Kevin's Birthday Party

Last weekend we gave Kevin a birthday bash!! Since I was laid up with a new born & a broken leg last year when he turned 40, I decided to celebrate BIG this year! We had about 25 friends and neighbors over for a BBQ Dinner & cake. They all brought "gag gifts" for the birthday boy....he got a pink umbrella, a Viagra silk tie, a talking "The Office" keychain, etc... We had a great time & we were fortunate that Pam was here visiting with us to enjoy the night.

Kevin's Whopper Cake

Yes!!! There were 41 candles on the cake...glad the alarms didn't go off!












Best card of the night! In the inside it says....."was a GOOD thing??"

Water Baby

Just to show you what a "Drama Queen" Emy is....I took this video this morning as she was enjoying a tub in the kitchen sink. I think she is going to take after her big sis when it comes to loving the water! Watch out Ocean Isle....here she comes!

Happy Easter Ya'll

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter ! We woke up to about 5 inches of beautiful white snow and thought it was Christmas all over again. It was pretty funny seeing all the little girls at church in there sundresses and big winter coats. It was also my sweet husband's birthday today. We celebrated early by taking a quick trip to sunny Scottsdale, AZ and we are going to have a big celebration next weekend, so look for the pictures next week!!

Coloring our Easter eggs...it was a real competition this year with who had the "most unique" egg!




Emy was sooo trying to get into the colored dye


WHAAAAAT!!!!!




Easter Morning....they just couldn't stop giggling!!

My beautiful children...I'm so lucky!








Who needs this Peter Cottontail dude?

Whitten Family Band ROCKS!!

Tonight Maddie & Jack got out some pots and spoons and decided to teach Emy how to "rock out"! They sound pretty darn good, if I say so myself!

Fun times on a Friday night......

MJ Does the Derby

Pinewood Derby 2007.....Mitch placed 5th out of 22 racers with his sweet silver and black Bugatti. We was awarded the "007 Award" for his cool car. We were very proud of his sportamanship because the top racers actually cheated and added weights and moved axles. Or should I say their DADS cheated! Totally reminded me of the movie "Down & Derby".....highly recommend it if you have any pinewood derby racers.

Kevin was so impressed with the sophisticated track that he took about a thousands shots of it for future reference if he ever has to build one!

I MC'd the event and even had the audience doing "the wave" and cheers! It was fun and we're already making plans for next year's race!!

Volleyball Season is Here

Maddie has joined a new volleyball team and is doing very well this year. She has played 3 games and has scored with every single serve!! The team is 1/2 6 graders and 1/2 7th graders and her height has been a definite advantage in the sport. She likes her coach alot and has fun with her team mates.


She is number 4 with the blonde ponytail

In her "ready stance"



Going for one of her power serves!



This is a video of Maddie making 3 points for her team....she's serving on the back line

"Her Blingage is Complete"...

....as Maddie would say! We pierced Emylee's ears and now she is COMPLETE!! A girl has GOT to have bling in her ears to go with her beads that she MUST wear DAILY!!

Here's a video I took this morning of Emy playing with Bosco! NO! We don't have another dog....just doggy sitting for a friend. Notice the 2 toothbrushes! She does this every morning...no lie! She is obsessed with her mouthful of teeth and LOVES to brush them!

Enjoy!!!

Madison receives an Excellent Rating

Last Saturday Madison competed in a County Solo & Ensemble Competition. She practiced over a month after school with two fellow clarinet players. On the day of competition she was ready and excited to perform......just minutes before their time slot one of the girls in her trio was a "no show"! The stress!!!! Madison rearranged the piece of music and proceeded to play it through with almost no mistakes at all! They sounded wonderful and you would've never known what a scattered and confusing 5 minutes before they just had!!

Here is Madison & Natalie playing "Calypso Morning"
(by the way, it was Natalie who messed up a little )

Proud Parents w/ our beautiful & talented Daughter



Madison was so happy her Grandparents were there for support




Waiting anxiously to play for the Judges




They scored an "Excellent" rating and missed a "Superior" by one little point. They were awarded a medal from their Band Director and roses from Grandpa & Donna. We couldn't have been more proud of her that day.

