It's a Wonderful Life

New Blog

2011-05-06T14:08:00.001-07:00

I've got a new blog that I'm experimenting with. I'm trying to do a picture a day for our family's journaling purposes...hopefully I'll stick with it! Check it out.

http://www.lovetheeverydayproject.wordpress.com

Henry's Here!

2011-03-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Baby boy Henry Terry Faas arrived Feb. 28, a day before I was scheduled to be induced. I've never gone into labor on my own so I was kind of excited that he decided to come early. I've been wanting to know what that would be like...and now I know. :) My actual due date was March 5. I had my first labor contraction at about 8:30 am on that Monday morning. After a trip to Sam's club and Walmart at about 1:00pm that day on the way to the hospital to get last minute baby things, Henry arrived safe and sound by 7:00 that night. Labor and delivery were textbook perfect and we feel really, really blessed. He was bigger than Eli but smaller than Emme at 9lbs. 3oz. We just love our big boy and he's doing great. Here are some pictures in random order.

The proud big brother and big sister.

The proud mom.

The proud dad.

New baby.

Right before we left for the hospital.

Henry at 1 week old.

The best buddies.

We've got news! (just in case you haven't heard)

2010-10-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

We're having baby number 3 and it's gonna be a boy. We're so, so excited. He's due on March 5. And here's a couple of random pictures from Eli's first day of preschool back in September because I forgot to post them. (The ultrasound pictures of the baby weren't all that exciting.:)

Aloha...from Southern CA -- Parte Uno

2010-06-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

We were in Southern California a couple of weeks ago for many festivities. The main event was Nick and Ashley's wedding (Matt's brother)....more to come on that later. Anyway, we had a fab time as always and here are some pics. They are in no particular order because I have no idea how to use blogger and so my pictures never upload the way I planned.

Emmeline beaching it up...

His name is Elijah.

Emmeline getting a little lesson on how it's done by no other than the pro golfer of the family. :)

Upated family pic...we've had worse.

Two of us will float and one of us will not...

And that's my dear old Dad...we had a little time admist the Faas festivities to pay him a little visit on San Diego harbor one morning.

Emme with her new Woody doll she couldn't live without after a long day at Disneyland...the next day of course, he was old news.

With the Mouse himself.

Eli with his two favorite movie stars.

A lot of my pictures with the kids went like this that day.

If they could just start that rocket sooner, we'd have a happy baby girl.

Emme could not get enough of the oversized characters. She would cry when it wasn't her turn. Pretty cute actually.

So that's a sampling of our trip...more to come later. Hopefully before Christmas. :)

March Madness and Easter

2010-04-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Matt and I both went to BYU so when BYU makes it into some sort of tournament, we become fans for the day, which is usually the duration of BYU in such tournaments. Luckily for us this year, we were able to watch 2 nail biters. And yet, after they lose, each year we swear that we will no longer root for teams that never, ever win. We say we're going to become Duke, Colts, and Yankees fans. But somehow, each year, we're pulled back to the teams in our hearts. But why we even bother with the Suns, I'll never know. Can someone just tell me if they will ever win a championship? Go Lakers!

Anyway, I digress. Back to the pictures. We proudly wore our BYU blue during BYU's last basketball game and we have family pictures to prove it!

Eli with his new favorite toy, the Walmart $2.95 salad spinner. It's good for spinning lettuce too.

Yep, there we are. Rise and shout, the cougars are out! Even though my sweatshirt isn't striped, I was the only one wearing "official" BYU gear. Go me.

There's Emmel, cheering on the cougs to their defeat. We did our best.

New day, Eli playing with trucks of course.

Our crazy girl.

Her new favorite thing is to climb in her doll stroller. She gets really upset when I try to tell her she's too big and take her out.

Coloring eggs for Easter...what a guy!

The hunt. I must say, I love Easter morning in AZ. The weather never disappoints...perfect for being outside. And Eli LOVED finding all the eggs.

I just love the way she furrows her brows. I just think it's so cute.

Cute crazy girl...with a little residue from the dirt she just ate. I thought she'd be done with the "put everything in your mouth" stage by now.

A picture together...these are hard to get. Gotta love them when you get them.

Unders

2010-02-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

"Unders" or underwear are this boy's pant of choice. Bum rag flying, running in unders...this pretty much says it all. Happy almost-spring!

