Mina's 2nd birthday party

We had so much fun but boy were we tired afterward. Thank you again Maria. We couldn't have pulled it off with all your help and hard work. Or pool. =]
Mina had a ball swimming and running around with her little friends. We had 7 other kiddies show up for the party. They all had a good time. Mina got tons of awesome presents.
I found a Dora scooter for her at a garage sale for $3. It is a little bit faded but she doesn't care. She also got a bunch of clothes, movies and books.

The party was supposed to start at 1pm but I guess everyone forgot it was also Garlic festival weekend and tried to take the freeway. So the party started at 2 instead. Then people left early and we ended up with half the cake leftover. Oh my gosh the kids were all so funny. Mina's cake had these five huge frosting balloons on it and of course that's what the kids wanted. So instead of cake they all got a huge glob of frosting. Next year I'm not even going to get cake, I'll just get a can of frosting. That's all they eat!

Anyways, we had a great day despite the bumps in the road.

Mina's Birthday Dinner

In honor of Mina's birthday Nana and Auntie Theresa made Mina's special birthday dinner request. Tamales! And they were delicious. After dinner we had some yummy chocolate cake with raspberry filling. Mina and Andrew helped decorate it with sprinkles. We finished up the night with birthday presents. Mina got some pretty cool stuff. Nana and Papa got her a really cute growth chart. Auntie Theresa, Uncle Bob and Andrew got her a rainbow Dora dress and a piggy bank. Auntie Cynthia got Mina a pair of cute Dora shoes (which she immediately wanted to wear) and a Dora baseball glove. And Mommy and Daddy got her the very best present! A toothbrush! She was seriously more interested in the toothbrush than anything else! We also got her a really cute ballerina outfit. She is wearing in to bed tonight.

We had a wonderful time and wish that we could have shared in with everyone. Thank you for all the thoughtful gifts, birthday wishes and love. Xoxoxo

Eating birthday tamales with Auntie Theresa

Her birthday banner (Mrs. Elena Crafty-Pants was my inspiration)

Blowing out her candle (the second time)

A toothbrush! Check out how she is completely ignoring the ballerina outfit.

Mina's Birthday Morning

Mina was the happiest little camper this morning when she first woke up. We sang Happy Birthday, she got birthday kisses, we looked at pictures of her the day we were born. She even felt Caetlin kicking her happy birthday. And then informed Caetlin it was her birthday and Caetlin needed to come out. (She told me to go to the doctor AGAIN and get baby sister out of my tummy.) We had some breakfast, which Mina didn't really eat, and then we baked her birthday cake. Now she is whining for chocolate and throwing things and hitting. Naughty naughty. I think the birthday girl will have an early nap today.
She has settled down in the past 10 minutes or so. She is watching Blue's Clues. It was Blue's birthday.

ok so I can screw up free motion quilting

Yep it's pretty sad looking.

Good thing I decided to practice before I just started on Mina's quilt.
My first attempts are failures. The second one doesn't look too too bad but I'm still not happy with it. So I need to either practice a whole lot more (and then get Mina's done by tomorrow!) or try something else. I think I'm going to be spending the next hour making up my mind.

Mina's [almost done] quilt

So I started working on a quilt for Mina like 2 weeks ago and it's almost finished. I just have to quilt and bind it. I'm kinda nervous about quilting it. I was planning on trying free motion but it looks way time intensive and I'm not sure if I'd be able to finish it before her birthday. (Which is in 2 days in case your aren't keeping track.) At least with free motion quilting I can't really eff it up. It's just like a crazy meandering pattern. IDK. I'm just being all hormonal I guess. I've had a long and tiring day.

And if you were wondering about the crazy colors of the quilt, Mina picked out her own fabric I just coordinated them the best I could.

Happy Birthday Gabriela!

Happy Birthday Gabriela!

1 year old and such a big girl!
XOXO
We can't wait to see what this next year holds for you.

Happy Birthday Elena!!!

We hope you had an awesome fun filled day Birthday Girl!

29 again! ;)

(Sorry Elena, for some unknown reason I only have pics from Peru of you. Well I have some from Sept. 2008 but they weren't as good as this one.)

Theresa's new place

So Theresa, Bobby and Andrew started moving into their new place today. Things could have gone a little smoother. They were supposed to move in to unit 5 but it would have helped if the lock wasn't broken and they could actually get in it. So they switched to unit 2. Which was kind of ready for occupancy but not quite. At least the carpet were mostly clean. It would have been nice if all of the outlet covers and light switch covers were actually screwed on instead of left it a pile on the floor. And the blinds in Andrew's room worked on both sides, and the fan in the upstairs bathroom didn't sound like it was going to blow up, oh and if they were given keys to the apartment. Yeah those thing could have been better. We could have also don't without the 4 1/2 hour run to Hollister for 1 truck load of stuff. (Thanks boys) Things take a lot longer than necessary when you need a smoke or water break every 5 minutes.

