My mom's 60th!

My Mom & I both share birthdays in June, in fact they are just one week apart.  She turned 60 this year and I tried so hard to put together a surprise birthday for her.   My mom is such a stinker, and it was so difficult to keep anything hidden or a surprise.  The BIGGEST surprise was that her sister(and my dear, sweet, & lovely Auntie Jeanette,) was coming up from California to surprise her.  We managed to keep that a secret until the day she arrived, phew!  It was the best birthday gift to my mom!  We had a nice party for her on her actual birthday.  My brother Noel worked so HARD, made the most delicious/amazing food, a beautiful cake from scratch, we had a little bar set up, dancing, it really was fun and sweet for my Mama.  The one thing that stunk was that we had set up tables with flowers and made them all look so pretty and a thunderstorm moved in and we had to move the party to the garage...of all places! So it killed me that most of her birthday pictures were taken in there ;)  I should mention the dancing :")  Anyone who knows us, knows our love(maybe I should say obsession,) for music and dance!!  It was so much fun...we danced on the porch in the dark, there was thunder, lighting, rain, lots of music, laughs, it was a great memory! 
Birthday bliss continued into the next morning when we had a beautiful brunch for her.
My Aunt Jeanette stayed a week, and it was so wonderful to spend time with her. I love her so much, she is so darn sweet, beautiful, and loves my kids just the way my own mom does. I got some really beautiful pictures of my mom, her sister, and brother, and that made me so happy! They don't get to see each other enough, so I know they cherished every minute. Here are some of the pictures and memories for Mom's 60th! I think my mom is so beautiful, and has aged very well!!

Sister Love!

BABES!

I LOVE this picture of my mom!

So sweet with her grandbabes surrounding her~

I know how happy this made my mom...having her grandchildren with her(missing just one, my nephew Kylan couldn't make it.)

Having all 5 of her children with her made her very happy too!

Love this one too...Lillian, James, Jeanette

She is one loved Mama!

PaRtY of 5!

My Noodle & I

Brunch

So Cute!

Tabitha & Joe...looking so cute together as always!

Helping Hands~

I have been incognito for quite some time, and hope to do some catching up on here~I have loads of things/pictures to share!
I had taken these pictures back in June when I came down to the kitchen to find that Liv had made breakfast for me, Nolan, and herself.  Leo & I were still sleeping and Shane was already off to work.

 *Breakfast included~An organic waffle topped w/ butter & syrup, trader joe's blueberry yogurt, and pink lemonade~Whoaaa sugar ;)  every child's dream breakfast!

Olivia is a HUGE help to me most days.  Although she can be quite a stinker, she is a responsible little lady, always reaching for more independence.  Since she was a tiny girl, she has always been natural little mommy.  I am thankful for helping hands, and a sweet daughter!

She had written me a little note, and had gone outside, picked a daisy and placed it in a dixie cup.  Sweet LOVE!

Sea Breeze!

OK as much as I would love to add caption to each photo, I can't...I do not have the time.  So here is the gist.  This was our annual vacation at Rockaway/Cannon Beach with the Wells', and Ruff's.  We started this vacation, which turned into tradition when Ella & Liv were a year and a half old~it was just the two of them(as far as kiddos.)  Years have gone by, and now we've added another 7 kids to the bunch =)  Good thing we stay in a BiG house that accommodates 3 families including 9 kiddos.
 ~The kids had the time of their lives, each day was a playdate at the beautiful beach.  They dug in the sand, ran on the beach, played in the water/waves, pretended they were in quicksand, ate tons of snacks, soaked up the sun, giggled, got soaked, got sandy...
~One of my favorite days was spent with a Fultano's cheese pizza, coke, and snacks on Cannon Beach.  It was heavenly, the weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky!  I ate so much food on this vacation it wasn't even right. 
~It was Leo's very first time on the beach this year.  Last year, he was still comfy in my tummy, and had a month to go before he would enter the world.  He was so sweet, he loved the beach and was so happy in the sand.  Crawling all over, was smiling, and enjoyed having his hands, fingers, feet & toes in the sand.  He even tasted it, a few times :/ 
~I didn't get a single picture of my 3 kids together, which makes me so sad =(  I didn't have as much camera craze this year ;)  my hands were full.
~We have been so blessed with amazing weather over the last couple of years.  You never know what it will do down there.  It rained the last day we were there, otherwise, it was really nice!  The dudes(Shane, Richie, Todd,)  went crabbing on Father's Day, so you will see some pictures of that too.  It was there chance to pretend they were on The Deadliest Catch ;) 
~2 things that were left out this year~Seeing my dear friend April =(  and buying bags of Sleepy Monk coffee! 
The Oregon Coast is very peaceful, and serene. We really do love it down there. We will probably take a break from it for a wee bit. The 9 hour drive got to all of us this year. Rich said it perfectly, that he "couldn't drive another minute longer." I would have to agree, it was rough this year. So I think I can now get over my fear of flying, and the next family vacation will be somewhere warm, and we will get there by flying! So grateful that we were able to go on this vacation, it's so wonderful to make these memories with our children.

Beach BABE!

Leo L-O-V-E-S little bottles.  Brings back memories of Liv, she was the same way at this age!

My baby girl, soaked to the bones, wearing my sweatshirt in hopes to warm up.

Yin & Yang ;)

Rascals!!

1st day at the beach!  Loved watching him explore in the sand!

The mudroom, did we pack enough outerwear?

Using the sand as a blanket to warm up.

Hee hee, this face he makes is so funny!

Chillin' with Auntie D~trying to figure out how I can get that phone from her.

Leo loved when Auntie Laura played in the water with him!

Tillamook Ice Cream=Afternoon Delight!

There I am(I'm the one looking at the camera...in pain,) after all the food, snacks, dessert, & coke that I consumed for a week ;)

Crabbing/Father's Day gift from the Mamas

Way to go Todd!