The Hunger Games

Have you read them??!! I just spent the last three days reading the 3 books in the series. All I can say is," Wow!" All Joe can say is, " I think The Hunger Games caused a hunger game at our house!" Ok, so I'm a little low on food and Jake didn't have any clean jammies last night because I've used all of my spare time indulging myself in a little reading... no wonder I only read on vacation! They were great. Completely sucked me in. I guess I need to get back to reality tomorrow... thanks for putting up with me, our mac 'n cheese for dinner tonight, and the messy house, love. You truly are the best. Can't wait until you start them ;)

Fowler Farewell

We got an email from some of our close friends from Duke, the Fowlers, letting us know that it was time. They were heading off to China for 2 years. The good news was that they would be stopping in San Francisco for a couple of days...could we get together? OF COURSE! So Wednesday night we headed up to the city and met them and the Thompson's for a mini reunion (It'll be a complete one when Metheny's, Rushton's and West's join us :) ) The kids had a blast as did we! Kate and Scottie spent their first 2 years of life together and here they are again, still loving every moment spent together.

In fact, here they are at the beginning...

I heard Scottie say while we were together, "Mom, Kate's my same age but she's a girl and she's taller than me!" I think she's going to get a lot of that growing up. Good thing her mom knows how to handle it :)

Sad to say goodbye. Kate was ready to jump on the 14 HOUR PLANE RIDE with Scottie and his brothers. Hope it went ok, Doug and Christine! We were thinking about you!!

What a wonderful way to spend a Wednesday Evening! Can't wait to do it again when you are coming home :)

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

I can't believe little Jakers is 3 years old. When he woke up on Tuesday morning I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He could have ANYTHING he wanted. What was his request? Cereal. Thanks for making my life a little easier, buddy! I did get powdered donuts anyway because I knew he'd love it :) You can't just give a kid cereal on his birthday!!! Jake's been fascinated with the movie Cars... so I thought I'd try making a cake that would fit his obsession Momo and BG surprised Jake (and his parents!!!) with a truck for his big day. Can you tell how excited he was?! All I can say is you two better be around when he's old enough to really drive and he starts asking for a bigger red jeep... it won't be coming from us :) haha!I think we'll just avoid letting Kate get her drivers license altogether.

Thanks, Mom and Dad! We are going to have a blast with this!

A little too much Fun Dip perhaps???

Joe getting Jake's bike all set to go. Too bad it's been pouring all week! Jake has been itching to get out there and use his new toys!

Ben and Jake spending a little QT changing his cars from his cake different colors

I love all of the heads in this picture!

Jen knows just how to get the perfect smile out of Luke every time!

Earlier that day we took the cousins to Super Franks to check it out. I think it was a success.

We couldn't find Gracie and found her here-- perfect form... I think Jen should be worried!

The boys

Love you, Buddy! I'm so glad you have a fun day!

Another Rainy Day Picture Attempt

I wanted to get Jake's 3 year old pictures taken and Luke's 3 month old pictures. So I scheduled the appointment, and of course, when the time came to leave, the wind and the rain were so strong I wondered why I even try :) The same thing seemed to happen last year.

So here we are. I'm so glad Joe was with me because I almost passed this one up. He looked at it and just started laughing. It captures the EXACT personalities of our kids.

We definitely deserved another Wetzel's Pretzel run it was all over.

Worth the Wait

We've had to wait a bit longer to enjoy things like smiles and giggles from Luke than we did with our other kids. He's developing right as if he would have been born in January...I kept wondering when we'd see a little personality shine through.

Then one day it happened... and all I can say is...

It was worth the wait!

Que Sopresa! Not Really.

Alisa, my amazing sister-in-law, turned 40 at the beginning of March. We couldn't let it just slip past her :) So Maryanne and I decided to throw a little something together.
It was supposed to be a surprise, but somehow she had an inkling as to what was going on.

That was OK though, because really-- we just wanted her to feel the love from everyone who adores her. After dinner, the kids ran off and had a little battle...Does Jake seem in his element?? I think Kate was feeling pretty stylish in the shades.

Four Generations of Berryhill Men...How cool is that?!

Happy Birthday, Alisa!

Luke's Baby Blessing

Just after Luke turned 2 months old, he and I finally braved coming back to church. We wanted to keep him away from all of the colds and germs of winter until he put a little meat on his bones...plus... it was doctor's orders :) So, on February 6th, our family that was able to come, joined us as Joe gave him his baby blessing. He was so peaceful--not a peep out of him until "amen" and then he spit up all over :) We are so grateful for our family and their constant love and support. It was a BEAUTIFUL day.

Luke at 2 Months

I love you little man. It hurts to think what life would have been like without you.

You are heaven in my arms.