All grown up. (well not really)...

So we applied for Desiree's 1st passport last Monday and guess what we got it already...We had been told it takes months to get a passport but I guess it fell on the desk of someone who had nothing else to do...No complaints here...

Kids interpretation

Its funny what kids hear from songs and repeat usually making no sense...Trei is very good at that he will request a song and we have NO IDEA which one he wants to hear, which ends up frusterating all of us.heh! Eventually we figure it out though!
We were listening to bible stories in song and when his favorite song came on "Round the walls of Jericho" we hear him belt out his version which goes like this.....
"Round the walls, Round the walls, Round the walls of cookie dough we go"....Yea I laughed, but thats what he hears when the song plays..pretty cute no?

Easter

Spent Easter as a family and with friends, the kids each got Easter baskets, Trei's was a "Spy Kit" with walkie-talkies, Flashlight, and camera & Desiree's was a "Soccer girl kit" which included a jump rope, water bottle, camera, and soccer ball. We then spent the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather and had a Pot-luck dinner/dessert with all our neighbours. It was a relaxing day!!!

Egg Hunt.

Covered in Chocolate.

Cruisin' on a nice Spring day!

All the kiddos.

Jen & Kiddos.

Bill & Tone.

Carlos & Julia.

Desiree's Party!

We celebrated Desiree's 2nd birthday this Saturday since Duane won't be here April 1st. She woke up and we did all the things she enjoys to do, eating breakfast, reading every book we own, watching "Diego & Dora" and playing outside in the playhouse we got her for her birthday! The afternoon was her party and all her friends came over, she had a great time playing, eating pizza, her Ice-cream cake and opening presents. She got lots of Clothes and shoes which is her favorite and books, also Princess dress-up which she then wore the rest of the nite...A friend of mine took birthday pictures for me so I could film the party & I haven't gotten them from her yet..but here are the ones I snapped between my filming, not too many so check back cause once I get the other pics I will be posting them...I can't believe our little girl is 2...
Happy birthday as well to her twin Violet, we missed you at our party this year!!!

Playing Peek-a-boo.

Chillin' with her big brother.

Checking her mail box. We put her birthday card there.

Opening Presents

The finished Product!

So here is the finished product of our front yard landscpaing, and right in time for Easter weekend!!! what do you think? Much better then before no? If you scroll back to previous posts you will see the "before pics".

Happy 30th Sis!!! WHOOO HOOO!!!! Wish I was there to party hardy with you, but then again being in Aussie land for your 30th isn't too shabby now either...ha ha!
Have a drink for me! Cheers!

Thanks to Duane I had a nice relaxing morning today, (something I desperatly needed). He didn't have to go into work early for once so I scheduled a facial, it was soooo nice to do something relaxing! Thanks Hun!

Landscaping

We are getting our front yard landscaped, when we moved in there were only a few crusty little shrubs and sticks for trees...Yea it looked bad, unfortunantly I didn't take any "Before" pics but here are some of the ones I took today while its being "Worked on"..Hopefully this Friday it will be done and beautiful and then you can see the "After pics".

Right side of the front yard. Left side.

Please pray for the people of Albania

I wanted to ask that you please pray for all those in Albania who have lost their families and friends.Thankfully my sister and brother-in-law who live there are okay, although they did feel the blast from the explosion...Thanks!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7299187.stm

Balloon Art

Makes my balloon art look soooo amateur...Wouldn't wanna be one of these girls, doubt they could sit down all nite...

Check this out!

Why does he get to suit up for the Yankee's I want too!!!??? Guess I would have to be a famous comedian to get that oppourtunity but then again I am a woman so I don't think they would let me..Maybe I could start a cheerleading squad in the Dugout, I think I would be content to settle for that! Go Jeter!!! Haha!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/mlb_experts/post/The-mighty-Billy-Crystal-has-struck-out?urn=mlb,71560

I did Advanced Tae-Bo today, yup folks Tae-Bo, I haven't done it in ages but my workouts have been boring me so I figured I would do something different every day, all that to say I have been pulling out old workout videos ( I am surprised I still have a VCR to play them on), and changing it up a bit. I remember it being very challenging however when I did it, although it kicked my butt it wasn't as hard as I thot it would be!!! It did take me back a bit, actually way back... I remembered doing it and sweating it out in Texas, & with my fellow friends Paula and Gina in our living room in SD, ha ha..."Girls, Be Strong, Focus you gotta Focus"..ha ha, Anyhoo for those who get it, get it, for those who don't...well sorry!

To my Bro

Happy Birthday Mike! Hope you got to kick back and relax on your special day! Oh wait a minute I forgot you have kids...yea so that ain't happening! Regardless, hope it was a good one and this year is the best yet!

Took Desiree in today to get her passport photos taken, that way if we ever are adventurous enough to go visit Duane on a port call we will have our paperwork all ready...Anyhooo, its time for her to take her picture and the guy says smile and she closes her eyes and smiles, anyone who knows her can probably picture her doing this, well she keeps her eyes shut the entire time (she does this when she is shy and around guys mainly) thinking no one can see her..finally we are like open your eyes Desiree peek-a-boo etc..finally she briefly opens her eyes and they snap the pic which was soooo unflattering..I asked if we could take another to which he replied, "Sure but it will cost you another $12." I don't think thats right at all...You know I used to think it was just adults that looked bad in DMV/Passport pics, nope its everyone, even adorable Desiree...poor thing like the rest of us she will be stuck with this pic in her passport for quite sometime, heh!

Change your clocks

Spring forward today ya'll...Not my most favorite day of the year, but my wonderful Hubby says this is the last year they are doing this..??? if so how great!!! It sooo throws our kids & me off schedule...heh!

Weekend Getaway!

This weekend my parents watched Trei & Desiree so Duane & I could have a couples getaway up in Paso Robles. It was a fun time, we attended a squadron dinner and spent the day touring Hearst Castle. I have heard alot about it but didn't know the history about it and didn't imagine how beautiful it is! It was a gorgeous weekend in the 70's so it made it all the better!
A bit of the history on it for those who may not know about it. The Estate is one of America's best known historic house museums, its part of an original 250,000 acre estate. It was built between 1919 and 1947 by an art collector and publisher William Randolph Hearst and a architect Julia Morgan. It has 165 rooms, and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways and even had a zoo for animals such as polar bears, zebras, lions and more. What inspired the creation of it was a trip he took as a young child with his Mother to Europe where he saw many Paintings, castles, churches and architect unlike what we have here. When he grew up he moved to the Central Coast of California and began building his dream home/castle on a mountain top. Apparently many architects said it was impossible but Julia Morgan made it happen even though it took many years. But the results are amazing. The main house/castle looks very similar to cathedrals I have seen in Russia and what you see in Europe and Italy, but the most amazing thing to me was the views, landscaping & pools I could have stared at them all day. It must have been amazing to have been there in its prime and to stay there. I took way tooo many pics but I hope you enjoy them...

Coastal pics taken from our drive up to Hearst Castle.

On the drive up....

Guest Quarters

The best part about the whole place, the gorgeous pool. I have never seen anything like it, its a pity we can't take a swim in it.

Guest room and House.

This was the main entrance to his house, and as you can see it was designed after churches he saw on his trip to Europe.

Us in front of Hearst Castle (the main house).

Dining room.

The indoor pool, it was 10 feet deep and check out that ledge they used as a diving board, everything gold colored is real gold. Yep this man spared no expense.