2011 Family Video

Monday, November 24, 2008

New Family Pictures


Thank you, thank you Beth and Jason! You guys are the best. I LOVE these pictures of my boys! I must say you make a much better photography team than PJ, myself and the tripod. Thank you for capturing their personalities and always making our boys feel so loved. Now the hard part... choosing the Christmas card photo :)






Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Halloween pics

We had a great Halloween. Dylan got to start the day at his Preschool's Halloween Party. When PJ came home from work we got the kids ready and went to our ward's "trunk or treat." How I ended up with no pictures from the actual trunk or treat... :( Maybe it was too dark out? The kids had a blast running around with all of the other kids and scored big time on the candy. After the trunk or treat we headed over to Bellevue Square. It was way crazier than I remember from the previous years.

For those of you anticipating this years pumpkin carving entry... I am sad to say-there was none. Maggiano's Little Italy didn't host their annual contest :( With no contest to enter I decided I didn't have the time to devote to carving this year. Instead Dylan drew some bats and I carved them out of a pumpkin for him.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Friends... with benefits :)



Okay now, not those kind of benefits--

PJ and I feel so fortunate to have such amazing friends in our lives. We don't get to see or spend as much time with any of you as we would like. However, we still feel so blessed to know such wonderful people. Having these friendships is enough... but I can't say we don't love some of the "fringe benefits". This year (and others) our family has been able to create some amazing memories thanks to the generosity of good friends.

Most recently (thanks Christian and Kelly) we got to take the boys (including PJ) to their first Huskies game. They also set us up with Husky attire for the boys. Which they LOVED. They felt so special and had a great time.

Unfortunately, they lost... but the boys (especially Peyton) LOVED the game. It was pretty chilly when we left and Peyton was signing more and saying football. I told him that the football players had to go "nigh nigh" and all night... the next day and still occasionally he says... "football nigh nigh."

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Why do they call it liquid?

Dylan is always asking me questions. He is very curious and I love it. Yesterday we had the following conversation:
Dylan: "Mom, why do the call it liquid?"
Me: "I don't know Dylan... why do you think they call it liquid?"
Dylan: "Maybe a long time ago before they had cups they had to lick it, so they decided to call it 'lick-wid'"

I thought it was too cute and had to share :)

Friday, October 24, 2008

Dylan's B-day

Dylan is 4!

And yes, his birthday was September 29th, I know this is a little late :(. How is it possible that I have a four year old! I swear time speeds up when you have kids. I can barely wrap my head around the idea that the infant I brought home from the hospital four years ago is now; (sorry- this is really meant for my benefit for when I put together our scrapbook for the year) singing solos in preschool, writing his name, reading me stories (reciting stories), counting to 30, wrestling with his little brother, saying the most thoughtful prayers, telling me he loves me more than (everyday it is different-my favorite is "a house full of machines"- you'd have to know how much he LOVES inventing new machines, it is quite the compliment!) I could go on...

Dylan's birthday was on a Monday so we decided to do our annual Remlinger Farms trip the Saturday prior. Well, he shares his birthday day with one of his buddies... so they had the same idea and had their son's birthday party on Saturday as well. We decided to juggle both events and it worked out great. We started out at Chuckie Cheese for Max's birthday party (and lunch :)). He was bummed that we had to leave early in order to make it to Remlinger Farms, but really wanted to do both. We told him that we would save our tokens and come back to Chuckie Cheese on Monday (his real b-day) to play games and open his presents there. Luckily he loved the idea. Dylan looks forward to Remlinger Farms all year and this time Peyton loved it too. My favorite thing was riding the roller coaster with Dylan and he decided to lift his hands in the air and said, "look mom! no hands" he left his hands in the air for the duration of the ride. It was so fun! The boys both loved everything, but especially liked riding the ponies and the train. I will be sad when they decide they are too grown up for the farm... but hopefully it won't happen too soon.

On his actual birthday we started the day with breakfast in bed (a family tradition) and then got ready for preschool. He was delighted to spend his birthday at preschool so it worked out great. After preschool I tried to make Dylan feel special with some extra attention and waited for PJ to get home. We then went to Chuckie cheese as promised, and opened presents and used up his tokens. Then we went over to Red Robin for dinner and had them sing to Dylan. It was so sweet to see how special that made him feel. And you can't beat free dessert :)

A little of what I've been up to...

