My Birthday Weekend

Wow! I am turning 25-years-old today. That's a quarter of a century. I'm getting old. And the best part is, our car insurance goes down this December because of it. I love saving money!

Well, I've never been very good at celebrating birthdays in only one day. It tends to turn into a weekend affair. So, Friday we threw a party at our place. I originally wanted to have just a few friends over for cake ad ice cream and games, but it kept growing. By the time Friday evening rolled around, I had 14 people (Tori, Tyler, Deana, Charles, Jen, Andi, Calli, Dean, Chelsea, Robin, Blake, Joe, Craig, and I) crowded around two card tables in our front room laughing, eating and playing. I felt so loved. It was so much fun that I completely forgot to take pictures.

Yesterday, Craig took me to see one of my favorite plays at Hale Theatre, "My Fair Lady". Last Christmas Craig bought us season tickets and this was our last show. As always, the play was incredible. Craig had never seen it before and I loved that we have shared that now. After, Craig took me out for a romantic dinner at 7-Eleven. No really! This came from one of our favorite dates from back before we were married. Believe me, it really was great.

Today is my actual birthday. This morning, Craig and I cooked a wonderful breakfast together. Then we headed up to his dad's place for a Happy Birthday, Kelsi and Krystal/Halloween/Thanksgiving/Good-bye, McFadden Family Party.

The party started with the family meeting at a park to play some baseball. They (Craig included) were all on a baseball team together and their league just ended a week ago. Jill doesn't seem quite ready to let go yet. Craig and I are looking forward to joining her team again next April. (By the way, in the picture above, Craig is the one closest to the camera wearing a blue shirt and silver gym shorts.)

After, we headed back to Phil's house for a delicious turkey dinner and lots of socializing with family.

Before the night ended, Sharon took all the kids on a Halloween Scavenger Hunt around the house. It was so cute, but then it was time to say our good-byes. It was hard to give Megan a final hug. They are driving to Texas tomorrow morning and we probably won't see them again until the end of April. At least Megan got to feel Baby Ella kicking before she left.

Happy Birthday to me!

The Girls at Garden Village

Brayden and I were invited to lunch with Sharon, her mother and her three girls at Gardener Village today. Megan also brought her kids along. Once we finished a delicious lunch at Archibald's, we wandered around the different stores looking for the witches.

Whenever I go to Gardener Village I have to stop by Sweet Afton's to sample their fudge and look at the various kinds of candy inside. Sharon's mom was sweet enough to buy each of us a caramel apple and Sharon found glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth for the grandkids. I love caramel apples and these ones were delicious. Brayden loved playing with his new teeth.

This is my favorite picture from the day! Megan is easily one of my favorite people. I'm so glad that she is my sister-in-law.

Here is Brayden posing with his sucker. He's such a cutie! This morning, I was a little worried about how he would handle wandering around the shops since this is the first time I have taken him to a place like this without a stroller. I needn't have worried. He was awesome! I guess he really is growing up.

We both had a really great day! I'm so glad we were invited to tag-along with Sharon's family. I hope we can do this again next year.

Gardener Village with Grandma Capizzi

Grandma Capizzi invited Brayden and me to join them on their annual trip to Gardener Village this year. It was cray busy, but we still had a good time. I don't see that side of the family very often, so it was nice to spend the day with them. We began the day by meeting at Archibald's Restaurant for lunch.

From there, we all wandered through the various shops looking for the witches. To finish off the day, Jill paid for all the kids to play at the petting zoo. Brayden was in heaven. He loved seeing the turtles, ducks, pigs and goats. I loved watching him. I look forward to doing this again next year.

Easter Egg Hunting at the Capizzi's

Grandpa and Grandma Capizzi were sweet enough to put on an Easter Egg Hunt for Brayden and Zoe this year.

Craig and I had a lot of fun helping Brayden gather up all the fun treats that were hidden around the backyard. Brayden didn't quite understand what was going on, but he was a good sport about it.

Craig and stepsister, Karrie, pose for a cute picture while they waited to get their dinner.

Before we were allowed to leave, Sharon had to get a few pictures of the grand kids in the front yard. Zoe was adorable, but Brayden was thoroughly distracted by the basket of eggs.

Phil's Birthday

Phil's birthday was last week, so we drove up to Clearfield to celebrate. We had a lot of fun hanging out with the family. The picture below of Brayden makes it obvious that the kid needs a haircut though.

New Year's Day

Another year has passed and I can't think of a better way to start the new year than eating good food surrounded by family. This is Brayden's first time coming to the Capizzi's annual Italian dinner.

After dinner, I got the chance to look through some of Sharon's scrapbooks of the family. I've only known this family as adults so it was fun to see pictures and hear stories of them when they were younger. I don't care what Craig says, I think he was an adorable kid.

As usual, Brayden had a lot of fun playing with the people he saw up there, especially Grandpa.

Christmas with Capizzi's

Yup. It's that time of the year again. Time to head up to Clearfield for the Capizzi's Christmas Party.

After all of the traditional festivities (dinner, opening presents, etc.) the adults settled down to a game of Cranium.

Meanwhile, the little cousins played with Grandma and Grandpa's toys on the floor.

We had a great time and we look forward to celebrating another Christmas with this group next year!

Mixture of Families

Grandma and Grandpa Capizzi babysat Brayden today for the first time. Kira and her boyfriend, Travis, invited Craig and I to go see a movie at the theater where Travis works. The theater is right next to Phil and Sharon's house, so we were able to drop Brayden off while we went on our double date.

After the movie, Phil and Sharon were nice enough to have us all over for dinner.

Brayden's cousin, Zoe, even joined us. It was a wonderful way to spend a day.

Thanksgiving with the Capizzi's

We met the family up at Phil and Sharon's for Thanksgiving dinner today. Dinner was delicious and the company was wonderful! 

Brayden had a lot of fun playing with his little cousins, Zoe and Dominik. They are all getting so big.

Cousin Zoe's 1st Birthday

Megan had a little get together at Phil and Sharon's today to celebrate her daughter's very first birthday. Since it was so close to Halloween, Zoe was dressed up as a very cute jack-o-lantern. It was fun to see how big she has grown over the past year. Happy birthday, Zoe! 

Brayden was being a total goofball as usual.

Outside with Grandpa Capizzi

It totally looks like he was trying to punch me.

Outside with Grandma Capizzi

Chillin' on the floor with Dad

Being held by his adorable cousin Madison. What beautiful kids!

Brayden's Best Faces During His 2nd Week

Over the past week, Brayden has been making some of the cutest faces ever. Here are a few of my favorites.

These were taken Friday the 16th.

Total relaxation.

This is one of my favorites. Craig is the perfect daddy.



This is another favorite picture showing off my boys. These were taken Sunday the 18th. We went up the Craig's dad's to celebrate Mother's Day.





Zoe, Dominik, and Brayden

 

These last two were taken on Monday the 19th. He's not really a fan of the bath, but we'll keep working on it.