Soccer Time!

With the arrival of May comes the arrival of summer soccer! This was Preston's third year to play and he loved it! We were so blessed that our good friend, Stuart, was his coach this year. Pres played on a team with Diego and Max too. Although he had to miss the first two weeks of soccer due to an unexpected trip to Texas, he got right in there and looked forward to every game! Stuart quickly learned, though, that Preston and Max shouldn't be on the field at the same time....something about them always having their arms around each other and goofing off instead of watching the ball! Huh....I just can't imagine that! :)

Preston is in the middle row, far right with Max right above him.

After watching for two summers, Payton finally got her chance to play soccer! I love the way the YMCA has it set up. Although their on different teams, Pres and Payton played at the same time each week on field right next to each other.

Payton was also very fortunate to have another of our good friends to be her coach....Coach Brad! Payton loved playing soccer. She got so excited each day she got to play and she looked adorable in her uniform. She never hesitated to go out on the field, but actually watching the ball and attempting to go for it was a different story! Payton loved running around, checking on the kids who had fallen, and running past me smiling and waving! In fact, the only times she ever kicked the ball was when Coach Brad led her by the hand right to the ball. And she thought that was so fun!!

Payton is in the first row, second from the left....right next to her buddy Xavier and below her friend Faith.

Preston, Payton, and Max! This reminds me of an old picture of my brother, me, and my cousin Ronnie when we played T-ball together!

And here is a classic of my funny Payton girl and her silly faces!

Well, we survived another soccer season! Although it's fun and the kids enjoy it, twice a week can be time consuming! I'm glad it only lasted 6 weeks!
(Can you get any cuter than that little blondie learning to play soccer?!)

Easter 2011

This year we celebrated Easter at the cabin. The Coronado family was not able to join us due to sickness and Pres and Payton sure missed having them there. But we still had a GREAT weekend with Grandma, Aunt Chris, Tressa, Richard, and Randall.
Aunt Chris and the "big" cousins hid easter eggs outside in the snow all around the cabin. Pres and Payton had a great time finding their eggs!

Grandma LOVES doing crafty projects with the kids and Preston just eats it up! Grandma helped the kids draw, cut out, sew, and stuff their own bunny pillows! It was so cute and the kids loved getting to help!

Of course we also had fun dying easter eggs. Preston was able to stay pretty clean....but Payton....she's a different story!

Time out at the cabin with family is unbeatable. We are so thankful for having a place to go and retreat from the world together! But more importantly, we are thankful that the tomb was empty and Jesus had risen! Praise the Lord!

Sailor for a Day

My big bro, the Navy Chief, had a "Family Day" on his ship at the beginning of March. My mom mentioned the trip to me and told me she would love for me to come and join her on the ship for a day. I laughed it off and told her there was no way I could make that happen....between leaving three kids for several days and a last minute plane ticket.

But, if you read my birthday post, you know that my incredible husband DID make it happen. He surprised me with a plane ticket to meet up with my mom and brother in San Diego for five days....all.by.my.self! I had a terrific time! It was so refreshing to spend time just being a sister and daughter. I relished the time I had just visiting with my brother and getting to know him again. This is the pool house he has been renting. Such a cool little bachelor pad! Mom and I both reminded him to be sober when leaving, or he may end up IN the pool! Besides spending a day on the ship, we also had a day of just hanging out in San Diego together. We decided to tour an old submarine. Behind mom and Andy are the torpedos....pretty cool. Friday was the day we spent out on the ship. It was so cool to get an idea of what Chief Edwards and the others do on the ship all day. I can't imagine living in a "steal" environment all the time! I need me so color!

I love this flag. This huge flag is the war flag. This is what they fly when they are out to sea. It gave me chills! I was so proud to be with Chief Edwards! Andy is in charge of 70 something people on the ship and seems to be well known and respected. Very cool! This is the deck mom and I spent most of our time on. It was a long day. A fun day. A cold day. A day full of patriotism and sun. Sun.....awww the sun! Oh how I love the sun....and the nice sun burn I received as well! The shooter guys got to show off shooting the machine gun. That was cool! Watch out world! I arrived in San Diego late Wednesday night. Andy had to work all day Thursday and mom didn't get into town until later Thursday night. So I got to....I mean....."had to" spend the entire day Thursday by myself. All alone. Just me!

And what did I do? I slept in until 10. I laid in bed and watched a movie from 11-1. I got up and got dressed, then went for a short jog to find some lunch. Then a short job back. I took a shower, got cleaned up, then laid in bed and read a great book. Then treated myself to a pedicure. Andy and his girlfriend picked me up for dinner and treated me to Olive Garden. It was a PERFECT day. I soaked in every moment of it!

