Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday Jimmy!
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Happy Birthday Jimmy!
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Happy Birthday Aaron!
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Happy Birthday Maddex!
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Happy Birthday Nicole!
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Happy Birthday Tammie!
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Happy Birthday Sissy!
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Happy Birthday Shari!
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I really need to catch up my blog. I sat down a few days ago to write an entry, but Alex came in the office and wanted to play. So, I did not get around to the entry, but Alex and I had fun!
Last Friday, I went to an outdoor high end shopping mall with a friend. I had never been there before, but it reminds me a little of a mall we used to go to in Illinois. I bought another knife rack from Williams-Sonoma. We currently have one, but were in desperate need of a second.
We had guests over for dinner on Friday. Mike, Dawn, and their kids all came over for fajitas, rice, beans, chips, salsa, and cupcakes. The idea for the mint cookie cupcakes came from Pleasant Home. To make my clovers, I printed an image of a clover about 12 times on a piece of paper. Then I placed wax paper over the paper and used the images as an outline to pipe the green white chocolate.
Saturday was a lot of fun. We went to the rodeo festivities in our neighborhood. Alex even sat on a mechanical bull. The activities were free, but Alex is still a little small to do most of them. Next year I think I might give the mechanical bull a try.
Alex on the mechanical bull. They even let him borrow a hat for the photo.
Sunday we went over to Kevin's house for lunch. After lunch Gabe, Alex, and I decided to look for snow in the mountains. We know there are certain locations where you can definitely find snow (we can see it from our house on the mountain tops), but we decided to be more adventurous and look near Gabe's work. We didn't find any snow that was accessible for us. We ended up at Target and we bought a 1,000 piece puzzle to work on.
On Monday I took Alex to a couple of playgroups.
Here is our puzzle on Tuesday. We work on it for a little bit in the evenings.
I got my allergy shots on Wednesday and then I picked Alex up from school early. We met Katie and Kimmy for lunch at a 50's style diner. Then we went to the mall to buy Alex some new shoes. While I was there, the sales associate told me that a sale would be starting tomorrow. The shoes would all be buy one pair, get one pair half off. So, I left empty handed with the hopes of returning Friday. I went ahead and had him fit for his shoes so I would know the style and size to buy when I returned. Shoes are expensive, so I will gladly take any sale I can get on them.
Kimmy and Alex.
Yesterday (Friday), Alex and I met Myra and Anya at the zoo. We had fun looking at all of the animals and Alex especially had fun climbing on and off of a rock in the children's play area. Before heading to the zoo we went to the mall and purchased Alex's shoes. I bought one pair for now and one pair for later. Both pair of shoes are cute on, but the "later" pair is extra cute. They look like little hiking shoes.
I think we are going to relax today. I need to run some errands (including picking up a book at the library) and then hopefully just enjoy the weekend. Speaking of books, I finished Run for Your Life. It is part of the Michael Bennett series of books by James Patterson. He is a detective in New York City and it did not disappoint.
Happy Birthday Maren!
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Happy Birthday Melissa!
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Happy Birthday Brandi!
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Happy Birthday Barby!
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Happy Birthday Bree!
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Happy Birthday Jessica!
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Happy Birthday Duane!
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Happy Birthday Jenny!
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Happy Birthday Ryan!
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Happy Birthday Laura!
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Happy Birthday Bubby!
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Happy birthday Grandma!
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Happy Birthday Tony!
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Happy Birthday Maddie!
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We have been hanging out relaxing the past few days. A couple of days ago, Gabe and I attempted to take the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) tour, but apparently you have to get there at the crack of dawn to get tickets. Okay, not really the crack of dawn, but you do need to be there right when the Pima Air and Space Museum opens. The AMARG tour is a guided tour of the aircraft storage facility on the Army base.
So, instead of the AMARG tour, we each went for a much needed haircut and I went for my very fun shots. Speaking of fun stuff, Alex went to the dentist for the first time on the 28th. Everything was fine, but he didn't really enjoy the visit. I guess one good thing about the screaming was the dentist could see all of his teeth.
We decided to go to the AMARG tour on New Year's Eve Day. It was a lot of fun. I really liked the fun facts that the guide gave us about the planes during the tour. There are close to 5,000 planes, so he gave us the spiel about the more interesting planes.
After the tour, we went to Color Me Mine and Alex had a blast painting a plate.
He likes to get his own paint with the paintbrush.
He also likes to paint with a paintbrush in each hand.
Here is his plate before glazing and firing (The "Alex" was done by me). I will post a picture once I pick it up from the studio.
We stayed home for New Year's Eve. Alex went to bed and Gabe and I watched the ball drop in New York. This year we decided to eat a grape with each stroke of the clock. We don't have any clocks that chime, so we just ate the grapes quickly.
Alex a few moments after midnight. You can check out his picture from last year here.
We had Belgium Waffles for breakfast on the first and Gabe opened his presents. The mini-Alex for his desk was my favorite.
Alex enjoying a waffle.
Gabe with Alex and mini-Alex.
Mini-Alex.
I purchased the mini-Alex photo sculpture from Zazzle. I think it will make a cute addition to his desk at work and it is definitely different from a picture in a frame. I also ordered and ornament in the same design. I really love them both. I will definitely order them again once Alex is a little older. A family picture would be cute too.
Happy Birthday Gabe!
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Happy Birthday Daddy!
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Happy Birthday Elsa & Clara!
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Today is the day that we celebrate both Elsa and Clara's birthdays. As a special treat, I made them a birthday cake. I found a couple of recipes online. The same few recipes are listed on several sites (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). I made the Peanut Butter Delight Dog Birthday Cake. Both Elsa and Clara really liked it.
Peanut Butter Delight Dog Birthday Cake
1 cup white or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
Mix together flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a ring mold sprayed with a nonstick spray for 40 minutes.
Frost this cake with low fat cottage cheese and decorate with carrot pieces. Store in refrigerator.
Happy Birthday Anna!
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Happy Birthday Troy!
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Happy Birthday Esther!
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The Friday after Thanksgiving we attempted to do some Black Friday shopping. We went around 7:00 a.m. and needless to say, everything was gone. The lines were still really long though and I do not like waiting in long lines anyway. We almost bought a new table and chairs for our kitchen, but we decided against it. One of our chairs is broken.
On Saturday, we went to Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca. The mall in Sierra Vista has a display of Christmas trees. Alex also had his picture taken with Santa while we were there. He cried the entire time. Oh, and when did it start costing $25 to have your picture made with Santa? For my $25 I received a 5 x 7 and picture CD. After the mall we went to the Fort. It is an active military base, so we had to get clearance to enter. It is also a historical site, so civilians are allowed onto the base. It was fun to drive around and to see some of the training areas. There are also three neat museums (Fort Huachuca Museum, Fort Huachuca Museum Annex, and The U.S. Army Intelligence Museum). My favorite was the Intelligence museum. They have a 12 ft section of the Berlin Wall.

