12.07.2009

Thanksgiving 09' - Herbert Family

This year two more babies were added to the clan!
Molly & Caleb meetGreene family - this is Riley

Two yearly family traditions: farkle (above) and this years football team.

Thanksgiving 09' - Young Family

Instead of doing one big post with both families I am going to separate them - Here are some pictures from my family on Thanksgiving day:
Boys playing video games
Ladies chattin' it upmen watching football in the garage

We had some excellent food and great company! Thanks for hosting us!

11.20.2009

Caleb "reading"

Here is a video with Caleb reciting the dr. suess ABC's book. Although he has not yet learned how to read, he has learned the sound of his letters and is starting to build words thanks to LeapFrog.

10.19.2009

Big Fresno Fair

Last week Caleb and I went to the fair twice! The first time with Mimi (forgot to bring the camera) and the second time with Jared with complimentary tickets from McCaffrey. Here are some pic's of our time there:

They have an amazing section of the fair just for kids, here they are in front of the pirate ship:
Another play set in the same area:

And of course, the famous fair food. This is the side of the "Chicken Charlie" booth with the following deep fried foods: oreo's, zucchini weeni, frog legs, sliders, avocado's and twinkies!(No we did not buy food there.)

10.10.2009

Caleb's 3rd birthday party

We started the day watching the 'cars' movie while we prepared the birthday scene in hopeful expectations of our guests. Our menu was the classic Italian panini and pb&j for the kids. We had a great lunch, cupcakes for dessert and then opened presents.

Singing the Happy Birthday song:
The celebratory cupcake!
All the boys very excited about what is in the box!
Time for clean up!We had a fun day and thanks to all who came to make Caleb's 3rd birthday a great one!

9.30.2009

Racing

That is all Caleb talks about these days. In fact, a couple nights ago, he was dreaming about it b/c I heard him talk in his sleep about racing. Last weekend we went out to the track in Atwater to support my nephews, Lamoni and Ammon. They started off the morning with the trophy presentation from the previous race. In this picture, Ammon is in 1st place and Lamoni is in 2nd, you can't get much better than that!After two practices, qualifying and a heat the race started. Here they are 2nd and 4th:
Close up of Lamoni:
Close up of Ammon:

9.23.2009

"Little Pea"


Here is a video of Caleb "reading" Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a really cute book that Mimi bought him from Anthropology a couple years ago. See it here. Warning - this is a long video.

9.08.2009

Tricycle

Last week we received an early birthday present from G&G Cookie, Caleb's first tricycle:

8.15.2009

Vegas Baby!

Last week Jared need to be in Vegas for a trade show so I had the chance to pop on over and stay for a few days while he was working. I am so thankful for Mimi, who watched Caleb while I went to Sin City! I had been there about 6 years ago for Sarah's bachellorette party so quite a few things had changed. Most of my time there was by myself since Jared was there working so I set on foot to discover all the strip had to offer. I came back with wide eyes and sore feet! My favorite hotel had to be the Wynn hands down. There was so much color in their decor and they had fabulous water features. Here are a couple pictures of the Wynn inside and out:

This beautiful waterfall is displayed on the left hand side before you enter the hotel/casino.


Floor of the Wynn

Indoor courtyard

We also had the chance to eat dessert at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Paris.
and see the Bellagio water show from where we were eating:


8.07.2009

Matt & Ashley Shillito's wedding

A couple weeks ago we were honored to celebrate with the Shillito's and witness a beautful ceremony as they pledged their vows to one another. The celebration was held in Newport Beach at the Island Hotel and St. Marks Presbyterian Church. We had a great time catching up with friends and meeting new ones. Most pictures are posted on FB, but here I wanted to post the pictures of what the hotel did to celebrate Caleb, it was pretty fun.This was on the tub, his name spelled out with multi color sponges.
This was on the desk. The plate is full of a yummy treat, it was a tic tac toe game and m & m's. So much fun, what a treat!!

7.27.2009

Cousins

Last weekend I went to Atwater (my home town) to pick up my cousins for a couple days of adventure, work and FUN. On Thursday I picked them up and we made our way to whole paycheck I mean whole foods, where we purchased some lunch and a $6 vanilla bean. Alton Brown has this amazing vanilla ice cream recipe which required the bean, it was SO YUMMY! On Friday we went to boomers where Katelyn beat her brother and I at miniature golf (she was flawless on the first 9). After that we went on the bumper boats desperate to survive the 109 degree weather, Katelyn and I shared a boat and these little boys kept getting us wet, then I dropped my glasses in the yucky water at the end of the ride. Here is a picture after we were dry, hydrated and fed right before we left.
On Saturday we made our way to Bass Lake to do some hiking. Caleb really seemed to enjoy himself which made us all happy, here is a picture of them in the water.

7.17.2009

Caleb McQueen

Last week Caleb came up to me and and whispered, "I am speed". It was priceless! Of course you can't mimic those things for the camera but here is out best shot:

btw - thanks to my cousin Nick for the editing!