I am so thankful for this trip. Spending time with just my mom and brother, having no responsibilities, was amazing. I enjoyed every moment of it. And although I was ready to see my kids and hubby, it was still hard to say good-bye to Andy and my mom and this unique opportunity we had to spend a few days together!

Payton Turns Three!

My "little girl" is getting so big! I can't believe three years have already gone by, yet in some ways, they have been very long and challenging! This goofy picture of Payton, with her tongue out, pretty much sums up PART of her cute personality. At three years old, Payton is hilarious! She is always goofing around, singing, dancing, making up words, laughing, and just being funny!

Payton is a tom-boy/princess all wrapped up in one bundle. The girl loves to play in the dirt, smash bugs, hold worms, and be messy. Yet, she is almost never seen without a baby, the baby's blanket, a purse or two, and any other "essential" for that moment.
This year Payton picked Chuck-E-Cheese for her party. Since I was heading out of town to spend a few days with my brother, her choice was perfect....no big preparations, and no clean up! Faith, Sydney, Diego, Xavier, Hunter, Liam, Ethan, Marquel, Hannah, and the rest of the parents all joined us for a great night.
Unfortunately, Darron and I both forgot our camera so a few pictures on our phone was all we managed to get.

Earlier I mentioned being goofy was PART of Payton's personality. The other part of her personality is the one that has given me so many gray hairs at such a young age! Payton is a very strong-willed, opionated, easily frustrated little girl. She can be silly and laughing one minute, then throwing a major fit the next minute. She is very snuggly and loving, and most people only see the happy, sweet side of our little "Pei Wei." But boy can she keep us on her toes when she's just with family!! Payton is the type of child that should come with their own "How to survive raising this child" handbook!

My mom continually tells me she is just like I was as a child! Sorry mom!!

I have no doubt God has big plans for Payton. She has so many great qualities and when she's not being onry, she has a very magnetic personality. I'm just praying we can reign in that strong personality so she will choose to use it for serving the Lord!

Payton, even with all my gray hair, I love you so much baby girl! And I can't imagine life without you.....it sure would get boring!

Birthday Surprises!

Well, my wonderful hubby did it again! He richly spoiled me for my birthday....again! And it was wonderful....as always!

I woke up Friday morning, three days before my birthday, with a card left for me (Darron had gone to the gym for an early morning workout). I forgot to upload my pictures backwards so they would actually be in the correct order, so scroll down to see the card D left for me.

About 9:00 am T and her kids showed up to my house. I had been planning to babysit all day as T had to "work." Turns out, it was all part of this well organized plan. She came with bags packed ready to spend the day and night taking care of all of our kids. D came home and off we went.

Our first stop was IHop for breakfast. Breakfast with just my man on a Friday morning. Amazing!

The next stop....the movie theater for an early movie. A movie with my man at 11:00 on a Friday morning....unheard of!

And then.....a quick stop for gas and we were Girdwood bound! An afternoon and evening of skiing, dinner, hot tubbing, and a wonderful room at a beautiful ski resort hotel awaited us!The weather was perfect! The mountain wasn't crowded! And the snow was powdery! It was the perfect day! After skiing for a few hours, we changed clothes and headed to dinner down the street at the Double Musky....a favorite restaurant for special occasions! Then it was back for a little more skiing before the slopes closed down. And then a relaxing soak in the hot tub!

The only "kink" in our plans was a sick baby boy. Parker woke up with a slight cold but seemed to be doing fine when we left for the day. But, by 6 pm, he had a 102 fever and had been lethargic and laying around on T all day. Darron and I were ready to just head home, but T gave him some Tylenol and his fever went down. She insisted we stay, and so we did, with our phones right next to us. Thankfully Parker slept through the night and woke up almost back to normal the next day! I love how creative my husband is! I love that he had planned this entire two days of surprises without me even having a clue! I love that he told me about my presents in this card. And I love that he knows me well enough to know exactly how to make me feel loved and spoiled! My brother's ship in the Navy was planning a special family day. I was really wanting to go and meet my mom and brother and spend a few days with them on this special trip. After searching for tickets with no luck, once again, my wonderful hubby pulled out his tricks and bought me a plane ticket to spend five days in San Diego! Amazing. He's simply amazing! So, needless to say, my 33rd birthday was perfect. I got to spend an entire day and night doing things I love with my man....and it was all a surprise....and it was all perfect!