Carey's Suprise Birthday Party

Ok. So the baby of our family turned 19 on Wednesday. But Mom, Dad, Ken, and Casey had a brilliant plan. We sent Carey and Lawrence to get a relaxing couples massage on Monday the 21st (good idea since they both work allot!) while Mom and Casey set up for the party and cooked dinner for about 15 people (we had homemade Spaghetti and Mozzarella bread, and Lasagna ). Then when Carey came home at 5 we all surprised her with her party.

Here is Carey walking in the door

Here is the birthday girl and Brianna from Mom's daycare. She helped Casey and Sandy set up for the party and then when everyone got here couldn't stop being cute, so until she got picked up the main topic was how CUTE she is! Here is Carey blowing out the candles on her cake while Casey and Sarah try their hardest NOT to drop it. And Ken supervising. Carey and her friends Alex and Alyson Somehow Casey and Sarah got assigned to cake and ice cream duties (Sarah made a mess!) :) While all the girls are down playing music and looking at jackets online while Dad and Lawrence play the Wii. So typical! :P

Somehow Carey, Casey, Alex, and Alyson all got jumbled on the floor, rolling around, and wrestling. Carey's Birthday spanking.

As you can see Carey and Alyson finished it off as Casey and Alex got out of there...fast!

IKEA! IKEA!! IKEA!!! IKEA!!!!

On Friday and Saturday Mom and Casey had a mini vacation with friends Kathy and Kelly. We drove to Costa Mesa California with the main intentions of shopping. We left here around 5:30 pm and arrived in Costa Mesa around 10:30pm. We stayed at the Wyndham Hotel, which according to Kathy was in the snooty part of town. It ended up being a very nice hotel, very clean and our room had a great view! When we got there we talked for a little while but then went to sleep. We decided that we were going to sleep in and whenever we were to wake up, we would. After waking up and getting ready, by 10:30 we were hungry. We went down to the connected restaurant called Terranova. We all had the Buffet, and when I say buffet I mean it. We all stuffed our faces because we were on vacation. After eating, we went up to the room, packed up, checked out, and hit up our first store. We went to The Container Store and Marshal's and found a whole bunch of cool stuff (we also went to Pac Sun but with no luck). After that we felt we had warmed up enough for the store we were there for...IKEA! Since Kathy was the only one who had ever been to Ikea, the rest were in for a surprise. We arrived and we were all in shock, not only about how HUGE it was but how great the prices were!!!! We were in there for about 4 1/2 hours (and we rushed through some parts) it was insane but so fun! We even took a break in the Restaurant that was in the building! Let's just say their cheesecake is awesome. hehe. It took us about 20-30 minutes to load everything that everyone had bought into Kathy's Pickup. We left Costa Mesa around 6:30pm and then had to stop and pick up something to eat real quick because we were really behind schedule. We ended up getting in town around 12:30 am. That night Kelly stayed at our house while Kathy went home to her family because she was suppose to do the reading in church the following morning. Casey ended up getting up at her usual time and going and teaching Sunday School and going to service, and it turned out that Kathy sent Dennis to read for her instead. So all three women got to sleep in. After Church everyone ended up back at our house (plus one of Casey's friends) for lunch. Casey made everyone her special homemade panini. After lunch everyone went their own way, ours being more shopping at Costco! Yay for shopping!

Dad's Birthday!!!!

Dad's birthday was on Thursday, the 3rd, and we forgot to take pictures but we still need to share what all happened. When he got home from work Dad, Mom, and Casey headed over to The Olive Garden (sorry Grandma we went without you) to meet Ken, Carey, and Lawrence for dinner. After an amazing meal everyone except for Ken (he wasn't feeling well) headed back over to our house. Dad was being his usual self when he decided to take the bag of leftovers and put them in the trunk rather than inside the car with me or mom. He was protecting his lunch (the funniest thing is that the next day he forgot both boxes and Mom and Casey had a great lunch! hehe!). When we got home Dad and Mom were persistant to find an old album of his called "Pot Liquor". (Dad's music from high school) After finding it and setting up their new record player it was a night full of "interesting music" both musical and bodily. And after that we all decided to have a piece of ice cream cake (his favorite pralines n cream) except for Dad because he was still full from dinner! He unfortunatly did not recieve any of his presents until the 9th. We all went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and went to pick up Casey's Car from the shop (which ended upstaying there) before we all ended up back at home to give Dad his present. The family had got him his own Wii since he liked Lawrence's so much. The funniest part of his Wii is what he named it, "mine" :) He really loves that thing and keeps him entertained.

New Years Eve Party!!

This new years eve we all had a house full. While Carey and Ken didn't spend it with us, our good friends did. Also, even thought John was ill, Rachelle made it with her three kids Kristen, Lindsey, and Ryan. She brought a really good chocolate mousse pie, it was so creamy and chocolaty. Kathy and Dennis also made it with their two boys Ben and Chris. They brought a good lemon cheesecake. While Mom also made brownies it wasn't all about dessert (lie). We all had a good simple, but delicious homemade meal made by Mom (ham, turkey, pasta salad, and potato salad). After dinner, the adults decided to act like the kids and to play the Wii that Kathy and Dennis so nicely brought over. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties (Dennis) we were unable to finish our game (the rematch will be held in the future muhahahahaha!). We decided to move along to the movie we picked out called "Spark of Insanity" which is basically a ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham, doing his stand up routine with his puppets. We all had a good chuckle and are planning on watching the other video soon. The following pictures were taken after the movie was over with and while everyone was talking and enjoying dessert.

Catching everyone off-guard

In case you can't see it Rachelle is sticking her tongue out at me

Mom being funny This is Dennis's "special" wave Dad just sitting around Ben, Ryan, Chris, Kristin, and Lindsey in front of our tree The kids decided to do a "cho-cho" train through the house (probably just as all the sugar from dessert was kicking in). Everyone getting ready to go This is Casey proving to Mom and Rachelle that she can take a picture without hiding.