Sunday, June 28, 2009

Doman's preschool Graduation Celebration

Doman had a great year going to what we think is the best preschool in the world. :) There are three cute little hispanic teachers who are SO warm and friendly that made Doman's experience great. After 3 years I'm glad we still don't have to say goodbye to this preschool quite yet since Lincoln will be going next year. :)

Doman holding his diploma with Teacher Nelly.


Here are some pictures of the Graduation Celebration. Too cute...




Max's last day of Kindergarten!

This school year flew by for us, and I think we're all a little sad. :( As we all remember, Max had an abnormally rough time starting out kindergarten, but thankfully things completely turned around. He had an amazing kindergarten experience! He loved learning new things and especially loved meeting kids and making lots of friends. So it's goodbye to a great year... we hope they're all this good!

Max with his teacher, Sue.


Friday, June 19, 2009

Happy Birthday Doman!

Hard to believe Doman has hit the magical age of 5! You can see from the next post that we spent his big day at Disneyland, but I still wanted to write a little blurb about what this year has been like for Doman... it has been a big one!

First, he went to preschool which was awesome and so cute. He has loved it and I'm so grateful he was able to go. The other big part of this year was spent with doctors. And the list of specialists he's seen just gets longer... he has a Gastrointerologist (digestive doctor), a Physiatrist (Rehab doctor), Cardiologist (check his heart murmur), Neurologist (muscle specialist), Neurosurgeon (muscle biopsy guy), plus chiropractor, geneticist, physical therapist, dentist, ER doctors, and who knows what else! I mention this part of his life because, first of all, it is a major one. And secondly, this is all one-on-one time he gets with me or Dan. We love spending this time with him! We have gotten to know him so well and he is so delightful to spend time with. Sometimes if I'm ever struggling with all he has to go through, I just take a look at him... smiling all the while! We did get a diagnosis for him, but that post will have to wait.

Doman is full of love and is such a good brother and friend. I definitely appreciate him keeping Max busy! He's always willing to help Cali and he'd love it if she'd still let him hold her. Thank goodness there'll be a new baby soon for Doman to hold. He has become nice and loud/vocal at home and he loves to make all of us laugh by doing silly things. He still has a love of puzzles and cars, and this year he's gotten really into Lego's (especially Star Wars)... he is quite the little builder. We love you Doman!

Here are some pictures of when we got home, opened presents, and had cake and ice-cream.



A Star Wars cake on the fly... just a mask right on top of a cake... he was pleased. :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

DISNEYLAND!

At Disneyland you get in free on your birthday this year, so since we were down in So. Cal around Doman's birthday we thought it'd be a great day to go!

The Birthday Boy!

Lincoln continues to be in love with elephants, so of course the dumbo ride was his favorite.

I was surprised to find out that all the boys (and Cali's) favorite thing overall was Toon-Town. They loved seeing the characters and going inside all of their houses.



The kids also loved the Star Wars stuff. First, they loved Star Tours, and then this Jedi Training Show. The characters were very realistic and we sat right on the front row to enjoy it!


What a big day! The kids would have been happy to leave around lunchtime, but we kept pushing them through to the end of the day. I don't think they were so in love with Disney that we'd have to go back too soon which is nice. :) But we had a great time!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

So. Cal Vacation

We were so glad we could be in So. Cal for Brooklyn's baptism. Josh and Alex have a big house that they very graciously let us crash at and we all had so much fun staying there along with my parents. We didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.

The kids' favorite thing... a trampoline!


Brooklyn and Makenna both took care of Cali anytime they were around. Brooklyn even told me we could leave her there and she'd be their little sister... it was really cute, and Cali loved it!


This is almost all the kids (no Zack) lining up for a little party game for Doman's birthday. :)


And it was nice to get to be with my parents for Doman's birthday... they took us to the Cheesecake Factory, and then here he is opening all their fun presents.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

San Diego & Sea World

It's been a whole three years since we had been down to Southern California for a vacation. Since my niece was getting baptized, we decided it was a great time to go for a visit!

First, we drove to San Diego and stayed in hotel close to Sea World so that we could get there first thing in the morning. The kids love staying in hotels and of course the highlight was the pool.


Max was swimming all over the whole pool with these little arm floaters.


We also got see my Uncle Dieter's house. We still hadn't seen it since it was rebuilt after the fires and it was pretty amazing. And this is the kind of refrigerator I'll be begging Dan for when we get a house. :)


Max with Dieter in his beautiful yard.


Then the next day... SEA WORLD! We were so glad my parents could join us for the day. My dad didn't even know I had all the boys in bright yellow shirts, but it sure was nice to find each other!


The dolphin show:


The whale show:


Doman was the only one that loved touching the bat ray fish.


Let's see... how many boys can I push in one stroller?... I guess they had all started getting pretty tired by the end of the day. But we all loved Sea World!

Monday, June 08, 2009

Do they really have to go? :(


Yesterday we said goodbye to two of my absolute favorite people, Jeni and Britney and their wonderful families. I love these girls! Jeni and I moved in about the same time almost five(!) years ago. We got to know each other well when we were in Young Womens together and she has been such a good friend to me ever since. Britney moved in two years ago and we were instant friends. She has been there for me through all the good and bad of the last two years and I honestly don't know what I'll do without her 100 yards away. How will I ever survive?... well, they're both only going to be an hour away, so that will help. And I'm so excited for them to have houses and jobs! Still, we will really miss you guys!!!

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Dan's little accident

Our poor guy crashed on his bike this week and got kind of banged up. Mostly scratches and bruises, but his chin took a nasty beating... 12 stitches! :( Now he can identify with Doman and all the visits he's had to the ER... no fun.

Max almost cried when I told him Daddy had to go to the Dr. because he crashed on his bike... he immediately got paper and drew this... the top picture is Dan on his bike with an "X" through it and the bottom picture is a bus with a check mark. Then he taped the picture to the front door. He doesn't want Dan ridding his bike again!

And here are the pictures the kids drew while they waited for him to get home. They also made him a big yummy snack to make him feel better. It was pretty cute. They really love their Daddy!

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Jake and Christy come to visit!

We had a great weekend with Dan's brother Jake and his wife Christy coming to visit a few weeks ago. We started Friday afternoon with going to a couple of our favorite nearby places.

The boys love climbing this huge rock and at the top is a great view of San Francisco and the bay.





And here is one of my favorite spots... I wish you could tell how pretty the Berkeley Rose Gardens are, but it's such a sight... more roses than I'll ever see again in my lifetime.


Saturday we spent an unusually hot day in San Francisco... Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Car ride, Coit Tower, Lombard Street, and Golden Gate Park. Here are a few pics.


The boys watching the Sea Lions at Pier 39.


Lincoln isn't used to missing his afternoon nap... poor guy started getting pretty tired.



Jake needed to go back home to work, but Christy stayed a few extra days to hang out with me and the kids. She was a huge help! I felt bad things were so chaotic, but it was so awesome to have the extra hands, especially for totally random things like taking Doman to the E.R! The kids all loved her and we all wish she could live with us! Thanks for coming guys!

Monday, June 01, 2009

It's a BOY!(?)

That's right... baby #5 is making its way to our house the end of October. We had our big ultrasound today and the technician thinks it's a boy. Hopefully my doctor will give it another look soon so that we know for sure. We're all very excited to see how we will manage one more baby in our apartment! :)

Apparently our lady wasn't very good with the ultrasound machine altogether because this is the only picture she came up with... a view right up close of the little baby's face.