Ashlyn’s Birthday Video for Daddy… April 24, 2009

Alright…. so for Brett’s birthday we did a surprise party…. and as I said in an earlier post, he had no idea that it was coming. So, after he prayed to close the service that Sunday, we announced that we would be celebrating Brett’s birthday and played this video. It was Aunt Stefanie’s idea to make the video, and Jeremy Zoref…. our film genius… was behind making the video. He spent many hours editing with Kate Barker to make this just right for Brett. Thanks Everyone! Enjoy watching little Ash wish her daddy Happy Birthday! Also, after the video there is a link to more videos from our church if you want to watch them… my dad is in one of them and it is pretty funny!

Macy’s Spring Flower Display… April 15, 2009

While we were in the City for the Circus we stopped by Macy’s to see their huge Spring Flower display. They were especially busy that day, so it was more difficult to get good pictures, but it was beautiful. New York schools get far more time off than schools in Colorado… they get most of the Jewish and Catholic/Christian holidays off… so they were off for a week for passover and Easter.. that made the city busier on Monday as the kids were still off school…. but that is what allowed us to take everyone to the city.

Circus Trip: Zing, Zang, Zoom! April 15, 2009

Monday we took a group of 73 from the church to see the circus: Barnum and Bailey’s Zing, Zang, Zoom at Madison Square Garden as our Fun Family Outing for April. Ashlyn said she liked the Elephants, Zebras, and flips the best. Bill, Margaret, and Stef came with us and it was a wonderful time!

Easter 2009 April 15, 2009

Easter was a blast, although our far away family members were GREATLY missed! Of course it was a busy, busy day for all of us… we had 2 church services to offer everyone that day, with free family picture sessions in between, and then ended with a HUGE Easter egg hunt for all of the kids that had a little over 2,000 eggs stuffed with candy! (Lot’s of prep last week for all of the Easter events for the day!) After our big morning we went out to eat at Houston’s with Brett’s fam and my parent’s. It was the best meal we have all had in a long time… amazing! Ashlyn had awoken that morning to an Easter basket filled with candy and a bag of sand toys, the day before she had gotten a few Easter presents from Grammy and Poppy, and then after lunch on Easter she got some presents from Gigi and Papa too. Needless to say… the girl has quite the collection of candy right now. It was such a great day… ending with a nap and then some family time with just Brett, Ashlyn, and I. Big day… such fun!

Dance Party… April 9, 2009

Ashlyn loves to dance! Here are some pics of her having a dance party after Brett’s family party…

Resting after the dance party, while she looks for music she likes on Aya’s iphone.

Brett’s 30th Birthday! April 9, 2009

Well… Brett just turned 30 officially on Tuesday! He said that it was te best birthday that he could remember… we had a HUGE surprise party for him after church on Sunday and he had no clue it was coming! Jeremy and Kate made an incredible video of Ashlyn talking about her dad and his birthday… and we played that at the end of the service to spring the news on him! As of right now we are having trouble posting it online… as it is a finished DVD… but we are going to keep trying… the video was a riot and we would love for everyone to be able to see it. We had a couple hundred people at the party.. and the whole church and our families came together to throw the party together for Brett. We had food brought in… but tons of people in the church cooked and baked as well, and then we had a huge yellow cake with chocolate frosting… which is of course Brett’s favorite. Shawn Campbell made the signs and banners for the party and then sent them out to us… he used the theme of “More Cowbell” from Saturday Night Live… which Brett has always loved! It was an incredible party with tons of family and friends and Brett said he has a wonderful time.

Then on his actual birthday the staff threw a birthday lunch for him, with pizza and cake… and a birthday crown too. : ) Then that night we had a family birthday party at Bill and Margaret’s house and that was a blast! Margaret and Stef made Chicken Ritz… one of Brett’s childhood favorites, with green beans, corn, and rolls. Then we had an amazing dessert too. It was fun to celebrate as a family!

Brett says he can’t really believe that he is 30… but that he loved his birthday parties! I am glad we were able to make it special for him. He deserved a GREAT birthday!

Happy Birthday Brett; we love you!

Big Girl Hair Cut… April 9, 2009

Ashlyn got a big girl haircut with bangs… good times! She loves it… she keeps saying, ‘Mom, I love my haircut!” It makes it look fuller… which is good with how long it has taken her to get a full head of hair. : ) It is still long enough that we can do pigtails… it is finally starting to grow in!

Valentine’s Day Cookies… April 8, 2009

It is so fun having Aya and Undie… for those that do not know, that is what Ashlyn calls Brett’s Sister and brother-in-law… here to hang out with all of the time! They came over so that the girls could make Valentines Day cookies… and Ashlyn had so much fun! They turned out really cute!

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! (Late…)

Our Girl Is Growing Up! April 8, 2009

Well… our girl is now officially potty trained! For anyone walking down that road I highly recommend the book Potty Training in Less Than a Day… it works! She had 3 accidents that first day…. and 2 after that day… and that was it.. she is trained. We have not had an accident at night at all… which really shocked me! Anyway.,. huge blessing not to buy diapers… but freaking us out that she has gotten so old. We need another kid soon!

Here are some recent pics of Ashlyn… man she is a big girl now!

Gotta love H&M… I do not know how we lived without it in Colorado! Great affordable clothes!

Dress Up Fun… April 8, 2009

It is far more fun to let the kid pick the dress up clothes and put them on… cracks me up! I am not thinking that Ash will have a job in fashion one day…

Ballet slippers, Dorothy Dress, pink bag, and Cinderella tiara… all over the pajamas!

Red swimsuit over the clothes…. she looked like Little Miss Sunshine… cracked us up! Obviously I had not done her hair for the day!