Spending time at Newport Beach

Noah, Ella and Sophie having fun collecting sand crabs at Laguna Beach.
It was overcast so we thought we would take the kids to the tide pools and then head over to Fashion Island to do some shopping. Just as we got to the tide pools the clouds cleared and we ended up staying at the beach the rest of the afternoon. We had no sunscreen and no towels.To say the least, we were very ill prepared (Mom in her capri pants),but we had so much fun.
Uncle Mike and Ella playing in the sand.
                                                 Emersyn wadding in the tide pools.


Emersyn eating one of her favorite foods, Tillamook cheese!
Noah and Ella boogie boarding.

Little Emersyn

Emersyn at her best.  Always happy when she is eating.

Great Grandparents

We took a trip to Sun City, AZ to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Brinegar for their 92nd birthday and to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary.  We had a great time and loved spending time with family.

Emersyn Walking

Emersyn began walking on July 5th and loves the new experience. It's the moments like this that keep you from killing your kids when they are not so adorable!

Let's Hear it for the Red, White and Blue!

Ella watching fireworks with her cousins Tucker and Chandler. 
                       The whole Jackson five (Plus Baby Corbin on the way in August!)
                                                  Fireworks in our front yard.
Too bad this is our last year for fireworks in our neighborhood. Let me tell you, it was quite the show.
Emersyn LOVED watching the fireworks. She was laughing and "signing" for more.

Yammy's Birthday

We celebrated Grandma Linda's (aka Yammy Linda) birthday by making her favorite dessert, a triple chocolate mousse cake. Was it ever good! We all had an enjoyable evening. The kids love spending time with Yammy. Happy Birthday Yammy! We love you.

Our "Little Puppy" Turns 1

When Emersyn gets excited she makes a panting sound like a puppy. Therefore, in keeping with the tradition of having the girls first birthday parties be in the theme of their nickname we decided to do a poodle party. 


I decided on Friday afternoon to throw the birthday party on Sunday. We had family in town and so why not? I ran around like  a crazy lady putting together the party. I guess I only had to stress for a day and a half instead of a few weeks.
I always seem to get these wild hairs to try something new when I am throwing a party. It was so fun to try out a "color flow" with royal icing to make the candied poodle as the cake topper. I also got to experiment with fondant while making the paw prints. 
Big Sister Ella introducing sugar to Emersyn. As you can tell from the picture she doesn't quite have the hang of it yet. 

AHH, Now we're talkn'! Taking right after Mom and her sweet teeth.
Emersyn could not get enough. We tried to take the cake away after she had it for about 15 minutes, but she threw a major fit. Since it was her birthday we gave it back to her.
Happy Birthday Little One! We love you and are so glad you've joined our family.

Ella and Emersyn

While looking though our pictures we noticed that we took photos of both the girls in the sink at Grandma and Grandpa's house after their first birthday party. Both girls had their first birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house and after eating their cake they both took a bath in the kitchen sink to get cleaned up. Ella is on top and Emersyn is on bottom. It is so much fun seeing pictures of the girls at the same age.  I must say they look like sisters.

Happiest Place On Earth

What Buds- Ella and Noah
Watching the fireworks with our cousins the Switzers and Aunt Madison.
Ella and Noah are partners in crime. These two 4 year olds get a long so well. They love to dig in the dirt, collect bugs and even tie up Grandpa's sprinkler with twine so they can repel up the hill. It is amazing how well they get along.
M-I- C ,  K-E-Y , M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse!

Emersyn's Feeding Frenzy

I left Emersyn for 30 seconds as I walked into the garage to grab something for Ella. This is what I found when I returned. The little Miss had leaned way over the table to help herself to the sweet potatoes. I didn't know that orange would make such a nice mascara color.

Looking Back

We decided to post a picture of us when we were both about 4-5 years old. It is amazing to think that these two little kids eventually found each other, got married, and now have two children of their own.

We thought it would be fun to post some pictures of us when we were kids just to change things up a bit. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will post a picture of all of us at one year of age. 

Hope all of you enjoy the blast from the past post.

Memorial Day Weekend With Our Cousins

We had a really fun weekend. We spent time with the Switzer's in Gilbert, AZ. The kids all had a blast. They loved having sleepovers downstairs and spent a lot of time jumping on the trampoline.

Noah and Ella showing off their glasses. Ella wanted to be like her cousin Noah and wear glasses so she asked Noah if she could wear the glasses that were on his Build-a-Bear. Of ourse he said yes and we got this shot outside of Outback before we ate dinner. Those two are best buds when they are together.

We caught a happy smile from Emersyn while going down the slide at the Switzer's house.

What a great Grandpa. While shopping the kids asked Grandpa if he would buy them a bear. Of course he said yes and the kids were in heaven. They sure do get spoiled by the grandparents.

Trophy Time

Ella was so excited to get her first trophy. After her last game the team had a pizza party. The kids loved it. As the coach called out each players name to come forward and get their trophy, all the kids would chant the palyers name. Of course when the coach called Ella's name she got shy and would not walk up to get her trophy. As usual she did not want to draw attention to herself. Her dad was the same when he was a little boy.

When she got the trophy she did not want to take to plastic wrap off of it as you can tell in the photo.

Ella's Soccer Video

Since this was Ella's first year of soccer Mom and Dad were excited to watch her play. She was very determined and very aggressive at times. Other times she was content to just roll around on the grass or run around looking at us and not paying one bit of attention to the game. We were very proud of her. We could always spot her on the field because of the big bow in her hair. As you can see in the video sometimes her aggression got the best of her as she proceeded to push players out of the way to get the ball.

Take Me Out To Dodger Stadium

We had a great time at the Dodger game. Ella loves watch the Dodgers play. Her favorite part is the 7th innning stretch because she gets to sing "Take me out to the ball game" She yells it at the top of her lungs. Ella and Dad watch the games at home on TV at night and Ella usually falls asleep laying on his lap. Both Ella and Emersyn had a great time with Maggie and Papa at the game. The loved their pink shirts.