Alex and Santa.
On Sunday we finished putting up Christmas decorations.
To make these hanging ornaments I simply cut out an ornament shape from scrapbook paper. There is patterned paper on both the front and the back. I tied a ribbon through ornament and hung up using command hooks. The ribbon was cut at different lengths. Cheep, easy, and cute!
Closeup of an ornament.
Yesterday was my birthday. Gabe and I went to see New Moon. I think this movie was much better than the first, but I still prefer the books. After the show we went to Red Lobster for lunch and the Cold Stone Creamery. We picked Alex up early from school and headed home to relax. Dinner was pizza and carrot cake...yummy!
Today I am attempting to knock quite a few things off of my list. So far I am doing ok.
Happy birthday to me!!
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Happy Birthday Hershie!
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Happy Birthday Mom!
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Happy Birthday Shane!
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Today is Alex's birthday. Gabe took the day off of work. We had an appointment to go to our regular studio with our regular photographer today. Alex was much better today than he was at the new studio I tried. I think we are going to keep going to our regular spot. We will actually be headed there again very soon. While Brandi and Maddex are visiting us we are going to have their pictures made.
I had to get my weekly three allergy shots today. While we were in the city, we had lunch at Famous Dave's. Alex has been drinking out of a straw since yesterday, when we first tried it and he LOVES it.

