Rockin' 7th Birthday

I'm a bit late on posting Cole's birthday photos. There are so many to choose from, here are some favorites.

These were the custom invitations. We went to RAT beach and collected the "perfect" rocks to write on.


Beach City Rocks, the rock climbing gym where the party was held. This place is the best! Highly, highly recommended!


These were the favors for all of Cole's friends. The water bottle contained Trader Joe's trail mix, Propel water powder mix, Airheads candy, climbing rope, climbing chalk and a caribiner. They all loved the favors!


Cole is ready to climb. Geared up.


The place had such a great party section. A spiral staircase let up to a loft that had tables and chairs and a foosball table...not to mention a great view of the kids climbing those rock walls.


Nearly to the top! Both Quin and Cole really did an amazing job climbing. Two full hours of climbing was barely enough for the kids...tired and sweaty, they wanted more! More climbing!



The grande finale was Cole blowing out the candles with a big smile on his face. What a wonderful 7th birthday. Happy day my Coley.

On Cloud Nine!

This year my sweet husband and I are celebrating our 9 year anniversary. The weekend prior, we went to a wonderful dinner at Gina Lee's Asian Bistro (so delicious, very loud and kinda pricey).


The morning of, I awoke to a beautiful wooden box full of indulgent bath goodies...candles, soaps, scrubs and salts, from a little shop called Freesia over in Westwood by Tim's work. I was so excited about this, because as we had driven by that shop a couple weeks before, I had mentioned that it looked like a great boutique. He took note. That's nice. The traditional gift for nine years of blissful marriage is ceramics or leather, so I played on that and found a great leather belt and a couple of ceramic tea mugs/cups that had that rough manly flare. Gummy letters spelled "Happy Anniversary" on top of Tim's computer. He was thrilled with my little offering of love.

That weekend we went to the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) for a work sponsored night out (hooray for free perks!) We had delicious food that was all boxed up in pretty yellow cardboard lunch boxes of sorts. I had a Caprese sandwich, fresh fruit, water and a cookie...Tim did the seared Ahi salad. Live jazz music in the North Plaza and a walk through the Museum of Contemporary Art were highlights. We drove through Santa Monica on the way back and shared a little Pinkberry treat. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful and fun week of anniversary celebration. I look forward to the next nine...and the nine after that...and the nine after that. Big sigh. Big smile. Happiness.

It's Time for Dodger Baseball!

I guess it is widely known that there is a "Mormon Night" at many baseball stadiums. This was our first experience going on Mormon Night and sitting in the nosebleed section, surrounded by our friends and ward members. It was great! We ate CPK (we tried to convince the kids to get Dodger Dogs...they weren't having it, when pizza was at the next window!!) We also brought snacks and drinks in our little 12 inch soft cooler (good job to me for checking the Dodger website in advance, to see if we could bring food and drink and save a little moo-lah) and we splurged on soft-serve fro-yo with rainbow sprinkles...in a cute little upside-down plastic Dodger baseball cap! What more can you ask for...maybe a win for the team? Not that night! Those Diamondbacks pulled out a couple of runs in the 8th or 9th inning and we lost, 2-1. I can't say that I was devastated, being a native Arizonan and all, but I will say that we cheered our hearts out for the LA Dodgers! What a great family-filled night! Highly recommended to all who may have the opportunity to go in the future.

Pioneer Day

Initially reluctant, we decided to attend the Stake Pioneer Day party. I'm not really into a whole bunch of crazy Mormons re-enacting the whole trek across the US in full pioneer regalia, but my boys were actually pretty convinced that it would be wonderful. They also requested to wear the full outfit worn by pioneer children. Well, to be honest, I don't really know what that outfit might look like...dingy pants with suspenders to hold them up...long-sleeved, buttoned shirts and some form of handmade hat that might keep the sun off the face? Girls are easier...long dress, apron, bonnet. Anyways, a couple hours before the event, I rushed over to goodwill and found some great plaid shirts that I cut up and made into funny pioneer hats for the boys. They were thrilled and sported them for, not only the event itself, but for days after. And, by the way, the party was great fun, interlaced with some crazy, but we all had a good time. Kudos, Torrance Stake Activity Committee.