Since taking the Wilton cake decorating classes I have had the opportunity to practice for a few occasions. Dylan's buddy Max turned three and wanted a police car cake--- so I decided to try carving a cake for the first time. It was touch and go for a little bit, but I think it turned out pretty good. It is hard to tell from the pictures, but the police car is sitting on a "curvy road" sheet cake.



Dylan turned 4-- and yes this is way late and deserves a post of it's own, which will follow... but he wanted a firetruck cake. Unfortunately, it isn't the best I've done, but sleep deprivation was setting in...


The final was for a baby shower at PJ's work. I probably had the most fun with this cake, if only my royal icing crib frame had worked- it would have been completely edible :(... Oh well, a trip to Michaels, a few pieces of wood, some hot glue and PJ with his saw saved the day!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Our last two days in San Diego

Disneyland and California Adventures

We LOVED Disneyland! What an amazing experience to be able to share as a family. I have really fond childhood memories of Disneyland, so it was really amazing to be able to create memories for our children.
Dylan was such a dare devil. He wanted to go on every ride he was tall enough to ride. I have been to Disneyland a handful of times but had never been on the Matterhorn. PJ took Dylan on it and afterwards Dylan wanted to go again... with me. He told me, "Mom, you don't have to worry- it's just a doll." Little did he know it wasn't the abominable snowman that worried me. I decided to be tough and not let on that I was nervous. Turns out it wasn't even that fast. The only ride Dylan didn't like was the Spinning LadyBugs at California Adventures (equivalent to the TeaCups at Disneyland). We got off the ride and he said, "Mommy, we will never do that again!". Needless to say we didn't ride the TeaCups at Disneyland.
Peyton fell in love the the Buzz Lightyear ride and Winnie the Pooh ride. The ride would end and he would sign more and say "B" or "Pabear."
We saw both Parades, but our favorite was the one at California Adventures. It was so great to watch the kids get excited as their favorite characters came by. Peyton still "talks" about how he got wet during the parade, but Lightning didn't get him wet. He would whine every time he got squirted... (it was an interactive water parade) so, he didn't love that, but he really loved seeing all of the characters. Dylan was totally enamored with the parade and LOVED getting wet. Kids are so funny.
We also loved meeting Crush. The adults all got a good laugh when Crush was talking with a kid and had a picture of a bikini top and asked the boy what it was. He responded... a bra. Crush proceeded to ask what a bra was, and the boy said it held boobs. I'm sure his parents will remember that for a while.
We all had an AMAZING time and can't wait to go back.

Disneyland and California Adventures

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Pictures from SeaWorld and San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo & Sea World

I'm still playing catch up from our trip to California. Our friends, Guy and Erin Balogh, moved from Seattle a year ago to San Diego. They were gracious enough to allow us to camp out at their house again (they saved us when our apartment flooded December 2006 and put up with us for 8 days). We had such a great time with them and are super grateful for their friendship and hospitality! We spent a day at the Zoo, one at SeaWorld, three at Disneyland and one day at the beach. Above are some pictures from the Zoo, Erin's parent's pool and SeaWorld.

I don't know if we are just weird... but the Zoo did not amaze us. We liked it, but we "like" the Woodland Park Zoo as well. While we appreciate that the animals are in their "natural habitat"-- we did not enjoy the endless walking and hills :) It was a great way to start our trip though. We figured we would ease the boys into the fun so that they weren't disappointed with the zoo after having gone to Disneyland. SeaWorld was awesome! Dylan LOVED feeding the Dolphins, touching the Sea Stars and Bat Rays. Peyton didn't like touching the Bat Rays as much, but had a great time and loved the Sesame Street portion of the park. The boys did amazing and had a great time.

I am going to attempt to post about Disneyland tomorrow... then Dylan's birthday... some new cakes... etc.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I gradutated!

...... from Wilton's cake decorating courses I & III. Last year for Dylan's 3rd birthday I decided to try my hand at cake decorating with fondant. It is amazing what you can learn in a year :) I was completely self taught until this summer when I enrolled in a Wilton's class through Michaels. I still have more classes to go, and much more to learn... but I have thoroughly enjoyed the process thus far. It is a lot of work, but definitely worth it. Here are a couple pictures of my final. (Yes everything (including the roses) are edible and handmade out of fondant.


