Papa's 60th Birthday Bash

The last group of pictures will be from our vacation to Phoenix, AZ to celebrate Jeffrey's Papa's 60th birthday. It was a huge surprise for Papa. John and Lauri (and some help from others) had been planning the occasion for months and we pulled it off. Russ knew he was going to Phoenix to spend some time with Mary and some friends, but little did he know there were no friends involved in the trip, just his family!! We surprised him at the rental house by greeting him at the door. He was pretty shocked. Throughout the weekend the surprises kept coming. We had purchased NASCAR tickets for Saturday, a day of golf, plus Lauri and Renato had assembled a heart warming tribute DVD with pictures of Russ through the years. Finally John presented Russ with a framed stamp letting him know that he is now a registered Professional Engineer. Something he's always wanted John to pursue. We know he had a great time, and it was good that we had that time to spend with each other since we don't all live in the same area. Hopefully Russ wasn't too disappointed to have the weekend with us (which included three toddlers moving about) instead of his friends. :) Here are some pictures from the extended weekend.

Papa with Sofia and Zach

More Phoenix Fun

One more of the boys

Lauri, Russ and John in the pits at PIR (Phoenix Int'l Raceway)

I believe this is Tony Stewart's car

Cheerio car :)

NASCAR fans are like no other!! I could not find a singler person sitting around us that was not sporting a hat or shirt without their favorite racer. We so stuck out like a sore thumb, not just because we had no gear, but because we also had all of our front teeth. :)

More NASCAR

The experience was like nothing else. I've watched these races on television and there's nothing like seeing it in person. The cars are so loud and they go so fast your heart starts to race especially since you're sitting only feet from the track. It was hard to catch a car going by with a camera, but here are a few more I captured.

I finally got a picture of one going right in front of us.

Pool Time

Our backyard oasis for four days

Little Miss Sofia

My Mom came down Friday night and stayed through Sunday morning to hang with us and take care of the little ones while we went to the race Saturday. I'm so glad she came. :)

Jeffrey loves the water.

Zach and Jeff

"It's OK Zach, I've got you."

Zach has the devil look and Jeffrey looks like he's going to thump someone.

Birthday Boy!

Jeffrey's birthday landed on a Thursday so we celebrated the prior Saturday with our family and friends in the area. It was great fun and nice to have many who know Jeffrey so well to be able to make it. I'm sure if he could talk he would say...Thanks for coming to my party!! Here are some images from the day.

Cake

My birthday lunch!

I'm one!!

Birthday Cake

Here are the historic birthday cake pictures. He loved squishing the cake but didn't care too much for eating it. Oh, and note the snow outside. John was BBQing dogs and hamburgers in that. Also, Grammy, Grandpa and Great Grandma were suppose to make it from Spokane, but got stuck in Eastern Washington because of the unusual snow too. The party must go on, but we missed them. :)

Friends at my party

First off in the line-up, Andrew. Three feet, 30 pounds. Brown eyes and blond hair. He's impressed with the girl turn out at the party.

Next is Cora sporting her pink pok a dots and keeping the babies in line at the party :)

Now there's Kate making sure the wrapping paper goes by her before leaving the group.

Finally, we have Mieka. The smallest sized one of the group, but don't put it past her to claim her steak on the wrapping paper too.

The girls always gather around me.

March San Mateo Visit

Here are a few more pics from our visit to San Mateo last month. We were there for my 30th birthday while John was at a conference. I got to spend my 30th birthday with some kids and adults that I absolutely love. :) Thanks for the ice cream cake Lauri and Sofia - it was unforgetably good!!

Jeffrey and Zach

Sofia roped Jeffrey and Zach into playing dress-up with her. What good sports they are. Don't you love Jeffrey as the butterfly!

Aunt Lauri and I

Cousin Sofia and I. She absolutely fascinates Jeffrey. He's always watching her every move and laughs at everything she does. I think Sofia enjoys the audience too.