Happy 7th Birthday Olivia!!!

Olivia is 7 years old! I can't believe it. She is really quite a little girl these days or as her dad says a 7 year old going on 15. Some of Olivia's favorite things are biking with all the neighbor kids, gymnastics, swimming and she has starting running. Does this sound like anyone else in our family? I didn't get a picture of David and Olivia going for a run last Saturday morning. It was just so cute. They were both up early having something to eat and hitting the streets.

On Olivia's birthday we had family over and she seemed to enjoy all the attention. The day before she spent a special day with Grandpa Joe & Grandma Debbie. They took her to have her nails done & to a movie. She felt very special!

Here are some cute pictures of our birthday girl. Olivia sporting her new party dress from her Aunt Fifi (my Aunt Dianna always buys the girls the cutest outfits).


Decorating the purse Mia picked out for her birthday.


Being silly...


Olivia's favorite biking buddies (Riley & Ella) stopped by to wish her a happy birthday.


Mia and Taeya excited to see each other.


Happy Birthday Livie!!!

The Great Wolf Lodge

Olivia chose to go to the Great Wolf Lodge for her 7th birthday instead of having a party. The girls had a blast running from water slide to water slide, to the wave pool, back to the water slide, etc. However, Olivia really enjoyed the MagiQuest around the hotel. It's basically a scavenger hunt throughout the hotel and Olivia & David spent a large part of the evening as well as the next morning finding all the clues. She's very proud to say that she is a Master Magi now!

This is my one token shot inside the water park. Mia being measured. She was very excited she was tall enough to go on all water slides except for one.


Olivia and David reading their clues.


Mia participated for about an hour and then lost interest.


This is about 9pm on Sunday night and we are trying to get Olivia to wrap it up for the evening.


We are having a real celebration of Olivia on Sunday (her real birthday) so I hope to have some better shots of the birthday girl.

Potlatch

Olivia's class have been spending the past few months learning about Native Americans. They were given a specific tribe to study. The last Friday before spring break the 1-4 graders hosted a potlatch. The 1st and 2nd graders were the Native Americans from their tribes and the 3rd and 4th graders were Lewis & Clarke. It was very cool to see what they have learned and watch them share it with the other students.

Unfortunately, I was only video taping and failed to get an actual photo of the event.

Honey Rabbit

Mia's class did a play to the book "Honey Rabbit". It was so cute. Mia's role was a baby squirrel. She practiced her lines a few times which consisted of crying like a baby.
Here she is standing in front of the sets they made.


Mia, Ellie & Syd dressed up as the baby squirrels.


Mia & Syd proud of their performance.

Happy Valentine's Day

Whew...where did January go? I'm not sure but some highlights were...

~Mia in princess ballet she loves everything about it from her ballet slippers, outfit, her teacher and of course the dancing.

~Olivia taking her first snow boarding lesson. She loved it and it was fun to see her on the mountain. It's nice to know she didn't inherit her mother's cautious ways and takes to the mountain literally in reckless abandonment.

~Grandma Linda visited from St. Louis. David was excited for his Imo's Pizza and I was thrilled to see burgers from White Castle...YES!

~Getting our house ready to sell.

David and I celebrated Valentine's last night with a wonderful dinner out. The girls were excited about today. Mia walked around wishing us all a "happy valentime's day" and also saying she loves us...it was very sweet! We hope your day was filled with lots of love too.

Also, I am looking forward to becoming obsessed with the Olympics...GO TEAM USA!!!

Happy New Year!!!

We celebrated New Year's Eve with good friends. Tim & Sonia hosted a wonderful dinner at their home. Graham, Jen, Chelsea, Alex and his wonderful mom Margarita visiting from Mexico joined us as well. We had a great dinner together where we shared our resolutions for the upcoming year and even had Jason & Allison on the speaker phone from Tokyo to share. The girls spent their evening with Grandma, Papa and cousin Taeya. They had a great time with a movie, popcorn and lots of playing.

Some highlights from 2009...

*Running my 2nd marathon.

*Olivia turning 6 and having a great party with all her class mates.

*Being surprised on my birthday with Alli from Japan.

*Watching David finish his 4th Ironman.

*Saying goodbye to Kira (our dog). Not exactly a highlight but she is remembered fondly by our family.

*Family trip to Maui and watching the girls really enjoy the beach!

*All our camping trips in the summer.

*Starting a part time job.

*My girls trip to NYC!

*Derek & Allison's wedding in St. Louis.

*Mia's 4th birthday and watching her love for pretend play grow.

*Olivia starting 1st grade and Mia starting Pre-K.

*Celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.

*Traveling to Bali.

*David having fun at work.

*Watching Beaver football...look forward to the Beaver Mobile in 2010.

*Jill & Ian getting married.

*Good friendships & being healthy!

*Christmas with family.

It's always exciting to plan and think ahead for the new year. My list of resolutions for personal growth, for the kids and for our family is a little much to post but I have to say I'm really excited for this year.

We wish you health and happiness in 2010!

Merry Christmas!!!

We had a great Christmas. At the bright and early time of 6:20 am we had Olivia peaking her head in our room saying "are you guys awake, ready to go downstairs?". The girls walked in to the family room to find their presents. Olivia was thrilled with her new big girl bike! Mia was so excited with her new doll and that she wears glasses just like her.



In the afternoon Nana, Papa, Alex, Aunt Jill, Uncle Ian, Taeya, Grandma and Papa all came over. It was a very fun afternoon, evening. The kids were hilarious. Taeya was so excited she got a dora and boots bouncing ball and was even more excited when Uncle David pumped it up for her.



Olivia and Mia were outfitted with new skates and all the gear that goes with it. Here's Olivia getting all her gear on with Nana's help.



David showing Olivia how to spin.



Mia was THRILLED with her new Polly Pocket Roller Coaster! She wouldn't even open another present because she had to load all her girls up to ride it. Here's Mia in her Polly Pocket heaven...



It was a fun Christmas and the girls said the best ever! We hope you had a Merry Christmas too.