Belated Christmas

2010-02-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Here are a few belated Christmas pics. This was Christmas Eve at my parents house which is always fun.

Cute Emme girl.

Shepherd with a shaver...he was shaving during pretty much the whole program...or playing with cars (see below). What can I say.

She was very adamant in showing us she was no angel as she ripped off her crown.

Suits

2010-01-25T11:14:00.001-08:00

So, the Dillards clearance outlet was having an AMAZING suit sale at the end of December and well, pretty much the whole family cashed in. How could we not? Basement bargain prices simply cannot be missed...whether you need at suit or not. :) So Matt and I and the kids got there after Matt got home from work. Because we can never make up our minds about anything, we ended up staying for quite awhile. While we were there, in walks Blain and his family, then we spotted Todd and Christin, and last but not least, my Dad and Mom. Suits for all and all for suits! And in the spirit of brotherhood, manhood, and suits, Buddy (who had been earlier that day with Todd and Dad), Todd, and Matt all ended up with one of the same suits. I'm just hoping there will someday be a family occasion where they can all match, :) but for now, Buddy and Matt humored me and suited up for a fantastic photo op. What a sight!

Because I love blue

2009-11-08T21:52:00.001-08:00

And because I love this picture. And because I love swings and my most favorite swing in the world is this one that overlooks the ocean. And of course, because I love Emmels. :)

Pumpkins a Plenty

2009-11-02T10:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween!!! We had a great one and hope you did too. Here are some pics from the season.....

The kids and Grumpy. This year we had a ladybug princess (half ladybug/half princess) and cute little clown respectively. The clown suit is the same one my mom made for me and I wore when I was 3. I thought the Beagle looked pretty cute in it.
Halloween party at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Misty's with all the cousins.

There she is...our big one year old. Pics of her b-day to come soon.

Trick or treating in the Bob...it worked out great. This was our first time trick or treating with our kids and we had a great time.

Emmeline.

Our little ladybug princess trick or treating with Daddy.

Carving the pumpkin...and very serious about success.

Los dos ninos juntos.

In her pre trick or treating Halloween attire. A girl's gotta have something appropriate for all occasions right?

And last but not least, Our cute Emmies in a pumpkin patch in Del Mar, CA. I'll post the rest of our San Diego trip pictures soon....

I love fall. :)

Pre-Memorial Day Miracle...Two Posts, One Day

2009-05-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

Call it what you will but I'm pretty sure this is some sort of record for myself...two posts in one day. But this, my friends, is another long pictoral post. Sorry if those bore you...just catching up. Maybe someday I'll tap into my vast wisdom and wit and post something with more words than pictures. :) We'll see I guess.

Well, here is Eli being a goofball and Emmeline looking confused. The norm. Poor Emme. If she can survive Eli, she's sure to be a strong woman.
The great balloon chasers. The Beagle's (Eli) favorite pastime is to look at hot air balloons. Grandpa Larry took us to see one being blown up in San Diego. The other cute kid on the left is Matt's little cousin Zack. We went to San Diego to celebrate April 15.

The buddies.

Eli at minature golf in San Diego.

Grandpa Larry and Uncle Andrew were really excited to get a picture of Emme's first pizza at Matt's favorite restaurant, Fillipi's. Funny.

Eli with his newfound love for collecting shells. He lines them up all over our house.

You know how you have those favorite pictures of your kids? This is one of mine.

My babies. :)

Sweets, Eli, and Daddy at the beach in San Diego.

Cute as a bug. :)

Easter suits. I'm sure glad I got this picture because about one hour after that was taken, Eli threw up all over his suit and had a bad case of the flu for the next week.

Easter party and Grammy and Grumpy's house. It was COLD and RAINY. So weird for April. Kind of fun though.

Emmeline in her Easter dress.

Easter basket time!

Another one of my favorite pictures. I feel like I captured Eli's face at the perfect moment. He loves the tramp.

Say "cheese." That's his say cheese face.

MMMM. In n Out. And Grandma Bear taught Eli how to stick stickers all over his forehead. He thought that was great. Grandma and Andrew came for about a week to Arizona to visit for spring break.

Coloring Easter eggs.

Grandma and Emme.

The buddies again. Eli's favorite pose with Emmeline. "By Emme" he always says.

Matt and I have a hobby of taking pictures of our favorite truck arrangements by Eli. This was one. They are all over the house everyday.

