Thanksgiving 2016

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family with a quick trip to California. We were so excited to meet baby Alexander and see baby Makena again. We were excited to see our other family members as well of course.

I flew with just Mark and Matthew because M and Michael had to stay behind and fly to Tulsa for a soccer tournament the weekend that we were all suppose to fly together. They met us in California the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Mark really wasn't as miserable as looked. He just thought it was funny to make a sad face.  Although, we did have a super early flight.

Mark loved playing with Ben and his toys!

Baby Alexander - such chubby cheeks....

These two....love them so much.

Two peas in a pod...

Mark just loves babies, especially a brand new one.

We stopped by my college and bought a few things from the bookstore.  Gotta have a Santa Clara University shirt. Go Broncos!

My brother and his wife hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house. Her mom cooked everything from scratch and it was delish. We had over 20 people to celebrate thanksgiving with. What a blessing!

I don't have any pictures from that evening because I couldn't find any on my computer. M converted my iPhoto to something else and something happened to them all. So frustrating!

This was the only picture I can find.

The day after Thanksgiving, we went to visit a local Christmas tree farm. The kids had fun running around and I got some really nice pictures for our Christmas cards. Conversion of photo storage strikes again and I can't find most of the pictures.

This one LOVES his Auntie.

Love this picture - everyone was smiling and I got them to dress up.

Me and my Babe....

We went to the donut shop almost every morning because these two love donuts. Who doesn't, right?

We flew home the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the Christmas rush began straight away. Phew, this Holiday Season is going to fly by!

Birthday at the Horse Ranch

This year, my friend Cristina and I decided to have a joint birthday party for our boys since they were both born on the same day and were in the same class.  We would have invited most of the same people anyway so we decided it was easier to celebrate the two boys together on Saturday.

We lucked out and had picture perfect weather!

The kiddos got to grab and cowboy hat and a bandana when they got to the party.

These guys were ready to ride!

When you have a party at a horse ranch, it's natural to have a country western theme.  We had three cakes-one big cake and 2 small personal cakes so each boys got their very own cake.

 Both names on the big cake to share....

Jose's cake had a red bandana and Mark's cake had a blue one with his initial on it.

We also had these cute cupcakes made for guests to take home

Listening (sort of) to instructions for horseback riding..

Birthday boys got to ride first!

The mammas...

These horses were so beautiful! I couldn't help but fall in love with them - and I'm not an animal person. BTW - I love my cowboy boots and I'm going to have to find excuses to wear them more often.

 After horseback riding, it was time for some horseshoe painting, pizza and cake!

Such an amazing day to celebrate Jose and Mark.  One of the best parties I've ever hosted.

Lots of Stuff!

We've got a few things going on this past week.  It's actually been a little hectic around here. I've noticed that Fall is always hectic for us.

Since Mark's birthday is on the same day as one of his classmates, his teacher asked if we can celebrate it at school on Friday instead of Thursday so that he didn't;t have to share his special day.  So we did.  He requested I popsicles as birthday treats for his class.

M and I brought him his birthday lunch. He was so happy to see us.

That night we continued the celebration with a dinner at Kobeya or as he calls it -the place where they cook at your table.  He loves it! They made it special for him...

That day was also the day of the Dragon Games to raise money for his school.  He did great with the obstacle course!

 How cute is this little guy?

As part of his birthday celebration, Mark got to keep a birthday buddy for the weekend and journal how he spent time with Nemo.  They spent quality time with his new bridge jump Thomas set.

All the activities really wore him out - he fell asleep like this...

Saturday was another big day! Mark had his last soccer game of the season. Daddy got to coach this one because Coach mark was out of town. He also got to hand out the medals! Mark loves it when his Daddy gets to coach...

Mark and his adorable teammates...

Phew! after the game, I headed out to set up for Mark's birthday party at the horse ranch!

Five

Happy 5th birthday to my little Marky-Poo! We love you so much and are so proud of you. You are growing up way faster than I want you too. I keep asking you to stay little but you keep telling me that you can't because you can't control your body.

You enjoy going to your 2nd year of Pre-K, but we have mornings when you tell me that you are not going to school today. You love talking about your day when we are getting ready for bed. You love giving me facts like the biggest animal on Earth is a Blue Whale which also makes it the biggest animal in the water.

You make me google things all the time. "Search up the biggest thing on Earth" or "search up what the slowest thing on Earth" is what I hear from you a lot.

You love anything that has to do with space! You know so much knowledge about planets, the galaxies and the universe that I am truly amazed. 

I pack you the same things for lunch almost every single day - Edamame, strawberry yogurt and some type of berries. You used to love blueberries, but right now, you prefer blackberries and strawberries. You tell me to only pack 3 things in your lunch so you can will get a check mark on "I ate all my lunch" on your daily report.

This year, you've finally publicly acknowledged you love for your Daddy.  We always knew that you did but you are finally giving him affection and he could not be happier. You basically got him wrapped around your little finger.  Well played, my little man!

I can go on and on about you because you are truly so special.  You have the biggest personality and are so so so smart that it takes me by surprise sometimes.  You use big words that even some adults don't know.  

I couldn't ask for a better baby. I'm so thankful that you are mine.  Happy birthday and we love you to Pluto and beyond.

New Baby - Welcome, Baby Alexander

We got ourselves a little Halloween baby this year!  Baby Alexander Khourng Yam was born on October 31, 2016 at 7:11pm weighing in at 6 lbs and 14 oz.

This solidifies 711 as my favorite number of all times!  We love you and can't wait to see you in a few weeks, Baby A!

Big brother Ben looks super excited to meet baby brother.