"She's Bringing WHAT Back?!?" Or "The Sexagenarian"

Here's a little gem we caught on tape last week:





And it was a very hard secret-keeping week for us. We threw a surprise party for the Most Awesome Mother In Law on Friday. I thought I blew it & gave the surprise away multiple times, but she *claims* she didn't suspect a thing. (My cover story for the large amounts of soda, chips & BBQ supplies was that we were having a "Twilight Release" party with a few friends on Saturday....).

In our preparation for the party, I discovered where Ella gets this face:



Here's Anita. See Colby? I told you she took after your side of the family!



Angel had the brilliant idea to make shirts. At first we were just going to have them say "Sexagenarian". Then it was brought up that some people might not know what "Sexagenarian" means. So Shay suggested this addition:




Ella didn't find out that all her Stott cousins were going to be in town until I was sure she wouldn't run into Grandma again that day. She snuck out of gym class to confirm that her cousins were indeed on their way. And then asked me about 100 more times in the next 2 hours.

The party was awesome. There was twister (thoughtfully set up by small children directly in front of the main entrance...)



There were 59.25 green balloons (one casualty on the way back from the party shop).



There were small children trying to run off with bunches of balloons...



There were four generations in one room!



And Uncle Tyler made "Pin The Beehive On Mom". So fun. SO FUN!







The next day we decided to do something fun. And whats more fun than taking small children to a casino, right? They loved it.





Right now the Utah Stott Contingency are on their way back home. We hope they're driving safely and that the babies are sleeping. The whole way. (We can dream, right?!?)

Thanks for a fun weekend family!!! And extra special super thanks to Amber for doing most the work. GOOD JOB AMBER!

OMG, Angel Learned How To Blog

I'm not clever as Apryl, so you'll just get pictures.



Here's Grandma holding the two babies. Awwwwww....

So, I guess I should post a few pictures from Skye and Kait's Blessing.

Virginia City? Nah...

We didn't get out too much this week. Mommy had lots and lots and LOTS of work to do. In fact, she still does. But we still have a few treasured moments to share with y'all.

We met Amber's new beau, Dan, last week. He came for family dinner. We tried not to scare him too much. Official Family Opinion: BIG STAMP OF APPROVAL. (This may or may not have anything to do with the fancy cupcakes he brought with him. See Gretchen enjoying the red velvet/roadrash flavor)



On Wednesday Ella picked out an especially fabulous outfit for preschool. Her teacher Valerie's comment, "I can't wait to see what kind of kid she is in High School". One thing for certain, no one will tell HER how to dress...



No comment for this picture, just sums up Gretchen. Adorably annoying, especially when tired.



Our dear old friend Nate came in town to watch some basketball games. (If you came to our wedding 100 years ago, you might remember that he was Colby's best man.) We celebrated his arrival yesterday by dragging the kids to Virginia City. Gretchen was very sad on the way up, probably thinking, "Oh crap, are we going to be stuck in this #$*@ car for another 8 hours?" Luckily it was only 30 minutes. But that was enough. Let me tell you, that was enough.



On the way back down the mountain we bribed her with this fabulous sucker. Ella picked it out at the tourist-trap-ye-olde-candy-shoppe & kindly shared it with her screaming sister. Then she documented her kindness by shooting this photo. Thanks Ella!




And while she had the camera, she got some other fabulous shots...







And, you may ask, what did Gretchen learn to do this week????



Yup, I left her watching the tub fill with water. And returned to find her enjoying the water. Her favorite thing to do is dunk washcloths in & suck them dry. Totally gross, I know. I try to keep it narrowed down to "clean" washcloths (you know, the kind that aren't totally stiff. Not the kind that keep their shape when you pick them up...)

So that's our week. What about you?

Oh My Gosh It's Already March

Wasn't it just Valentines Day like, a day ago? Where did the time go? Oh yeah. Here's where it went...

Ella's Reno BFF has an INDOOR POOL. I know. And we've been over there twice in the past few weeks. Gretchen has no fear & is totally fine with walking off the edge of the pool into the water (what a surprise, right?)



With the example of her friend, Ella finally decided she could be brave enough to swim by herself if carefully ensconced in a floatie. Notice that she is still hanging on to the bar though. (To her credit, she did jump right in last time we went. Well, I mean, she carefully floated right in...)



ALERT: THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME PICTURE I MAY HAVE EVER TAKEN
I've told y'all that Ella likes to dress herself, right? Yeah, this is after our trip to Target. She got new sunglasses. I know. I KNOW!!! So awesome.



I left Ella at home with Colby for 8 whole days while I went to Washington to see Lismarie & "help" while she had her 4th baby. Hooray for babies! I let Ella give me a makeover before I left town. Shout out to my wonderful husband Colby for keeping her happy, fed & busy while I was gone. Also, shout out to Sue for watching her Tuesday & Thursday.



Gretchen got to come with me. She & James are kindred spirits. Here they are hamming it up in the back of the Volvo (this is BEFORE the infamous finger biting incident. We will not have James & The Gretch in the back of the car anymore...)



Awwwwww!



Not only did I get to see Lismarie & spend TONS of time hanging out and talking and never running out of things to talk about for 8 whole days, but I also got to go to Seattle & visit Janeece! Hooray for me! She threw a fabulous brunch so I could see all my Seattle friends.

Gretchen enjoyed the Brunch.



Thanks Janeece! You're so so SO SO SO AWESOME! Also, I miss you so much!



Also, your house is really cool. Also, Lucy's baby has the coolest hair I've ever seen on a baby. You can't see it in this picture, but she's got this patch of hair on the side of her head that is beautifully thick & curly. And about 2" in diameter.



Oh man, I miss all my Seattle friends.







I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with Janeece, and we didn't get to watch TAL, make crafts, OR watch any "My Sweet Sixteen". But it was still wonderful.

We left early Monday afternoon to head back to Lismarie's. Gretchen & James celebrated their reunion by jumping on the bed.



When we finally got home to Reno, Gretchen got to dig into the SUITCASE full of clothes Lismarie sent us home with. This is her "Trying Out For 'Fame: The Movie' Audition Outfit". Did you know you could get high heels for babies? Yep. We've got 2 pairs now. She kind of looks like Miss Piggy in them.



Gretchen showed me yet another cool trick. She can fit in the dryer. Awesome.



Ella showed her friend how much fun Red Lipstick is.



And, because we can't sit still for more than 5 days in a row, we had a road trip to Utah last weekend. The new Stott babies got blessed last weekend, so the whole Stott family got together for the event. (Also, I don't recommend driving anywhere over 4 hours with Gretchen).

I got to meet two of my friends from my online book club, Britt & Becky. Brittney is a genius & came up with this book club where a group of 4-5 people get books, mail them to each other & write their comments in the books in different colored ink. So at the end you get your book back with everyone's thoughts written all & OMG so fun. You should totally join it. But we're on hiatus till Britt's fetus lets her read again. Becky has been in my group every time I've participated, and not only does she have impeccable taste in books, but the best comments ever.



Ella had fun playing with Becky's son & they got to go on the carousel together.





We took advantage of having the WHOLE FAMILY together by forcing everyone to take family pictures at Wheeler Farms. I think there were about 5 other photo shoots going on at the same time. And then 2 random people actually there to enjoy the farm. Below: Gretchen communing with The Sheep.



What? You mean we all have to look at the same time? I think only Amber got the memo...



Now we're back at home (yay) and not going anywhere any time soon. What have YOU been up to?