My Year of Cakes (In order, starting w/ Dylan's B-day)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ryan Shupe


I think it was 8 years ago that I heard Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband for the first time. It has been so much fun to watch them "make it big". I even have PJ listening to and enjoying their bluegrass/pop sound. He is actually really impressed by them, which to those of you who know him- means a lot! They were here last year at the Triple Door and we missed it, so I was excited that they were in town and playing for FREE :) We brought the boys and they loved it. Mostly they loved playing in the dirt, but they also love the music (they know it well). We stuck around after the show and got a picture with the band. We also enjoyed running into old friends at the show. It was great to visit and catch up.








Friday, August 15, 2008

SeaFair 2008

After living almost our whole lives in the Seattle area... PJ and I had both never attended SeaFair. Luckily our good friends the Hays had some free tickets and invited us to join them with the Thulins. We all met up and took the city bus into SeaFair. Dylan thought it was so much fun. We really could have ended the day after the bus trip and he would have been totally good. We had pit passes and so we got to see the hydroplanes up close. Peyton and I weren't too amazed... but the bigger boys thought it was pretty cool.
The Blue Angels put on quite a show. On the way back to the bus PJ took Dylan down one of the big inflatable slides. When they came down Peyton said "Papa...May" and was pointing to the slide-which means... Papa me too! So, PJ stood in line with Peyton and he got to try out the slide too! It was a long day- but we had a great time. Unfortunately I didn't realize until much later :( but, our camera was set for email quality pics.... so they aren't terrific- but here are a few shots from our day



Tuesday, July 1, 2008

UW Graduation

June 15th PJ's UW Graduation

I know it is a little late... but we are so excited to announce that PJ has graduated!!! The boys did amazing during graduation. I even had Peyton asleep-- for a moment, and then the clapping began. But he was a trooper. Luckily I remembered to bring Dylan's Lightning McQueen church bag to keep him entertained. PJ was really easy to "spot" in the crowd because he was holding a pink fluorescent piece of paper (he was the first one to walk out leading the business graduates). We were grateful to have my Mom (my Dad was in LA), PJ's Parents and his Grandparents (Hymas) with us to celebrate his graduation.
Thanks to everyone for all of your love and support!

Monday, June 2, 2008

My first Wedding Cake...





This past weekend some of our favorite people had one of their daughters get married. I was helping with the food and ended up making the top tier of the cake as well. It was so much fun and hopefully my first of many cakes. It wasn't perfect... but I figure not too bad for my first one :) I can really only claim ownership of the top tier... but I think the whole thing turned out pretty great.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

TOP 10% Baby!

We couldn't be more proud. Friday, May 16th 2008 PJ was inducted as one of the newest members of Beta Gamma Sigma, which means he was among the top 10% of his graduating class! We are so excited that all of his hard work is paying off. Graduation is only 3 weeks away- talk about the light at the end of a long tunnel :) Seriously though- I am so proud of PJ for all of his hard work, sacrifices and dedication. I am so grateful for his determination and thirst for success and his tremendous effort in juggling all of his responsibilities-- including our family. The boys were great during the ceremony and loved running around afterwards. Dylan loved wearing PJ's medal and had fun pretending that it was his own graduation and that he was awarded the medal. We are excited to have the summer together with PJ only working full time.

Beta Gamma Sigma Pics

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

We know... its been forever

Life can get so crazy! We have way more to update then I can tackle right now... but to fill you in a little:
Peyton turned 1!!! We feel so blessed to have him in our family. He makes us smile everyday. It is amazing to watch little ones grow. Pictures of his Bday to follow in another post.
Also, we have moved! At some point maybe we'll post on that as well-- but for now I'll leave it at Dylan and Peyton LOVE having a backyard- Unfortunately the weather has only cooperated in letting them have a few days to enjoy it.

Now for the good stuff. I love my kids! Yesterday we were all in the car and PJ and I were talking about my previous boss. Dylan wanted to join the conversation and asked if... she was "wicked". I tried to soften it and told him that she just doesn't have a very good heart-- we thought she did... but she hadn't made the best choices. He then thought for a minute and said... "I think the best thing to call her is... Lamanite." Seriously, you'd have to know the whole story to truly get how cute that is... but what a sweetheart! I love how thoughtful he is... but also that he is implenting what he has learned from reading the Book of Mormon. I thought it was too cute not to share.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Is it real?

Check out the following video and let me know if you think it's real. I'm still on the fence about it...

Saturday, February 9, 2008