ONE big celebration

We celebrated the big 1 this week.
We celebrated the best year of our lives.
We celebrated our loving friends and family who have helped us tremendously this past year.
We celebrated the words dog, mama, dada, and even the very seldom word bird.
We celebrated scooting and refusing to crawl like the other babies.
We celebrated eating everything in sight.
We celebrated giving high fives and kisses to everyone she meets (even pictures on the wall)!
We celebrated five teeth and messy hair.
We celebrated the most joy we have ever felt.
We celebrated Elle.

Polka dot First Birthday Party

We celebrated Elle's first birthday with polka dots and our closest friends and family.
Elle's BFF, Boston Schultz, gave her a Fruitloop necklace that quickly became her favorite gift of the night! She liked it better than the kitchen that I got her.
My favorite memory was when Elle went to eat her very own cake she refused to put her hands in it and instead grabbed the fork, handed it to me and wanted me to feed it to her. How lady-like!

Cambodian Ceremony

Two years ago today, D and I were given a traditional Cambodian blessing.

Three lovely Cambodian Ming's did my make-up and helped me get dressed three times throughout the ceremony. I've never been that pampered before.

A monk chanted a blessing in Cambodian while our family and friends tied strings of blessings around our wrists. It didn't even matter that I couldn't understand a word the monk was saying, it was really special to experience a piece of D's culture with him.

Top photo taken by Jonathan Canlas

Triathalon

Dave came out to do the triathlon in Daybreak and we had a blast cheering him on!

Elle wore Dave's number, lucky 518, on her shirt and looked out for him intensely near the finish line. Dave did an awesome job! He may have even talked D into doing it next year.

Three cheers for Dave!

Paint Job

I went through this model house in Daybreak last weekend and decided it's about time to break out the paint rollers. I love the blues and greens they chose with little pops of color.
The whole house had just the right amount of modern mixed with classic. It felt young without feeling too abstract. The simple colors and classic designs gave me the inspiration I've been needing to head over to the paint store (and maybe a stop at the rug store as well).

We heart U!

Like mother, like daughter. Elle was more into the people watching and the yummy treats than the game. GO UTES!

The Force

What to do on a lazy afternoon when you and your husband need a little laugh? Well...this is what we chose. And I highly recommend it. We laughed for hours about this. Okay, we're still laughing.
May the force be with you.

Summer of '09

This summer has a different feel to it than others. For us anyway. It's not as carefree or action packed as past summers. No zip lines in the jungle or pina colada's on the beach. Instead it's bike rides around the lake and shaved ice in the parking lot. Neither past nor present is better than the other. Just different. Older, slower, more introverted I guess.
Next summer I will look back and say that summer was full of best friends, family and gratitude. That summer I learned. Grew.

Kate and Nicole

Kate and Nicole were so much fun to take pictures pictures of. I'd kill for their green eyes.

Cooper

This little guy decided to take us up on our offer and join us last night at the lake. He has the most gorgeous eyes and cutest little chubby cheeks. More pics to come, but I couldn't resist posting these two.