sea*life

the boys joined some friends at sealife. we hadn't been to this part of legoland in almost a year and i am not sure anyone outside of our group was glad to see us back. the kids had fun running through the narrow pathway and playing an unannounced game of "hide and seek". fortunately we had a good time and left with all kids in tow.

this is the part where there was a legoland photographer trying to get the kids to pose for a picture. it was hysterical to watch her try to get the kids closer together and smile so she could snap the photo. i managed to grab a shot over her shoulder. this should give you an idea of the kind of picture i am pretty sure she captured. these are the brief moments that add so much joy to my days.

i think the stingrays were a favorite.

like fine wine

amanda and i have been friends since birth, thanks to our parents who are also friends. we have done jr. high, high school and even college together, not to mention we were roommates and sorority sisters. we have seen each other in the good and not so good of life and stayed great friends. she has a lot of dirt on me;)

today we celebrated the youngest ermanis as she turned 1! the birthday girl (avery) and ryder are two months apart and isaac and their oldest (autumn) are also two months apart. it's such a treat to raise our children together and to see another generation of friendship forming strong roots.

the birthday girl

the balloons were a hit

ryder and daniel counting their pennies

addison hit 9 weeks

taste testing

these two have so much fun in life

autumn and isaac had their eyes on the prize

the crew of kids

this is one beautiful birthday girl

daniel and julianna

dear friends

autumn and isaac - double trouble

a week in review

our boys love to "help" in the kitchen. this night ryder was on "mom duty" -- blocking my hand every time i tried to interfere.

sand time with gigi and daniel

sweating to the oldies with trent. it was seriously warm and these boys were dripping.

legoland was up and running with lots of water.

much of this week was full of play and fun with friends. this was also a week with a lot of heartache. friends from hume lake lost their 10 month old daughter sunday night. obviously this has been on our hearts for much of the week as we have squeezed our children more than they may have wanted. the memorial service is this saturday in fresno and i know they would appreciate your prayers.

happy birthday!

february 16th is a day that we love celebrating! both my mom and aunt were born on this day exactly 2 years apart. we know we're pretty lucky to have them in our lives.

happy birthday mom and auntie!

a few things i have learned from my mom and aunt...

1. a person who has 5 good friends in their lifetime should consider themselves lucky. (i have never met 2 women that have more friends than these two.)

2. don't whine.

3. there's nothing in my house that can't be replaced aside from the people in it.

4. the more the merrier.

5. be good to your sister. when we're gone, you'll have each other.

5. God provides.

6. the greatest gift you give your children is to love your spouse.

a day worth celebrating

even though valentine's day is a totally bogus holiday, there is still a lot of things to celebrate

we celebrated bradley mattingly's 1st birthday

the boys loved the bubbles...and the rocks. we were up for pretty much anything that would keep ryder somewhat happy (he is the one with the balloon head). homeboy only slept about 20 minutes all day long, and he was more than a bit grumpy.

bradley and ryder have been buds for quite a while. today was just like old times

sporting his new hand knit cap

megan and blake enjoy the festivities

first he ate the chocolate cupcake and then polished of the vanilla one. just like a real man.

one of bradley's lady friends

isaac was a big fan of the cupcakes too

the whole gang

after the party we headed to dinner with grandpa (thanks,al!) and auntie at sammy's.

ryder sporting the shades

let's hear it for romantic dinners

to top it all off, isaac turned two and a half today, and annie and i celebrated 5.5 years of marriage. see, some things are worth more than a box of chocolates.