the mandel 5

Megan and I just got back from a weekend in Fresno with all of Angela's relatives for Dorie's baby shower. I took pictures of some of the details to show Ang. When the aunts throw a shower, every detail is thought of. Like these booties above - they are made out of styrafoam cups - you'd never know it!! The tables were carefully planned - first as a sketch and then by setting up a prototype the night before (which was taken down and done again in the morning). A diaper cake! Dorie, Aunt Debby, Diana, and Aunt Linda opening gifts Megan and Lynsey - buddies for the weekend The lunch plate also had a prototype made first - it was yummy! dessert Aunt Linda and Uncle Steve have a PLAYGROUND in their yard with real old-fashioned metal slides and a swingset. They've had it for as long as I've known them (20+ years). Megan was thrilled with it! There was a shower activity where we made the baby an alphabet book. Each person got a letter and had to draw some things that...

What in the world IS this!?

Can you stand it? Casey and Kris' prom picture from 1989. This just SCREAMS the 80s! They went as "friends" and you all know how that story ends! Now I have a challenge to all of you: dig up your prom picture and email it to me. If a get a few, I'll do a big prom post. Oh, you know you want to. I showed you mine!

Aaahhhh .....the much-anticipated prom post. My senior prom was on a boat. I wore a big pink Jessica McClintock dress. My date surprised me by arriving in a red Porche and letting me call all my friends on a cell phone (those were very rare back then and it was huge like the Zach Morris phone). After the prom, we dined at the McDonalds drive- thru and met his family at the airport to welcome a newly adopted cousin from Romania. I stumbled across this photo a few months ago but just now received permission to post it from my prom date. Actually, his very sweet exact words were, "I don't read your blog anyway so go ahead and post it." Anyway. If you know us both, you are going to love this. Make sure you are sitting down....... It might be funnier than the photo of me jumping in the bride's maid's dress. Or the one of Logan sleeping standing up. Or the one of me coming off the slide at the aquatic center. What? You've seen my prom date here on my ...

This little stinker stayed home with mommy today instead of going to school. I dare anyone to tell me that he is NOT George Burrill (my grandfather who never got to meet Logan). Click to enlarge and enjoy the silliness.

Last night I went to a workshop by Sandy Puc (who's awesome) at the LAX Hilton. Turned out to be a much smaller group that I went with. Andrea was sick (and 8 months pregnant so we'll forgive her for staying home) and Teri and her assistant left early because Teri had a headache. Yoti and I stayed till the end. Since I have no formal photography or business training, I just ate all this information up. It was a great night and now I just want to spend thousands of dollars on new stuff! My Hilton complaint. Parking was $17. Whatever. The signs said you could pay in cash at the front desk or use a credit card on the way out. At the workshop check-in table, there was a discounted parking ticket for a flat $13. Great. At the break, I paid with cash in the lobby at a machine. $13. When we left the workshop, it was 11:30pm. There was a line of cars to check out at the machine. I put in my little prepaid ticket and it said I owed $12 more. There was an attendant who s...

7 days ago, Cindy and Derek welcomed Brennan to their family. Here he is with his brothers. Cindy has been making some newborn wraps and hats for me so Brennan was the official tester. I got one of those "swaddle me" blankets to put the baby in underneath the wrap and that made a huge difference. That, and he was a great sleeper! There's another new post under this one! :)

Rob and Nathan went fishing yesterday at 5am. Nathan had a great time again. He loves having Daddy and Papa Bob all to himself! I guess they caught tons and tons of fish! I find it necessary to say here that I did NOT dress Nathan for the fishing trip. The green turtle swim trunks, green tee-shirt, gray Hanna Andersson striped pullover, navy blue and yellow jacket, and brown and orange knit cap were hand selected by his father for this very special occasion. Papa with Nathan and a fish he caught all by himself I'll be back in a few with Baby Brennan photos.

Happy Easter!!! Grantie and UB hosted their annual Easter egg-stravaganza only this time, it was at Mike and Lise's because their pool heater was working and Grantie's wasn't. The kids swam aaaaaalllll day! Kayla sneaking a kiss onto Logan's cheek. For the first time EVER, they refused to do their famous kissing shot. :( All the kids getting ready to hunt for eggs... sweet pink princess bunny after the egg hunt, emptying the money into bags with Papa Jerry. Yep, the eggs had coins inside! Grantie and UB had candy and shirts to give the kids. Megan was so excited to open her bag! daddy and lo relaxing by the pool silly megan and blake logan and kayla brady and kari playing basketball. There was a lot of basketball. Doesn't it look like they are on a date getting to know each other? I am soooooo tired from the weekend. But stay tuned to the blog this week because there are some exciting posts planned, including.... 1) Nathan's sunrise fishing trip with Dad...

Today was the rec center's annual Easter egg hunt. Grandma came up for the excitement. The boys were in the same bracket this year: ages 4 & 5. Here is Grandma Verna reviewing the strategy with them.... It was very hard to wait for the eggs to be spread out all over the lawn. These kids are ready!! And they're off! Logan got the most eggs in the family. He showed no mercy. Nathan only got two. He was more interested in which way his friends ran. Now it's time for the big kids! Megan was so excited. The competition in her age bracket was much more fierce. I think 8 kids are headed for one egg here. Whew! We did a little jumping in the jumpies. Then we came home and dyed eggs. I tried to skip it this year. It is my least favorite holiday activity because it is so messy and no one listens to me! :) But they wouldn't let us forget about it! Oh, by the way, Nathan "did" his own hair today. Not sure exactly what look he was going for but don...