feliz cumpleanos!!!

today is Jamsers birthday! the big *9*!!! holy crow! it's amazing how fast time flies. when we return to the states he will be 11. amazing...

he's doing great! school is coming along and he just finished taking the Tera Nova test (standardized testing) for school. He is a great big brother! Jonah loves him! Colby and James are still working on their realationship....sharing LEGOS is a BIG DEAL!!!!

We just had a small family gathering at the house and the neighborhood kids came over to help James open his presents. He was so happy! he got just what he wanted!!

Jeni helped make a lego cake! he was soooo excited! here are Jeni and James feeding eachother cake!!! it ended with cake all over them and then Colby and Jonah wanted to do it too...as you can imagine, the hijinks ensued...and we cooked his favorite meal! chicken enchilada casorole! it was a nice night!

Last week he did a performace for Feria!! here is the video of his *Sevillana* dance. enjoy! He did awesome! He remembered all his steps and he had the best *ole* of all! he's so cool! the only boy and he was so confident. what an awesome kiddo!

happy birthday, sweet James. we love you.

loves

with the clicking clack of high heel shoes...

hello all!

the weather is beautiful here in Southern Spain and we are awaiting a very special guest!!!!she arrives on Tuesday!!!! i am sooo excited i could pee! it's going to be awesome!like i said, the weather is warming up and Feria starts this week! it's the Flamenco Festivals! they are all over this region! we are sure to hit up some of the festivities!!

the boys are starting baseball this week and some pics are soon to follow! here is a pic of Colby coming home from practice, with his head out the window of the BMW. he cacks me up!so we went to Isla Magica last weekend and here is a recap in some photos! first....has anyone seen an albino peacock??? amazing! i mean the colored ones are amazing but this snow white one is so beautiful! wow! it was just hanging out! how cool.

this is a huge sculpture in the entryway! they all climbed in! here are the boys on some rides!

they love the *saltar de rana* wich translates into *the frogg hopper* and the dragon cruise. it's a nice place. the kids enjoy it! here are James and Jo on the bumper cars! and Daddy and Colbs on the llama ride!

loves

videos, oh my!

hey!

i promised a couple more vids so here they are!

this is Colbs at his basketball awards pizza party! look at his face! he is oh so happy with himself!!! it's so sweet!

here is one of the boys on Easter morning going through their baskets!

yeah! it's off to the NEX for legos!!! woo hoo!

yesterday we went to Isla Magica i will post a vid and some pics later! it really takes a long time to upload videos.

loves

happy easter!!!

from the palmers! ha ha ! we had an *Easter Eggstravaganza*! on base yesterday!!! it was a good time! the boys had egg hunts and bouncy's galore! it was fun! here are a few videos!
this is Jonah at the hunt.
he was cute. then Colbs at his. Here is a pic of Jamers at his. They were at the same time, across the field from eachother. I took the vid then ran over to James just as it was ending....but i did snap a pic.
look at Mr. JP.... he's so handsome and grown up! he insisted on wearing his brown cordoroy blazer to the festivities...he was the best dressed there! what a little GQ model! that's my boy! Last night we had some friends over for a *Bunny BBQ* it was nice! lots of kiddos, of all ages so all the boys had a blast!
today will be a family thing! we will dye eggs and do a little hunt here at the house! maybe ride our bikes to the beach....

loves

a birthday recap and a video or 3

Hello all! and happy birthday, toddy!!!

well, i had a nice birthday! thanks for all the well wishes! on Sunday we got a cake from Baskin Robbins and had a little family bday! I made cali rolls!!! yummm.Jason had to work on Monday so we had it on Sunday. Here is what my boys got for me! yeah!

Monday our friends, The Epperlys came over and surprised me witha yummy pink strawberry cake! how sweet! it's beautiful !!!she is 9 months pregnant and was due yesterday! i can't believe she baked me a cake! awesome!

