Party Pictures

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting pics from Hunter's parties. Yes, I said parties! Last Wednesday was a busy day for us, but it was totally worth it to see how happy Hunter was all day long. I have nothing else to say, except that I love that little boy with my whole heart. He is such a blessing!

Coop decorated all the cupcakes, which we took to Hunter's classroom at lunchtime.

It was pure 1st grade silliness for about 20 minutes, but it was great :) I feel like I fit right in!

Whoa - cool Batman cake!

Cool! A Transformers game for the PS3! (He's been playing it non-stop)!

AND - a red & black bike from Nana & Papa...just what he asked for!

Then on Saturday we had his "friend" party at the roller-rink, which was lots of fun too. We had 8 kids there, plus their parents. The kids skated, played games in the arcade section, got their faces painted and we had cupcakes, ice cream and juice. It was a long afternoon, but again, totally worth it. You can click on the collage below to see the pictures better.

Now I'm planning a party for Dave! Whew, they never end around here!

Hunter Turns 7

Today is Hunter's 7th birthday! I have to admit that last night after I got done reading to him and we were talking and laughing, I actually SAW the last 7 years flash before my eyes and I had to leave the room before I started to cry :( I saw his crazy curly hair and his chubby

2-year-old cheeks and his proud big-brother grin..... where has the time gone?!

Here is our little guy when he was 4 days old. We went to the hospital late Sunday night (Super Bowl Sunday), but the contractions had stopped by the time we got there. (Nothing like being first-time parents and jumping the gun :) But they let us stay and rest, and induced me at 6:00 AM the next morning.

The whole "giving birth" thing kinda did a number on me, as they'd gotten the epidural too high, which made me numb from my neck down! And Hunter's heartbeat dropped way down right before he was born because the cord was wrapped around his neck twice, so that was VERY scary. But our families were there to support us and help us through, and Hunter Reece Kleinow was born at 2:57 PM on that sunny Monday afternoon.

He had a ton of brown curly hair and weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. He was perfect! He was such a happy, silly baby and everyone adored him. Being the first grandchild on my side and the second on Dave's side, he was pretty much SPOILED!

His hair soon turned blonde, and grew into this huge mess. We cut his hair, but it just got curlier!

We honestly thought it was cute at the time, but whenever we look back at the pictures, Dave & I look at each other and say, "We let him go out in public looking like this?" Haha!

He's been to a TON of Mariner games in his short life! We've made him into a life-long fan :)

And boy, does he LOVE his Daddy!

Here he is with me and Aunt Kris on his 3rd birthday. He was a Nemo fanatic!

Preschool and Kindergarten flew by, and here we are with a 7-yr. old 1st grader! There are so many things we love and appreciate about Hunter. He is kind and compassionate; he can tell when you need cheering up. :) He is obedient (for the most part) and always tries to do the right thing. He is helpful! He is a great big brother! He is SMART and is great at all kinds of sports. Also, he is a superb video game player...( I thought maybe he'd like it if I put that in - haha :)

Hunter ~ We love you SOOOO much and you've made us so proud. We hope your birthday is as awesome as you are! Love ~ Mom

Super Bowl Sunday

We were all very excited to watch this year's Super Bowl on our new TV! We invited a few people over, but no one came. Soooooo....we had our 1st Annual No-One's-Coming-To-Our-Super-Bowl-Party party! WooHoo!

Dave & I made some delicious enchiladas, I whipped up my first-ever bowl of Pico de Gallo (which turned out to be VERY good), and we ate an entire bag of peanut M&M's, along with a ton of other snacks. It was a great afternoon! After all - it can never be boring around here with two rambunctious boys bouncing all over the living room when you're trying to watch a football game, right? :)

Here are some good pics of us in our awesome 3-D glasses...which Hunter declared "didn't even work that good!" LOLOL!

Coop's glasses were all bent by the time it was actually time to use them.

Oh, how trendy are we?!

They had to wear their jerseys, you know!

We were really sad the Cardinals lost, but oh well, we still love Kurt Warner! Maybe next year the Seahawks will be in the Super Bowl! Ha! And maybe we can invite some people off the street over to our house for some good food, since the people we know don't seem to want to come over :) I'm not bitter or anything.

Bowling!

Last Saturday I was feeling a bit down-in-the-dumps, so my wonderful husband decided to cheer me up by taking me & the boys bowling. I LOVE BOWLING!! I am by no means GOOD at bowling, but I love it anyway. I always try to beat Dave, and I have at least once - but this particular evening I was off my game. I think the boys even beat me the last game! Anyway, I took a few pictures...