Emme's first swim outing of the season. We went to a heated pool in April.

Grabbing toes. One of my favorite phases.

I fired up and bought a giant bucket of wheat at Costco and made homemade bread. I've made it once before and it didn't turn out very good. But this batch was quite tasty if I do say so myself. Matt thought so too.

There's fluffy.

Our sweets.

Fresh from the bath. Love that clean baby smell. Nothing like it in the world.

Sucking her thumb...that phase didn't last long though.

The buddies, again.

And again.

Eli being naughty by getting in Emme's jumper.

Well, I guess that's it for this post. The pictures were in a random order but I'm still figuring out how to best post pictures on here. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. :)

Looking Back...

2009-05-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

I was just looking through these pictures and thought I'd post some of them.

Tired out cookie baker. Of course this is pre 2009...note the passy.
Emmeline on her blessing day....I can't believe she is almost 7 mo. already! My Grandmother Cardon made those booties and blanket before she passed away.

Looking awefully cute in some Christmas attire.

I think this was Emmels first day of church at the end of November...I'm not gonna lie, I rather enjoy fluffing her up. :)

Just cute.

Eli getting ready to board Grumpy's Polar Express Choo Choo Bus. A very fun Thanksgiving night tradition.

Daddy and the children on Thanksgiving. Sporting "the browns" in honor of Turkey Day and fall of course.

At Long Last.....

2009-03-02T08:53:00.001-08:00

Finally, I've gotten around to posting pictures....it's a much needed update to our recently updated family. Our sweet Emmeline is now 4 months and we love having this little girl in our family. These pics go way back to Christmastime. Maybe I'll do a throw back to Thanksgiving in the near future, but don't hold your breath. :) Enjoy!

Our Sweet Emmels.

Daddy and his loyal buddy doing a little fertilizing.

Eli went from hating pictures in December to wanting to pose for everything...as long as Emme was in it with him.

One of my favorites of Emmies...love that cute girl! I just want to squeeze her.

Just before church a couple of weeks ago...I love matching my kids for church...I'm such a nerd.

Another cute one.

This is Eli fulfilling a lifelong dream of being on a construction grader. We found this one in our church parking lot...they are building softball fields next to it.

A five generation picture (minus Grandpa Larry). It's Matt's Great Grandma Aprato, Matt's Grandma Faas, and the two kids.

Our little cupcake girl. (There's cupcakes all over her little dress and tights... courtesy of Grandma Patti. ) :)

Barry's half birthday celebration on Jan. 13. Growing up I always celebrated my half birthday because my real one was on Christmas Eve. June 24 was a much better date to celebrate with friends. So in keeping with the half birthday tradition, of course we had to have a little celebration for Eli on his half day as well. I got the idea of making a half of a cake from my friend Allison. Eli's cake was made to order...a green cake (food coloring in a white cake mix) with green polka dots. He loved it and still talks about it.

Just looking around...

Sadly, this picture more accurately depicts the norm at our house better than all of these other cute ones I have posted. Eli's nickname "Beagle" couldn't be more fitting this that diaper rag in his mouth.

Eli on his first "alligator" ride in the mall. Gotta love the cheap thrills.

Dad always has the best ideas...putting Emme in Eli's dumper. Of course Eli was all over that idea and wants to do it often.

Christmas morning...typical Eli fashion...stashing any and all loot in his dump trucks.

Reluctant Christmas morning picture in matching jammies.

How could we not get a picture of Emme's cute ruffle bum?

Emme and her nearly twin cousin Baby Paul. Well, we can certainly tell who the good baby is in this picture.

All the kids posing with their matching Christmas jammies from Grammy and Grumpy. A very fun tradition and the kids always look so cute in them.

Emme made a very good Baby Jesus. Here she is with cute cousing Megan.

Matt and the kids.

Making Christmas Coo Coos. Love the cigar pose with the pacifier. Happily, that thing had it's last run on Dec. 31, 2008. Eli conveniently lost it at Souplantation (his favorite restaurant) and he hasn't used it since.

Our little reindeer.

Eli's first pony ride at the Cardon family Christmas party.

Just taking a little snooze in Emme's bouncy seat...a no no but I couldn't resist the picture. He's just so relaxed.

Free Denny's?!

