball Bounce House. He was being fussy when we first got to the place. But after he figured out it was more fun for him to jump that it was for Matt or I to hold him, he was having a BALL!

This is our little group just hanging out talking and laughing at the kids. Landon was walking all over the place, and loving the attention!! It was a FUN time. Here is Mommy Amber with little TreTre and Mommy Amy with her Haley. We were a little tired of all the jumping and bouncing, so we were just hanging out and gossiping! Good times!

This place has got to rank one of the TOP for Hailey! She is such an independent little girl, and she played on all the Bounce Structures! We had a lot of fun, and today was the first time we had to get the Announcement that Play Time was over. They usually let us go over a little bit without any problem.

We hope you can join us next time we go! ~ And just so you know... Hailey has been napping ever since we got home!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

This T- Shirt ROCKS! ~

This is what I want for Christmas...

Desperation Leads To....

Me applying for a job at BANK OF AMERICA.
When I told one of my "Wells Fargo Friends" she laughed and told me "That is soooo NOT ok!"

I know you are thinking I am silly for thinking this is a big deal, but really I think I hate Bank of America! Mainly because I worked for Wells Fargo for 8 years, but also because I have been programed to think they are an arch nemesis of some sort... It is a little silly when I think about it because if they hire me over Wells Fargo I should love them... I guess we will see!