In Her Prime at 59

Happy belated birthday to my mom, who turned 59 on October 25! I told her to live it up this year before she turns 'real old' and becomes 60. heehee

Since my mom was pet sitting in the Seattle area this week, I was able to take her out to dinner for her birthday, on her actual birthday (which hasn't happened in a long time!). Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures because I wasn't thinking, but here is one of my favorite pictures of us:

Living it up in Boston!

And another huge happy birthday to my aunt, my mom's sister, whose birthday is actually today! Happy birthday Kathy! Love you!

Surprise Birthday Party for my Aunt

As I've mentioned, we went to Wenatchee this weekend. We had a lot to do while we were there, but everything was fun, fun, fun!

That Friday night, when we rolled into town, we headed straight to the Country Club. My cousin Christi, the same one who threw Joe and I a shower Saturday afternoon, had planned a HUGE surprise 60th birthday party for my aunt Bonnie (her mom). She literally had been planning this thing for a year, and it was a huge success. (I'm telling you, Christi should be a professional party planner. She is that good.)

The party started at six and even though Joe and I left work early to head down there, we still didn't make it until 8:30 p.m., a half hour before the party ended (damn Seattle traffic!). But the party was still going pretty strong and we were able to see the birthday girl and my family.

This was before we got there - the moment of the 'surprise'.

She looks like she is trying to eat me, but she was just excited that I made it. :)

Chatting with my brother and sister-in-law.

The party planner and the guest of honor. :)

My brother and sister-in-law.

Me and my mom.

Okay, so the surprise party was awesome. But then, on Saturday, after the bridal shower, we had to continue celebrating my aunt turning the big 6-0. We decided to head up to Leavenworth to take an 'old time' picture of all the girls! It was sooooo much fun. We had a blast! (Mostly because my family is crazy and hilarious and can make ANYTHING fun!)

All dressed up!

The shot!

After the photo shoot we headed out for drinks and dinner.

My crazy family.

Drinks.

Dinner at Visconti's.

What a fun night! And the best part was that my aunt was completely surprised and kept saying it was the best birthday she had ever had. I would call that a success!

Ava Turns 4

Ava turned four on August 22, 2010!

Which means I adopted her about 3 years ago, when she was 9 months old. It's been quite an eventful 3 years. She has traveled all over the country with me, scared me with her major health issues, annoyed me with her food obsession, made me laugh with her crazy antics, and overall has taught me so much.

So, we celebrated with a very small family party at home. Her birthday was MUCH calmer than Jackson's, but she got exactly what she wanted:

1. A special dinner of apples and carrots (two of the only things other than dog food that she can eat).




2. Naps. She napped with me for a couple hours and napped in her bed under covers for most of the rest of the day.

3. Her mom! Ava loves Joe to death, but she will always be a mommy's girl.

Happy birthday baby girl! Here's to many, many more years together!

More Photos From Joe's 40th

Joe's sister just sent me some more pictures from Joe's 40th birthday. Enjoy:











We had such a great time that weekend! And I love these new photos that show it. Thanks, Cindy!

Jackson's 5th Birthday

It's amazing to me that Jackson is already five years old! It doesn't seem like that long ago that I tried to convince Joe to 'sleep on it' when he said he wanted to adopt him. That was three years ago now, and thank goodness he didn't listen to me!

Jackson is a fabulous dog. He is such a lover and has such human expressions that every day Joe and I wonder what he could possibly be thinking. He's one of those 'dog's dogs' who sleeps by your feet as you are watching t.v. I just love it.

He had a really good birthday, starting with a special duck and potato breakfast.

Preparing breakfast.

Served on a pedestal. :)

He definitely enjoyed it.

I distracted Ava with pieces of apple.

Then came gift time! A brand new lamb toy!

For me??

*I loves it.*

Unfortunately, Joe and I had to go to work all day, so Jackson was stuck at boring home with his boring sister all day on his birthday. But we made up for it that evening with a trip to the dog park. And to make it even better, there were other dogs to play with already there!

Checking out the puppy Oliver.

Ava deciding if she wants to play.

*I guess this guy isn't too scary.*

Then we walked next door to watch Joe finish playing tennis. He was invited to a club and since he hasn't played in a while, decided to take the offer. I guess he got beat 6-0 and 6-1 and had to work for that 1, but he came home tired and happy and will be playing again next week!

*Dad's pretty good at this tennis thing.*

*Go Dad!*

It was a really fun night. We'll have to do it again next week!

Joe's 40th: Day 5, New York City

Joe indulged me on Sunday morning and agreed to head back to Cafe Lalo for breakfast. He knew I was going to miss that place, and I was so excited to eat there one last time. :) We took a nice walk through the Upper West Side to get there.

Love the stoops and streets of NYC.

We then headed to Times Square to do a little shopping. You have to love traveling with the Stutzmans! They like to shop! Plus, it was super hot out, so heading into the little stores along the way was a nice way to get out of the heat for a bit.

Times Square

Joe buying water at the hot dog stand.

The girls checking out the street vendors.

Joe and me cooling off at Dean and Deluca.

In a cab. (Sam was a little worried about the local cab drivers. She kept telling us to keep our arms inside the cab at all times, since she thought we would get them ripped off by how close the cars zipped by one another.)

We then took the Staten Island Ferry out past the Statue of Liberty. Always a nice thing to do in the city. You get an excellent view of the statue for free!

When we got off the ferry, it was pretty much time to head home. So, we went back to our hotel, grabbed our bags, and headed to Grand Central.

It was definitely a busy, busy weekend, but I certainly had a great time, and I really think Joe and the girls did as well. We returned home from NYC around 9:00 p.m. Sunday night, and Cindy and Sam had the entire day on Monday to rest up while Joe and I were at work. They spent the day sleeping in and laying by the pool. I think it was a much needed break from the whirl-wind adventure I planned. haha.

I took them to the airport at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Thanks for coming, girls! We carried out the surprise and it was such a great week!

Joe's 40th: Day 4, New York City

We came home from Boston on Friday night, ate and slept, then headed out to New York City first thing Saturday morning. (Yes, I ran our guests completely ragged during their trip here!)

We took the train into the city around 8:55 a.m.

On the train, before being bored to tears. haha.

Once we got to the city, we had to do our usual routine. Breakfast at Cafe Lalo, then a stroll to Riverside Park. I love this routine and it makes me so sad that I won't be doing it again for a long time...

At my favorite place - Cafe Lalo. Have I mentioned that they have the BEST coffee??

Our Engagement Spot!

They put the sign back up!

I took them on the subway for the first time ever. I think the girls were kind of nervous, but they got used to it, and became like locals before long.

On the subway.

Heading underground to the subway, from our hotel.

We had dinner reservations at this great restaurant on the Upper West Side, to really celebrate Joe's birthday in style. It was a fabulous place and great food.

It was a great first night in the big city!

(Don't worry, only one more birthday post to go!)