Joe's Birthday!!!

It's hard to believe our little boy is already 2!

Here's some snapshots of his party...(what a fun/chaotic time!). Try and see if you can pick out the theme. *grin





A big thanks to my mom who helped me get ready for the party. I couldn't have done it without her!!!!!

We had lots of little guests and their parents...so much fun to get together!!

Joe figured out how to blow out his own candles!!! He at first wanted to put out the flame with his fingers.

Marissa is showing Emily how to eat the snowman cupcakes.

Jacqueline and her snowman cupcake.

Samantha with her cupcake.

The gift opening crew!

Yup, it is true, girls just love cowboys!! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the boots, belt, and sheriff's star!

Boots, trucks, and footballs...what more could a little boy need?

You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can't pick....the good news is that the camera still works!! (It is never safe to just leave it lying around!!!!)

Beth turns....

I turned 31 this last Wednesday. My Grandma Wandler was always "31" so this year is a bit crazy to achieve!! Anyway...

Here's a few pictures of my Birthday. We (My dad, mom, twin, niece, Joe and Danny and myself) went to the "Yarrow Bay Beach Cafe" to celebrate Porsche and my birthday. Lunch was delicious...we didn't even stray that much from our diets. *grin I chose the Shrimp and Crab Louie while Porsche chose the seafood stirfry, Mom chose the seafood gumbo, and dad (the one not dieting) chose fish and chips. To end the lunch we chose bite size desserts. Then we went on a walk by the water.


Here's Porsche and Mircea!

(Porsche turned 31 too...imagine that!)

(Mircea turns 2 February 15th)

Here's Me and the boys! Danny is perched very precariously on the table...we're glad Grandma took the picture quick!

Here's Grandma and the kids taking a walk. It was a bit chilly but the kids had a really good time. This is my favorite picture of Grandma and the kids. They sure love her a lot!!!
but my birthday didn't end there....

After bible study we had a yummy cake made by Elaine!! Totally luscious...and of course, I couldn't offend Elaine so I had a piece...YUM YUM!

Troy, Joe and I didn't celebrate until Thursday when Troy made steaks and salad. Troy's gift to me was a choice of 3 house items to be done in the next thirty days!! Yeah!

A few odds and ends

I just had to post these cute pictures of Danny :) He has been the best baby ever. We can't believe all the grins we get from him. He loves his big brother Joe too and gets really excited when he "plays" with him. My only complaint would be my sore arm from carrying the load.

Peek A Boo!

Victoria is 13!

Here's a few pictures of Victoria's B-day. Troy and I unfortunately missed the cake party...oh wait a minute, we wouldn't have been able to eat it anyway STUPID DIET! *grin



Here's Victoria...isn't she so very pretty...she must take after her Aunt_____ (You fill in the blank!!)

Here's the Cake....WOW!

And of course...Joe and "Toria"!

Our Little Helper!

It was time to pump the septic tank....what a smelly job. Here's Joe and Daddy covering up the tank.

Marissa is back!

Joe is thrilled that "Rissa" is back (meaning being babysat by us a few days a month). All morning they kept hugging and kissing. It was so totally funny. I don't think either of them quit jabbering for a second...both had to be reminded that we talk when our mouths are empty! All I heard all day long was "RISSA!!!" or "JOE!!!" Then they would compare notes about how to say different words...I think they were trying to impress each other. I didn't even try to venture down the hall as they were racing the shopping cart and push doggy. It was a great day...I got exhausted *grin. It was also fun to see Brent (Marissa's Daddy). Here's a few pics of the day.

Here's what the living room looked like a half hour into play!

The Burgess Clan

I forgot to mention why we went to Colorado. Troy's Grandpa Burgess used to own the Hawkeye ranch in the late 50s/early 60s. (The was while Troy's dad was in college.) Aunt Thelma and Uncle Gene were married there during that time. The place has been turned into an event center for weddings and such. Mom and Dad were there for Larry and Lola Burgess' (Dad's cousin) 50th Anniversary celebration earlier this year and decided they should get the whole family together there for the holidays. It was a great idea!

The house has been extensively "fancied up" but there are a lot of things similar to the way things were back then.

Here's some pictures of the Fam:

Jennifer w/ Danny.

Ryan sleeping w/ Danny.

Grandpa and Grandma w/ Danny.

Here the boys and Victoria are eating lunch...the ladies had a lovely brunch at Lucille's!

Mom, Pam, & Victoria back from a quick walk.

Joe, Luke, and Bret

As the saying goes....A good time was had by all!

Hawkeye Ranch Entertainment!

While at the "ranch," Victoria, Grant & Micah put on a great performance with their marionettes! Joe and Luke wanted to be a part of the action and then come to find out Troy and I also had parts!

Sledding was also fun (Too bad mom had to stay back at the house w/ Danny.)

"Cold...Outside," says Joe.

Christmas is Colorado

We had a fantastic time meeting the Burgess Clan in Colorado. Joe loved his time with "Unca Weed, An And, Buckoo, Luke, & Bret" (aka Uncle Wade, Aunt Andrea, Micah, Luke & Bret) as well as with Grandpa Burgess, Uncle Brian, Aunt Jennifer and the GR Burgess company. Danny loved "talking" to his Grandma and Aunt Jennifer. Troy and I just enjoyed being with family(and Ryan Barry...who we've always considered family.)

We stayed with Larry and Lola our first night in Fort Collins. The family met there the next day for morning meeting and then we headed off for the Tapestry House/Hawkeye Ranch.

Here are a few pictures of the house, barn. It was a beautiful place.

