Happy 4th Birthday, Grace!

Happy Birthday to our dear Gracie! She turned 4 today, and she reminded us over and over again. Our family celebration first started with our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. We've gone every year on her birthday since she turned 1.

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

This year was extra special since we were joined by Jeremy and Grandma. It took Jeremy a little while to get comfortable enough to explore, but Grace got right to it. We left with 1 pumpkin for Grace and 1 for Jeremy. Next up, we headed to Me N Ed's Pizza for a pepperoni pizza, by Grace's request.

Earlier in the week, I had asked Grace whether she'd prefer to have a birthday cake or to go to Coldstone. She chose ice cream! We put candles into her cotton candy w/ crushed Oreos ice cream and sang happy birthday to her. Even Jeremy got to have a few bites of ice cream this time (let's hope he's not lactose intolerant). We went home to open gifts and play for a bit before our birthday girl headed off to bed. We had such a great time together tonight. It's hard to believe that our little girl is 4! We are so blessed to have her! More pics in our photo album.

Volleyball is Over!

The playoffs were held today at my district's Championship Jamboree at Koligian Stadium. Basically, all fall sports finals were today. Football played on the field, cross country ran a path along the outside of the stadium with the finish line inside, and volleyball was at one end of the football field. Our game was the first one of the day, so it doesn't seem like there were many people there in the picture below, but it got packed once football started. My team lost in the first round against Herndon-Barstow. They were phenomenal this year, so we had expected that it'd be a really tough game. We got beat really badly the first match (25-6), but my girls came back from being 9-0 in the second match, taking over the lead. I think the pressure really got to them, because they fell apart soon afterward. The second match ended up being 25-17. I had an awesome time coaching this year, but I have to admit that I'm glad it's over with. Jason and I knew we were going to busy with both of us working and coaching, but we really had no idea how crazy it would get. I am really looking forward to our lives slowing down. At least, that's what I'm expecting!Everyone's smiling, despite the loss! Lots to be proud of!

ZooBoo

We took the kids to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo's "ZooBoo" event this past weekend. It wasn't as fun as the Zoofari we went to a few months ago, but we still had a great time. All the kids dress up and go trick or treating at tables set up around the zoo. It's basically a way for businesses to promote themselves. Anyway, it was still really cute to see all of the little kids dressed up. We ran out of time, otherwise we would've tried a few carnival games. For Halloween this year, Grace is dressing up as a monkey, and Jeremy is our little bear!

Big Fresno Fair

Last week, our family went to the Big Fresno Fair. We figured- we go to Edmonton's Capital Ex every year, so isn't one fair a year enough? Aren't fairs pretty similar? We decided to try it out. I don't know what we were expecting, but we did end up enjoying ourselves. Well, except for the last hour in which our kids started having meltdowns. We waited over 20 minutes in line for Grace to use the bathroom. We definitely didn't care for how everything was "packed-in." It was hard to get around! It definitely didn't help that it was so packed, so if we go next year, we'll have to try a weeknight. What did we enjoy? Well, there was this building that housed tons of farm animals. Grace got to get right up to a cow! That was pretty funny! We also let her go on several rides. She is definitely a thrill-seeker. The only thing Jeremy got to do was go on the carousel with Jason. He didn't show whether he liked it or not. He just sat and looked around. Everyone always talks about Fair food- we didn't try anything like deep-fried spam, but I definitely took Jill's advice and had some cinnamon rolls!The best part?! Spending time with my family... We've been so busy that spending quality time together has been hard to come by. Thankfully, things should starting slowing down a bit with the end of our volleyball seasons.Jason's volleyball season is completely done, and mine is almost over. He ended with a record of 7-5. My team lost earlier this week, and won our last regular season game today. I'm bummed that we have a record of 3-3. Believe it or not, we're tied in our division for 4th place. Depending on the other team and how they did today, that will determine whether or not my team moves on to the playoffs. We'd have to play against Herndon-Barstow, my old school next Saturday. I'm dreading it... I am not looking forward to getting our butts kicked in front of tons and tons of people! (Herndon-Barstow has an incredible team this year- no losses!)

Loss against Teague

Win against Steinbeck

These are just random pictures! Hair is courtesy of Bambi (one of the people who looks after him at daycare)

Jeremy's Birthday

We celebrated Jeremy's birthday with just the four of us on Saturday. Jason and I weren't feeling too well, so we initially thought it'd be a mellow day. After some thought, we actually decided to do something none of us have ever experienced- we went to the Big Fresno Fair! More details about that in a later post. After spending several hours there, we came home for cake and presents before the kids went to bed. Jeremy was so wiped out, we didn't think he'd wake up! It took some time, but he finally did wake up.

One of our many nicknames for Jeremy is "Jer-Bear," and so with that, I made him a bear-themed cake. After singing to him and letting him try all of that sugar and chocolate, it was evident he wouldn't make it through the opening of his presents. So, he actually opened them up yesterday. I took Grace to the Dollar Tree to get her brother a gift. It was very sweet- she got him some bath toys. I know he won't remember, but I will always remember the special time our family had celebrating the first birthday of our Jeremy!

Happy 1st Birthday!

WOW! Jeremy's 1 today! Where has the time gone!? With a birthday comes much reminiscing... What a joy he is!

What are our plans today for Jeremy's birthday? It's going to be a pretty laid-back day because I'm fighting a cold, Jeremy's getting over one, and Jason's having neck/shoulder issues. We're going to celebrate with just the four of us at dinner, and then both kids are having a joint birthday party in several weeks.

Yesterday, his home daycare celebrated with a small party for him. The owner, Mona, went all out! She baked him a cake, they blew up some balloons, and the older kids drew pictures for a birthday book for him. Mona said Jeremy had no clue what was really going on, but he appeared to enjoy his cake! We're so thankful that Jeremy is at Mona's this year. She has been truly fantastic, and we appreciate all she does to make Jeremy feel loved and cared for. There are additional pictures in our Photo Album.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, JER-BEAR!

Our Little Fish!

If you read our blog regularly, you've probably read about how scared of the water Grace was at the beginning of summer. We had to coax and bribe her to get in the pool. She would negotiate with Jason, and do anything she could if it meant she didn't have to get in the pool. When we were in Edmonton, we put her in a Parent and Me class, and she made progress, but we knew we had to keep the momentum going when we returned to Fresno. We enrolled her in swim lessons at "Break the Barriers." Jason's mom was able to take her to the lessons because it was during the weekday. Grace has learned so much! She even got moved up to a different level, and we had to move her to a different lesson time. Last week was my first time seeing Grace swim since Edmonton. I was amazed! I got very emotional- I am so proud of her, knowing how much it has taken for her to get to this point... I feel so glad that she will never have to face the same fears of drowning as I have had for the majority of my life. This past summer, I was much more intentional and actually got in the pool. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I can swim the width of the pool (hey, we have a pretty big pool). My daughter at age 3 is already inspiring me!

Okay, now for my weekly volleyball update... I hate to lose! Does that tell you how we did on Friday?!