February was a big month!

Well, February started off with a hike. It seems we took quite a bit of hikes & walks in February as I am looking through all of our pictures from that month. Hmm... we seem to always take hikes when it is extremely cold or extremely hot. I do remember this picture specifically though. It was a pleasant morning and Jones requested to ride on the "bumpy road" which is actually the old Evergreen Hwy. We decided to stop and hike on a trail near the fish hatchery. It was fun exploring a new place. :)
Jones' school Valentines: the school sent a memo stating not to send candy but hmmm.....Jones came home with tons!!! We sent these pencils "Valentine, you've got the WRITE stuff!" We took the idea from my fave- Family Fun Magazine.

Making cupcakes with cousins.

...and enjoying some too!

We did our annual Valentine Family Tour. We get dressed up ( a 2nd use for Christmas outfits!!!) and deliver Valentine treats to all our family that lives in town. :)

And we of course ended the evening with our annual family candlelit Valentine dinner. It was a wonderful day full of lots of love (a little exhausting too. )

Oh I can't forget to mention that Joey was chosen from MANY to be honored for his excellent service at Volkswagen with a paid trip to Vegas. So proud of him! Who did he take? MY BROTHER! Now that's messed up. No, really it was a decision we made together....kinda. :(

February 22, 2009 WHAT A DAY!
This was a wonderful day! Not only was it the "Golden" birthday of our newest Lovelace but it was also the day of Brandon & Tiffany's engagement. Boy did Brandon surprise her and sweep her off her feet. It is such a long story but here is the short version.

Brandon made an amazingly detailed photo book of their lives starting with their birth and how they came to meet and so on. It is the neatest, most romantic book ever. He titled it "22" and hid it in a bookstore where they were meeting. Since they live an hour commute a part, they commonly meet half way at Bridgeport Plaza. Little did she know as they were perusing the books at the bookstore, all family members from both sides were trying to hide in the tiny children's clothing store near the center of the plaza. Brandon talked her into going outside and reading the book in the freezing cold in the gazebo. She wasn't too happy about that but her unhappiness didn't last too long! As soon as Brandon gave us the hidden single we (all the family) arranged ourselves behind the lovebirds on the bench. Britt and I and Tiff's two sisters held color coded umbrellas that Brandon picked out with the signs (we painted the night before) that ready WILL- YOU- MARRY-ME? When they arrived on the last page it talked about "a gift of gold" for her "golden" birthday. At this point, he got on one knee and as she turned she saw the signs and awwwhhhhhhhh it was a gushing love fest! We were so thankful Brandon decided to include all of us and allow us to witness the moment. They will be exchanging vows June 24th!

Painting the signs the night before the big day. My cousin Jenn was able to be there for all the awesome festivities!
The moment.
The reaction.

Tiff & her sisters looking at "the book." Tiff's parents in the background.





That night the party continued! Tiff told Brandon all she wanted for her "Golden" birthday was a bowling party! Little did she know yet another surprise awaited her!!! Brandon wanted to make all her dreams come true! He's so good at that!
This is the cake we "tried" to make for her. :)
Mr. & Mrs. Hot Stuff themselves.
Brittany and the giant Big Al's hot dog I couldn't resist taking a picture of!
Lettuce wraps with my honey! Yum!
The four originals. Haven't had a pic together in awhile. Britt, Bran, Me, & Jam.


February wasn't only a month of "family improvements" but also home improvements! We painted some fun little areas of creativity. This canvas we painted and later added Wall Words "I'm not messy, I'm creative" went in our new playroom (will post finished pics later.) We also painted a block of color in our stairwell and added another quote regarding family and added a cool iron tree. We also added chalkboard paint and more of our playroom blue paint. You can clearly see Mollie is quite the artist (thanks to Daddy & his photoshop creations!)

Well February ended with a "bang" or a "pop." I am not sure which is more appropriate. We decided to do a little science at home making our own volcano! It was a lot of fun but when it went off you can clearly see "one of us" didn't enjoy it!

Various Scenes from January

My Mom treated her girls: Britt, Tiff, and I to "The Color Purple"



Typical Saturday



"Guy Time" Joey & Jones on a hike in the cold.




My Lil' Bro Jameson's Birthday January 11th



Mollie gets a guitar!!! (Her dream!)



Brandon takes the sibs to dinner to fill us in on his plan to ask Tiff to marry him!



Joey's family delivers a very special birthday cake similar to one he had as a child.



Triple Birthday Celebration: Daddy & Hubby January 18th & Me January 22nd



Jones had his teeth fixed. This was extremely traumatic for...MOMMY! I was in tears in the waiting room because I did not know exactly what was happening and what to expect. The work was done well. The anesthesia was the scary part. Jones was writhing around when they put him down which scared me to death and then when he came out he was hysterical and I carried him out without his socks or shoes. I was not happy with our experience but his teeth look great and after 6 silver crowns & four white (because of damage to his teeth from his life in Russia, he was recovered in just an hour or so. It's done! Yeah!
BEFORE:

AFTER:



Our birthday dinner with friends.






My kiddos playing "store" before we changed the toy room.


I visited Jones class during his "Star" week and taught them how to create & direct a play. I had fun with his class! I think they enjoyed the visit too.

New Years Eve & Morning

So New Years Eve was fun! We had no plans and had spent time with the Hosszus during the day who had no plans of their own so we decided to make an evening of it!!! We made up our own "family against family" charades, Wii bowling, and Wii Music. At 9pm we celebrated with the East Coast ringing in the New Year (the kiddos never knew the difference!) We had a toast, and party poppers, screaming, and hugging! It was a blast! Here are a few of my fave pics of the night...













New Years morning we had a family candlelit breakfast...

For BLOGS sake!!!

AAHH!!! I am never going to catch up so I am just going to blog whatever!!! I miss blogging and we are almost five months into the year and I cannot catch up for the life of me! Here we go!