Anyways, it also would have been a lot easier to put a bunk bed together without 2 small very inquisitive and apparently deaf children. Theresa and I might have noticed we did step 1 backwards before we got to step 6. That was fun.

Okay enough whining from me. I'm seriously very happy for Theresa and Bob. They needed their own space.

5 down 1 to go.

New pics of the garden

onion, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, leek, broccoli and carrot

Tomatillo, melon, spaghetti squash, cucumber and corn

parsley, basil, pepper, tomatillo, cilantro and sugar snap peas

Strawberries, pepper, and tomato

This was supposed to be a sunflower house for the kids but I think the round-up sprayed on the roots may have stunted their growth

Tim and Theresa have been doing an excellent job taking care of the garden while Maria is on vacation. If it was left up to other people it would be dead. Anyways, the corn is getting big and some ears will be ready to eat soon. The spaghetti squash is finally turning golden. And we have 3 red tomatoes!

Mutant zucchini anyone?

Thank you Verna for the giant zucchini.

Seriously this thing was almost state fair worthy.
It could have been right next to the half ton pumpkin.

We made some tasty muffins out of it though. And we saved more than enough shredded zucchini to make more muffins. We are going to try to make some gluten free. Now I just have to procure the necessary GF flours. Oh and xanthan gum. Whole Foods here we come....eventually. I hate driving in San Jose.

Thank you Grover Family!

Thank you so much for the awesome books Auntie Elena, Uncle Lane and Gabriela.
I really love the Dora books. The Peace book is fun too. Mommy read it to me before bed.
I love and miss you guys. xoxo

Our exciting weekend in Visalia

Surfing with Grandpa

Golfing with Grandpa

Hanging out with the horses

Feeding baby April

Feeding April again

We had a wonderful time hanging out at my grandma's house. My dad, sister, brother, Aunt Diane and Uncle Mike were all there too. Mina was running around being crazy, feeding horses, training dogs, and swimming like a fish. It was great.

We had a little birthday party for her too. She blew out her candles 5 times. Aunt Diane and Uncle Mike got her some really cute shoes, an outfit and the Tinkerbell Movie. Grandma got her a bunch of cute clothes including a Dora shirt and some elephant jammies. She also got Mina a mermaid Dora doll, a Dora movie, a baby My little Pony, a stuffed iguana (which Auntie Kelsey helped name Oscar) and BUBBLES!!!!!!!!! (Which were Mina's favorite.) After cake we went for a night swim and blew bubbles in the pool. Mina thought that was super awesome. She popped all the bubbles that landed on the water.I think this is the 3rd time she blew out the candles
Auntie Kelsey helping open gifts

Wearing one pair of new shoes and checking out the other

Baby Horsey! A bottle!

I want Dora

So Trader Joe's has like the most delicious hummus ever. I'm not a huge fan of chick pea hummus but there is this awesome Tuscan White Bean Hummus. Omg. Seriously it has become a huge craving. Caetlin loves it too I guess. Mina likes to dip her own crackers. So I took this super cute video of her eating hummus. We thought Auntie Elena would be impressed. =]

Our Fourth of July celebration

Fireworks!

Pop-Its with Grammy

Swimming with Kayleigh and Keegan

We had an awesome time up in Sacramento. My mom was happy to see Mina again. And Mina had a ball with everyone. We had such a great drive up there. It took only 2 hours. We left at 8.30am and Mina slept for over an hour of the trip. Too bad our drive home took 5 hours. Seriously it was the worst traffic ever. We went 25 miles in 90 minutes! Come on! The average speed was 23 miles an hour. And that's when we weren't just sitting there.

Anyways, enough about traffic. Mina had a great day swimming and playing in the yard with her Auntie Kayleigh and Uncle Keegan. Uncle Kyle even came out of his room to visit with us for a while. Mina was very "helpful" in Grammy's garden and ate like 3 peaches and handfuls of rasberries.
This was the first year Mina had seen fireworks. She loved it. She kept ohhing and awwing. And saying "I sawed it. Pretty! I sound (hear) it." And she also learned "More Sunny! Purple Rain!" asking my stepdad for more of one particular firework. It was really fun. I just wish it got darker sooner. We were definitely ready to go to bed went the show was over.

Hope everyone else had a great Fouth also.