A Week w/ Grandpa & Donna

We just ended a fun week with my Dad & Donna visiting us from NC. They usually come out for Christmas, but decided to come in the Spring this year! We were excited to have them and kept them busy with just "life" with 4 active kids! We had baseball practices, volleyball matches, swimming lessons, piano lessons, play practice and of course, the fun stuff---movies, shopping, tubing up in the high country, eating out, and just playing around! We were also fortunate to have some last-minute visitors...one of Kevin's College friends, Bob Mealy & his son, Blake, and daughter, taylor were in Denver for a Volleyball Competition and College Recruiting Weekend. They came over for dinner and to watch some basketball before they had to leave, but the next day their flight was cancelled due to all the ice storms back East and they were able to hang out with us for a few more days.

Here are some pictures & videos of our weekend with everyone!

MJ in front of the Tubing Hill at Keystone Resort

Grandpa & Madison hanging out on the slopes

Grandpa enjoying the beautiful scenery



Mitchell & Blake ready to go down again!



The gang...Madison, MJ, Grandpa, Blake & Bob Mealy



WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!







I'm TIRED!!!!!



Grandpa... a "true" Western Boy!



Hot Chocolate ROCKS!

Singing w/ the Denver Chamber Singers

Madison and Jack recently performed in a Spirituals Concert for the city of Denver. They sang many religious songs in many different languages and even performed with the Denver City Chamber Singers in a beautiful Catholic Cathedral downtown.

Here's Maddie and her Choir...

Here's Jackson and his Cherub Choir...He is the second one on the back row




Madison again...she's on the back if you've forgotten what she looks like!

Emy Finds the Good Stuff!

As I was cleaning the kitchen this afternoon I heard Emy opening the pantry door and getting out a treat to enjoy. I guess I didn't feed her quite enough for lunch. This is such a fun "interactive" video for once and love that she is really starting to communicate with me. I apoligize for the length of the video, but I was having to much fun with it! Okay...listen for her new "growl" at the beginning--she does this now when she is eating something she REALLY likes.

Gearing up for Baseball Season

The boys begin baseball this week and they have been warming up their skills. It is so rewarding to watch Mitchell teach his little brother what he knows. I found them in the front yard this morning playing catch and had to video just a moment or two. I don't know why it warms my heart so much, I suppose it brings back great memories of my family playing softball on Sundays and having fun together as a family.

Feeling the Music

The boys are off-track again and this morning they put the player piano on. When Emy heard a familiar song from her Baby Einstein DVD she started "feeling the music". Mitchell soon joined in with his version of "dancing".....you just have to see it to believe it!

And, YES!!! That is a "face" drawn on Mitch's belly....gotta love his humor! Now you know why there's no need for Emy to have toys other than her "Bubba".

First "real" Word

The other day Emy said her first real word....other than "MaMa" or "DaDa" or "Bubba".....she said PIGGIE! She loves this little stuffed pig and has since she was born. She carries it around with her more and more now and kisses and hugs it throughout the day. I've never had a baby to do this, so it's really cute. She adores all stuffed animals, but LOVES her little piggie.

Another cute story...a few weeks ago I was shopping at TJ Maxx and let Emy out of the buggy to stretch her legs. There was a display of stuffed animals and before I knew it she had every single animal in a pile on the floor with her laying on top of it loving each and every animal. She was smiling and talking so sweetly that she drew a small crowd of on-lookers that stopped and pointed and smiled at her loving the stuffed animals.

A Week in Our Life (soap opera title, huh?)

What an eventful week we have had! Last Sunday Kevin & I celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary at The Spa at the Inverness Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel just 5 minutes from our home that overlooks the Rockies. Kevin planned a nice little "get away" which included a couples massage, followed by a steam & private hottub outside. When we were relaxing in the hot tub the sun was setting and was so romantic to watch the light change on the new snow all around us. Afterwards, we had dinner and the rest I won't go in to! It was a perfect day with my soul mate and I will remember it always.

The next day was just the opposite....filled with pain & tears! I found out that a tooth that was crowned 9 months ago had a dead nerve and a pretty severe infection with radiated throughout my whole body. Labor pains were a snap compared to this!!!

