SOLD!

It is hard to say goodbye......so many memories, three sweet baby boys born, great neighbors and friends, fun culture, good food and a hurricane that did not break us. This is HOME. It feels strange to leave our house, like we are abandoning part of ourselves. Goodbye, house, Metairie, Louisiana and all of our friends.
A part of our hearts will always remain in the Big Easy!

Double Five!

I can hardly believe my twins are five years old! They will be starting Kindergarten this year. Their birthday got caught up in our move to Phoenix. In fact, I had to drop them off at a friend's house in the evening for a couple of hours so that we could pack one of our TWO moving trucks.

We partied all day though, and celebrated the fact that Jackson and Peyton (in that order) joined our family five years ago on this very day.

I was so excited to finally give Peyton the bitty baby twins I purchased for her LAST SUMMER from the American Girl store in New York City while I was visiting Kimberly. They let you pick the twins that best fit your own physical characteristics, so I got the twin boy with brown hair because I knew Peyton would notice and we just pretend his eyes are as green as Jackson's.
Peyton was excited about the twins, but it seems that I was even more excited about them. I think she hardly dares play with them for fear they will be ruined. She quickly made blanket beds for them next to her mattress on the floor and covered them tenderly with her blanket and then she went on to her next gift and hardly looked at them again.

Jackson's present was quickly usurped by his dino-loving big brother. They were all excited to have a toy to play with for awhile, since we had packed all of their toys days before and they had been basically playing in the water and dirt in the backyard for entertainment ever since.

The winning gifts were the Leapsters we bought them. We got a great deal on them and knew that they would love them since they all fight over Carston's Leapster.

The games are educational as well, so it was a winning present for all.

We then headed to Chuck E. Cheese to play and then eat lunch. Although I am not the biggest fan of the food, the kids love Chuck E. Cheese and request that we celebrate almost every birthday there. As our family gets bigger it seems we go there more often.

We spent the afternoon watching the movie Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian at the theater. We really enjoyed it. The kids even sat in their places for the most part. Benjamin stayed because we had popcorn, otherwise he would have quickly wandered off to investigate the theater.

I got the most delicious chocolate cake I could find for their birthday cake since I wasn't able to make it myself (considering the fact that our kitchen was all packed away in boxes). Their only request was that it be chocolate. After packing up the truck and then picking the kids up from a friend's house and Mark picking up his parents from the airport while I bathed the kids, we each enjoyed a piece of birthday cake on paper plates sitting at the lone kitchen table situated in our family room. The fridge and the table with chairs were the last pieces of furniture left in our house amidst the remaining boxes and outdoor items left for another truck the next morning. The twins didn't seem to mind the confusion and I was grateful, both for their happy acceptance of the situation for what it was and for their birth five years earlier.

I couldn't be more in love with both of them.
They were hand-picked to be mine and to come together.

Peyton endears herself to others by her loyalty and her tenderness. She wants to be helpful and tries her best to do what is right. She has her hands full dealing with five brothers, but she manages it well and is even able to match their intensity with her own feminine version. She is particularly possessive of Jackson and will defend him to death.
When it comes to boys, if you can't beat them, you join them. She intuitively knows this.
She is my little friend. I love you, Peyton! Thanks for being my sidekick.

Jackson has a way of making everyone fall in love with him. He is sweet and sensitive. He is a thoughtful brother and a kind son. He is developing his sense of humor and makes us laugh often. He likes to be silly and is full of life. He is a good friend and treats others well.

I love you, Jackson! Thanks for being you!

Celebrating Birthdays (and Last Days) at School

Jackson and Peyton are turning 5 in 5 days! Since today was the last real day of school, it worked perfectly to celebrate their birthday with their friends at Harold Keller
as close to their birthday as possible before the school year ends.
Jackson took Spiderman cupcakes and Peyton took princess cupcakes for their classes. Both Pre-k classes got together to celebrate our twins. Everyone loved the rings on the cupcakes and they were delicious too!

Peyton is a girl after my own heart. She wanted pink cupcakes, but didn't want to give up chocolate frosting altogether.

