San Diego Trip

We just got back in town from San Diego. We spent a week over there to have family fun but the main purpose of the trip was to see my brother and his finance become husband and wife! We arrived a few days before the big event and spent lots of time at Mission Beach Park and Balboa Park. The weather was great and we had such a fun time playing in the sand, playing with each other, and taking walks alongside the ocean. We love visiting San Diego! FYI: For families looking for a great family resort to stay at in San Diego, I highly recommend The Hilton Resort at Mission Beach (right near Sea World).

Perfect park, lots of toys to play on, sand to play with, and the ocean in the background!

Jamie having fun on the slide. Before he goes down any slide now he first has to swing on the bar above.

He's becoming such a big boy.Can't believe he's turning four in a few weeks!

Jordan loves climbing so she spent most of the time climbing up the stairs to get to the slide.

Big bro and lil sis playing together....makes my heart melt!

18 months old!

Jordan turned 18 months old recently and boy is she full of energy and spunk! Jamie was such a calm, laid back, baby and toddler and Jordan is the opposite. Somedays I'm exhausted by trying to keep up with her but I cherish every minute of it. When Melanie was in town for a few months she gave me a different perspective to take when looking at Jordan and her energy level, she told me to view it as Jordan being very curious and how great it was for her to be so interested and excited about everything around her. This is so true! She is such a sweet, curious, busy, and loving little girl and it's been so much fun to see her grow and learn new things on a daily basis.

Our little pumpkin!


Such a big girl now...she only wants to feed herself!

Crazy little girl - this is her being silly and playing with Joey (he's out of the picture)

Very active little girl....her red ball is one of her favorite toys to play with. She likes rolling on it and biting it. :)

A Day with Thomas The Train

The big day finally arrived....Thomas the Train came to Globe, AZ! A life size Thomas the Train engine pulled the train we rode on and took us on a 25 min. ride. Jamie was so excited! When we first arrived he was a bit overwhelmed but once he realized he was also going to get a turn to ride on the "big Thomas Train" he was fine. Nani and Poppi joined us too. The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time.

Jamie was very focused on playing with all of the trains that were at the event.

Jordan preferred to sit down and watch all of the kids playing with the trains around her. She wasn't too sure of all of the activity going on.

I love this picture because it captures the fun Nani and Jamie had together at this event. This was on our walk back to the car.

Poor Poppi...he always gets stuck with Jordan. Jordan is a very busy and curious little girl so it takes a lot of energy to keep up with her and anytime she gets the chance to be with Poppi she takes it. Poppi did very well keeping Jordan in her seat on the train ride.

One excited little boy riding on Thomas the Train!

Happy Birthday, Nani!

This year Nani had a special birthday celebration because she was able to celebrate her birthday with all three grandchildren! Jamie had his Spring Concert for school we went to first and then went out to dinner. After dinner, everyone came back to our house and we surprised Nani with a cake. Jamie was super excited to sing "Happy Birthday" and to help blow out the candles. Happy Birthday, Nani, we love you!

Introducing, baby Ashlyn. She looked so cute that night...attending her cousin's concert and then going to dinner. She was a very good girl too!

Nani and Jamie blowing out the candles.

Singing Happy Birthday.

The crazy kiddos...this was after the concert. They both had so much energy so it was nice the restaurant we went to had an outside area where I could let them run around for a bit before we ate dinner.

Here's Jamie singing songs from the concert.

Backyard Fun

Where have we been?? I can't believe the last time I posted was pictures of New Year's....and here we are in March already. Well, the good news is we've been busy having lot's of fun and enjoying the new addition to our family....Ashyln. She was born Janurary 10th, 2011, which made me become an auntie for the first time! Melanie and Ashyln are doing great and we've been lucky to have her down in AZ for the past month staying with our mom and dad. They'll both be heading back to LA in another month. Jamie has been so cute and LOVES being a cousin to Ashyln. He calls her "tiny baby." Jordan is neutral with Ashyln but does get very upset whenever I'm carrying or holding her. I'll be posting pictures of Ashyln with her cousins real soon. In the meantime, hope you enjoy some recent pictures of Jamie and Jordan.

FREEDOM....I love this picture because it shows Jordan's excitement when she goes outside. She knows in the backyard she can run around as much as she wants and can be loud...pure joy and freedom to her!

Ms. Determined...trying to push both lawn mowers at the same time.

Still the same old Jamie...always playing in the dirt. He loves digging in the backyard and helping out daddy with any projects he may have. We will be planting flowers very soon so I'm sure Jamie will be a big helper for daddy.

Having fun...her hair is finally growing and I'm able to put little pig tails in it. Can't wait until it gets a little bit longer.

Christmas Day and New Year's

Christmas Day was so much fun this year! Jamie really understands the concept of Santa now so it was so neat to see how amazed he was that Santa came to his house and brought him toys, especially the exact toys he asked for! Santa is so smart. :) We spent the morning at our house and spent the afternoon and evening at Nani and Poppi's. It was a very nice and relaxing day. New Year's Eve was a lot of fun too. We went out to dinner and then Nani and Poppi came over to our house to count down to midnight. Nani brought all sorts of fun things for the kdis to do (poppers, silly string, etc) and Jamie had a BLAST. Jordan made it until 10pm, Jamie made it until 12pm and I don't know what time I feel asleep since I was enjoying my Rose Champagne all night long! Happy 2011!

Jamie was giggling so much while we sprayed him down with silly string. Jordan was walking around and trying to eat it.


Jamie was so excited each time Poppi pulled the popper! Once again, Jordan was trying to eat the string that came out of them.

Jordan with her new doll and stroller from Santa. However, she preferred to play with Jamie's trains and the pink dump truck her auntie, Charlotte, gave her.

One thrilled little boy.....Santa brought him three new Thomas the Trains and a whole new train track!

Christmas morning, Jamie came to our porch to see if the reindeer ate the reindeer food he left for them. He made the reindeer food in preschool and was very excited to put it out for the reindeer's to eat on Christmas Eve. Once again...Jordan also tried to eat that too!

Holiday's 2010

We had a wonderful holiday season this year. Just the right mixture of fun things to do around town and enjoying nights at home looking at the Christmas tree. We are so thankful that we were all healthy this season...first time in a LONG time! :) Here's a few pictures of some of favorite times this season.....

Jamie proudly putting his tree ornament on the tree. Every year I purchase one special oranment for the kids and this year the theme was "Cars." Big surprise! I think the tie dye shirt adds a great touch to the tree decorating process! :)

Daddy and Jordan at Serrano's after Christmas Eve Mass. We are truly Arizonans now....having enchiladas, chips and salsa on Christmas Eve.

The main reason we live in the desert...the beautiful winter weather. We went on several park trips during Dec. This is how we spent Christmas Eve day.

Jordan and I at the Train Park in Scottsdale. They decorated the park in lights and we got to ride on the train and look at all of them. Jeremy got several new ideas for next year's decorations for our house.

Jamie and I getting ready to go see The Nutcracker with Nani. This is a special tradition that we just started with our kids this year. Growing up my parents always took me to see The Nutcracker in Seattle and I loved it. Jordan is still a bit too young and loud for the experience but we decided to take Jamie this year and he did great. I hope they'll both like this experience as much as I did when I was a kid.