Stephanie and Alex at Famous Dave's.

Alex and his straw.
We opened Alex's birthday presents today. He had a lot of fun playing with his new toys. We went to buffet at the casino for dinner.

Having fun on his birthday.
Happy
Alex!
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Happy Birthday Caden!
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I decided to try a different studio for Alex's pictures. This was not due to being unhappy with the studio I currently use, but more because of a good deal. Alex was not cooperative at this new place. He just didn't seem to like the photographer as much our normal lady. I ordered a few pictures. I will not have them back for a while, but I do have the CD. It was cheaper to order pictures and the CD as compared to just ordering the CD and printing my own pictures. The two below are the best ones. He was crying in the rest and you can even see the tears rolling down his cheeks. Gabe and I are still debating, but we might go back to our regular studio on Wednesday.


We had Alex's birthday party on Saturday, October 17. We planned to have the party outside, and I set everything up outside, but the temperature was 102. So the party remained inside until the sun started to go down and there was an ample amount of shade in our back yard. Once the shade appeared, everyone moved outside.
I had hired a professional photographer to take pictures at the party. Unfortunately, she was very ill. So, our friend, Kevin, volunteered to take some pictures. He saved the day.

The adults that attended the party received a box of layered mint chocolate fudge and dark chocolate fudge with nuts.

This is the "Alex Banner". There is a picture for every month of life and I had them laminated. I saw a similar idea somewhere on the web.

All of the food was accompanied by a picture of Alex letting the guests know what they were about to eat.

I just edited the pictures in Picasa and then sent them to my local Walgreens for printing.

Alex modeling his birthday hat.

Happy Birthday! sign outside

White chocolate and chocolate one suckers. These were a lot of fun to make. I did eat a few white chocolate chips in the process though.

Alex modeling his one shirt that I made just for this occasion. I figure he can wear it all year. He will be one until his next birthday. If you follow my blog regularly, you might remember that I made Maddex a shirt too.

In addition to the ring toss game and the bean bag toss game, there was a craft table. These little guys are magnets that also have a clothes pin so they can grip things.
Kevin had to leave at this point.

Alex hanging out outside waiting for the cake.

The cake.

Personalized Alex bubbles that went in the treat bags.

Alex's Cake

Alex digging into his cake. He was a mess!

This is photo matte with a picture of Alex. All of the guests signed the matte before leaving.

Personalized Alex water bottle.

Alex and balloons. He LOVES balloons.
The party was fun and we all had good time.
Happy Birthday Sophie!
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Things have been very busy here. We are doing the last minute preparations for Alex's birthday party tomorrow. I just posted several back entries. Make sure and check them out. You might need to click on both "September 2009" and "October 2009" in the sidebar to access all of them.
I also want to thank Nicolle over at Boyd's Crazy Momma. She sent Alex a lot of cute outfits to help get him through the summer. Yes, it is still summer here (it was 98 in the shade). I still think putting winter coats in stores is crazy this time of year in this location. Anyway, the warm weather is why we will be having Alex's party outside. I will have a lot of pictures later.
So much for relaxing after our trip to Vegas. On Sunday, we went to Oktoberfest. It was fun to walk outside and look at all of the booths. It was even more fun to eat the yummy German food.
A friend of mine, DD, and I are planning a fall party. We thought that it would be a fun way to meet some of the other Caterpillar people. Because of all of the things going on in October, we decided that early November would be a good time to have the party. So, on Friday, Alex and I headed over to her house to plan the party.
We have been relaxing at home today. We did go to Sam's to look at a few things and to buy a few things for Alex's party. Thursday we decided to have Alex a party on the 17th. So, we also ordered a cake with his picture on it. I am really excited to see how it turns out.
Happy Birthday Molly!
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Happy Birthday Doug!
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Happy Birthday Robyn!
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Happy Birthday Kyle!
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Happy Birthday Noelle!
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Happy Birthday Andrew!
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Happy Birthday Mike!
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Happy Birthday Adam!
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Happy Birthday Shane!
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Happy Birthday Emily!
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Happy Birthday Michael!
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Happy Birthday Dan!
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Happy Birthday Jimmy!
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Happy Birthday Aaron!
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Happy Birthday Julie!
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Happy Birthday Maddex!
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Happy Birthday Nicole!
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Today is Alex's 6 Month Birthday! Maybe I should have made a cake or something. Hmm...I guess the day isn't over yet. Anyway, here is his 6 month picture next to a 12 month outfit.

