A Random Sample

Monday, September 28, 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Welcome to the world Mace

Mace Christian Anderson Stokes

Born today at 11:21am

7 lbs 14 oz

Lisa is doing awesome and baby Mace is just PERFECT!!! Poor guy had to deal with a visit from his 3 brothers and 2 girly cousins all at the same time. He was poked and prodded, gawked at and drooled over...........alot to handle in the first 4 hours of life. But he handled it like a champ and we didn't hear a peep out of him. I'm sure that will change! :-)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Shoes aren't JUST for girls!

While stopping off at Toys R' Us for a quick something the other day, I happened to walk by this case of "girly" shoes.......5 different pairs. So, of course, I thought about my little ladies at home and just had to get them this little surprise.

Little did I know it was going to be a HUGE hit for ALL the cousins as well. I'll just let th pictures tell the story!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Visit from Uncle Brian and Aunt Melanie

My Uncle Brian (mom's brother) and his wife Melanie made a trip out to California for business, and was able to slide in some family time as well.

We've had a GREAT time catching up on their life in TN and of course.......exploring NorCal!

Of course, Chase didn't waste time inching his way (literally) into their life. He's never met an enemy, that's for sure! But he truly has no shame!!!

We didn't waste much time........and we headed to the park to play!

Last weekend we spent some time in San Francisco - why can't I seem to remember how cold it gets down there.....even in the summer!

Taking the kids for a ride on the carousel is always a must. But the highlight of the kids day was when they got to go into one of those tiny little photo booths and act like crazy people for $5 that gave us some FUNNY grainy photo's to take home. Hopefully I can share those later once I get them scanned in.

We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe..........it was my first time (along with Kell and Kaits too) and all I can say is........WAY COOL!!! Kellyn was so excited to be sitting next to the big elephant, that is of course, until it came alive. That freaked her and Kait out for a second......but they got over it real quick. We're definitely going back there!

We had to go see the Trolley cars.........and the older kids were just in awe. We all had to huddle together for warmth.

On the way back to the car, Kellyn just instinctively grabbed the arm of Big Cousin Tryg - who led her safely through the crowd like her night in shining armour. Kellyn and Kait are both SO LUCKY to be surrounded by such awesome "men" in their lives.

This weekend, we decided to take advantage of PERFECT WEATHER and take Brian and Melanie up to Lake Tahoe for the day. We went to Sand Harbor and played on the beach.

Then we headed to Northstar Village for pizza and a ride on the Gondola up to the top of the mountain. Kellyn and Kait were in HEAVEN and felt like they were on an airplane high in the air! The first part of the trip up was on a Gondola but the last part was on an actual chair lift. Needless to say, I had a deathgrip on Kait and Uncle Brian had a deathgrip on Kellyn. Scary but exciting!

On the ride home, we detoured to the Donner Pass Overlook which always offers stunning views of Lake Donner in the background!

Today, we headed up the mountain once again for a hike to Loch Leven Lakes. Jim was able to join us, which was a major plus, however, we had to keep the trip short and simple so he could get back in time for work. We could not have asked for better weather........it was truly amazing!

Me and Kellyn walked out on the log to see Tryg and Matt and we fell in. Luckily, it was shallow, however, she wasn't very happy with me as you can see.

On the hike back to the car, Plumber Joe made an appearance!! And that was my view for the rest of the trip..........which is the cutest view I could imagine! :-)

Def Leppard

Yes People.............I'm still a big hair 80's band "roadie" if you will...........and I'm proud about it!!

At least I'm not the only one! 10 of us caravanned out to see Cheap Trick / Poison / Def Leppard in concert. Although the music was AWESOME, we truly felt like we were trapped in a Wal-Mart in the middle of Mississippi. SCARY PEOPLE out there!

Kim and Bill

Russ and Cheryl

Yours truly and Jim

Regardless, we had a blast!

My brother, being the REAL geek.....actually kept a playlist of all the songs. He's insane! :-) But BIG kudos to Lisa who joined us at over 9 months pregnant and ready to pop. Classical music in the womb is for sissy's, right?

I'm so sad however, somehow I managed to accidentally delete almost all the pictures I took that night. TOTAL BUMMER!! The above pics are the only ones I was able to recover.

Perhaps I should have taken that as a "sign". :-)

Monday, August 31, 2009

Lisa's Baby Shower and a Sneak Peak Inside

Finally - the house was SOMEWHAT clean enough to take pictures! All thanks to a special Mommy-to-be.

Lisa is just a week away from welcoming home Baby Boy #4. That's right people.....you heard me right........4 boys!!! I don't know how she does it already, she must be part robot.

Either way - me and a girlfriend Traci got together a small intimate "surprise" brunch to celebrate this little man. Lisa's Mom, Dad, Brother and Sister-in-Law went far out of their way to be here and it just made the morning!

We noshed on Baked French Toast, Fruit, Veggie Meats, OJ, Coffee and a YUMMY assortment of pastries. Tell you what -girls really know how to enjoy some food together. :-)

So, this post serves dual purpose. FINALLY.....pictures of the inside of the house. Still a work in progress but this is good enough. Mixed in are pictures of our little "baby shower".