Happy 1st Birthday Aaron!

At 7:29 am one year ago, Aaron Michael was born. What a precious blessing he is. He is such a joy. He is SO close to walking. His personality is a delight and his smile charms everyone. His first birthday was spent hanging out at home this morning. Aaron is still recovering from a double ear infection. We took Patrick to class and afterward played on the playground. Here Aaron thought he'd try out being a "big boy" and atttempt the stairs and slide alone! YIKES. Then later in the neighborhood he thought he could ride a two-wheeler with training wheels and a skate board. Guess being one made him even more curious and daring. Tonight after a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner we had a small birthday cake. Aaron was pretty neat about it. I hope he had a wonderful day. Happy Birthday baby, we love you!
Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and Patrick






Just some fun photos this morning of Aaron with Patrick's Grand Canyon Ranger hat! They were too cute not to post some.

All tired out after a full day of turning one. Must be exhausting!
My FIRST birthday cake! MMM...the frosting is good, but feels kind of gooey.



BORN TO RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!

The Winner!

Who does the NCAA Brackets for March Madness? In the last 5 years, we have two winners. Patrick won when he was 2 and this year Aaron won even before he is age 1. Thanks to Godfather Ron for the help. Now he will decide how to spend the spoils.

Loverboy . . .

Last week, Angie had a little "girls" type party at the house. I was making myself scarce by doing such manly things as working in the garage and in the yard. One of Angie's friends has a little girl about Patrick's age and she came over to play with Patrick while the mom's had their party. Patrick and the little girl (whose name is being witheld to protect the innocent) have known each other since they were very little. They were behaving very well, not arguing and for some time were playing very quietly in the back yard. I moved from the garage to the back yard at one point and found the two of them sitting on top of the hot tub that was covered. I politely asked them what they were doing. Patrick's answer in the most non-chalant and innocent voice came out . ..

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"Kissing."

I immediately went inside and told Angie - "You need to go out there and deal with this one." As a dad I wasn't sure how to react. Part of me said "Oh brother." The other part had me thinking "That's my boy!" Finally, another part wanted to burst out laughing but I held back not sure what permanent psychological damage I could impose on these two 5 year olds by doing so.

Look What the Easter Bunny Left Angie!

The old Pathfinder hit 201,000 miles last month. Mike was being very stubborn and believed that it would go another 100,000. The EB thought differently and believed it was time to trade up so he took the Pathfinder and left this in its place. Angie is very happy and is believing that she was very good this year.

11 Months Old

Aaron is 11 months old today. It's so amazing to watch his daily accomplishments. He is such an easy going baby compared to Patrick. He is so close to walking, he crawls, and climbs, pulls up on things, says words like "quack", "mama", "dada", "papa", "bubba", and "rock". Quack was actually his first word. He enjoys listening to Twisted Sister (thank you Papa!) and his favorite song is "I Wanna Rock!" He is learning to brush his teeth (he has 8!) and also brush his hair. It's so fun to watch him. He is such a joy! We love you baby!!

The Boys & Their New Found Skils

Aaron has learned to walk behind things like his Gator with more stability. It's so amazing watching this transformation. Each time he tries he is more stable and there are less falls resulting in crying. He wants to walk so badly! He has also used a laundry basket with clothes in it to push and walk behind. It's so fun to watch him grow, but yet sad knowing that our baby is reaching these milestones that we'll never witness again as a "first."

Patrick had his training wheels removed from his bike TODAY! He is VERY excited to say the least. He's really doing rather well. The starting and stopping is a little shaky, but he gets better each time.

Redneck Weddings

http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/my-big-redneck-wedding/series.jhtml

Has anyone watched this show? It is hilarious. Who mud wrestles in a wedding dress. How about mattress surfing. A recent one actually had a bride to be in tears because she couldn't find her teeth! Then her sister offered to have the bride borrow hers!

In all honesty, I think I have been to a few weddings like this.

SLEDDING in Flagstaff

We spent the night at the Residence Inn in Flagstaff. We had been told that there was a hill on the hotel property for sledding. So we got Patrick a sled - in Orange of course. We hit the hill after breakfast. Patrick had a GREAT time! He went flying over some bumps and did a couple 360s. I even got the nerve to take Aaron on the sled for a short trip down the hill. Mike was too sore from snow boarding to attempt any sledding.