2009-02-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

The thought of a free breakfast caught my eye today so at about 10:00am I loaded up the children (all two of them) and headed to see if we couldn't get our hands on some free pancakes. Eli was actually excited about the idea and so I decided to give it a shot. Well, the lines were ridiculous (I even went to two different ones). Moral of the story... free = many, many, many, many people who had the same idea as you. I should have learned from my outings to free Ben and Jerry's ice cream days back in the good ol' District of Columbia.

My blog has been dead for about 6 months now but I hope to change that. I'll be getting some pictures of Emmeline up soon...that is, when I get my computer cleaned off enough so that I actually have some space to dowload pictures...I don't even have Christmas on here yet. We hope to get a new computer sometime soon as well but that will all depend on the "next great deal." (We missed a great deal about 2 weeks ago.) But, one of my life's mantras is "there's always another great deal around the corner" and it's oh so true. So, I'm never too nervous when I miss something. Anyway, I'll be posting again soon so stay tuned......

Summertime

2008-07-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love the summertime. :) Well, here goes another gigantic post. This one has pictures from April to July. I will start with the most recent things we've done and go from there. It's been a great summer so far and we're glad it's not over yet.

Last week, we were at the ranch. The weather was beautiful and Eli is the perfect age to love every second of it. Here are a few pictures from that. First, is this one on our last day...Eli was exhausted. He always falls asleep on Ranger rides. It's hard to be a baby and be driven around in a jeep in the woods. :)

We saw the most gorgeous sunset while we were there. The pictures come close to doing it justice. Here is the token self family portrait.

This is my favorite picture though.

Eli entered his first beauty contest while at the ranch. His girl cousins (Abby and Allie) put it together and it was a lot of fun. Eli won for best talent which was jumping up and down.

You have not lived until you have experienced the Snowflake Pioneer Day parade. Matt said he refuses to ever miss one. This year was our first and it was really something. Complete with fashion shows on floats from the local boutique and flying candy aimed for your head (not intentionally of course....or was it?). It was great fun. Here is Eli on Grammy's lap. He loved it.

Eli got a tricycle for his 2nd birthday which he is getting close to riding by himself. He looks so cute and little boyish on it.

Posing with his stash of presents.

His birthday party with all of his Trendler cousins.

A close up of my cake masterpiece. All he wanted was a "truckie" cake. I think I delivered pretty well if I do say so myself. :) I must give a shoutout to Matt for helping with the design and color scheme. We had fun putting this together for our little Elijahbarry.

So happy to finally have his truckie cake.

Just looking cute in San Diego. We went there for the 4th of July.

Dad and mini-dad reading Dad's and Eli's favorite book. They have matching outfits of course.

Watching fireworks on Grumpy's (Grandpa T) dingy in San Diego Harbour. I must say, Eli has quite the life....

Waving, a little nervously, to Grammy who we left behind on the sailboat.

On Memorial Day weekend, it was unseasonably cool, so we celebrated by being outside and went down the street to this little pond/lake thing where they have ducks.

Grandma Patti with Eli in San Diego...we had gone there in May for Matt's brother's graduation.

Eli and Grandpa looking at Eli's favorite thing about San Diego...watching hot air balloons at night.

Watching all the balloons. They come really close to the Faas' house somtimes.

At the beach...

Getting ready to get on the plane.

Daddy and Eli looking at the planes in Phoenix getting ready to go to San Diego.

Just cute.

Earlier in May, the Faas' also cam to visit us at our house. We had a fabulous time and Eli loved them being on his turf. Here is Eli and Grandpa.

Sometimes Eli comes out wearing Mommy's cherry red heels. Of all the shoes I have, he of course picks these ones. Pretty funny.

We also went to San Diego to celebrate being done with Matt's April 15th deadline. A welcome break! This is on the sky ride at the San Diego zoo.

A little camera shy with his glasses....

Newsflash -- It's a Lady Baby

2008-05-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

We interupt the 24/7 Eli nature of this blog to announce that another little person will be joining our little family come October 27. Some of you who read this blog know that I am pregnant and some of you do not. So I guess this first order of business is to announce that I am indeed pregenant with #2. The second would be to announce that we are having a baby girl!!! We're so excited for our little girl and we think Eli will make a great big brother. Here are the token ultra sound pictures we got today. Personally, I think the 3-D ones can look a little weird and blobby but it is cool to see. And the last picture is the traditional two dimentional profile. Anyway, it's great news and mostly we feel blessed that so far she looks normal and healthy. Oh my, so much shopping to do. :) Bring on the pink!!!

