Operation 60th Birthday Surprise

My Dad turned 60 this year, so my Mom wanted to do something special for him. So she flew the Colorado crew (Colemans & Peech Family) to Texas and the Tharps met us in Houston. This was all a surprise, so my Dad had no idea that we were coming in. My Grandma and my Uncle Dave also came in from Chicago for the surprise. Before this though, everytime I talked to my Dad, he would ask, "So, are you coming in for my birthday?" And I would say, "No Dad. We're broke. We can't fly right now." Now my Dad is a pretty sneaky guy so I don't know if he was just trying to find out if anyone was doing anything for is birthday or if he really was just asking if we could swing flying in for the big day. Anyway, he was fishing and I was giving up the secret. So we all headed down there the day after his birthday. We met the Tharps at a nearby restaurnt and then followed each other to my parents house. We pulled up in the driveway and my Dad met all of us in his robe. And the tears began to flow. Needless to say, we pulled off the surprise and my Dad was thrilled to see all of his family!

The weekend was great. We spent most of our time by the pool. My Dad's company had a big barbeque cookoff and so we spent Friday night there at the Galveston County Fair. It was a blast! I think Kerri, Dana and I took advantage of having the Grandma's take care of all the kids. It was great to be able to hang out with my sisters and dance all night. The kids had a great time too riding all the carnival rides. The next day, we took one big family portrait. This was the first time that all of us had been together in a while, so we took advantage of that moment. Everyone except us left the next day. Our crew went to NASA the next day and took a tour. I hadn't been there since my elementary field trip so it was cool to see it as an adult. I definitely appreciated it much more this time around.

Once again, it was a fabulous weekend at the Drenth compound. And once again, I came back to Colorado missing Texas. I was in a funk for a couple of days, but now I'm getting back into the swing of things here. There's just nothing like spending time with your family in the place that you love!

Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you were truly surprised and had a great time! We sure do miss you!

Cole helps Gramps blow out his candles

Sisters....awwwwwww

Katelyn, Hadley and Cole playin' in the hot tub

Noah hangin' out with Momma

Sara and David take the jet ski out for a spin

Anna doing what she does best.....lookin' cute

Great Grandma and Noah. I love his goofy grin in this picture!

Uncle Dave with his Great Nephew and Nieces

Grammy and Noah

He Is Risen...2009

Though we were celebrating the resurrection of Christ, it was a pretty gloomy Easter Day. However, that didn't spoil the meaning of the day and the time we spent with family and friends. It was only a party of 3 for us that day. Noah was decked out in his button down shirt and khakis. He even wore shoes for the first time. I think he looked like a little man...so cute! I did my best to stay warm in my summer dress and sandals, but I pretty much shook all day from the cold. And of course David looked handsome in his button down and khakis. Why is it that so much of Easter is focused on what we wear? I guess it's part of the fun of spring?! Anyway, we went to church where our pastor shared the gospel. Every year we have a balloon release to symbolize the resurrection of Christ. Each balloon has a verse on it so that whoever finds it may learn about Jesus. After church, we headed to Boulder and had brunch at an old dinner hall in Chataqua Park. It was delicious. And it was nice to be able to spend time with David's brother Jon, friend Dave Van Handel and the Max family. After lunch we headed home and took naps. It was the perfect day for a nap....gray and rainy. Though Noah doesn't have a clue what this day is about yet, I was sure to tell him about why we celebrate Easter. And maybe next year, when he's a little older, the Easter Bunny just might visit him.

My handsome boys

Releasing our balloon to the heavens

Celebrating in Boulder

Noah snuggly with Uncle Johnny in his jammies

Remember this guy??

Yes, that is Chuck E. Cheese! On the eve of Easter, we packed up the kids and chowed down on some pizza and played games with the Olson's (Katie & Trey) and the Thompson's (Katie's sister Jessie, her husband Kyle & twins Will & Sydney). I remembered this place to be quite different. I was probably Sara and Anna's age the last time I was there. In my mind, I remember Chuck E. Cheese being dark and dingy. Come to think about it, the place might have been a little sketchy. My how time changes things! This was not the case this time around. It was bright and noisy and packed with little kids running around without shoes on (GROSS)! Katie's niece was terrified of the mechanical mouse. And after thinking about it, we adults all thought that, "Yes, Chuck E. could be quite scary to a 3 year old." So, she just kept her back to the gigantic mouse and we tried to distract her from looking at him all night. All the kids had a blast. I had a little fun myself. I sure do love that skee ball game! But, I can honestly say that I wouldn't mind if I never saw that place again. It was complete chaos!

