Happy Birthday Maria!

Well, this post is just for my sweet niece who just turned four years old! We had such a great time at her garden party today. We celebrated her birthday eating breakfast, painting, planting flowers, opening presents, and eating cake. :)

After cleaning up the party area we had fun exploring. The boys especially had a wonderful time getting wet and dirty at the pond where we saw fish, tad poles, and frogs! What a great day!

Here are a few pictures from Maria's special "derpday." Happy Birthday sweet girl!

We did it! We got our Christmas tree!

The boys had great fun checking out all the Christmas trees at our "favorite home improvement store" this afternoon. It's a favorite tradition. Tomorrow, I'll mix up a batch of chewy ginger crackle cookies to eat while we decorate the tree with ornaments and lights!






It is super fun to have older boys who are strong and willing to help out. They are part of things in a whole new way as they grow up.











I just love these little boys!






As it turned out we all had different ideas about just which tree we should take home! Which one do you like better? :)





I hope that you are all having a blessed holiday season with loved ones!

We came, we ate, we conquered...

Well, since I couldn't let free Del Mar Fair tickets go to waste, I invited a couple girlfriends to come play. Yesterday was the last day of the fair so we made the most of it.

Now, it was the Del Mar Fair for all the many years I went as a child. Somehow, along the way, it's gotten renamed the San Diego County Fair. It's all good in my book, just as long as they still have fried zucchini with ranch dressing for dipping, funnel cakes, fresh squeezed lemonade, and yummy garlic fries!

I did take my point and shoot along for a few fun snaps. Here's a few for the girls! Thanks, my 'sistas' for a fun afternoon!

Just a few of the "little boys..."

Well, I don't often post my own kiddos here but I thought I'd share a few. We recently went to Palomar Mountain for "family camp" with our church.

The boys had fun shooting at the archery range, swimming at the pool with friends, and climbing rocks. Here are just a few photos of the youngest two...