march melange

bring on the birthday parties!

and buying our first house 

and spring break

here's the march melange....

first, Sloan's birthday. i got the devious little idea to throw a surprise party for sloan and by some miracle it all came together. i invited his friends from dental school and made kabobs, dips, daiquiris, orange rolls, and the world's best birthday cake (not bragging, that's just the name of the cake). 

the reason it was devious: Sloan gets pretty uptight about throwing parties and he would've been a nervous wreck if he found out. luckily, thanks to my highly advanced secret party planning skills, and to all his friends keeping it on the down low, we gave him a big shock. 

and he loved it.

things i appreciate about sloan on his birthday:
he's genuinely hilarious
feels deeply, has a soft, sensitive heart
gentle yet strong
deliberate conversationalist
spiritually atuned
unique, original, wonderfully weird
opinionated (he's a helpful shopping companion)
playful, athletic, active
but also able to relax
inventive, creative
great hugger 
humble, willing to listen
honest
always willing to serve

and a passionate, interesting, intimate man
old women love him (well, all women love him)
men want to be him
children and dogs can't resist him
he's my one & only
for ever n ever
love you Sloan

you can't tell by the look on her face here, but Ruthie had fun too

Amanda, Aviva, Greg & Anthony

Sloan & Casey. they have a special friendship because they both happen to have purchased $10 Velcro-laced shoes from Walmart. isn't that sweet

Brett & Nick

Amanda & Tyler rockin out to Guitar Hero. sorry for the blurrr

the next day we joined some friends for hiking in Redrock. we didn't pick the best hike for the kids, but loved getting out of the city...

this is Jenine having to carry her 1.5 year old girl for the entire hike (2 hrs)

lunch break - flying Buzz Lightyear

here's "the Redge"  or Reggie. his name is still Gabriel, but we're callin him Reggie for now

next up - Ruthie's surprise party!  she was so excited to help with Dad's surprise party, we had to throw one for her too.  her true-to-ruthie reaction:

happy dad

here's Ruthie on her actual birthday. four years old. she kept saying how she wished she was turning 8.

i love my spunky, smart, funny, independent, tall and strong little girl. i told her the other day I loved that she was original. i asked her if she knew what original meant. she said "that everyone else is the same but I'm special?"    :)

next adventure in March: buying our first house!  we'd been searching since last April and got stuck waiting on a short sale to go through for about 10 months. when that finally fell through, we started doing walk-throughs again, and when we found this house on White Thunder we wanted it bad.

the perks:  across from Mission Hills Park, easy access to freeway, 1-story but good SF-age, big backyard, great flooring, great price, and close to family/friends.

the things I wasn't as sold on: small-ish kitchen, not enough kids in the neighborhood, and I wouldn't mind a 4th bedroom.  also, lots of fixing-up to do...

lots & lots of painting

 i have the best mom. she came to help us with the move for the 2nd time this year. and this time was even worse than the first with a week's worth of repairs/painting/coordinating subs, etc. she's so good at organizing us and keeping our spirits up. and working her buns off.

(see, no buns!)

before and after shots of everything still to come...

so we spent the first half of Sloan's spring break moving in and the 2nd half on a trip to Palm Springs to watch the Pros play at Indian Wells  (that's Nadal behind the Redge)

ruthie had gone back with my mom, so it was just me & the boys. we camped by a lake and went on hikes & checked out the area.  and ended the trip at my mom's for a couple days.  lots of driving, but these guys didn't mind...

when we got back, Jonah and Camden surprised us with a visit and Jonah helped us with a few house projects. ruthie's in love with her cousin Camden. kept trying to sneak in kisses. asked him if it's ok to marry your cousin. 

ruthie had her first soccer practice when we got back, too.

too big for sink :(

here we are on the River Mountain Trail. we love this thing.

and finally, swim lessons