Alex 6 months next to 12 month outfit.

Alex is pretty long, but it is next to impossible to get him to straighten out while taking a picture, so yes, that is my hand attempting to straighten out one leg.
The way things are going, the 12 month outfit may be too short at 12 months. Maybe he will give it a try for the 9 month picture.
I am looking forward to the Dancing with the Stars results show and American Idol tonight. I really hope that Melissa has enough fans to keep her on the show. I think that Ty or Chuck might be going home.
On a happy note, I spoke with a very good friend that I haven't spoken with in a while...a good day. Okay, maybe not the best day, Gabe is sick. So, tonight we are relaxing and watching movies and TV shows.
Happy Birthday Tammie!
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Happy Birthday Sissy!
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Happy Birthday Shari!
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Happy Birthday Maren!
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Happy Birthday Melissa!
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Happy Birthday Brandi!
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Happy Birthday Barby!
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Happy Birthday Bree!
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Happy Birthday Jessica!
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Happy Birthday Duane!
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Happy Birthday Jennie!
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Happy Birthday Ryan!
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Happy Birthday Laura!
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Happy Birthday Bubby!
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Happy Birthday Grandma!
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Happy Birthday Tony!
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Happy Birthday 1st Birthday Maddie!
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Happy Birthday Narine!
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Happy Birthday Gabe!
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Happy Birthday Daddy!
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Happy Birthday Elsa & Clara!
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Happy Birthday Anna!
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Happy Birthday Troy!
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Happy Birthday Esther!
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I should be picking up the bedroom, finishing up the birth announcements, working on Christmas cards, or one of the other million things I need to do since Alex is sleeping. Instead, I am writing an entry to update everyone...what dedication.
Friday my mom wanted to go shopping. Now, just in case you are wondering I am not the "get up and go out at 4:00 a.m. type" and I did manage to order my shower curtain at Kohl's online at 11:00 p.m. (actually Gabe did it for me because I kept falling asleep). We went to the mall around noon thinking the die-hard shoppers would have returned home or at least stopped for lunch. We were wrong. Cops were directing traffic at the mall. It was ridiculous and finding a parking space (note: just a space not necessarily a good space) was nearly impossible. We did however luck out and found a space at Dillard's. Little did we know Dillard's is located at the opposite end as Macy's, which just happens to be the store that my mom wanted to shop. Stores had cue lines set up and shoppers were only allowed in when another shopper had left the store...crazy!
I found Alex a couple of cute outfits and my mom purchased my birthday present, Gabe's birthday present and his Christmas present, and a few things for Alex. She also found Alex an ornament.

Alex's ornament

My Dad and I managed to get our tree up.

