Happy Anniversary - 36 years!!

It is 9/11.

In 1976, my young parents were married.

It is now 36 years later. Holy cow!

My parents have been married for 36 years. Wow. They are two of the most unselfish people I know. 9/11 has taken on a new meaning for so many people (and rightly so) but, today I'd like to recognize my parents for their 36 years. 

Happy Anniversary!

We love you guys!!

p.s. Yes, welcome back to me. To the land of blogging. It has been far, far too long. 

I've Got a New Niece!!!

Yay!!!! Yay!!!! Yay!!!!


I could literally not be more excited!! My newest niece, Carsyn Paige Babcock made her entrance into the world yesterday at 7:54pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long.


And, she is sooooooooooooooooooooo and I really mean soooooooooooooooooooooo dang cute!!! She could NOT be any cuter. Literally. Call me biased, but she is so darn adorable!


Oh- I will be taking some pictures very soon...but, here's a few from last night!

Before

Family of four...ALMOST 5

Carsyn Paige

She was wide-eyed and alert immediately!!

So flippin' adorable!!! And, seriously - how great does Ashley look!!!!

Dimples. She might be mine - she's got a mini dimple in her chin!

Carsyn and Aunt Dawn - ugh!! Love her!

Yep - definitely the current family favorite!! Love her!!!

Nanny & Poppy

In my family - the kids call my parents Nanny and Poppy. That is what I called my maternal grandparents and that is what my kids now call their maternal grandparents.

Awhile back (bad blogger me) we took some quick photos is their backyard. It is pretty hard to get all 6 of their grandkids (soon to be seven, yay Ashley!!) and a dog to sit still and smile. Here are my favorites.

I love the one above because of Aidyn's face. She is so dang cute and her facial expression is so awesome!

 

This one includes the "granddoggy" Yogi. Or, as Brady would say - Yogi Bear Trouble Majercin.

This one of Cori and Aidyn is so perfect!

Here's one of my cute 'rents. Aren't they so adorable??!!! I love them!

Durango...

Here we come. These 4 will be hangin' out - all week long.
Yahoo!!!

Minute to Win It

Our secret family addiction...Minute to Win It.

Brady loves it.

I get anxiety during each and every minute challenge.

One minute.

60 seconds.

Feels like forever.

I love watching Brady watch the show.

He gets SO involved.

He imitates Guy Fieri.

Oh man does he love this show.

We all do.

Anxiety and all.

What nerds!

Ladies Luncheon and Secret Santa

It's officially Christmas.
I've already been to the annual Ladies Luncheon...and we've been Secret Santa'd...TWICE!

Don't be jealous.

Ladies Luncheon took place at Aunt Cindy's, this year. It was fabulous. Yummy food - fantastic company, lots of laughs, even a present...AND a movie! Half of us saw Burlesque (they raved and danced and sang their way out of the theater. They loved it.) And the other half of us saw Love and Other Drugs. Super great. Last, we followed up the day by delivering toys to the Coach House for Toys for Tots.

As for Secret Santa. We're spoiled. We were delivered a large container of cookies. I'm not sure how many...but oh boy, there were tons. Yummy! To be honest - I think the Cuties used them for breakfast for the last few days. Bad mommy!! And then tonight, we were surprised again with a special delivery. We got a cocoa and smore set with mugs, 2 Christmas cups for Brady and Lily and a sippy cup for Charlotte. Secret Santa is so exciting. It's like Christmas every week. Boy are we spoiled!

Cousins

I have a lot of cousins. a LOT!

Growing up - I don't have one memory without at least one of my cousins in it. I was brought up with the emphasis on family. And, I love that. Although...family is kind of a "loose" word. There are a lot of people that I consider family...but, are really family friends...and they're just as special as family.

Our family relationship is very strong. We fight, we laugh, we yell, we cry, we smile...we're all so different...but, then we're all even more the same. No matter what, we are always there for each other. Such a special bond.

My family gets together for every event. You are never alone. Holidays are huge. We all celebrate them together. All of us. All gazillion of us. We know it's strange. But to us...its normal. I would not have it any other way.

I love that every family event finds us reminiscing back to the good 'ole days...mostly talking about the same stories and then always including a new one. I love listening to my mom and her sisters talk about their childhood...and my childhood. I love hearing stories about my grandparents. I love hearing about what the adults were doing as we were playing colored eggs or hide and seek...or even sneaking off with our own ice chest. So may memories. So much history. So awesome.