7.14.2009

Edible Cookie Dough Recipe

As most of us know, cookie dough is so yummy to eat but not the best idea due to the raw egg mixed in. Here is a recipe w/o the egg and it tastes oh so good. Make sure to have a glass of milk nearby. Also, you might want to half the recipe for those of you who will not get any help eating it.

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter -- softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, mix flour, soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter with sugars; mix in milk and vanilla. Gradually blend in flour mixture; stir in chocolate chips.

Now grab a spoon and dig in! Store remainder in refrigerator or freeze in blobs for a fun treat later.

7.05.2009

July 4th celebration

To celebrate the USA's 233rd birthday we were able to gather together with family to play and feast! Caleb really enjoyed spending time with his cousins (once removed), Jessika and Jeremiah.He was also introduced to croquet (which he called golf for the first half of the day).
We tried doing fireworks at the end of the day but Caleb was not a huge fan of the loud ones so he watched from inside the house. Here is a picture of most of us...
Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

6.26.2009

He sleeps

Some of you may be aware of the drama that is getting Caleb to sleep. I will spare you the long list of reasons why and just give you the recent run down. Yesterday for nap time Caleb decided to mess up his blinds and climb on his bookshelf to take the decorate pillows off the wall. Today however, he asked if he could sleep in "dada's" bed. I normally say no and put him down in his bed, but today I figured I would give it a try. I told him that if he got up that I would put him down in his bed and to my surprise...

6.17.2009

Anderson's visit

There are times when I miss my friends so much that my heart aches to see them! This is why we are so thankful we had the opportunity to host the Anderson's this weekend. What a joy! Each one of them is such a blessing to us.
Caleb and Parker hit it off (this is the first time they met). Caleb was giving Parker hugs and they were "communicating" by screaming. Parker would squel/scream and Caleb would bust up laughing and scream back.The McAvoy's also came down to see everyone and celebrate my birthday. Mark made "camp" donuts for us. For some reason instead of a cake I wanted some home made donuts - they were good but they didn't taste the same as my mom's recipe (of course that was a long time ago!).
We went to our local Zoo where Sarah got us both in free! It was only $2 to feed the girafees so she took the opportunity while we looked on. Did you see how long the tongue is? It was interesting how the girafee starting to linger around the feeding spot just mintues before feeding time began. We had such a great time but they still aren't anxious to move to Fresno anytime soon. Oh well, we'll keep trying!

6.06.2009

6.03.2009

Bugs

Yes, I know...I have issues with them. So does Caleb apparently but we are praying that it is just a phase. So tonight after Caleb went to bed I rushed outside to use whatever day light I had left to spray the perimeter of our house for bugs. They just broke ground on the houses next to us so I noticed more "activity" lately. I sprayed the fence line and the perimeter of the house. While I was finishing up at the front of the house I noticed a significant spider web and sure enough a large black spider started booking it up the wall of our house heading towards a window. So I started blasting it as close as I could for as long as I could for a VERY long time. It finally died...I think. The whole time I was thinking, "I should just go get some Windex to kill this thing". So here is my question everyone....this is the spray I used. Should I have expected it to kill "on contact" or does it die later? Either way I need some advice. Let me know what your experience has been.

5.27.2009

Ever Inspired Re-Launch


Yep! I am at it again! Take a look at my new redesigned website, this time with a shopping cart! Check it out here.
Thanks!

5.21.2009

Harris? Helix? Heather? Hope?

So far these are our suggests for the naming of our new neighbor...Jared noticed this humming bird dutifully sitting on it's nest most of today. We are hoping he/she will be around for a while so we thought we should name it. Any name suggestions you would like to share?

5.19.2009

5.12.2009

Media Center

Here is a picture of the media center Jared and my Dad installed on Saturday. This was a team project with my Dad and my uncle Dave. We are fortunate to have such skilled craftsman who were willing to put this together for us, not only did we save $$ but we ended up with a better product.The cabinet doors are self closing and inside the right and left cabinets on the bottom there are pull out drawers. The top has a false back, the middle will fit our tv and the middle right our components. This picture does not do justice....you will have to come and see it for yourself :)

5.06.2009

Moving In

Wow - where do I start? We received our keys on Thursday at 1pm, here is a picture of us after we got the keys in the sales office, Caleb is about to sneeze.
When we walked in the door they had provided paper towels and softsoap for the kitchen and toilet papers in the bathrooms! I was very thankful.
We went to work right away painting the garage and Jared's office. Meanwhile, Jared and GGrandpa "Cookie" put up the garage door opener. I worked on sealing the large amount of tile in our house. GGrandma "Cookie" watched Caleb and feed him goldfish, she had to literally feed him b/c his hands were so dirty from playing in the dirt.Saturday was our moving day and we were grateful to have help!! Thanks to Mimi and Papa Jim, the McAvoy's, the Quaresma's, my dad and gg cookie!! We tried putting Caleb to work but that didn't help so we sedated him instead.Mark in all his glory...
Lunch time...Since then we have been franctically unpacking as much as we can, we are about half way. Jared finished putting up most of the window treatments and things are slowing coming together. So far there is only one room complete, the guest bathroom...Doesn't it look inviting, your own toothbrush holder and all! Come on down or up, hope to see you all soon! (but not too soon, unless you want to work :)