COLBY HAS LEARNED TO RIDE A BIKE!!!! {with training wheels} but it's a start! he was struggeling a bit with the whole peddeling thing but now he's got it! yeah! here is a pic and a video.Also, we got a little pool for the yard! here is a sweet cheeks pic! ha ha! it looks like they are having a full on conversation!!! how funny!

here is Jamesers after a long overdue haircut!!! he looks supa cute! he sure is growing up! i can't believe he's going to be 9 in less than a month!!! wowsers! more later...

loves

from the far side of the ocean....

Hola!

long time no post! i have to thank Jason, once again! he is an awesome blogger and hubby! i'm so lucky!



Well, as some of you know my bday is monday!! woo hoo! 33....ugh.

but, when i got to the mailbox this morning i was happily surprised to find not 1 but 2 BIRTHDAY BOXES!!!! one from by dear BFC, thank you soooo much!!! oh my goodness! you are soo thoughtful and amazing! i love all the scrappy stuff and the owlies!!! AAHHHH i totally love it! thank you. i owe you, BIG TIME! Colby says thank you for the Spidey stuff and he loved the pic Maddie drew for him. aweee so sweet. i will make you a shirt!



the pother was from my lovely inlaws!!! i have'nt opened them yet because i want to wait until Monday so i have something to open on that day. but thanks soooo much. it's nice to know people care...i'm loved.



Today we had 2 basketball games and tonight we are going to some friends for a BBQ, since it does'nt get dark here until 930pm, (seriously) we will have a late night, but it will be fun!

here is a video from the bball game, for your viewing pleasure!

more later, thanks for all my lovely packages!

loves

Never mind the Bollocks

Yes more London for your viewing pleasure, and Jason's got the helm. Here is the view from outside of our hotel! I snapped this pic of Cyd and Jo looking at the Thames... First more talk about the science and Natural History Museum. Definately good times for the boys. They're always happy when they've got entertainment and things that are hands on. I wish they were just a little bit older so we could do more historic stuff, but you've got to do what you can, right? Here's a picture of us at the entrance of the Science museum. It's a great entryway, we're all looking pretty happy here.
The kids got to play with all sorts of hands on exhibits, very entertaining and accessable. And it was all for free! Which is a good thing because London is very expensive. Even with the pound coming down a little in value, it's still hard to swallow that one pound was worth 1.45 dollars. So for example, a lunch at 7 pounds sounds great until you figure in the conversion. Still, an english speaking country to tour around in was wonderful. We understood all the signs, language, and there's lots of American culture infused (think american fast food that is very kid friendly) to dive into

Here's a picture of us in an exhibit that re-created the earthquake in Kobe, Japan. The room was set up like a mini-mart in Kobe and there was a video showing CCTV of a market in Kobe during their earthquake. The boys loved standing on the platform as it shook back and forth. Hey, anything for a thrill right?

More hands on stuff. Jo and Colby loved it, and James loved the opportunity to talk to people, in English, and make friends. Watertables, toys, games...oh the Joy!Finally, we decided to break the group up. Cyd, ever the Masochist, stayed with James and Colby to watch an Imax version of some silly cartoon called *Fly Me to the Moon* at the Science museum while Granpa, Nana, and I went to the Westminster area to explore the war cabinet. During WWII this particular bunker was used by Churchill and his crew to run the war and the resistance. It was definately an interesting historic side bar and I really appreciate Cyd for taking one for the team and watching the older boys while we went to the museum. A long day, lots of things that were seen. By this point the boys were still game, but there were definately fraying at the edges of their behavior.

we broke off from the parents for an hour and jotted over to Westminster Abby, but the line was emense, so here Cyd snapped a pic.

then we went to *The Tower of London* it was good for about 2 hours...then the boys started to melt down , it was late and they were tired...to much walking.
this is a cool pic of the king, it's in his room....a ghostly image...ooohh

on our last day in London we rented a car and drove 2 and a half hours to Drayton Manor !!! 'it was soo worth it! to see little Jonah's face when we walked in and he saw Thomasland!!! the other boys had a blast too! James got to ride the big boy rides!! he went off with Grumps and Colby and Jonah stayed in Thomasland! Jo rode everything and was so overwhelmed that he passed out in my arms on the Balstrode tugboat ride. what a sweetie.

thanks for letting me fill in. Cyd should be back soon!

-j