Us cousins have only become closer. It's a different kind of closeness. We're not really playing games...well, sometimes :), but the chatting and crying and joking and teasing and just plain old belly-aching laughter is just...so...much more special.

There is a new cousin generation. And...oh boy...do I see so much of the same type of closeness that feels like just yesterday I was experiencing. I love watching it from this side...while at the same time I'm now one of the adults (well, if that's what you would call us). It's like the best of both worlds...watching the new cousin generation unfold, growing stronger with my cousin generation (go BCF Misty!) and learn so much from the generation above me.

Family...isn't it wonderful?

No, this isn't the best picture...but, some of the new cousin generation are playing red light, green light.

Here the new generation is setting up chairs to watch the lightning storm.

Remember Harry and Lloyd?

Yes...Harry and Lloyd...

We had a sleepover with Jake.

What a hoot.

The boys played so well.

Jake was an angel!!

(I promise Ash!!)

We dinner'd at Barros Pizza.

Then we went to see Astro Boy

for summer movie day.

They looooooved it!

Are they not the cutest boys ever??

And...of course here's one with Lil.

I just love how she's looking at Brady.

She soooo loves him.

BCF's!!!!

Best Cousins Forever

Talon and Charlotte

Life With 3

These pictures pretty much sum up our life right now...

Eating - besides this delish cake that Julie brought...I've been cooking

Looking at this cutie's face...

Giving Lil treatments...

Watching Lil take care of her "babies"...

Loving how stinkin' sweet Brades is with his new sister...

Enjoying visiting family...

Memorial Day BBQ at the Babcock's...

Cleaning up and saying goodbye to the old house...

And, of course falling more and more in love...

Seriously Surprised!!

We seriously have the best - the VERY best - family EVER!

Saturday, May 8th - the whole fam decided to surprise us with a miracle shower for baby Charlotte...or Charlie as most of you refer to her. We were seriously surprised. SERIOUSLY SURPRISED! This is how it happened.

The week prior, my mom had told us that she won an award at work - Customer Service for Nursing - and that they were having a banquet for all of the winners and their families on Saturday, May 8th. This IS totally believable since she is just about the best nurse and her work does these elaborate events...so there was NO reason not to believe it. All week my mom was dancing around about her "award" - it was adorable. So....Saturday - after painting and running around all day - we all cleaned up, stopped at the store to buy some flowers for my mom, and headed over to my parents house....for a congratulatory "toast." When we opened the door........SURPRISE!!!!! There was no award.

The Oscar goes to my mom....seriously. We were so shocked. The whole family was there. Food, conversation, cake, and presents followed. And....just for fun - a little poker. Yep - we played poker at baby Charlotte's miracle shower. But...my dad and I split - so I think it worked out well :)

Thank you everyone!!! We feel so blessed to be part of this family!!!

My First Cousin Twice Removed

Welcome Baby Talon!!!!!

Isn't he a cutie pants??

Rainie was a champ.

Talon's labor was quick and his delivery seemed to occur in a snap.

He looks SO much like Rainie and her brothers.

Sorry Justin!!

Don't worry though, Justin - he'll change so much...

there are bound to be times when he's your twin, too!!

Congrats Rainie and Justin

on your SUPER ADORABLE little guy!

p.s. I looked up his relation to me. I'm so confused. Rainie is my 1st cousin's child. But...Rainie is closer to my age than her dad. We grew up more like 1st cousins. I always thought she was my 2nd cousin. I guess she is really my first cousin once removed. (what the heck is that???) and her children (baby Talon) are my first cousins twice removed. I'm so confused. Here's a chart in case you are, too.

Our One Night Guest

We got to keep Aidyn overnight.

The Cuties l-o-v-e-d, LOVED it!

Today...Lil struggled with sharing her toys.

But, they seemed to work it out.

We watched Dora, played dress up, used the strollers as race cars around the house, made cupcakes, ate said cupcakes...and lots more.

We love you Aidyn!!

Besties

Tonight we have Aidyn staying with us.

We are loving it.

Especially the kids.

Check out the new besties.

Yep...they're seriously the best of friends.

Too cute!

Cheap Holiday Entertainment

And, when I say cheap...I mean free. Well, free minus gas money.

The Cuties L-O-V-E, LOVE looking at Christmas lights. The flashier, the more Griswold-like, the better. A house in our neighborhood goes all out every year and they love doing drive-bys. In fact, every time we are driving home at night all we here is, "Let's go see the neighbors."

Tonight, we drove around looking at lights. Cheap Fun. Exciting. Christmas-y. Family time fun. Of course, we ended our tour at the "neighbors."