We talked Jackson into the same thing. He had half blue frosting and half chocolate.
He also wore Mardi Gras beads since it was a special occasion.
Partying means beads around here!

Happy, frosting covered faces.

Good Friends

Miss Jaime has been a perfect fit for Jackson this year. He loves her and I could always tell the feeling was mutual. Miss Nancy is missing in this photo, but she is wonderful as well. She welcomed the kids to school from carpool every morning and brightened our day. Thank goodness for excellent teachers who care! We'll miss Harold Keller Elementary School.

Peyton's teachers Miss Tina and Miss Bonnie worked well with Peyton. She loved going to school and even missed it over weekends! What does that say about how much she loves being home?......I'm not sure.

Happy Upcoming 5th Birthday Jackson and Peyton!! I'm so glad we got to celebrate with your friends and teachers at school.

So Blessed!

Today was Luke's blessing day. Mark gave him a wonderful father's blessing. It was sweet to share it with some family members and our ward family.
Luke looked adorable in his blessing outfit that nearly all of his brothers have worn as well (with the exception of Carston). My mom did a wonderful job designing and sewing it. It is one of our treasures. The outfit was at full capacity since Luke is already four months old. We wanted to wait to bless him until some of our family would be in town. Luckily, it still fit.

Luke is the real blessing! Heaven radiates from him. He gives me knowing looks as if he understands and appreciates what I do for him. He smiles, a lot! Luke is refreshingly and deeply happy and kind.

Congratulations Dr. Calder!!

The kids and I have been excited for Mark to graduate from medical school and receive his Masters of Public Heath! Today was the big day.

This morning, before Mark left for Tulane's unified commencement sporting his regalia, the boys thought he looked like a witch. I thought he looked handsome and felt so proud of him that tears welled up in my eyes. Way to go Mark!! You are a great example to me. You have gone for your dreams and never given up, regardless of setbacks! Congratulations on this wonderful accomplishment. Congratulations to me too, I landed myself a doctor....... wink, wink!

We were so glad to have some of our family come to celebrate Mark's graduation day with us!!

Mark and I are so grateful for their support. We couldn't have made it through the past five years without our families. We love you!

Congratulations to John, Alex and Ben (Dr. Bush, Dr. Newsome and Dr. Thompson) as well!
They are good friends and we will miss them.

Today has been one of those pay off days.
I love you, Dr. Calder!

Playing Catch Up!

Just a warning to everyone: I am playing major catch up with events that happened during November and December. So, you may see a lot of old posts over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, I will get all caught up quickly.

Innsbruck

Innsbruck is cold this time of year, really cold and really beautiful. Here is Mark standing in the city square in downtown Innsbruck below the Goldenes Dachl, the most characteristic landmark in the city. Tirol is so picturesque all year round and it felt like coming home to spend an afternoon wandering its familiar streets. It was so cold, we had to duck into every tourist trap imaginable but it was fun to look at the trinkets there too. We ate a hearty meal at the Goldenes Dachl Cafe (sounds pretty Austrian doesn't it, wink, wink). There aren't many traditional Austrian restaurants open on a Sunday evening.

When we were nearly frozen, we decided to make our way back to the quiet town of Absam where we stayed overnight at the Landgasthof Bogner. We stayed at the same hotel when we visited Austria a few years ago, so it was fun to be back. The views from the gasthof are spectacular and the town is quaint, situated up in the alps.
We enjoyed every moment in Absam and were sorry to have to leave the next morning, but were excited to head back to Vienna.

On our way out of town, we recognized a familiar set of headlights and, star stricken, had to follow Herbie to get a picture so we could prove that we had seen him to our boys. Apparently, the Love Bug has officially retired to Absam in Tirol, not a bad choice if I do say so myself.

Sweet baby Luke loved the Alps! He thought the air was fresher, the milk tasted better (thanks to delicious Austrian food) and the sleeping was more peaceful snuggled against his dad's chest for warmth. He looked out the window as we drove back through Germany to reach Vienna.