A Wonderful Life, A Wonderful Christmas

Christmas was pretty dang awesome this year. Amy has moved in with us (Go CMU!!!) and Anna came to spend the holiday with us. We hit up all the family favorite dinners (Mom's Tacos, then Christmas Eve was Pearson Family Noodles, then Christmas breakfast and dinner were Aj's creations - casserole for breakfast and ham dinner with all the fixin's. We had gifts galore. But, the best was hearing the laughter of the girls and Cade. It was truly a magical Christmas. 

In November, sister Amy came for a visit. The purpose of the visit was to see if she really wanted to move here. Guess what? She did!!!

However, because she missed her plane on the way out, Trever and Vicky had to drive her out. Of course,they brought baby Iggs. Such a fabulous weekend!!!

Paris - Girlfriend Style!

"I'd like to see Paris before I turn 40" Jeannie said.

"Let's go!" I joked.

Two months later, we were looking at this:

Nothing beats the Eiffel Tower in the nighttime 

Especially if it includes fun times with a childhood friend

Even better when it includes good food

Lots of beautiful sights

(I'll let YOU decide if I'm referring to the above or below picture)

And, a few fun poses

We saw plenty of empty wine bottles in doorways

And plenty of wine bottles being emptied

And tooooo many birds, toooooo much wasted food

And such beautiful entertainment

End result: I {heart} Paris

And, I truly love good friends

And, did I mention I was in Paris?

~~ Happy Birthday to Cade~~

Mama finally downloaded The Big Birthday Bash pictures.

In our house, you always have cake for your birthday breakfast. 

And, because our last name is not "patient", 

you also get your presents.

And, if you're the lucky birthday boy, 

you get a fancy hat to get the celebration rolling.

And, in case you need a close-up of the Fishy Cake: 

It all makes for a great start to a great day. 

Happy Birthday, my little guy.

Oooohhhhhh I'm so bad.

Cade turned THREE on July 7. I'd love to show pictures, but... well, I don't have any. That's not entirely true. I do have some on my phone, but those haven't made it to the computer. Hence, the title of this post. I get yet another Bad Mama of the Year award.

Here's how the day went...

We celebrated with our traditional morning breakfast party, complete with cake, party decor, and presents.

The day continued with a daycare party, complete with cupcakes we made. The cupcakes were also passed out to all the offices on my floor. I'm pretty sure that the senator's office really loved the green Buzz cupcakes.

Finally, the day ended with a trip to Chuck E Cheese. It was a rager, I tell you. Aj, Cade, our friend Lisa, and myself.

All in all, it was an absolutely perfect day. 

July has only just begun...

July is a busy month for us. Birthdays galore in this family. 

We started out with Aj's birthday, 

an event that excited Cade to no end. 
Well, at least the cake did.

^^ That ^^ would be a lacrosse ball

Of course no July 4th posting would be complete 

without a picture of our little firecracker! 

Next Up... Cade's birthday. Now, that will be a part-ay.

Family Fun in Frisco

The Chessmore Clan met up in Frisco, CO this June. Importantly, Cade had his first fishing lesson. Grandpa made sure of that. 

 

As excited as he was to fish, he was just as scared of his first fish.

After fishing, there was plenty of time to relax. 

Uncle Brian, Cade, Grandpa