Lake Havasu Here We Come...

To go or not to go??? That was the big question this week. It seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. We had planned a long weekend camping trip to Lake Havasu with our friends the Prossers and the Millers. We had been looking forward to it until...Chance came down with yet another ear infection; Charlie hurt his back to the point he couldn't even stand straight (he was hunched over so bad he looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame - he was in MAJOR pain; we lost the keys to the camper (we tore the ENTIRE house apart looking for them and in doing so finally got our garage straightened up a little); and when we were sure nothing else could possibly go wrong my closet fell down on me and Cole while I was packing. All I could think is that somebody was trying to tell us that it was not a good idea to go on this trip. We cancelled our reservations, called the Prossers and told them we just weren't going to make it and were pretty much set on not going until...Charlie found the keys in his jacket pocket. We made a last minute decision that we were going one way or another. We had been looking so forward to it and were pretty bummed about not going. Hey you only live once! I made a mad dash to the store to get food for the weekend. We hurried and packed everything up and pulled out of town late that afternoon. We couldn't get a hold of the Prosser's to let them know we were coming so it was a pretty big surprise when we pulled into the spot next to them at about 8:00 pm that night! We got set up and tried to relax a little!

Our campground was Awesome. There was nice big shade trees and the lake was just a few yards away!
The next morning we rented a pontoon with the Prossers. Everyone else had their own boats but we figured the pontoon would be the best for all the little ones. We enjoyed Wayne's DELICIOUS bloody mary's and then headed out on the boats to find a nice cove to stop and play in. Chance hung out in the boat where he practiced his "Look how cool I am" look.The girls had none other than an Oreo eating contest.Cole worked really hard to make a sandcastle.And we played and we played and we played in the water!Kadee trying out the boogie board.Kadee and Cole and the girls ventured over to the island not far from us.
Our misfortunes seemed to follow us on the trip unfortunately. It was pretty windy on the lake and while we were cruising along the shade cover of the pontoon snapped in half and whacked Charlie right in the head. I joked with him that whoever had a voodoo doll of him must have been pretty angry and really taking it out on him!

Regardless, we had a lot of fun. There was a lot of relaxing time. I snapped this cute pic of all the kids hanging out in the camper watching a movie. It makes me think of how times have changed, when I was their age the thought of watching t.v. while camping was crazy!I am so glad we didn't let our string of bad luck get in the way of going. It was worth getting out of town and just kicking back a little.

Happy Birthday Gia!

Our niece Giavanna turned two today! She is absolutely adorable! We miss not being their to share her special day but hope she knows how much we lover her!

Happy Birthday Gia.

Happy Easter 2010!

This year the Easter Bunny came in grand fashion. He gave the kids a little different gift this year. Instead of little toys that will just end up in the trash or in a yard sale down the road the kid's baskets were flower pots. They were filled with shovels, rakes, gloves and of course a little candy. Grandma & Grandpa Syrros and Grandma & Grandpa Neilson also spoiled them a little bit with lots of goodies.

The Easter Bunny also brought some flowers and potting mix so the kids could plant their very own flowers and have something beautiful that lasts! When the kids woke up in the morning they raced down and were pretty excited over their Easter "baskets"! After breakfast we headed out to do a quick Easter Egg hunt. This hunt was for the hard boiled eggs. Kadee and Cole raced all over the front yard while Chance watched laughing. He thought they were pretty funny.

After the Easter egg hunt it was time to get down to business and plant some flowers. We got everything laid out and ready. The kids put the flowers in themselves and I helped them fill the pots with dirt.

Then it was time to water. We added my cute little yard stakes to each pot which made them look so darn cute!

We headed over to Julie's for Easter dinner. The kids were surprised with more goodies. Grandpa Syrros insisted on getting each of them these HUGE but absolutely adorable bunnies. Each one of them loved them so much!Then it was time for another Easter egg hunt (they are so fun to watch we have multiple!). This time it was for the plastic eggs full of candy and best of all $$$$$! Kadee and Cole got set, got ready and were off!Uncle Pete helped Chance look for eggs.Cinnamon watched Kadee open all of her eggs to see what she got.Julie got Cole the coolest bubble set. Usually these things just don't work but this one worked and was amazing. The bubbles were enormous.
We had a wonderful Easter Dinner (HoneyBaked Ham - my favorite!) and a wonderful day just relaxing and watching the kids have fun!

Eggs, Eggs and More Eggs!

In regular tradition, the night before Easter we dyed eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide on Easter. The kids had a blast dying the eggs. Kadee drew a bunch of designs on her eggs with the wax crayon and Cole really got a kick out of the fact that he could change the color of the egg just by dropping it in the glass of colored water. Chance hung out in his highchair and watched everyone. I think he would have loved playing with the eggs himself but we would have had some major problems since his new game is to drop everything he gets a hold of and see if he can get someone to pick it up!

Cole-man dying his eggs.Julie came over and helped. Thank goodness because the thought of handling three kids by myself and throwing dye into the situation just scares me!Mom came down to join the fun also! She made yummy Easter eggs out of rice crispies and we dipped them in chocolate and white chocolate. They were DELICIOUS! Kadee decorated her rice crispy egg with white chocolate chips to give it a spiky look.The rice crispy eggs turned out so good!
Kadee and Cole were pretty pleased with the eggs they dyed. We put them in the fridge for the Easter Bunny so he could hide them for the kids the next day.

I love the holidays, especially the prep that goes into making these holidays so much fun!

Happy 5th Birthday Malachi! ARRGH!

Cole's buddy Chi had an Awesome Pirate Party for his fifth birthday. The kids got to make their own Pirate hats and got an official pirate eye patch.Cole and Chi talked pirate talk as all good pirates do!
Cole got see his buddy Cooper too! They spent a good chunk of time running up and down this hill. Every birthday party should have one (a hill that is...it was great entertainment!)Chance just enjoyed be outside. Captain Dallas led the kiddos on a super-cool treasure/scavenger hunt throughout the park.Until they finally made it to the treasure!The treasure chest was filled with smaller treasure boxes filled with party favors for all of the kiddos.Then it was pinata time! The kids really whacked away at the poor thing!

Cole was hilarious and decided he was going to extend his three turns into ten turns and just started attacking the pinata. He was swinging the stick so hard that everyone was a little scared to get too close for fear of their lives! Then it was time for the yummy cupcakes...

Chi made sure nobody touched the loot until it was good and ready! (Notice how he is brandishing his sword!)

It was a really fun party and the kids had a blast!

Abe is Home Safe and Sound

Our dear friend and co-worker, Abe finally made it home from his almost year deployment in Afghanistan. We were all so happy he made it home safe and sound! He gave Chi a big hug!

The Mandalay Bay hosted a wonderful welcome home ceremony and several big wigs including the Governor and a Senator helped welcome the guys home.

I am sure it has been a long year for Abe and I bet he is glad to be home and able to just relax safely with his family. We will never be able to re-pay him for his sacrifice. I only hope he knows how grateful we are for him and his fellow brothers, how much we missed him, and most of all how grateful we are that he made it back to his family safe and sound.