Friday, February 16, 2007

Superheros Everywhere!


Aydan, ready for his Super Hero Birthday party!


Doreen, our neighbor, helping her son, Cole make Sculpey erasers.

Some of the finished product...amazing!

Blowing out the birthday candles----super wind coming from Batman!

Halley, Aydan's friend...or...rather his "Super Girl" friend!

Playing super Bingo...

Texas, with her sister, Tellulah at the party. (our cool neighbors)

The whole "Super" gang...watch out, all you bad guys!

Aydan, blowing out his candles at the family birthday party...

.....and showing off the cool Lego racer set from Clayton!


Bret and Shawn (and Mignon) get in on the present giving with a great Magic Kit.

Maryn's boyfriend, Jake, gives Aydan some MORE Legos----his favorite thing!

Maryn and Aydan having an impromptu hug over her gift to him, a spy kit.


Brinna, looking lovely by the decorated table, for hers and Maryns birthday party.


Everyone excited about the party!

Brinna and Maryn blowing out their candles!

Maryn, excited by Aydan's gift of body paint sticks----fun!

Lots of art stuff given by Shawn to Maryn----can't wait to get those paintings!
Wow, lots of fun bedding for Maryn's college room from Brinna!



Brinna gets a gift card from Clayton.


Aydan gave Brinna some green glasses for her kitchen!

Picture frames, sweater and a book are what make Brinna smile....

....and especially that accordian from Bret!

Limbo time, and Shawn looks quite weird doing it!

Allllright!....Look at Clayton get under that Limbo stick!

Maryn prefers to crawl under...

.....and Aydan had to basically walk under most of the time!

Its that time of the year again...the time when there are three birthdays in a row. Whew! I always love having the parties and everyone around, but breath a sigh of relief when its all over!

This year, Aydan decided that he wanted a Superhero Birthday party for five of his friends. He had a hard time choosing who he wanted to attend, as most of his best friends are girls... (such a ladies man, he is) so we ended up having 3 girls and 3 boys. (counting Aydan) He had all his guests dress up at Superheros and we played Bingo, made Sculpey erasers, had a costume parade with certificates, had a Power Rangers cake with ice cream and then opened presents. Great fun!

Then, the next day, we had a family party for Aydan, with Brinna, Clayton, and Maryn coming. We had a Batman pinata, which Aydan opened up on the first pull of the strings at the bottom. (Did you know that that's an alternative to breaking it open with a stick?----cool, and no worries that anyone can get hit!) We opened presents and had yet ANOTHER cake with ice cream. (Can we all visualize the waist growing?)

The next Sunday, we all gathered again for a great dinner, and some game playing and cake and ice cream to celebrate Brinna and Maryns birthdays. We had purchased a "limbo" stick which, of course, Clayton always wins at, as he can practically bend over backwards while going under it! It's almost painful to watch! The highlight of the evening, though, was opening presents and playing "A What?" (you know the one, "Here's a can, ....a what?, ....a can, ....a what?.... a can,.... ohh, a can!")

Lots of laughter, pictures and enjoying one another's company! Happy Birthday, Aydan, Maryn and Brinna!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Holidays Are Joyful!


Mignon and Musette in their Holiday sweaters!


Bret and Aydan cutting the tree.Aydan and Shawn with the puppies at the tree farm...


Aydan, decorating the tree.


Aydan's favorite corner of the living room!
The Christmas tree!

Christmas Eve brought out some friends, Dave and Michelle Chapman, and their baby, Harriet.

Grace Chapman, Aydan, and Sydney Thomas listen to Christmas stories.
Maryn, thoroughly engrossed in the Christmas story...

....and helping Brinna to read the "Texas Night Before Christmas"!


Ryan and Alisha Thomas enjoy playing with their son Josh's toys.


The creative Nativity scene, with all the kids involved!

Josh, Sydney, Aydan and Grace...excited for Santa!

Its Christmas Jammie time!

Aydan actually took this picture...not bad! (that's Jake, Maryn's boyfriend on the right)

Christmas morning and Brinna still looks great!

Maryn and Aydan with their gifts to each other...creepy, squirmy laboratory...

Clayton and Maryn are excited about their presents to each other.

Aydan and Bret will be playing lots of games and doing lots of inventions...

Hey, Musette, get out of the way! (nice Christmas sweater, though)

Mignon, resting after a long day...


It was a crazy holiday season this year, with Shawn traveling 5 different places in 6 weeks! But Christmas came and went anyway, and it was a good one---good friends, some old and some new, great family times, late nights and way too much food! The New Year found Bret, Aydan and Shawn in New York state and the rest of the family in many different places, so we said our "Happy New Years" via cell phone, but the feeling was still the same...Bret and Shawn cherish this family a lot and look forward to when we can all be together.

Life is simpler now, with a small "saltbox" house we've rented and the household down to just three....(well, six, counting the puppies and the cat) We go on walks with the puppies and thrill at the New England world around us, and look forward to birthdays of Aydan, Maryn and Brinna in January and Feb. and visits to Utah to see the G-babies in March.

Life is good.

The attached 1820 Saltbox that is our home. (not the large front building, but the back one)

It's really just the servant's quarters to the big house, (it used to be a school)
but we love it!

The view of the old town center from our front door.