Easter

Easter

Aurora and Leif sat and ate some Easter cake after mass. We changed Leif out of his suit because the mess could have been out of control.

This was our Easter bunny cake, Oh and by the way I baked and decorated this cake all by myself! We did color eggs but I forgot to take pictures of them coloring eggs.

Aurora and Leif after mass searching for Easter eggs in the front yard. It was so windy outside that we couldn't stay outside very long. But they still had fun

Aurora and Leif in their Easter clothes! They are so cute! Or I am just bias because they are mine.

New School

Sunset View Elementary

Aurora started her first year at kindergarten this year and it has been an interesting one. We live in an area that in previous years has been nothing but dirt but in more recent years has grown immensely. As a result the schools have been over crowded. A.PS. (Albuquerque Public Schools) decided to add portables to Ventana Ranch Elementary and made two more schools. One is Sunset View Elementary and one is Tierra Antigua. Aurora has always gone to Sunset View Elementary but it was always with the understanding that eventually they would move to a new campus. We thought it would have been better to move at the end year A.P.S. however thought it would be better to cancel school for two days 1 month before the end of school so that the fifth grade students could move into building before they graduated to middle school.

So here is the first day of school at the new school. The kids played with the parachute in the new gym.

Aurora is behind the girl in green. The girl in green is our next door neighbor Vanessa and aurora's best friend.

Here are Aurora's two teachers and aurora is in the pink. I know its kinda of hard to see.

That is Aurora across the way squatting down.

Aurora again in the pink across the way.

And here is the new library and aurora is right in front with the wiggles.

Here in the library again. Daddy is across the way in the picture in a green shirt.

Aurora and Vanessa at the police helicopter.

Aurora again not paying attention...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess.

17 inches

Beautiful Lengths

I have not cut my hair in any major way since I got married in 2005. I had a trim here and a small cut there but nothing major. After about a year of thinking about cutting it and then 6 months of procrastination I finally cut my hair.

I decided that if I was going to cut my hair I would donate it. I however have always like to be the person that doesn't go with the crowd and so I DID NOT donate my hair to locks for love. I should go on to say that I think lock for love is a wonderful organization that does wonderful things for children. I believe that although there are many children who need wigs there are also many many adults who have cancer and cannot afford wigs. This is were beautiful lengths comes in. They are an organization similar to Locks of love they take donated hair and make wigs for adults who cannot afford it.

Above is a picture of the two pony tails they totalled 17 inches long. So really 17 inches is the part I donated. I would say I probably cut off about 20 inches all together.

I also decided to highlight my hair as well but I think that the highlights are hard to see.

The stylist took the picture above and so we also get to see a part of her thumb. Oh well!

Here I am at the salon as you can see from the smock I went to J.C. Penny. I can say that I will never go there again for a hair cut. The woman was clearly not interested in what I wanted I asked her to cut my hair so that it sat at my armpits and she just kept cutting and cutting, and of course I had my head down or to the side or was turned away from the mirror so I could not see what she was doing the whole time and did not know how much she had cut until it was done. But it looks OK I think.

St Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day

As many of you know St Patrick's Day is huge for our family, this year we decided to go out.



We hired a babysitter for the evening and we all went downtown to go bar hopping. From left to right: Marti, Leif, Holly (Erica's girlfriend), Erica, Elida (Erica's Mom)

Yes this is one of the first pictures after I cut my hair but it is not a great picture. Hopefully I can post another blog about my haircut.

When we got downtown the lines were outrageous and we could only get into Ned's bar. I have to say that was one of the worst bars I have ever gone to. There were two bartenders for about 150 people.

Erica and Leif spray painted their hair green and of course added the "Famous F" Many people really liked the green "hair" because several people asked if they could take a picture of Leif's head.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Not because of the presents I normally dont get very many but I love to shop for people and find the perfect gifts. I love giving them to people and watching their faces light up with excitement. This year sadly I did not take any pictures of Christmas day because we got the whole thing on video. I did take pictures of the kids decorating. Aurora was so excited because this year she was able to go on the roof with daddy to put up the Christmas lights.


So here is a picture of my unafriad 5 year old on the roof!


Baby Leif loved the Garland and trying to get him to keep it on the tree was a task! He kept wanting to decorate himself instead.


Here is a picture of me trying to decorate the tree and the kids were helping too.

Leif with the Garland again! ext year I will buy himhis own garland so he can decorate himself if he really wants to.

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was different this year. Normally most of my family goes out of town and I cook here at home. This year my Uncle Tommy's Family stayed here and we went over to his house and had dinner there. It was a lot of fun. After dinner we attempted to play Pictionary and cranium but it was too hard to get everyone organized we still had fun.



Sadly my husband was not feeling well and spent most of the time on the couch with a stomach ache or in the bathroom. Poor guy!

My handsome son Leif
My uncle Tommy and Aunt Lisa. I am on the end and Erica has her back to us
My cousin Kyle and his friend. I cannot remember his friends name I think its Joel :(
Here are Jaycelyn and her friend Tessa. They are so much fun they remind me of what it was like when I was in High School.

Aurora and Baby Leif sitting and eating at the "kids table"
Here is a picture of my aunt Lisa and I setting the table and my friend Erica is sitting down. I loved Erica's shirt it was pink and brown stripes.

Here is the "kids table" my cousin Jayce and her friend Tessa and Aurora and baby Leif all sat at this table. Really Leif kept wandering over to see what mommy was eating tough.

5 years old with 25 years experience!

On Nov.23, 2008 my Husband turned 30! But I have decided he is not 30 he is 5 years old with 25 years experience! Leif has been dreading this moment in his life for a while. We decided to have a completely irresponsible night without the kids. My uncle Tommy's daughter Jayce babysat the kids for us overnight and we had a few friends come over to BBQ throw darts and drink with us. We don't allow smoking in our house and our dart board is in our garage so most of these pictures are in our garage. Even though we spent most of the time in the garage we still had fun.

My old room mate Keely and my cousin Jessica

Here is Blane throwing Darts in the Garage.

Here is one of me and my cousin Jessica

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my husband. He is such a sweetheart.

Just us girls. We later noticed that everyone was wearing black so we decided it was a mourning the loss of the 20's party. (Everyone in this picture has come to stay with me at on point or another in their lives. )

This is our room mate Erica and our friend Blane. I love Blane's expression he looks goofy happy.

This is one of my co-workers and good friends Tammy. I am so glad she came and hung out she was so much fun. Someone was smoking and I thought the effects looked really cool on the picture.

This is Leif's best friend Charlie and I don't think I have one picture of this guy without his middle finger up!

"My Mother in Law"

The Dreaded Mother In Law!

Anyone who really knows me knows that I love to do the exact opposite of what I am told. Let me give you an example; I DO NOT HAVE A DIAMOND IN MY ENGAGEMENT RING! Yes this was my own choice. I have a very beautiful emerald. When I was in college everyone got a Sidekick and I got a Treo. I like to do things my own way and I like to stand out in the crowd. What does all of this have to do with my mother in law?

I am not the kind of daughter in law that hates her mother in law. As a matter of fact I love my mother in law. When my husband and I talk about her I just call her mom. She has such a kind spirit and I think she is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. My husband and I are so very proud of her for taking a leap of faith and moving to Iowa to get her life back in order.

She just recently sent us these pictures and when my husband saw them he asked if I would please post them on our page because he likes them so much.

So this is my mother in law "Kat" and we love her very much!