I LOVE Christmas!

Damn Leotards...and I'm Fired.

Saturday night at the campbellcutie household brought us lots of family time. First, it was spent garage sale-ing at the Babcocks...cleaning...laundry...and then, finally campbell cutie family time. The kids were itching to get out...so out we went.

We surprised them and took a ride to Yogurt Jungle. Might sound like no big deal to you - but, to them...you'd of thought we surprised them with a trip to the zoo. They loved it. All the flavors. All the gazillions of toppings. Yogurt at it's finest. And...pretty cheap, too!!

I was able to snap a picture of the cuties sitting at their table eating their yogurt. Mmmmm....delicious!!!

p.s. yes, I know - if this was a job...I'd be fired. I've certainly not meeting 30 in 30 expectations!

Friday Night Costco Trip

Wow. I am certainly feeling old tonight. Life with kids makes Friday and Saturday nights relatively calm. Most of the time. That's okay - I enjoy it. Even our Friday Night Costco Trips.

I'm out of space on my camera chip. I have 3 chips. They're all full. Unbelievable. I guess it's been awhile since our Costco dinner night out. Hopefully, we're not the only ones in America to take the whole family out to Costco for dinner. You can't beat feeding a family of 4 for $7...and that includes a churro.

Friday Night Costco Trips start out like this...me at the photo center while the Hottie and the Cuties browse (and dream) the TVs. After uploading 500 pictures....I find the rest of the family and we head off to walk the store. This is my favorite time of the year. Costco is all decked out in Christmas and the Cuties happily run through the aisles of toys wishing for every one of them to be under the tree. After we pickup a couple snack items for Brady's school lunches...to the checkout we go. Then....dinner time. Yes, pizza, hot dogs and soda. What else could you want? Yes, not the healthiest....but, certainly delicious and cheap. We return home and put the Cuties to bed...8pm. The Hottie and I lay on the couch watching TV for the rest of the night.

Yes, it is a Friday night.

No restaurants, no clubbing, not even a beer. Just the 4 of us browsing Costco. Not what I imagined...better.

p.s....no pictures...remember - no space on the chips??? And, I haven't made it to Costco to pickup the pictures. And...I'm the wacko that won't delete them until I know for sure I have them safe and sound on a disc. Me = FREEEEAK! Here's an oldie that I love...

p.s....sorry I missed last night's post - but, I fell asleep while lounging on the couch with the Hottie. surprise. surprise.

Girlie Weekend

I had a busy, busy weekend. A girlie weekend. I enjoyed every minute.

Friday night - Gina, Nancy, and I surprised our friend Janea with a Girls Night Out for her 30th birthday. These girls are truly my oldest and dearest friends. We had a blast. We started the night off making jewelry at a bead party - then a late dinner at Brio. It was relaxing, fun, and downright awesome. I love these girls and am so thankful that we have stayed friends for so many years.

Saturday was family day. Just as special. Dance class. T-Ball. Babysitting for very good friends. Home family time. Perfect.

Sunday was Robin's pamper shower. Kind of a tradition in my family to do a pamper day when someone is expecting baby #2. This was Robin's turn. Lunch at Oregano's (yuuuuummmy!) followed by pedicures. Just girl time. What a lovely day with my favorite girls. I am so lucky to have such a close-knit family. I love it!

Arizona Does Have a Fall

I love Halloween.

I love pumpkins.

I love dressing the cuties up in costumes.

I love that Halloween means that AZ is finally cooling down.

I love that it is now acceptable to burn a Harvest-y smelling candle.

I love candy.

I love that I now get to make little baggies of Halloween treats for Brady and his class.

I love that it is getting closer to the holidays...

which means closer to Kris Kringle time!

I love taking the cuties to a pumpkin patch.

I love Shnepf Farms.

We go every year.

Well every year, but last year.

This past weekend - we all went again.

Yep - all of the Griswold clan.

This year was extra - extraordinary.

Randomly, we ran into the rest of the original Griswold clan.

Totally accidental.

Totally fun.

Totally going to repeat this next year.

Did I mention I love this time of year?

Roller coaster time!!!

I think Brady and Brad literally rode it a gajillion times!

Ash, Tara & their girls...LOVED IT!

Somehow, we snuck Lilbugs on...

she absolutely looooooved it!

After 6:30pm - the train ride turns HAUNTED....

no worries - everyone had a blast!

Awww...a family picture

with pieces of dust flying all around.