This picture of Anna cracks me up because she was having a blast on this thing. She was pedaling so fast as the bike went up and down.
Sara was trying to entertain Noah on the big screen. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Sunday's Coming

Celebrating My 29th Birthday....For The First Time! :)

Yesterday, I felt loved. My family and friends showered me with birthday blessings from all over the country. It feels pretty cool to be loved so much. Thank you all for wishing me a happy day.

My dear husband surprised me and took me to our favorite restaurant, The Palm. I thought it was just going to be David, Noah and I, but the Max Family and Swanson Family joined us. So that was a nice surprise. I also wasn't expecting to go to The Palm. David told me we were either going to Texas Roadhouse or Bennigans. And I would've been happy with either of those. It was a perfect evening. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures...again!

I wasn't super pumped about this birthday because I'm facing my last year in my twenties. I thought it was going to be just another day. And it was, but it was also just another day that I got to spend with Noah. And that was the best gift that I could've ever gotten! Noah Bobby is so cool....but that's another story for another post.

Anyway, thanks Mom and Dad for having me 29 years ago. I'm still 12 at heart! ;) And thanks David for making me feel special. You're so great at that! You're the best!

Happy 29th JENNY!!!!

Today is Jenny's 29th and I wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am to be able to celebrate it with her.
She has been such a rock in my life since almost the first day we met only 3 years ago. She's bright, caring, thoughtful, smart, happy, funny, silly and on and on. Meeting her has been just about the best thing that has ever happened to me. On your 29th girl I hope you get everything you deserve although I don't know quite how to make that happen.
Thanks for giving me Noah, he's the coolest dude I've ever met. You are an amazing mom and an even better wife. Happy 29th Jenny, hope it's a great year. Enjoy the last of your 20's.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Success!

Noah will FINALLY eat rice cereal. He still doesn't like it so much, but at least he's doing it! You're getting so big, Noah!

Buddies

These cousins are groiwng up fast! Noah, Zeke and Bentley met again at the Coleman Family Easter (we celebrated a little bit early). This time they were decked out in cool sunglasses. It was a little more difficult to take pictures of these guys since Zeke and Bentley wanted to move around. Noah could've cared less, he just sat there and watched all the action. I am happy to report that Noah is quickly catching up in size to his big cousins. They'd better watch out! :) We're all hoping that these boys will continue to grow up together and will be best buddies!

Here are the boys at Christmas Zeke (3 months), Noah (2 Weeks) Bentley (5 Months)

Noah, Zeke & Bentley. Look at all of Noah's hair! He doesn't have that anymore! :(

Here are the boys today. Noah (4.5 Months), Bentley(9 Months) & Zeke(7.5 Months)

Noah, Zeke & Bentley. Noah is going bald just like his cousins.

Fun With Eggs

We celebrated Easter a little bit early in the Coleman family so we dyed and decorated eggs so that I could make deviled eggs for the big family gathering. We had a lot of fun and each of us tried to top the others with the most creative egg.

Sara contemplates what would make her egg the most unique

Anna is very careful to be precise and make her egg just perfect

Egg decorating is serious stuff to David

The results...our colorful Easter eggs

Fiesta a la Morey Middle School

Sara had a fundraisher for her school orchestra...fiesta style. The kids in the orchestra dressed up in Mexican garb and served us dinner. At the same time, we got to listen to Sara and the rest of the kids play us some traditional Mexican music. David and I enjoyed being there and also realized that we are SO glad that we're not in Jr. High anymore. What an interesting time that is in a kid's life!

Senorita Sara and her String Bass

I'm Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

Is this a pitiful picture or what? Noah caught a little stomach bug and it was not fun to watch him go through. Let me tell you, it is a pretty weird thing to watch a baby throw up several times. I'm used to him spitting up, but vomit is a whole other story! The one thing I learned from him being sick is that I can handle cleaning up his puke that got all over himself, me and anywhere else that was in range. I have a very strong gag reflex and was proud that I, too, didn't throw up from watching him throw up. I guess you can do anything when it comes to your kids right?? I am happy to say that Noah is on the mend. We had a couple of days of straight pedialyte and now he's back to formula.

P.S. I'm sorry if this post grossed some of you out. My family is used to talking about anything and everything. So, I thought I'd share some grossness with the rest of you!