60th Anniversary Weekend in Cali

This past weekend my Grandma and Grandpa Gilb celebrated their 60th anniversary!! What an amazing and inspiring milestone. My aunts and dad pulled together a surprise dinner party for them and 50 of their closest friends (and let me tell you, that is actually a pretty intimate group for them). It was a great weekend. We stayed at the beach with my parents and my sister and her family and got a lot of time in the water, outside and with family. It was a really wonderful trip ~ one of the last we're going to be taking for a while ~ and it was pretty lovely every moment (except for when Rulon whacked his head and had to go to the ER to get checked out...but I'll tell you about that a little farther down the page).

Valerie came over the first afternoon we were there, and made fast friends with Michael when she offered to take him out onto the beach in front of the beach house.


Shortly after my parents and Amy, Brian and Rulon arrived, Rulon fell in front of the fire place, whacked his head really hard and gave himself the biggest goose egg I've ever seen. They took him to the ER to make sure he didn't have a concussion, which he didn't, but he was left with a huge bruise on his noggin!


Auntie Amy on the patio


Dan, Valerie and my mom sitting on the sea wall


Michael is trying to tell me he found a starfish!!


At my grandparent's surprise dinner, we had beef and fish. The kids had chicken nuggets and french fries and were so happy! Miranda loves ketchup!


The kids all ate dinner later than they were used to, and were up later than usual, so they were a little fried, but there were lots of up moments in between the meltdowns.


We all were given little boxes of Sees chocolate as parting gifts, and the kids got Sees suckers. Michael thinks it should be licked like an ice cream cone!


The third day we were there we took the kids out to the ocean. Here's Rulon and Brian.


Here we are all heading down to the water's edge


Here are the kids after the first wave, deciding they're a little freaked out!


If you look closely, Miranda has decided she wants nothing to do with that madness - get her outta there!!! She wouldn't go back to the water for the rest of the outing.


Michael, however, was a different story. It took him a little bit to get used to the crashing waves, but then he was entranced. He wanted someone with him the whole time, but he loved it! Here he is with Grandma Gayle, getting ready to get wet.


Wheeeee!


Where's Michael? Under that big wave!


Getting warm with Grandma after a big wave


Rulon, Amy and Brian walking on the beach


We stayed one night longer than everyone else, and had a quiet evening to ourselves once the kids went to sleep. I love Newport Beach and Balboa Island!

Miranda Takes A Stroll

Miranda is walking like a champ now, even trying to run and keep up in races with her brother! Today she walked back and forth in the house over and over with her little hat and shoes on. Cutie pa-tootie!

Everyone's Walking Now

Quick update today, more of an excuse to get new snaps up than anything! Miranda started walking last week, very exciting. She's already practicing running, which is quite cute. She also loves putting on shoes, especially Michael's - she can usually be found clomping around the house with one of his tennis shoes on. She thinks it's really funny and frankly so do the rest of us!

Miranda, about to walk...


Michael on a "I don't want to take a nap" day...

Baskets Full of Babies!

The other day I was in the next room when Michael called out to me "Mommy, come look! I taking a bath! Miranda in the bath too!" I had visions of a lake on the carpet with both of them plopped down in the middle of it, but when I came into the TV room, I found this:



I actually got Michael to smile for me



and Miranda was busy, busy, busy fishing in her brother's basket



I also got a great shot of Michael's crazy curly hair



I can't keep Miranda out of the baskets now, she thinks it's great fun!

Kiddie Slide Show!!!

Outback in the Jardin!

The kids were outside with Daddy last week before the summer heat really kicked in (ugh, it's freaking hot all the time now!) and I caught a few really great pictures of them. Our backyard is a work in progress, lots of potential projects underway but everyone enjoys being out there.

Miranda has started skootching herself around on the little ride-on cars we've got, she thinks it's major fun.


The kids watched Daddy hit some golf balls, and I caught a nice picture of Michael smiling, which he won't do for the camera very often these days.