The Wait is Over -- Easter Eggstravaganza Time!!!

2008-04-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

Every year my parents throw an Easter party for all of the extended family the Saturday before Easter. The kids love it and it's always a fun time to catch up with everyone. Here, Eli is with cousin Sydney in Grandpa T's tractor train.
Eli is a pretty popular guy and made a couple of new friends at the party. Sports fans, you recognize these two? :)

Chewing on a celery stick....mmmmmm.

Only a grandma would share a water bottle with an almost 2 year old. The mom even has her reservations.

Grandpa and Barry. Grandpa tried to help Barry get some candy during the candy "hunt." Notice the "Cup o' Gold" in the bag. According to Dad, that was the good stuff. I'm more of a Twix kind of girl.

More candy hunting.

Barry got to open Easter gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Faas before the Easter Bunny came. He LOVES his new Cars back pack.

We all know Matt is a man of many talents. Chalk up tractor-train driver to the list. Pretty much Eli was having his own private Disneyland in my parent's back yard. Lucky son of a gun.

What a nice boy in his Easter church clothes.

Eli's new favorite thing is to bend and smell flowers....doesn't matter if they are on TV, on a shirt, or planted in the dirt. He smells them. So funny.

Grandpa was swinging Eli outside and he quite enjoyed it.

Eli and Matt before church.

Hunting for eggs in our backyard Easter morning. Eli loved it and totally caught on. It was fun to watch him get so excited to find an egg.

Making sure he found all 12.

The Easter Bunny loot. The plastic eggs are empty...shhhhh. Eli didn't care...he just loved opening and shutting them.

So happy to have a lawn mower just like Daddy.

Ooooing and awwwwwing.

Welp, that's all kids. Yet another ode to the famous Elijah Barry Faas through pictures. What can I say? We love that guy!

Potpourri (a Jeopardy reference, of course)

2008-04-02T11:12:00.001-07:00

I was working on something and I looked up and saw this. I just busted up. Not one, but two passeys. Apparently, getting him off one is going to be harder than I thought.

This picture just makes me happy.

As does this one...so cute.

Sometimes our small baby likes to relive the good ol' days and take a little swing ride.

One of my all time favorite pictures of Eli. I love his smile in this one.

Helping Dad with a little spring sprucing in the backyard. Matt is just counting down the days until Eli can mow the lawn.

More helping.

What a good weed puller! Unfortunately, he was so good he pulled out a nice chunk of my tomato plant the other day.

A little outing in January to see the world's tallest fountain in Fountain Hills, AZ. Are you jealous?

UP NEXT: It's an Easter Eggstravaganza...look for the new posting coming soon....

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year -- Christmas 2007 Highlights....Finally!

2008-02-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is a rather large posting. What can I say? Christmastime equals lots of activities and lots of pictures. Which is why it's one of my most favorite times of the year! Shall we begin? We kicked of the Christmas season with a couple of trips to the Mesa Temple to see Christmas lights. The boy LOVED it...which is why we went more than once.

Just trying to hop in the picture. Gotta love the self portraits.
Trip #2 to see the lights with the Trendler clan.

Spaghetti and hot dogs are Eli's favorite foods...here, eating the former.

He's just a tiny baby!!!

Playing outside in his playhouse....another favorite.

Getting to help the mom make Christmas sugar cookies.

Obviously his bath happened between making the dough and cutting them out.

Before heading down to San Diego for Christmas, we took a little detour to Orange County and went to Disneyland for two days. It was Eli's first time going with Dad. We had a super fab time.

This is me pointing to the Mom and Dad Trendler's Disneyland tile outside of the entrance....Dad was actually at Disneyland on opening day. We've been a Disneyland loving family ever since....and I'm so glad I married into another Disneyland loving family. It truly is a small world after all. :) Ha ha!

Pointing of course in line at the rockets.

Wooo hooo! Rocket ride!

Happy as a clam.

"Just give me the wheel and no one gets hurt." No Beth, he didn't actually say it, that's just what we think he was saying in his head.

Needless to say, it was a VERY tight squeeze....a lot of beef and not a lot of front seat...but great fun nonetheless. :)

Eli actually wore that hat for part of the time when it was cold. Just one of many Christmas miracles.