Monday night I was picking up the kidos at the high school from choir when I just didn't see this big, round, cement circle in my path. (the kids sit on these before and after school) So, what did I do???? I just ran right in to it, landed on top of it and then fell on my elbow. I couldn't move....my leg was bleeding, my arm wasn't moving...luckily Emy was in the car and I wasn't holding her. I could hear her cry, though, which made me "loose it". Get this! There was a dad that just walked by me and didn't offer to even help me get to my feet.....too busy talking on his blackberry! WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO??

Anyways, I've realized why I never made it as a ballerina.....just an awkward clutz, I suppose. I just sprained my elbow and have been wearing a sling. I've had to teach Emy to climb down the stairs and working on getting into her crib....she's a monkey!

So, I had to have an emergency root canal but couldn't go until WEDNESDAY . I insisted they give me something to KNOCK ME OUT because I had been there and done that with a normal tooth and this one was KILLING ME!! So, I don't remember much about that day....I'm still on some heavy pain killers, so needless to say, I've been really "loopy" all week.

Wednesday night was Mitchell's Blue & Gold Banquet where I had to conduct...don't even know what I said....Ha!
He received his Religious Knot award, 4 belt loops, 2 Academic & Sports Pins & another Silver arrow point. He's been really busy and we were really proud of his accomplishments. He's geared up for the annual Pinewood Derby next month...determined to take it all!! He just wasn't happy with 2nd place. Is he a little "over achiver" or what??

Putting on his new belt loops..he was really excited when he saw that his belt was almost FULL of awards.






Roaming around the church with her yeast roll



This week has been really fun for Madison. She auditioned for her school's musical last month and made it! They are performing Music Man and Maddie is one of the Pick-a-Little Ladies that wear big floral hats (she's excited about that HA!) and sing ALOT!! They practice 3 to 4 times a week. So she has been busy and Kevin and I are really glad that Santa gave her a cell phone because I never know where she is anymore. With school, volleyball, YW Camp classes, etc....she is busy!!

If you made it this far in our blog you must be really bored....but I'm glad you stuck with it and caught up on our lives. We miss our family and are sad that no one is here to share our fun & sad times with us, but we do love Colorado and all that it offers our family. So come and visit or better yet....move on out! Love you all!

Emy Turns 1!

Emy's first birthday was on Saturday and we sure had a fun day with her! We had a little family party with pink cupcakes & lots of balloons! Emy was so funny because she wouldn't give up her water squirter. (If you don't know already, she loves to drink from the boys water squirter they use for their hair! We finally gave up a while ago and just gave it to her. Now she drinks from it like it's her own personal water bottle.)

It was fun to see her reaction to her very first form of CAKE, too! She touched it and played with the sprinkles on top for a while and then figured it all out and dug in! Of course it was even more fun to watch the other kids "encourage" her to take her first big bite.

Opening her presents.....and YES! We had to get her some baby crocs!





After the party we took Emy to her first official photo shoot and played and had some really cute pictures made! You will probably be getting one in the mail soon!
Love you all!

Jack Conquers the Snow Hill

Yes! We still have a lot of SNOW!! This week it's been in the 50's and has felt a little like Spring. The snow has decreased in size, but we still have enough to have fun in. After school Jackson likes to put on his gear and sled in the yard until the sun goes down. The other day I caught him with his sled and he was really excited that I was going to blog his "super cool stunts"!! Sorry there is so many, but he wanted to make sure they were ALL on here!

What a Tease!

Okay, I feel really bad that Maddie is never in any of my footage, but her school starts so early she is not around in the mornings! I'll have to get her on the weekends, I suppose. The other morning the boys were messing around and teasing Emy with a remote control car. I thought it was cute and wanted to share with you all. Also, FYI....Jackson was dressed for "Tacky Day" to celebrate reading all the "Tacky the Penquin" books! I'm not one of those mothers who let their children's creativeness show in "crazy" outfits of their choosing!

Squirt, Squirt~

The boys have recently discovered a new game that they love to play with their little sister called....SQUIRT EMY IN THE FACE! She loves water and doesn't seem to mind it, so why not?