California and the Wedding

We have been so busy and done so much while we have been in California, I don't even know where to start, so I will post a lot of pic's in this blog because I have so many good ones.

First, the entire reason we are in Cali is for Austin's brother's wedding, Cody and Kendra. Tyler was the flower girl and Austin was a groomsman and Jesse, Austin's brother, married them. We stayed with Austin's mom, Karen, for the first few days we got here and the weather was beautiful. The girls went to the park a lot and I fell asleep just laying in the sun, something I am not really used to in WA. Then, we went to Richard and Lynn's house to get ready for the wedding. While in Santa Cruz, I met up with one of my best friends Noemi Diaz, who is living here with her mom while her husband Tony is deployed in Afghanistan, we had a great day shopping and going to lunch. It was so good to see her and I have missed her since she left WA. Austin and I then went to her house a couple days later for our favorite Mexican food that Noemi's mom makes, potato taco's. Ok, seriously very greasy and deep fried, but AMAZING! BUT, lucky for me I was had the pleasure to go running a few times with Lynn and a couple times Tara was able to join us too! We ran on the Santa Cruz boardwalk and I even saw whales while running, it was absolutely beautiful!
Then, there was wedding business with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at a very good Mexican restaurant. And finally, the wedding! It was so much fun and just an all around beautiful, smooth running wedding. Kendra looked beautiful, and all the bridesmaid's, groomsmen, and of course, flower girls were all so good looking. After the wedding we had a yummy dinner with toasting to Cody and Kendra, then dancing, more dancing, and more dancing! Kai was SOOOOO funny, she stole the show, seriously. She danced all night long and was just adorable. Tyler did such a great job as a flower girl, especially since she didn't feel good. Tyler looked so adorable and just so old with her hair in the "up-do", not my little baby anymore!
The day after the wedding we spent half the day at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk riding some rides and playing at the beach with Jesse, Tara, and Bella, and Austin's Uncle Russ and his family. The girls loved playing in the sand and seeing the ocean.
So, now we are back at Karen's house and we leave to go home tomorrow night.
Overall, we have had a wonderful time and spent so much time with family we don't see very often. The pictures below tell it all, even Austin is smiling in MOST my pictures.

Only on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.... Of course, Kai loved it and Uncle Russ, above, gave into it.

Richard and Lynn (Cody's dad and step-mother), or as we call them, "Poppi and Noni"

Riding the carousel on the Boardwalk. This brought back many childhood memories for Austin and Jesse. You can see Tara and Bella in the background

Kai in her "bling" outfit and binky at Karen's house, or "Opie" as we call her.

Tyler doing her favorite thing, swinging, ay the park near Opie's house. We have spent a lot of time here this trip.

Uncle Garrett and Kai. He loved hangin out with his nieces

Austin and I at the rehearsal dinner

Daddy and his girls at the wedding

Our new "Auntie Kendra" and the four brothers

The wedding ceremony being performed by Jesse. He did such a great job!

The Groom and Groomsmen with Kai

The bride, Kendra, with the flower girls and and me and Kai

Our family pic at the wedding

www.babyanddesigns.etsy.com

This is the web address to my shop on Etsy for my "bling Binky's" and other baby items, so check it out... this is a fun hobby of mine and I enjoy making pretty baby accessories. It's just a lot of fun for me to create these baby items, so check it out and spread the word!

www.babyanddesigns.etsy.com

Utah Continued....

So, tomorrow my Utah trip comes to an end, but we had a lot of fun and spent a lot of time with our family. I am anxious to go home and we are so excited to see Austin tomorrow and get back in our regular routine.. routine is good, especially for little Tyler, she has had a rough couple days and I think is just really tired. She has just been going and going non stop, but she has had so much fun. We love seeing and spending time with everyone. Below is more more pic's of what we have been doing the last week. We had a great vacation to Utah and we will see everyone this summer!

Sam is the favorite of the three little girls and they had fun climbing on him.

Tyler had a sleepover at Afton and Mya's and they made "thumbprint cookies"

And of course, more rockband!

Uncle Jesse reading books. Baby Bella was so fun to play with!

And my birthday dinner at Tsunami, Mmmmm, Sushi!

First Few Busy Days in Utah......

I decided it was time for a visit to see family in Utah, so for my birthday Austin sent the girls and me to Utah to see our family. It has been since August since I had seen everyone, so it's nice to be home for a couple weeks and it's nice to see Devan since he has been so sick and had surgery, so I am glad to spend time with him as well. Here is what we have done our first few days here.

Here is sick Devan...

Tea Parties with Grosi....


Friends with new babies....

Cupcake making with Aunt Ginny....

Bedtime stories...

A late night of Rockband....

Toe nail clips from the expert...

And four wheeler rides with Grandpa...



There is so much more to come so check back!

Poppi and Noni Visit

This weekend Poppi and Noni came to visit us from Cali! The girls loved it and Noni was all prepared with activities to keep them busy. They made a book, painted ladybug rocks, played outside,  read books. We love having them come visit and we had a very nice time. Thanks Poppi and Noni for coming to see us and for the great visit!

Great Wolf Lodge

Tyler, Kai and I went with some friends to the Great Wolf Lodge this past weekend. Unfortunately, Austin had to work, but we decided to go play anyway. It was such a cool place. It's a huge indoor water-park/Hotel. You can't even go to the water-park unless you stay at the hotel. The rooms are so kid friendly and fun and the water-park is huge with a wave pool, slides, kid pool and lots of fun things to play on. We had a good time and we missed Daddy, but we can go back another time when he can come too. Here are some pic's!

Our 2008 Family Photo Book

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Kai Kai is 2!

I can't believe my little Kai is 2 years old, well actually, if you spend any time with her you will know she is TWO! She is a lot of work and is your average "terrible two". Although, you just gotta love her. I will never forget when she was born. She was born in Tacoma General Hospital and my labor was induced because she was just cozy inside my womb, but after my labor started she came so fast that I did not have any time for any time of medication, so she was born totally natural within 2 hours.  She was 6 lb 13 oz and just perfect! Big sister loved  her so much and so did Austin and I. She is so sweet and loves to play with her big sister and follow her around everywhere. She is so full of love and just so adorable.

Kai got a giant cupcake cake for her birthday (thanks to Opie!) And it was a white birthday with playing and sledding in the snow. We have never had this much snow at our house and everyone is having so much fun with it. Kai had a great birthday and thanks to all the love and presents from Grammy and Grandpa Lewis and Gregory, Poppi and Nonni, and Opie.

Happy Birthday little Kai Kai!! 

Grammy, This is for You!

Christie made these adorable skirts for Tyler and Kai for Christmas and they never taken them off! Unfortunately, I have tried to take pictures on them in the skirts fro Christie to see how cute they are, but Kai just does not want to cooperate.  Christie I will try again this week. But the skirts are so fun and cute.

Thanks Grammy!

Thanksgiving At Our House!

This year we actually stayed home for Thanksgiving (we usually go to Cali), and we had everyone come to us! Austin's Mom and brother Garrett and brother Cody with his fiance Kendra. Jesse, Tara and Bella we schedule to come as well, but got sick and were unable to make it. I loved having everyone here and we had a great Thanksgiving dinner and a fun few days together. Austin cooked his first deep fried turkey, while I did one in the oven as well.  The dinner turned out great and it was nice to have family together. I baked 4 pumpkin pies and Austin had one all to himself as that is his favorite!I took Cody and Kendra's engagement pictures by our lake and they turned out really pretty. They are getting married in April and I am so happy Kendra is joining the family, she is so sweet. 

Thanks for everyone coming to see us, it was a great time!