Eli's first set of ears which he wore for maybe .000000000001 seconds if that even counts as wearing them. Again, reiterating the fact that the above picture was a miracle. As for the ears, they hang proudly in his room...maybe never to be worn again.

Autopia again...Eli can barely see...cracks me up.

This picture cracks me up even more because you can barely see that Eli is even in the car. Must have been a nice view for him.

Just happy to be walking around a bit. We had just left the haunted mansion which didn't scare him at all...pretty funny.

Small World, of course.

Moving on to Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Faas' house. All decked out in the Christmas sunday attire. Eli may have stolen his velvet overalls from Santa. But they were oh so cute!:)

Favorite Uncle Andrew

At a park in Del Mar on Christmas Eve. It was a BEAUTIFUL day.

That's a pretty nice shadow stripe on my face, don't you think?

Looking a lot like John Travolta in Grease.

Is that a cool looking dad or what? I can't speak for Eli but I'm pretty happy with him. :)

"Helping" with the traditional Faas family bingo game on Christmas Eve.

Mine and Andrew's second bi-annual Christmas duet showdown. I play the easy parts. :)
Eli's new found love for doggies.

The "spread."

Lots of cars. Perfect.

Ewwwwing and Oooooooohing

Sheer delight.

Buttons? Count Eli in.

After Christmas we went the S.D. Wild Animal Park again. Always a good time.

Eli's first "snow." They had a little patch of snow/ice for the kids to play in.

Christmas#2...as if we needed one. But we ended up having a little Christmas at our house when we got home because we left most of our presents in AZ.

"Spread" #2 which inclued a myriad of used gifts from Blain and Heather. I'm a big, big fan of the recycle gifts program. Thanks guys!

The Cozy Coupe....an American classic.

Don't even worry about the pink stroller in the background. All you need to know is that it was free and that is was something for Eli to push. No dollies included. :)

Our new favorite game. We both enjoy food and I especially enjoy the food network so it was a perfect gift. And the fact that Matt has been calling Eli's food "foodies" ever since he was born.

Uncle Buddy and Aunt Toria gave Eli this very fashionable t-shirt..so here's a shout out to you guys!

We went to McCormick Train Park. Eli woudn't look at the camera because of the large train in the background. Much more exciting than Mom's musings to make him smile.

On the train that goes around the park.

Well, I think that about does it for the longest post in the world. I don't post often but when I do, man, they're long. :) Hopefully 2008 will be better for shorter posts more often. We'll have to see about that. Either way, that wraps it up for a wonderful 2007. Onward and upward!

All the highlights up thru Turkey Day....

2008-01-11T16:17:00.000-08:00

So, on with October. During the last week in October, Eli got his first big boy hair cut. I must admit, I was pretty sad to say goodbye to the curls but I knew it had to be done. Matt was thrilled with the new do.

These are two of my favorite picture of Eli. He was experiencing pure bliss riding in this little car. We were at a party for Matt's work.Caught in the act of saying his favorite word..."ooooo." I think he has a vocabulary of at least a 1000 words...they just all come out sounding the same.

Halloween night. We were all very sick with colds. It was all we could do to carve the pumpkin we had already bought and take this picture at my insistance. Eli will have to learn the ins and outs of trick-or-treating next year.

A nice place to nap when it's toasty outside...and believe me, AZ was still toasty that day...even after Halloween!

Our bi-annual Thanksgiving golfing trip with the Trendlers. Eli loved the whole thing...he just sat in his stoller during all 9 holes! And yes we have a double jogging stroller (which I love by the way)....I've had it for a year. No announcements...just practical about planning ahead. :)

How many people can say they've golfed like this before?!

Uncle Chris and our little caddy. It really convenient to give Barry the clubs. He's training for when Matt makes it into the PGA.

"Finally, I get to run around!"

Holding his golden ticket to Grandpa T's Polar Express Bus for Thanksgiving Night. A fun tradition.

Almost asleep with Grandma on the bus.

How could be forget the very happy conductor? Nice Chris.

I'm pretty sure in addition to being a pro golfer and Noble Peace Prize winner, Eli will also be a concert pianist. Just look at the concentration. Brilliant.

Just taking a little peek over the edge in his new ultra deluxe, super duper, red wagon from Grandma and Grandpa Faas. Eli loves it.

Matt and little Matt. Of course they have matching shirts.

Just getting a little reading in before his nap. Cute boy!

I refuse to skip over the holidays...