Dave's approach to bowling is to throw the ball as hard as possible. It works for him :)

Coop ALWAYS starts clapping his hands when it's his turn :)

Hunter is EXTREMELY competitive! If he doesn't do well he slumps in a chair and pouts. He seriously thinks he should get a strike every time! He gets much better, though, as the game goes on. Thank goodness!

If any of you ever want to go bowling, give us a call! We'll be there!

The Loss of Someone Special

This is my dear Uncle Leif, who tragically passed away this past Thursday. It has been extremely hard for me to accept that he's gone. I've been wandering around my house thinking about him, remembering and wishing I could do something to make it all better. The only thing I could think of was posting a blog about him. So here goes...

When I met my Uncle Leif about 26 years ago, I instantly liked him. He was silly and fun. And we could tell he liked us too. He would talk like Donald Duck, which made us giggle and giggle. And he & Aunt Mel gave us the best Christmas presents. :) He would play with us, open all our hard-to-get-into gifts with his handy pocket knife, take us for rides on his 4-wheeler, and let us drink as much Pepsi as we wanted. He thought it was ridiculous that us girls would get grossed out when he poured horseradish all over his roast beef!

He was into the latest technology, and always had a new camera or video camera. Nearly everywhere we went, he had the camera around his neck, documenting the fun we were having. He was a fun-loving guy, who knew how to make you laugh and feel comfortable. He loved my Aunt Melinda and his son Trevyn with all his heart, and he did many wonderful things for them and with them. He was a great husband and Daddy.

I was so pleased when I found this photo of him on my computer. I cropped everyone else out of the picture so it would just be him. I'm sure in this picture he was telling us a great story and making us all laugh. In fact, I can hear that great laugh of his in my head right now. It is a beautiful sound which I hope I'll never forget.

So this is my tribute to him; my testimony of what a great man he was. I hope he knew just how special he was to us. But just in case, I'll tell him one more time...I LOVE YOU UNCLE LEIF. I miss you terribly, but I'll never forget you.

Apparently, sledding can be dangerous!

...or in my case, just walking around in the yard when there is snow on the ground can be dangerous. But I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise to many of you - I have never been what you would call "graceful" .

We were so excited Friday when we woke up to snow! We hadn't been sledding yet (even though Papa had bought us a new sled), so Dave & I bundled up, along with the kids, and we trekked out to our back yard, which is on a pretty good slope. Now, I have been known to slip down this slope even in the summer, when there isn't any snow... so you can imagine how hard it was for me to go up and down this hill IN the snow!

The first time I fell, I got up quickly and said, giggling, "Haha! I fell down!" No one had seen me :) The second time, though, they were watching. I started down the hill to go inside to get a few carrots for our snowman. I knew they were watching, so I turned around to tell them to stop watching, and felt myself start to go. I attempted to make a run for it, since the deck was within reach, but it didn't work. I was airborne for what seemed like forever, then I came down flat on my back and my head banged into the ground. I didn't get up so quickly that time...I couldn't! My back hurt too bad! Plus, I was a tad-bit mortified. Dave fell to the ground laughing...holding-his-breath-laughing :) I told him later that I don't think I've EVER heard him laugh like that! EVER!

Dave made me get up early the next morning and get in the hot tub. Thank goodness for that thing - it helped so much!

Coop didn't want to sled, until we MADE him get on, then he wouldn't stop!

Hunter is like his Daddy - doesn't mind the cold weather or being soaking wet...just wants to have fun!

I think next time we decide to do this, I'll just stay at the bottom and take pictures...I AM thirty now, you know!

Old-Fashioned Trevino Christmas

I look forward to Christmas at my parents' house every year. Mom cooks a huge delicious breakfast, we open presents, we snack, we eat a nice lunch, we play games, we snack...haha! Can you tell which part is my favorite?

Dad & Mom go a little overboard sometimes when it comes to buying presents, but there are never any complaints. They put so much thought and effort into buying just the right things for everyone - especially the boys! This year they got an air hockey table! WooHoo!

I always get so wrapped up in the moment that I usually forget to take pictures, but we did manage to get a few...

We had to set it up right away - Mommy wanted to play!

Mom & Dad MADE these signs for each of us! They were definitely the most special gifts of the day.

Dave was getting a bad cold, so wasn't feeling that great, but this cheered him up!

Indiana Jones legos!

A Christmas angel...LOL...I am full of myself.

Can you tell what Cooper's saying? "CHEEEEEESE"

Thank you, Mom & Dad, for always making Christmas special. Can't wait 'til next year!