Ay-hoy-ye-maties

Once a month we have Sunday family dinner. We do this for both Eric's family and mine. It is a great way to stay close and see everybody pretty often.

This month my Mom, aka Banana (one day I will enlighten you as to why she is called that), held the dinner on the 24th of July and planned a fun theme dinner.It was a Hawaiian Luau/Treasure Hunt.

It was a blast. The kids had to find hidden clues in bottles and follow a treasure map to find the hidden loot. They loved it.

At one point they had to pop balloons to move to the next clue. It created a pretty funny moment!

Just a little update on Opa. As you can see, he lost his hair. We think he looks fabulous. He tolerated the first round of chemo really well and went in for his second round yesterday. He has good days and bad days, but the good have outweighed the bad. He is so strong and such a fighter. We just pray that he keeps enduring so well!

We got Annie!

I feel like a really bad Aunt, but the fact that this cute little addition joined our family 1 week ago today and I am now just getting to the post is not my fault. I was unable to download the pictures due to the fact that the cords, yes both of them, went missing. I found one today so here she is.

Annie Patricia

Born July 23

7 lbs 19 inches

She has two older brothers and so my brother Paul and his wife Eliza are ecstatic to add a little girl into the mix. Annie evens out the grandkids on the Crosby side. There are now 3 boys and 3 girls. So Fun! We are so glad they are all doing well.

Another Fantastic Weekend!

We finally got to the zoo this year. Eric's mom (aka Grandma, aka Marilyn), got us tickets for the University of Phoenix employee family fun night. We went with Grandma and Eric's brother and sister's and their families, 18 of us all together.
Top 5 reasons why this was the best zoo trip ever; 1) Great family fun! We love to spend time with everyone! 2) It was free, not just the entrance but also the train and the new carousel, unlimited use. 3) It was in the evening, dusk at the zoo is very nice. 4) It was closed to the public. No lines, no crowds. 5) If you lose your balance and fall over only in front of people you know, it's not embarrassing...ok, yeah it is!

Here are a few pictures of the animals, yeah...some of them belong to me :)


Thanks for the amazing time Marilyn!

We also spent a little time at the resort.
I think we caught a glimpse into the future with the 2nd picture...
Heaven Help Us!

Another year older and wiser too??

It seems I have made this type of post a lot lately, but here we go again.



Today Eric becomes another year older.








While getting older does not seem like much to celebrate, there are plenty of good things that come along with the bad!


I hope that the 34 years you had to wait for this moment have been worth it.

Thank you for how hard you work for us and how much you love us. Whether it is Lego's and Xbox or Barbies and Babies, you are an amazing dad. Both Alec and Chloe's first response to "What do you love most about Dad?" was, "He plays with us and has fun with us!" I don't think you could ask for anything more! We don't know what we would do without you, have a great day!

Girls Rock the House!

Last Thursday we had our primary class over for a party. We teach the 11/12 year old girls. They earned the party by memorizing and passing off the first 6 Articles of Faith. They are the funnest group of girls and we love each one of them. For the party we had a BBQ and then they had their choice to either play Wii or Rock Band. They all voted for Rock Band. We browsed through the songs, which made me feel so old because they didn't know 98% of the them, and while they all wanted to do the drums or guitar, they were a little hesitant to sing, so Brother Prettyman started it off.

They already think he is crazy, so I am a little worried what they must think now! But it did loosen them up, and as long as those who weren't playing the guitar or drums sang together, they were good to go! I hope they had fun and I bet I know what they want to do when they pass off the last 7 Articles of Faith!


By the way, Alec was beside himself with so many cute girls in the house he couldn't seem to find a way to cope with all of his awkwardness and he ate inside all by himself...poor guy! Don't worry, if you are anything like your dad you will find your groove in about 15 years! :)

Alec turns 9!

We can hardly believe that we have been parents for 9 years. Alec is an amazing kid and we have come up with the top 9 reasons why we love him!

1. He is a great big brother and babysitter!

2. He is a friend to everyone and very kind.

3. He has a great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.

4. He is delibrate about what he wants and thinks things through.

5. He has funny little quirks that make him, him!

6. He is soooo his Dad!

7. He loves to read, and his dad loves that they read Chronicles of Narnia together.

8. He is an expert fisherman and an all around sportsman.

9. He is Alec, nothing more needs to be said.

We hope you have a great birthday bud!

Oh Opa...

I haven't posted lately because I have been avoiding this one. About 3 weeks ago my Mom called and let me know that my Grandpa had gone to the hospital with some severe stomach pains. My Grandpa would not do this willingly so I knew that it had to be bad. My Grandpa will be 83 this year and he has never looked a day over 65 or acted a day over 25. He works hard and plays hard and loves to do both. A little later in the afternoon my Mom called back and said that they had found an aneurysm in his stomach and some masses in his adrenal glands and some spots on his liver. The aneurysm was the least of their worries at this point because it was not active, but the masses in his adrenal glands were most likely cancer. We found out that the adrenal gland was not likely the source of the cancer because in most cases it is just collects the cancer from elsewhere. They checked his lungs, colon and liver. A week of tests and waiting and worrying. They found no cancer anywhere else, one prayer answered! He has Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the adrenal glands. The bad news is the confirmation of that big C word that scares you to death, the good news is that this type of cancer is not just treatable, but curable. He had to have a bone marrow biopsy to see how advanced it is, but the cure rate is between 50%-90%, second prayer answered. He starts chemo tomorrow and he has several rounds and several weeks of it, but we are all praying and fasting and hoping that his 83 year old body will act like its 65 year old counterpart and respond and heal well!

As expected, this experience has really taken a toll on all of us. It is hard to justify it by saying that at his age it is expected that something like this happen. Cancer is a very scary word and I don't think it matters what age you are, it hits like a ton of bricks. This is the second cancer scare in my mom's family and I think that it is two too many! I have never had anyone really close to me die. My grandparents have been a major part of my life always. I never really knew my dad's family so my Grandma and Grandpa have always been my only Grandma and Grandpa. I don't have many memories that aren't linked to them. This is a blessing that I don't take lightly. They are also extremely close to my kids. The thought of losing them has always been in the back of my mind somewhere but has never seemed close because they both seem so much younger than they really are. I am just grateful that things like this remind you of what is really important and to let all the other stuff go and just hang on tight to those you love!

Happy 4th

We once again celebrated the 4th of July at Lagoon. It has been a tradition that we have been doing with my family for a few years now. It is funny because when we tell people that is where we are going, they think we are crazy. I am afraid to let the secret out, because we have found it is actually one of the best days to go. The lines are short, the hot weather is bearable with all the water spraying rides available and the fireworks are amazing because they put them to music that plays throughout the park and it makes for a really good show! This year was no exception. The weather was awesome, mostly overcast the whole day, the kids loved the new OdySea ride, another water spraying addition,
and we even got Alec on a couple of roller coasters. I was stoked to not be pregnant this year and finally get to ride Wicked!!

Another tradition of the day is the overloaded log flume...The first video is the splash from last year. The second video is the splash from this year. The third video is the little splash from this year. The debate is up for which one is bigger, feel free to vote!

It is such a fun tradition! Maybe we will see some of you there next year...but don't spread the secret too far -k- :)