Random fun Wednesday!

The Amgen Tour of California finished its 4th stage here in Clovis today. This has been the talk of the town and I was proud Clovis and Fresno represented well! There were tons of people joining in the fun to see the pack of bike riders for maybe 5 seconds. Yes, hours of waiting for 5 seconds, which were completely worth the wait. We all met at Blake and my house. Our new house is five houses away from the main road they rode on. It was pretty fun walking to it from our place. We kept entertained with good company, sidewalk chalk (that a LiveStrong van passed out), a tennis ball and, of course the always entertaining, Aubrey Rose. Oh and by the way, Lance Armstrong looked great. (Okay, there was absolutely no way we would have picked him out in that second he whizzed by. But, it is fun to think I saw him today.) :-)


The crew...(from left)...Blake, our friends...Blake and Christina, Brad (Blake's brother), me, Uncle Gary (Blake's moms brother), Aubrey Rose and Blair (Blake's sister). Linda (Blake's mom) was there too. She was sweet and took the picture for us.


Auntie B is sooooo sweet to Aubrey Rose.

Not sure who is sweeter with our little girl. They both love her soooooo much!


Aunt B knows how to make a girl look good! I love the expression too Aubrey! With the beads around your neck...beautiful touch. :-)

That's a little more like it. Now I recognize you. :-)

There were TONS of people!!

They passed out sidewalk chalk. We were trying to think of what would make Lance stop to say hi. So our first thought was to write this...(and by the way, as you might have figured it out even Aubrey couldn't stop him...to my surprise!)


Blake got a brilliant idea to draw a fallen bicyclist. Bradley was our stunt man.

They are finally getting close!!!!!

Here is the pack!



Their entourage after they whizzed by.

That is for sure! Clovis hearts Lance!

So much fun! Thumbs up for a random, fun Wednesday afternoon. Thanks everyone for making it a blast!

Blake and FIVE ladies for Valentines Day!

What a wonderful and memorable Valentines Day it turned out to be! Chelsey (my cousin) and Peyton and Kendall spent the night with us last night. (These are two girls of good friends of ours from church.) Chelsey was watching them for the weekend and so we decided to have a fun day together. And goodness, did Aubrey have a wonderful first Valentines Day! Not sure if others will top it! Peyton and Kendall were so great to Aubrey Rose. They played all day with her and Aubrey just looooooved having friends around. She watched almost every move they made, she followed them around, tried to do what they would did and was just so content. Today she looked even more like a toddler to me. Time is flying!
We started the day with heart shaped pancakes. I thought I would start learning how moms do it. Not sure if it was worth all the work for as quickly as they were gone, but they looked cute. I used a heart shaped cookie cutter. Not sure if there is a smarter way, but burned my hand a couple of times. Totally worth it though. Then, we made candy necklaces. After that, we played outside. I gave the girls paint brushes and they used the water from the pool to paint pictures on the sidewalk. This probably was the thing that entertained them for the longest time. Our dogs loooooved the entertainment and loooooved the girls too because I let the girls give them probably like 5 treats each so they all were heaven. Then, all the girls took a nap. While they were down, I picked up the house (it gets a little crazy with a couple extra girls), and then I set up the table for some cake decorating, oh and a photo shoot! The girls LOOOOVED to decorate their cake and they certainly apeased me with smiling in their photo shoot. The pictures turned out pretty cute! We had dinner together, toasted with some Martinelli's, and completed the evening with our yummy (and beautifully decorated) dessert. When the girls left, I thought Blake said it perfectly..."Well, we aren't going to forget this one." It was so fun! Thanks girls for helping make some wonderful Valentine memories!
We also want to say a BIG thank you the Woitas family!! Gina (my wonderful friend Christina's mom) sent us the adorable top Aubrey is wearing. She wore all day for Valentine's Day. She looked so darn cute in it. Thank you so much Gina for spoiling not only us, but Aubrey Rose too!!! We love you!

Our little sunshine is the sweetest thing. I know I am biased, but look at how cute!

Aubrey Rose, you look too tall in the picture to be mine. :-)

OOOOOOOO! I think Chelsey had something that was so cool. OOOOOOO!

I wish I got this expression from the front view, but oh she makes me smile! I just love this girl!

Peyton, Aubrey Rose, and Kendall....they were like 3 peas in a pod. Sooooo cute together!

Aubrey started laying her head on anything soft or sometimes even if it is not soft. Up until now, I wouldn't have considered her a snuggler, but now she will lay her head on your shoulder or walk up to you, wrap her arms around your leg and just lay her head on your leg. It is just precious!

She loooooooved the attention! OOOOOOOOO!!!

Here is Peyton and Kendall during their photo shoot together. They are such wonderful girls and they are such sweet sisters to each other.

Here they are making their candy necklaces.

Aubrey laying on Peyton. Thanks for being so sweet to Aubrey Rose, Peyton!

Blake was such a trooper with a house full of ladies. Thanks for having a good time with it too!

Aubrey loves to play with this crib that my Opa made many, many years ago. I painted it white for Aubrey and she has been quite a fan. It is so cute watching her rock her dolls and stuff animals.

Here is the table the girls woke up to after their nap.

The girls wore their special dresses and we put curlers in their hair to make the night even more special. It was so fun! I LOOOOOVE having girls!

Here are the girls getting ready. I asked Aubrey if she wanted her hair in curlers. Yeah, not so much...maybe next year. :-)

So cozy! We looooove Chelsey!

Decorating our cakes.

This picture made me laugh. I am fixing the L-O-V-E so it is just right and Blake is hamming it up already. And Aubrey Rose....what are you doing mommy???

Happy Valentine's Day to you ALL!!! I sure hope there are people who read this besides Blake and I (and our mommy's)! :-)

OOOOOOOOOOO!

That is Aubrey Rose's new trick this week. Last week she learned how to play cards...this week she loves to show off by saying OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to everything. Say hi Aubrey Rose...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Can you wave bye Aubrey? OOOOOOOOOOOO. As she is walking all around the house... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. It is cutest when she uses it in a perfect way that any adult would do. Aubrey Rose, feel how cozy this is...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. And lately, even when taking pictures, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!







Our little girl is growing up too fast. Here she was walking in our kitchen. I just thought she looked so cute and so big, I had to get a shot of her. And I am pretty sure she was saying....OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

My mom has been holding out!!

I checked my mom's camera and she has been holding out on me with some fun shots. So I thought I would post them.

I absolutely LOOOOOVE watching my dad with Aubrey Rose. It is such a precious sight to watch these two play. I think Aubrey already has Opa wrapped around her finger. It is the sweetest thing!



Here are a couple more pictures from our trip to Canada from last month. This was Aubrey and I at Niagara-on-the-Lake. That bunting bag that she is in, still makes me laugh remembering my marshmellow that couldn't move every time we had to bundle her up.

Four generations of girls. Such a special picture. Aubrey Rose you are so adorable smiling in both pictures!


My mom and Aubrey have such a sweet bond. I love seeing them together.

And then the bond between my cousin Chelsey and Aubrey Rose. It makes me cry just thinking about these two together. Thank you Chelsey for everything you do not only for Aubrey, but for Blake and I as well. We are soooooo thankful for your friendship. We love you girlie!