2008-01-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't blogged in quite sometime, I was going to just start with the new year. But my good conscience wouldn't let me disappoint all of you faasfam blog fans out there by merely skipping over the rest of October, November, and December. (Gasp) That would be an utter travesty. So, by popular demand, I am picking up where I left off....

(There may or may not be a faasfam blog fan club. I know for sure that my mom checks on our blog when I tell her too. I guess that makes her president.)

The first wonderful thing that I would like to share is that I finally finished Eli's room in October. Many months of bargain shopping later, it was finally done. I wish I had before pictures. When we moved in, the walls were painted beige and that's it. We did all the rest, with the help of my brother Tim who helped us do all the chair rail. I'm going to brag because this is my blog and say that I'm really proud because I've never really decorated anything before. Next project: the rest of the house. Maybe I'll have everything done before we move out. :) That's all.

Holy cow, lots of stuff from October...

2007-11-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Matt's brother, Nick, to get home off his mission in Argentina at the SD airport. Very exciting!
Eli with favorite Uncle Andrew

Barry and Grandpa Faas

Shoulder ride time.

The "men."

"Oh, the fam!" This must be Dorothy, Bill, and little Joey.

Yee haw! This is Eli's most favorite thing to do...drive cars. Matt thinks Barry looks like a crazy man in this picture. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.The fam again, the extended Faas version. Which camera are we supposed to be looking at again?

Uncle Nick and the two babies.

Barry is about twice Lukie's size...I guess that's okay because he's about twice Lukie's age too.:)

On our way into the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

"Ooo." Barry's favorite thing to say about everything.

Although the quacking, pooping ducks made him a little nervous, as it did me.

That's about all we could get out of him at the petting zoo...petting with one finger only. We tried telling him the animals were "soft" but he didn't really buy it. I think he takes after Uncle Jeff's love of animals. Jeff may or may not have wanted to kill my cat when I was little. May Bob rest in peace. Meow.

Eli looking pretty enthused to be posing in the stroller with Mom.

Barry the Bumble BEE! Oh he's so cute!

We had the cousins Halloween party at Jeff and Misty's the week before Halloween. He always has to be pushing something now. But seriously, isn't he the cutest bumble bee you've ever seen?

Grams on the swing with the Bee.

On the train with Hannah Montana, aka Abigail Trendler

All aboard! Grandpa T got out his lawnmower train for the Halloween event. It made its debut last Christmas and it's been a family favorite ever since. Matt wants to know what Dad can do this year to top that.

One more quick little snooze in the cupboard. I just knew we kept the Seal-a-Meal for something! FYI, Barry sleeps at night in the cupboards now. I like it because it frees up his room for other things. Now Matt has space for that body builder gym he's always bugging me about.

New favorite place: the kitchen!

2007-10-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

You can't really tell, but Eli decided to use a silicone bundt pan as a pillow to get a little shut eye in the kitchen. Call me crazy but I've never thought of using a bundt pan as a pillow. He must be a genius!

A few weeks ago, Eli discovered the cupboard. I was in the other room and came back into the kitchen only to find Eli nowhere to be seen, but I KNEW I had left him there. Anyway, I called his name and after a few seconds, I saw two little fingers poking out from inside the cupboard and then he pushed the door open. He made himself quite the little clubhouse in there! Funny boy!

Silliness

2007-10-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

He fell asleep while eating lunch one day. Sometimes eating can wear a baby out. :)
This picture cracks me up. He just looks so funny all excited and pointing. I can't help but laugh when I look at it.

Uncle Tim loves to put Barry in high, precarious places that make his mother nervous. I guess at least he gets to live a little because of it. I don't know, maybe we should keep Eli there as a permanent decorative fixture. He looks pretty good up there don't you think?

Babies are always so sweet when they are sleeping. Eli's new favorite place to fall asleep is the couch.

Sometimes when I walk in rooms, I see a baby somewhere he shouldn't be. This time he was on the coffee table and look how proud he is!

Again, showing his proudness of conquering Mount Table.

Sittin' in a cubby, playing with a firetruck.

I just love that silly smile with those 7 teeth.

Reaching on the very tips of his toes for the diaper bag....

"Oh, hey, is that a camera you're holding? Why, of course I'll smile!"

Next stop, DISNEYLAND!

2007-09-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ready to pre-board on Eli's very first airplane ride to San Diego. He's a very good traveler.

