Shane & Sophia 8th Birthday party

Sophia and Shane celebrated their 8th birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. I can't believe they are 8 years old. My how time flies when we are having fun.

Sophia showing her new pillow that Granny Lucy made for her.

Shane showing the card that Granny gave him. He's really a little old to be in to Manny but Granny really doesn't know any better. : ) He had asked her to make him a new elk pillow and he got his wish. Most kids love their blankie but not Shane. He can't sleep without his pillow.

Christmas 2009

A few shots from Christmas...

This is our new ornament we bought in WDM to celebrate our wedding year.

Our tree. I love my star that I purchased in Cabo San Lucas.

Christmas day at my brothers house. Brycen and Shane goofing off.

My mom gave Joe a leg lamp that is a replica from the move A Christmas Story. It was a perfect gift.

My mom and her grankids. We were so happy to have Caitlyn and Piper home for Christmas!!!

Congrats to my brother and new sis-in-law Keri on their marriage. We celebrated their wedding with tons of family and friends last Friday night. It was a bit warm for an outside party but fun was had by all. Here are some shots from the evening.

The newlyweds

Joe and Piper

Caitlyn wearing a new hat.

Brycen sporting two new hats....yes, they were food covers. Suppose it wasn't too sanitary having these on their heads. Oops.

The Stehower siblings...Mom, Uncle Tom and Uncle Jeff

Me and my beautiful niece Sophia.

Facebook is consuming my blog time...

I just realized this evening it has been quite some time since I've posted. So, here's a bit about what's been going on with us lately.

Some exciting news for us is that we are moving apartments. We found a great three bedroom apartment that has granite counter tops, wood flooring and a stove with two big burners (yes, our current place only had one big burner- very annoying) and it's less expensive than where we live now, go figure. The bummer part of it is we are moving July 10th- HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

My hubby got a great surprise in the mail today from our nephew Nelson. A Star Wars coloring book page that he colored with a Han Solo sticker. The best part is was signed by him. Priceless! It immediately went to the fridge hall of fame. We still have Murphy's wedding present to us on the fridge. It was a wonderful handmade book with drawings about our destination wedding.

Our Niece Sophia and Nephew Shane turned 7 on Cinco De Mayo. I want to wish them a blog belated Happy Birthday! I spoke with them that night and my Sister-in-Law was making sopapilla's for their b-day celebration with friends. Yummo! We will go over to my brother and sis-in-laws house to do the family celebration this Saturday. It will actually be one big bash as we will be including our Nephew Brycen and Niece Piper's birthday. I'm sure I'll have some fun photos to post.

Stay tuned for more updates from the AZ Cavanaugh's and look for May's 12 of 12. Happy odd day (05/07/09)!

Sunday Picnic Fun

My mom's company threw a family picnic. There was rock climbing, bungee jumping, food, games and prizes. We had so much fun and mom won a $100 in the raffle- score!

A "B" for Brycen.

Sliding fun

Brycen tackling the obsticle course



Sophia and I with our faces painted. She opted for a dalmation face and I got hearts and flowers on my cheek.

One of the many fun hat prizes

A pimp daddy hat

Brycen and I stopping the game play for a quick pose.

Crazy Grandma Debbie - Gotta love the hat!

My nephew and niece love their crazy Grandma Debbie!

The giant blow up hammer won from one of the games.

They loved the gumball machine prize.

The newlyweds

Joe had his duties down pat...those kids scored mucho prizes!

The purple pimp daddy hat that Brycen was going to give to Piper.

Sophia enjoying a blue snow cone.

"B" lovin' the cotton candy.

Joey with his snow cone- yum!

The picnic wouldn't be complete without a Bomb Popsicle.

Brycen getting preped for the wall climb.

He was so fast getting to the top and ringing the buzzer.

Bungee time! What a great way to work off all that sugar.

Brycen jumped a bit higher than Sophia but they both were too scared to attempt a flip. We had so much fun at the picnic. Thanks Mom for inviting us to share in this fun day!

It was such a beautiful day and Brycen still had some of that sugar rush happening so he and I went for bike ride and crossed over the "scary" bridge by the 51 freeway.

Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009!

I wouldn't say 2008 was an overly fun year for us after all we were planning and saving for our upcoming 2009 wedding. However there are a few highlights for the year.

1. The removal of the braces has to be the best thing about 2008!

2. The fun bridal shower that brought together many family and friends. Thank you Mom, Betty and Cristin for making it so special!

3. Uncle Ruben's birthday party. It was great having the Acosta family together again. It had been long overdue!

4. Watching Brycen and Shane play flag football.

5. Meeting up with my girlfriends, Melissa, Josie and Leah. Our lives get so busy that this proves to be a rare occassion.

6. Going to a few D-Back games with the LOML.

7. Shane & Sophia's Kindergarten graduation.

8. Crying when my younger/bigger (yes, he is taller than me) cousin Ben proposed to his girlfriend Christa. We can't wait for the wedding on 1/2/09!

Joe and I want to wish all our family and friends a very Happy and Blessed New Year.

What's going on?

It's August already! We have a little less than 6 months until the wedding. Boot Camp is in session so I'm working my little heart out. The wedding dress is at my mom's so there is no peeking from the LOML. The wedding arrangements have been made and my bridal flip flops arrived in the mail the other day. Aren't they super cute? This picture makes them look white but they are actually ivory.

This past weekend we celebrated mom's birthday with a little BBQ. Here she is with Miss Sophia.

Miss Sophia found my Mardi Gras mask. She ran around the apartment showing it off. I love that my niece is so full of life and fun.

My nephew Shane upside down on the sofa. Oh to be a kid again!

I went to the see Dr. Dickerson, my Orthodontist yesterday for an adjustment on the braces. It's been 18th months now and he informed me that I would probably have them on 2 more months. He is doing the final adjustments- YAY! I have hated these braces so much and the end is almost here.

Oh, and here's a picture of the LOML's keys left in the door. I was on my way to check the mail and found them hanging outside the door. I don't know what it is about this place but I have done this twice. Once the neighbor knocked on the door and let us know about my keys and the other time we didn't find them until the morning when leaving for work. We are just fortunate that nobody saw them hanging there and entered the apartment. Here's hoping we now remember to remove our keys when entering the apartment!

Grandma Debbie & Sophia

6/29/08- At Granny Lucy's house

Digi Layouts: S&S Kindergarten Graduation

Congrats to my niece and nephew! Now it's on to the big bad 1st grade.

Saturday, March 15th: Easter egg decorating party

~ Egg Decorating ~

Shane, Brycen, Grandma Debbie, Sophia, Caitlyn and Piper

~ Cupcake decorating (and eating of the cupcakes) ~

MMM....

Check out that face- LOL!

Yummy!