Tanner's Birthday

We had a small family gathering for Tanner's birthday. We know he's not ready for the big party (maybe next year). But Tanner finally wants to open gifts! It's been an issue in the past, but he finally rips open presents like a normal toddler! YaY! He did it with some coaxing, (well he mostly did it by himself), especially since Cody was SLEEPING! Cody refused to take a nap for three hours, and then passed out right as everyone came over! At least it gave Tanner a chance to take his time and enjoy the process.

Ice cream cake with Thomas on top, of course!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANNER!

Tanner is 3 years old!!!

Tanner is 3 years old today! He was born at 8:10 am (via c-section) at UCLA Santa Monica. I guess Tanner was born in the "off season" because we ended up in a big suite with a couch, a rocking chair, and window seating! We had Cody at the same hospital the year before (in May), and we were squished in a tiny room. Poor Ansell had to sleep in a cruddy fold out chair!

I had gestational diabetes with Tanner. (Ugh, that was fun.) He had low blood sugar when he was born, so he was immediately given some sugar water. No wonder he has such a sweet tooth now! But at least he didn't have any jaundice like Cody!

Here's the little guy, looking for some candy...

Here's an exhausted Ansell snoozing on the rocker with his newborn son...

Kristeen the Scrapbook Queen

My cousin Kristeen is an avid scrapbooker. She makes the most wonderful creations out of photos from special events and memorable trips. But I think the most memorable scrapbook she has made, she made FOR ME! She surprised me with it for my birthday! She snuck on Picasa, ordered pictures from our public albums, and secretly put one together! We said if we had known, we would have made all of our albums public! HAHAHA!

I consider this one of the most thoughtful giftsI have ever received!

Fun Fun Fun!

We finally visited my cousin Blake, Shelley, Tyler and Bryce! They live about 2 hours away, so we had planned the visit about a month ago.
First off, we went to Tyler's soccer game. It was neat to see him in action! Cody now says he wants to play soccer!

We then had a nice lunch at Yeung City, a Chinese restaurant in town. It was so good! Tanner chowed down on chow fun, and Cody even tried some baby corn. Tyler and Bryce are such good influences!
From there, we headed on over to the Railroad Museum. I don't know which the boys liked better, the museum or just running wild with Tyler and Bryce! Tanner slept through the first part (again), but he woke up and enjoyed the second part of our tour. Tyler was so sweet by looking out for Tanner at the train table!

After the museum, we headed over to their house. We hadn't ever seen it yet, so it was nice to see their lovely home. We ate cookies and chatted while all the boys played. I could have stayed there all night long! Blake and Shelley (and the boys) are TERRIFIC HOSTS!
It was such a great day!

The Hives

So another event took place on Ansell's birthday...I broke out in HIVES! I thought I had a bite on my leg, then I felt another...and another, then I looked down and EEEK!!!

My niece Kylie said it reminded her of the gourd on the nearby table...lovely!

They subsided by the afternoon, but they flare up at night and in the morning. Each day there are less and less but still...ugh...so gross!

Ansell's 40th!!!

Last Friday was Ansell's 40th birthday! To kick it off, I made him a birthday breakfast sandwich! He usually has oatmeal with brown sugar, but I thought he could splurge a little on his special day! That was the extent of cooking I did. We picked up Buca di Beppo's for dinner!

His parents and brother came all the way up from L.A., and they brought SUSIE CAKES!!! YESSS! There were red velvet, pumpkin with cream cheese frosting, mint, peanut butter on chocolate, strawberry, lemon, coconut, and plain buttercream flavors! WOW! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANSELL!

Gilroy Gardens

The Kitagawa's came up from Arizona a while back, so we got together with them, the Hom's, and the Ushiba's over at Gilroy Gardens. It was our first time over there and we ended up buying season passes (as well as the giant cup with 99¢ refills!)!

The kids loved the play area...

Brandon and Ryan (Bryce and Derek are behind them).

James and Madi

Bryce

Madi hanging with the boys!
Ansell and Cody on the paddle boats.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was so much fun this year! It was a busy day!

Cody had a party at school. I decided to make a pot of chili for dinner at the last minute so I rushed to the store, picked up ingredients, and came home to throw it together. I picked Cody up, then we waited for Syd and Evie's costume parade. I took a cruddy picture, so I decided to use Ansell's pic from the front yard.

After the parade, they came home, ate lunch and I tried to get the boys down for a nap, but Tanner wouldn't go to sleep (after driving around for 45 minutes!) I kept driving because I didn't want him to fall asleep when it was time to go trick or treating! Then my sister Jamie came and said the high school was having trick or treating, so we rushed over for that (since I thought Tanner might fall asleep later!).

But he didn't fall asleep! He was such a trooper! We still had to force him into his costume (he was screaming and bucking the whole time), but we finally convinced him that he was going to get candy out of it! He got a little practice trick or treating at the high school, so he was an old pro by the time we went out for the real thing!

Yes, Cody was Thomas the Tank Engine AGAIN! I'm glad I didn't have to buy another costume!

My sister Tina had the great idea of pulling the kids in the wagon. What a lifesaver! The boys were beat before we made it around the block! Luckily, my mom kept an eye on the chili for me, started the rice and baked cornbread, so we had a nice hot bowl of chili when we got home!