It seemed like it was Kyla’s Birthday all weekend! We had friends over last night who could not make it on Friday. I made a cake for Kyla and Zane frosted it, so that she could blow out candles.



We sent the kids outside to play, we gave them sidewalk chalk and this is how Kyla came inside! Looks like she was attacked by smurfs.

Kyla received another dress up set, a horse (which she loves), and a Ken doll.

This is what Kyla said as she was opening her gifts on Friday night. She had so much fun playing dress up with her cousins in AZ that we decided to get her her own dress up set for her birthday. Kyla is such a sweet girl and we have been so blessed since she joined our family three years ago. She does have her moments (must be the red hair). But she always makes us laugh and smile and she can be just so sweet. Kyla we love you sooooo much!

Some of her favorite things right now include; following Zane everywhere, using Zane as her personal jungle gym, never being three feet away from Zane, barbies, drawing on the driveway with chalk, roasting marshmallows, cheese hamburgers, singing.

We had Grandma & Grandpa Terry and the Connelly’s over for dinner on Friday night to share in celebrating Kyla’s birthday. I didn’t make her a cake, but we made a little brownie cake for her and put in a candle (more like a firework) on it from Aunt Cristina. Later we went and sat out by the fire pit and roasted marshmallow.

Okay so I am slipping this in while trying to catch up!

I have been blogging about our family for over a year now and have finally made it to the 100th post. I thought it would be fun to do a little contest. I thought about having you all submit pictures and then voting on the submissions and the winner would receive a custom header for their blog. I am making it easier.

So if you want a custom header for your blog, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will randomly choose a winner. I will leave it open for a week. So check back on Sunday June 15th for the winner!!

Well, it has been a busy week and I haven’t had time to catch up on my posting. So, I am starting with the end of the week!
Kyla turned three today! We went out to Red Robin last night with our goodest friends Brian and Amber. When the waitress brought Kyla her Sundae she got all excited, however, when they started to sing to her she hid her face. Maybe she thought they would go away. She enjoyed her Sundae, especially licking the whip cream and sprinkles.

We visited and stayed with Zane’s parents in Arizona. They live in Globe, Arizona. Zane’s youngest sister, Bonnie and her family are also there. Kyla enjoyed playing with Bonnie’s children, Morgon, Aramay and Claire, especially dress up! She would wake up and excuse herself so she could go play. It was great to see her get along so well with her cousins. Too bad they don’t live closer to us!

The Kids were sitting so well on the chair that we added Barrett and Claire for pictures . We hope to be able to get together again soon! Oh and Brett, you should practice your chess!!

On Saturday while we were on our way to Arizona we stopped in Prewitt, New Mexico, which is between Gallup and Albuquerque. Zane lived here when he was 8. Zane and I have stopped here once before about 4.5 years ago. The trailer they lived in was no longer there this time.

Driving through this area of New Mexico brings back so many memories for Zane. Hiking the bluffs and arrowhead hunting. And always being the minority in school.

Here is a picture of the remnants

This Memorial Day weekend we drove to Arizona. We left on Friday at 6:00pm or so. We were planning on leaving earlier and driving Zane’s truck. But last minute we decided to take the car. We have been trying to sell our car for almost a year now, so we let the tags expire as it just sits in the garage. Well we were going to drive it without getting the tags renewed, but we didn’t feel comfortable doing that. I called the DMV and the lady told me that if we got the car emissioned, brought in proof of insurance we could get temporary tags and we could drive it legally. So friday at around 4pm Zane went to get the emissions, luckily it’s just down the street, and to get our temp tag. At the DMV Zane was told that we didn’t need the emissions for the temp tag. Oh well, at least we are driving the car legally and will get so much better gas mileage.

Several weeks ago I had asked Zane if he wanted me to book reservations for a hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico for Friday night. Zane said that we should just wait and see how far we can make it. Knowing that it was a busy weekend I had my doubts, but decided not to book a hotel. Well, there was no way we would have made it to Albuquerque, so we ended up stopping in Las Vegas, New Mexico (nothing close to Vegas!!) And of course all the Hotels there have signs on their front doors that read ” NO VACANCY”. One hotel had a sign that said a motel down the street still had rooms. Of course I walk in the lobby of that motel and the lady before me gets the last room. We happened to pass the Palomino Motel on the way to this other one. It didn’t look like the parking lot was very full, so we decided to ask and see if they had room. Well they sure did have a few rooms left, so we took one. I can’t believe I am admitting to staying here and showing you all a picture of it. The motel looked like a place that would be in a horror movie (in & out).

It was probably 1 am when we finally got into bed. Kyla slept with Zane and Barrett with me. I told Zane that the motel is right on the Main road, it can’t be that bad. Right after I said that someone started honking there car horn right outside our window. Zane got up and was watching the car, it finally stopped honking and drove off. About 15 minutes later we heard knocking on the door next to us and then talking. It stopped and we finally got some sleep. I woke up around 7am to feed Barrett, I asked Zane if he wanted to keep sleeping a little or get on our way. We got up and dressed and headed out for a long day of driving.

Here is a picture of the couch that was in our room. We made it a point to not touch, sit or get close to this couch!

And then Zane had a little fun with Kyla and they were dressing up as ghosts with the sheets.

We joked with Zane’s family that on our way home we would drive through Las Vegas and the motel would be gone.

I guess I won’t drive through New Mexico without making a reservation from now on!

Sarah came over on Friday so I could take pictures of Alicia. She will be turning the big “1” on Thursday. She was not happy with the plexi glass on the black background, but she loved chasing the balloon and eating her cake. We look forward to celebrating with you guys on Thursday!

The kids and I went to our good friend Amber’s bridal shower yesterday. Brian and Amber will be getting married this summer in Montrose and Kyla will be the flower girl. After the shower I took the kids home and went out with all the girls to Lime for dinner in downtown Denver. I can’t believe I went somewhere besides running errands without kids! I did not stay to hang out for the dancing, but hopefully Amber wasn’t feeling too bad this morning!

Amber with her Bridal Party!

Today we celebrated our 10 year Anniversary! What an amazing 10 years it has been, especially the last 3. Zane and I both agree that being married to your Best Friend is the way to go. We have had so much fun with each other and now with our family. We couldn’t imagine life any other way. I would say more about Zane, but I will save it for Father’s Day!

We actually left our kids with someone other than my mom and went on a date. We went to The Melting Pot and to the movies. Zane has always tried to avoid The Melting Pot, but I made reservations anyway. We really enjoyed our experience and will plan to return. After Dinner we went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Zane got me a “Romantic” family gift, a fire pit for the backyard. He put it together and we roasted marshmallows and made smores. We love camping and the best part of camping is the fire, so now we can enjoy it at home.