Birthday in the 'Burque

We took a quick jaunt to New Mexico for Miranda's birthday weekend, which happened to fall at the same time as Easter this year. It was such a lovely weekend, we celebrated with all the family in Albuquerque and Grandma and Grandpa Moore came down from Farmington for Miranda's birthday bar-b-que. We had lots of fun! Of course we left our digital camera in Arizona so these were all taken with a crummy disposable...at least we got to preserve the memories on film. :S

Grandma Gayle and Mimi


Three Moores


Michael discovered Auntie Amy's old scooter and Grandma Gayle's helmet - a fascinating combination that he couldn't get enough of!! He loves having Grandpa Mike zoom him around the back yard - it's hilarious.


Our first night in town, Dan and I took both sets of grandparents out to El Pinto - yum!! Michael wanted to pretend he was asleep after having his quesadilla, and of course Daddy had to do it too!


For Miranda's celebration, Auntie Amy made the *cutest* cake!


Hard to see, but of course here's the obligatory cake face...


Playing in the back yard - how'd Rulon get so big so quick?!?


On Easter Sunday, the kids all had Easter buckets full of fun toys.




Michael and Rulon had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard, and Michael couldn't have been having a better time until he dropped his bucket, several eggs broke open, and he realized it got even better - there was STUFF IN THE EGGS!!! He dropped everything right there to open them all! Bonus!


One last picture in the backyard, Grandma Gayle had great tulips this year.

Springtime in the Jardin

The weather's been so lovely up until this weekend and we have spent all the time outside that we can, enjoying the cool days before it got hot. Miranda has really been wanting to explore on her own, so we've started letting her toodle around the patio and back yard a bit. It makes for some very dirty knees in her jeans, but she loves it so much!







Mister Michael still loves running around naked after bath time, and the other night he donned his cowboy hat and started running around playing soccer with his dad. It was so cute!! We think we might save this picture for his first prom date or maybe his senior yearbook. :O)))

Jump Up!

Michael and I won tickets from a local radio station to go see Dan Zanes, a really fun musician who makes music for the whole family.

That's Dan Zanes in the purple suit. He wore a lime green suit for our concert! In the group photo, you can see Father Goose, the Jamaican reggae rapper who raps Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and The ABC's - it's awesome!

We had been to a radio promo with Dan Zanes a couple days before and since Michael was brave enough to get up and dance in front of everyone there, and to lead the conga line, I knew we'd have fun at the full concert. Michael had a ball and I must admit I enjoyed myself too!



Afterwards Michael and I cooled off at a bus stop near the concert hall before we got in the car to go home. While we were looking at all the cars going by, he told me his first knock-knock joke!! We still can't deviate the punch lines and he's very specific on how he wants us to respond (when to yell a line, when to laugh) but it was still very exciting. I caught him on camera saying "Knock knock!"



We had SO much fun, and the next time Dan Zanes comes to town we're all going.

They Go Together!

I love when I come across photos that show Michael and Miranda definitely go together. Michael most definitely looks like Dan, and Miranda looks like my and my mom's baby pictures and like her Grandma Moore a little bit, but they also look like each other as well. I guess you could say they match!!

Forget the Crawling!

So this week I was all set to post some super cute pictures of Miranda who's a new expert at crawling - until I went in to get her out of her crib after a nap on Wednesday and found this...



I have to admit I was a bit flabbergasted! She has only been crawling for three weeks or so and now this!

I also was caught off guard with this picture, where Mister Michael looked like such a big boy to me. Our little guy isn't so little anymore!



BLAST OFF!

(This one's for you, Hel.)

The Return of Auntie Amy

We had a treat in February when Auntie Amy and Rulon came to visit Tucson! She cooked for us, we went to the zoo, and had so much fun while they were here.

Rulon, sitting in Michael's Elmo chair (he was quite fond of it)


Michael and Miranda, playing


Me and Amy


Everyone in for bathtime!


One last photo before Amy and Rulon went home


Rulon's sweater passed on to Miranda