HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!

Cousin Matthew turns 2 today! This year, Matthew's party theme was Elmo and baseball, so it was only fitting he have a birthday party at the AirHogs baseball field in Grand Prairie. Sadly we had to miss the postgame fireworks (the boys were tired and it was wayyyy past their bedtime), even so we had a great time celebrating with Matt.

Super cool birthday cake! Yes, it was edible. :)

There was even a playground for the kiddos to play on.

Grammy and I had high hopes we could get a decent picture with all four grandsons. :) Here are the best ones Grammy.... tooooo funny!

Emory's First Swim

A beautiful day for Emory's first swim. Lucky for us, Aunt Schneider joined in on the fun!

Emory!

Baby boy is starting to coo and make funny faces. :) More videos to come!

Happy Birthday Mom (Grandma)!!

My mom turned 65 on May 23rd, and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate this special day with her and the rest of our family.
Since we've never had professional pictures taken of the grandsons, Tammy and I thought this would be the perfect gift, we just didn't know how to orchestrate such a feat, since our time was very limited. LUCKILY, earlier in the week, mom suggested Deona, Tammy, Donato and I take Ev for a train ride Sunday morning (the day after his birthday party). Her decline in joining us made this photoshoot possible.

The plan was to meet mom and dad for lunch in San Antonio after our "train ride". So Sunday morning Tammy, Donato, Chad, Chris, Kim and the four of us headed to the studio for our 9:00 appointment. After the shoot, the 9 of us met mom and dad at Pico de Gallo's (one of our fav's) for lunch and to give her her birthday presents. She liked her photos so much she even shed a few tears. :)

A few photos from the shoot:

A few photos from lunch:

Corn tortilla glasses. A little food creativity to entertain a bored 2 year old. :)

After lunch we headed back to mom and dad's to hang out and have birthday cake. Donato also installed the webcam camera we got for her laptop. Hopefully this will allow her to see her growing grandsons more often. An awesome day with our wonderful family, so happy we were home to celebrate with them.

Ev's wonderful birthday party in Wimberly!

This year Everett had two birthday parties; not because he turned two but because we live four and a half hours away from half of our family, and most of them were unable to join us in Fort Worth for his 1st birthday.

This past weekend Aunt Tammy, Uncle Dodo (Donato), Mom and Dad prepared and hosted the most amazing Thomas the Tank engine birthday party, complete with bounce house, piñata and 3 tiered birthday cake:

Donato (aka uncle Dodo & my brother-in-law who can do anything) stayed up through the night to make Everett's AMAZING birthday cake. Not only was it super cool, but it tasted dee-lish!

Emory gets a bath before he meets relatives for the first time.

Grandma holds Emory while we wait for guests to arrive.

Everett checks out his train table before getting bathed and dressed for his party. Thank you Grandpa for making Ev's train table and Aunt Tammy, uncle Dodo for the all the new engines, tracks and train stations. Ev LOVES it all!!

Seems we forgot to take a picture of the giant banner that hung overhead on the carport that was visible when our guests arrived. It was a Thomas the Tank banner that read, "Everett's Train Station"

Grandma gets as much Emory snuggle time before he gets taken away. :o)

BOUNCE HOUSE & SLIDE!

Cousins April & Madison

Vaughn & Jordan

My nephew Chris & Vaughn

James & Jayden

Sadly, I didnt get pictures of our wonderful meal either. I guess we were busy having fun and way too busy eating, to remember to take pictures. The meal consisted of enchiladas, rice, beans, with all the fixins. After lunch, it was time for birthday fun!!

Uncle Dodo shows Everett how to hit a pinata.

CANDY!!!!!

Ev was happy with one piece of candy. silly boy.

Ev loved hearing everyone sing "Happy Birthday".

PRESENTS! Everett received so many wonderful gifts, THANK YOU ALL for your thoughtfulness, Ev loves it all!!

Everett was sooo tired during present time. Deona had to keep him focussed before heading for a nap.

I didnt get a picture of the Thomas goody bags (are you suprised) :( but the cute and colorful canvas bags contained train whistles, conductor party hats, red bandanas, candy, Thomas tattoos and silly glasses:

Poor little Emory looks like the Six Flags old man. :)

My dear highschool friend Crissy whom i havent seen in 20+ years, stopped by with her Stella Grace. Stella is 2 weeks older than Emory. It was sooo wonderful to share mommy stories and just catching up.

Stella Grace is a doll, I'm looking forward to staying connected and visiting them when we're in town.

Cousin April

Cousins Jordan, Madison and little Vaughn.

Look at those lashes! It's just not fair!!! :)

Aunt Mary gets a turn holding Emory. I didnt get a picture of Kim (Chris' wife) holding Emory, but she did get a turn.

Emory's new onesie:

Emory obviously exhausted yet feeling quite comfortable in Bianca's arms.

Truly a fun, filled day. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped us celebrate our baby boy's 2nd birthday, it means so much to us. And big hugs and kisses to Tammy, Donato, Mom and Dad for throwing Everett the most wonderful birthday party ever!! Deona and I know just how complicated, stressful and EXPENSIVE an event like this can be, so we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It was absolutely, positively a wonderful day.