Checking out take off right before falling asleep. He slept the whole way both there and back. What a good boy!

Caught in the act of getting into Grandma Fazes (seriously, how do you spell Faas with an 's?) desk drawer...he looks a little guilty don't you think? But too cute in his red shoes. And speaking of the red shoes, you would think he could walk because he is wearing shoes but to dispell any rumors, I'll let you all know that he can't. :)

So, I was trying to give Eli a little pep talk about the thrills and wonders of what was to come on our adventure to the Happiest Place on Earth. I think it was working....maybe. I can't speak for Eli, but I was pretty excited to go.

Riding with Grandma on the tram to the park.

The first thing we did when we got in was sit on Main Street and feed Barry. He was quite impressed with the birds.

Getting ready for take off aboard the flying elephant. I hadn't been on this ride since I was a kid. I loved seeing Barry have fun.

At the control...his favorite place to be!

It's a small world after all. Barry was a big fan of the singing child robots. I'm not going to lie, it's always been one of my favorites too.

Mr. Toad's was Eli's favorite "ride" even though the car was just a stationary picture op. He LOVED driving though. Too bad he was too small to go on Autopia.

Grandma Faas making sure Barry drives safely.

More of Mr. Toad's car

What a fun day! I borrowed this hat from the store for a picture...as you can see, it's probably good we didn't buy it because he was already in the process of taking it off. He's such a cute little mouseketeer!

Reading with Uncle Andrew on Sunday afternoon...Eli loved Andrew and he was an excellent babysitter!

Roarin' Ranch Fun

2007-09-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile. These pictures are from August. More from our latest trip to San Diego will be coming soon!!!

Getting ready for a ranger ride with Grandpa T.

Having a little snack in Mom's old high chair...those might be Mom's old cheerios too. Just kidding. :)

High in the sky on the pully swing. Is that Eli up there?!?

He fell asleep as we were driving on a trail. Ten minutes on the bumpy dirt roads is always a sure fire sedative for Barry. Also, notice the hair....pretty funny. And no, it doesn't need to be cut.

Driving the ranger at the ranch with Dad. He LOVES cars and LOVES driving. Eli, that is.

Just hangin' out in a basket. Very normal.

Bad hair day. :)

Just getting ready to sit down, relax, and watch a little teley. Eli loves to sit and climb (mostly) all over the couches now.

More pictures from July

2007-08-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a little "before" shot of Eli in his bouncy seat. He about 1 or 2 months old here.

Here is Eli in the tub. He loves his baths.

Here is the "after" shot. He's such a tiny baby!!!

Either he was about to sneeze or this was his reaction to the gerber pureed version of mac and cheese...not sure which. Both faces are the same.

Again, what a small baby.

Proudly showing off his full tum-tum.

Revving up the ATC. Ready to roll. Matt tells me his mom will love this picture and can't wait for Eli to ride motorcycles. :)

Getting ready for a family trail ride.

Me and my baby! Love it!

2007-08-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

It's the fam! None of us are looking at the camera but that's the best we've got.

2007-08-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Pointing to everything at LegoLand. We had a lot of fun.

2007-08-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Lots of kids, balloons, and fun.

2007-08-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

No birthday is complete without pin the tail on the donkey of course.

2007-08-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever seen a one year old with so many cakes...I guess the mom overdid it. But boy, were those good cakes! :) (Seriously, when am I going to open up my bakery?)

2007-08-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Watching 4th of July fireworks on San Diego Bay.

2007-08-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a cuter face?! Not mine, his. :)

2007-08-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Steering the sailboat is the most fun though.

2007-08-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

At the control center of Grandpa's sailboat...his favorite place to be!

2007-08-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Posing by the giraffe at San Diego Zoo. He liked giraffes because they were big enough he could actually pick them out from all of the trees and bushes.

2007-08-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Eli checking out the telescope at Seaport Village in July.

Herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre's Barry!

2007-06-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend in Del Mar. So fun!

We're trendy bloggers!

2007-02-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new little website. Honestly, we couldn't be happier to join the new wave of technology and blogging. We've finally arrived.

We hope this will be a crossroads for friends and family to get updated on the Matt and Jennifer Faas family. I'm sure all those who know us will be feverishly checking this website everyday for updates. We'll do our best to keep everyone abreast of the fun happenings in our lives.

ENJOY!