Arizona Snow Bowl

We started out about 5AM on Sunday morning to head to SNOWBOWL. An attorney that works with Mike, Dominique, joined us. Mike wanted to take Patrick skiing. We arrived up at the mountain before 8AM. Patrick began his ski school around 9:30AM. They kept him until 3PM and fed him lunch and taught him some of the basics. The instructor was very pleased with him and indicated that he had "expert" on almost all skills on the report card. He said he'd do very well in school as he was very focused and got along well with the other kids. Patrick didn't want to give his ski boots back and was intent that he was skiing again on Monday! Mike and Dominique attended snow boarding school. Their school started right after Patrick, but they were done by noon. Aaron and I hung out in the lodge. The lodge wasn't quite what I had anticipated. It had lots of tables and chairs and there was a fireplace in the center, but there weren't really any windows to watch the skiers. Aaron took a couple naps on my lap while I FINALLY read some of my Harry Potter book. We also played with some of his toys and books and I made him a spot on the floor with a blanket to play. Mike and Dominique joined us for lunch and then we went to check out Patrick. After a little time in the cold and WIND Aaron and I retreated to the truck for awhile. After getting Patrick we hung out in the lodge until everyone was ready to go. All in all I guess everyone had a good time. Patrick can't wait to go again and wants to try snowboarding someday. Just ask him about his ski experience and I'm sure he'll give you an ear full!

Aaron is 10 Months Old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Completed Pass

The little Dolphins ended their season last week. Throughout the season, the team had one completed pass. Guess who was involved.

NFL Experience ~ January 27th, 2008

On Patrick's actual birthday he decided that he wanted to attend the NFL Experience. This is a "theme park" more or less built by Home Depot. Since Glendale was the site of the Super Bowl, the NFL Experience was here as well. It actually was raining which made things wet and soggy. Some attractions were closed and were a bit cold, but that didn't stop Patrick (and Daddy too) from getting in there and trying things out and having fun. They ran obstacle courses, threw passes, kicked field goals, looked at memorabilia and numerous other things. After leaving the event we went to Margaritaville for dinner where Patrick received a "special" balloon hat from a guy on stilts and also a strawberry shortcake dessert. He was very excited about the dessert. It was certainly a nice birthday ~ one he will surely remember!

More Cake...

On the evening of the 26th we had family over and a few friends. Jillian and Ava were able to come over and play with Patrick. Pirates of the Caribbean was the theme of this cake. Patrick opened more gifts and played with the girls. It was a nice night!


Jillian and Ava are waiting for some cake.

Harley Davidson shirt and in his favorite color! Nice choice Nana and Papa!
Never knew that underwear would be such a great hit, but when they are PACKER underwear that's a whole different story. I couldn't get them washed fast enough for him so he could wear them.

We are so thankful for everyone who was able to join us to celebrate Patrick's 5th birthday. We all had a nice time! Also, thank you to everyone who sent wishes his way!

BOWLING ALLEY FUN

Ok, so FINALLY a post from Patrick's birthday. On Saturday, January 26th we had a party for his friends at the bowling alley. It was our first bowling experience. Ten friends joined him for some fun, pizza, cake and ice cream. They did a fairly nice job and we had little to do other than remind the kids to bowl. Patrick received some nice gifts and seemed to enjoy himself. Aaron did well - he napped on Nana most of the time. That was actually very nice so that Mike and I could pay more attention to the party.


Patrick and Sofia...
Majority of the guests to sing "Happy Birthday" to Patrick.
A Diego cake was chosen for the theme of this event of the day. It was yummy, but we had TOO much left over.
Good thing we asked for bumpers on both lanes. The funniest was watching how fast, or really how SLOW, the ball rolled down the lane. It was pretty funny! What great entertainment.

JANUARY 27, 2008

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY PATRICK!
We love you lots!
Love,
Mom, Dad, and Aaron

PS. I'll post photos later of his birthday festivities.

Just had to post...

Although our Packers didn't fair so well, these photos were too precious not to share!

Sleepover at Our House

Patrick had his first sleep over at our house on Jan. 3rd with his friend, Evan, from school. They seemed to have fun, although couldn't stop talking when it was time for bed. Evan did fairly well, although wanted his parents about 2:30am. Luckily some talking and a little bribery did wonders.