Alex helping us clean.
On the way home I stopped by Home Depot and picked up a ceiling fan that the Home Depot near us didn't have. Actually they had one, but it was a return item and it was missing the blades.
Gabe's parents arrived Friday evening. Saturday my parent's watched Alex while Anna, Duane, Gabe, and I went to his office. This time I was able to take the tour and see what Gabe works on. My mom also made spaghetti and meatballs while we were gone. Duane, Anna, Gabe, and my Dad all attempted to go to the pecan factory on Saturday, but they missed the store being open by 3 minutes.
Sunday was my birthday and we had our Thanksgiving dinner. We were supposed to have the meatballs on my birthday and the turkey on Saturday, but the turkey was still a little frozen. My mom made a very yummy carrot cake. I couldn't find the candles, so I had one taper candle in the middle of the cake to blow out. My Dad was also our "professional photographer". He took several pictures of us so we could pick one out for our Christmas card. Gabe and I decided it would just be easier to take our pictures at home instead of taking two dogs and a baby to a photo studio.

Alex in a Santa hat.
Very early Monday morning Gabe dropped my parents off at the airport. Their flight was delayed due to the weather in Chicago. Luckily, they had a four hour layover so they did not miss their connecting flight. Monday morning we applied for a passport for Alex. Monday afternoon we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with Gabe's parents. Alex slept through the majority of the zoo.

Alex enjoying the Desert Museum.

Alex hanging out with the javelina.

The three of us with a cactus on an 80 degree day in December! Maybe I should throw this picture in our Christmas cards too.
We went to Sam's on the way home and received our Christmas present from his parents a little early. We picked out a mini-fridge for the upstairs of our house. This way we can store the pre-made bottles upstairs instead of having to go downstairs at 3 a.m. We put it to use for the first time last night and it was wonderful.

Mini-Fridge
Tuesday morning we had lunch at Agave and then went to the copper mine gift shop and museum. They offer a tour of the mine, but there just wasn't time (they had to catch a plane home). I came back with Alex and Gabe dropped his parents off at the airport. When he came back we worked on the house a little more.

Entrance gate to mine property.
Gabe is at work right now, but he will be coming home in a few hours. Alex has his one month appointment today and he is getting a shot. I am not looking forward to the shot.
I think that wraps up the update. I am going to pick up our bedroom and then get back to cards, packages, and wrapping Christmas presents.
Happy Birthday Stephanie!
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Happy Birthday Hershie!
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Happy Birthday Mom!
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Happy Birthday Melissa!
Happy Birthday Brandi!
Happy Birthday Barby!
Happy Birthday Bree!
Happy Birthday Jessica!
Happy Birthday Duane!
Happy Birthday Jennie!
Happy Birthday Ryan!
Happy Birthday Laura!
Happy Birthday Bubby!
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Happy Birthday Tony!
Happy Birthday Stephanie!
Happy 2008! To celebrate the new year we stayed home and had a great time. My brother and sister-in-law came up (they were taking their son to college) and Aaron came over. So, we all played Wii and watched Transformers. The movie was much better than I expected and I liked it. For those of you wondering, my cheeseball turned out great. We had a very yummy ice cream pie for Gabe's birthday. Yesterday we started taking down our Christmas tree. I think that we will finish it tonight. Some pictures that I ordered came in the mail today, so I think that I am going to work on our 2007 scrapbook today. It is already 2008, so I at least need to finish up 2007.
Happy Birthday Gabe!
Happy Birthday Daddy!
Happy Birthday Anna!
Happy Birthday Troy!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday Mom!
Happy Birthday Shane!
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Happy Birthday Sophie!
Happy Birthday to Jim!
Happy Birthday Aaron! I hope that you have a good one!
Happy Birthday to Nicole!
If you see Maren, wish her a happy birthday! Happy Birthday Maren!
Want to know some interesting facts about your birthday? Give this site a try. Thanks to Nicole for pointing it out to me.
Happy Birthday Brandi!
Happy Birthday to Barby! Wow! That was three birthdays in a row!
Happy Birthday to Bree and Happy Valentine's Day to everyone (or as a friend from U of I calls it...Happy Singles Awareness Day!)
Happy Birthday Jess!