Arizona

Last week the kids and I went to Arizona with my Aunt DD and cousin Derek to visit my grandparents. We went to celebrate Grandpop's birthday and to relax. The kids did really well on the long drive, especially Aubrey. She had a stomach thing going on and barfed in a bucket a few times on the way. She perfected her aim by the time the drive was over, and thank God, felt much better later that day.
Derek took the kids bowling the second day. They had a great time. It was Trevor and Aubrey's first time so they were pretty excited. I like the shoes.

We made Pop pop a chocolate cake with some Cabury eggs on it. He's the ring-leader of a family full of chocolate freaks! We had a really nice time seeing them. It had been too long since the last visit:)

By the river after an eating contest won by Trevor. DD took us out to lunch at the Edgewater buffet. Trevor loves food, so a buffet is better than Christmas. He amazed everyone with his skills and out-ate Derek.

More matching

Just another cute picture of these two. Auntie Em came out with matching dresses and they wanted to wear them right away. They even want their hair exactly the same, shoes, they probably are wearing the same underwear.

Clayton Patrick turns 8

So Clayton just had his 8th birthday on Feb. 22nd. He didn't want an official party, just a sleepover with his cousins and his pal Cole. Pretty simple request. He chose to have "make your own sundae" instead of cake. The kids had fun with that. We had brownies, waffle cone bowls, ice cream, hot fudge, sprinkles, whipped cream, nuts and of course a cherry on top. Most of them couldn't finish it.

Clayton and Cole. This year the boys are all into monster trucks after Uncle Nathan and Auntie Steph took them to the Monster Jam show. He has quite a collection now.

It's a strange thing when your boy gets to the age when clothes and money excite him. He loves this shirt from the Marsh's-it has monster trucks and guitars.

Modeling birthday boys

Here's Wyatt up on a rock. We went on a short hike to blow off some steam. There's a cool trail with a few piles of climbing rocks right near our house.

Wild men on a mountain

Nanny, Grandma and Isaac in a tutu.

Bella

This is Bella our new little puppy. We got her last week. For some reason I really felt like we needed another dog. I've been looking for a couple of months on craigslist trying to find one that fit into Jeff's little box of what he wanted. He could have gone his whole life without any pets, so I really had to work on him. So he agreed that I could get one if: not too big, but not too small so the kids wouldn't break it, not a chihuahua, one that didn't shed, not a young puppy we had to housebreak completely, one that needs rescuing-not buying, plus we wanted a girl. So I found her :) She's an awesome little dog, and well worth the wait. She kept shutting her eyes every time I took a picture. All the kids love her and so does Ben. Aubrey can't wait to get her some doggie dresses and bows for her hair!!!