A What?

Joe has a _______!

Happy Holidays!

Grandpa and Grandma Wandler surprised their grandkids with their own scooter or tricycle. What fun! I don't know who was more excited Grandpa or the kids! Who knew they made them this small. They all already had their "hats." Joe and Mircea haven't quite figured out how to pedal and steer but it will come in time.

We never got such neat things when we were little...but as my dad says, "we like these kids more!!!"

Joe even already crashed! He got a nice bloody lip and Grandma began to worry that maybe these weren't the best gifts. *grin

Sunday Meeting @ the Snows!

Troy, the boys and I, along with Ginny's family and Porsche's family spent all of Sunday with our folks. We surprised Dad by showing up at the Snow's meeting. Here's Dale & Lillian with Danny. My folks have been going to Dale and Lillian's house for meeting for 30 years.

We're home!

We got to come home today!!! The doctors prescribed an oral antibiotic that only has to be taken once a day for 10 days. The swelling around Danny's eye went down quite a bit since last night and it isn't as red anymore. Joe was thrilled when we walked in the door. He'd been telling Grandma quite a bit about Danny. She said he also found one of Danny's pacifiers and he held it up and said "Danny's!" then put it in his mouth and said, "Mmmmm." What a goof! The nurses at Evergreen took really good care of us but "there is no place like home!"

Too much excitement!

Yesterday ended up being a different day then we imagined. The afternoon before, Danny had been quite a bit more fussy, had a low grade fever, and had weird swelling around his eye. It actually looked like he had a black eye but instead it was just red. The eyeball itself looked fine. Anyway, yesterday morning we were suppose to head down to Porsche's to make cookies. The van was packed with a tub of ingredients, my pans, and my mixer. Well I made a quick call to Danny's Doctor's office and spoke with the triage nurse who said, "we'll get you at 9:15." So we loaded up (Joe still in his PJ's) and went straight there thinking that we'd leave for Porsche's right after the appointment. When we saw the doctor, he said, "you need to take him to the ER right away." Thus cookie making was canceled, Joe was dropped off at Aunt Ginny's house where Grandma was babysitting and Danny and I took off for Evergreen Hospital. When we arrived we got moved right along: paperwork to the triage nurses, to a room, and rather then meeting with the ER doctor a pediatric doctor checked Danny out. So the long and the short of it is Danny has an infection called preorbital cellulitis. Which means he's got an skin infection in front of his eye. The concern is that the infection could spread behind the eye to the brain, so they did a spinal tap to get a sample of spinal fluid...only they couldn't get it to work, but wow did Danny scream. They then moved us upstairs to a room and they took Danny away to do some blood work. Danny later got some shots of antibiotic and pretty much we just hung out. We were told we'd be here a minimum of 1 night. Aunt Elaine came to visit bearing food and other good things. Troy and Joe visited that night, that came with the excitement of Joe pulling the HELP cord in the bathroom and causing the nurses to come running. The rest of the night was uneventful, Danny was very sleepy after his tramatizing day and so he only woke up a few times. Right now, I'm just waiting for breakfast and for the nurses to do a check up on Danny. I'll keep you posted!

That silly Daddy!

All together now!

Joe loves to play with Danny. Here he has made sure Danny isn't lonely. Usually he piles Danny high with trucks and books. YES, our boy plays with dolls! (don't want to hear any comments from the peanut gallery...boys can play with dolls with no adverse effects!)We got him one when Danny was born so he'd have a baby. He calls his baby "Danny" also, which makes things totally confusing at times. It totally has helped in learning to be gentle! The other bonus is we have dolls when little girls come over to play. The Kewpie doll I received when I turned one, the little small doll he got from his Aunt Lainey. Danny just isn't really interested at all. He puts up with a lot...that which doesn't kill you will only make you strong.

Danny is 2 months young!

Gotta add more pictures with Beth/mom! We never have very many with mom cause she usually is taking pictures of the kids with dad! We discovered this when Joe was born. Troy is doing a great job in trying to rectify the "problem" this time around. *grin I like to also think of these pictures as "before" pictures...gotta get off those baby pounds!! I just like Danny's droll expression in this first one...can't see me but it counts!

Look....there's the start of a grin! He has started to laugh, which is very fun. His laugh sounds very different than Joe's. He still looks like me...hopefully those eyes will stay blue! He's definitely got my lack of skin color.

Danny

Check out this cutie pie. He's too cute for words! He is almost 2 months. It's hard to believe. Just look at those cheeks! Too bad I missed his grin.

And of course, I have to add one of us together.

Saturday Snow

Beth T. dropped by to give a little something to the boys. Joe wasn't so interested in the cute matching outfits but he is loving the animals. He hasn't stopped playing with them yet.

Here he is saying "Hip-pooh."

It snowed around 5 inches while we hung out at Gordon and Ivona's celebrating Emily's 1st birthday! Emily really got into her cake. Yummy!





On the way home from the party, we couldn't make it up a steep hill and so we had to turn around and slide down. Luckily we didn't hit another car but we did hit the curb and did something to the wheel of my sable. Glad it wasn't my new van!



Sunday, we woke up to snow and rain. Joe still went outside with dad after meeting. Mom only braved the elements to take a few pictures. Unfortunately she didn't get a picture of their completed snowman. Maybe it will snow again?!

Joe & Danny

Here's the two in our house that you all are most interested in! We can't blame you. They're the cutest, smartest, funnest, etc. I actually was just going to take a picture of Danny but while I raced for the camera the "big brother" hopped up on the couch and said "cheese!"