Christmas 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

All things Halloween

Mom's B-day/Michelle's visit

Leslie's Big Surprise

Leslie's Surprise Party

ShannaBanana

Double Digits

Happy 10th Birthday to Jenna. Jenna had a birthday sleepover party with a few of her friends that started at 5pm on Saturday, August 1st and went until noon on August 2nd. But it took us until August 3rd before we got to her cake. We love you lots Jenna!

Happy Dirt Day

Today was Shanna's 2nd birthday. She calls birthdays "dirt days". We took her to Lil Biggs for some toddler fun. We love you lots Shanna. Happy Dirt Day!

Special visits

Today we had lunch with Grandma Jackson, who Shanna gets her middle name Belle from, and Uncle Gerry and Aunt Carole. Grandma made her yummy spaghetti. We then had dinner back with Grammie and Pop and the Hay family. Pop made meatloaf (Shawn's favorite) and spicy mac-n-cheese, the kids loved it. There are several pictures of Pop pulling the kids toes, which has been a long standing tradition with all of the kids. (Jenna loves having her toes pulled.)

Jesse's 12th Birthday at Disneyland

We were able to visit Disneyland for Jesse's birthday thanks to Grammie and Pop's generous gift. We spent over 12 hours there and stayed for the fireworks. Special thanks to the Hays, the Rowleys and Michelle for gift cards/cash for the kids to buy their hats, and souveniers. Auntie M was even able to join us for the day. The kids loved spending time with Michelle.

At the park with the Rowleys

Beach Day with the Rowleys

Everyone enjoyed a sunny day at Bolsa Chica Beach, CA.

Sunday BBQ at the Hays

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the 4th of July in California and watched the annual SCV parade and viewed the fireworks from the mall parking lot.

California Vacation - July 3

Visit to Grammie and Pop's and a visit to their cabin. Pop planted a tree for Shanna. Jesse and Jenna got their pictures taken with their trees too. Lots of fun feeding the birds off of the cabin deck.

A visit at Todd & Leslie's to see cousin Vicki & Aaron

Jesse graduates elementary school!

We are so proud that our son Jesse graduated elementary school today. He also received the Outstanding Student award for Originality and Creativity in Art. (He must take after his Grammie.) We love you Jesse.

Robin's Nest

Sweet robin on our front porch made a nest on the light. It was so cool to see the blue eggs!

Duck Pond

Today we took a walk to a duck pond that is only about a mile away from our house. We couldn't believe we hadn't visited it before.

Glo-sticks & Hot chocolate

We took 10 neighborhood kids to see the Stargaze and Balloon Glo at their elementary school, however, due to the wind and cloud coverage the main event was cancelled - so we made the best of it with hot chocolate and glo-sticks. Let me also mention that it's a 3 mile walk roundtrip and the girls were all wearing their pajamas. You will notice in the pictures that they are laying down - they made up a game to all lay down whenever they saw a car approach, it was kind of funny and looked hilarious. I think they enjoyed the walk the most!

Happy Mother's Day!

Party of 15 and lunch at Mimi's cafe is where we spent Mother's Day. Shawn received cards, gift cards, flowers and a beautiful watch.

Jenna made a collection of poems for Shawn.
Here are a few of them:

All original poems by Jenna Dahlberg, age 9

*Haiku*
My mother is smart.
She is protective, also beautiful.

*Self Portrait*
My hair is like caramel beating under the sun.
My eyes are like Hershey's chocolate.
My lungs are as strong as a bull.
My nose is a slide in the park.
My heart holds caring, that is purple as plums.
I live in a gingerbread house and eat the candy.


*Quiet Poem*
My baby sister sleeping in her crib
Snow falling in the cold winter
Silently reading in a corner
Listening to the wind when no one is outside
Ending with the silence with me sleeping at night

*Loud Poem*
My baby sister crying when Jesse took her doll
My dad snoring at night
My friends playing outside
The TV in the afternoon
Me playing basketball in the gym


*The rainy day*
The day is all kinds of wonderful drinks
and filled with a bbq with ribs and steak
it is awesome.


*Inside this ball*
Inside this ball is little mini people
Bouncing up and down
Saying "higher, higher"
Waiting to burst out
This ball has been on many adventures
and many more to come.


*The animal in me*
There is a lion in me, with fur like a winter coat
and eyes like diamonds.
It roars like a screaming man,
it creeps like a lady bug.
It lives in my legs and makes me jump so high.
It makes me want to jump to the clouds.


*I am poem*
I am a baby
I wonder if I am going to see a dog
I see cats
I want my bottle
I hear yelling

I am five
I pretend I am grown up
I feel excited
I touch skin
I worry if I am grown up
I cry to sleep

I am nine
I understand writing
I say hello
I dream to fly
I try to fly
I hope I am not hurt
I am me

More of Todd's surprise party pictures

My brother Todd's 40th surprise party

Sky Sox game

We went to a Sky Sox baseball game today. Shanna loved seeing the mascot, Sox the Fox. She kept yelling for him but has trouble prouncing the "x" in fox and pronounces it with a "k" instead. So yes, it was a little embarassing.

Spring Choir 2009

Tent Sleepover

Snow Day!

The kids had a snow day from school today. We are suppose to have a huge storm through Saturday. However, sometimes the snow flakes would come down as the big fluffy floaty kind which the kids enjoyed!

Merry Easter

I say Merry Easter because we had a white snowy Easter this year. Though we appreciate the true meaning of Easter, and the celebration of our risen Lord - we also enjoyed a few Easter egg hunts too. This was Shanna's first egg hunt, which she fully enjoyed.

Rock-a-bye baby

Good Friday!

Thank you to Grammie and Pop for the Easter package! Everyone really enjoyed opening their gifts! (Yes, we are suppose to wait until Sunday to open them, but no one could wait long enough, sorry.) Shanna had fun today making a bird in a nest using a peep and decorating a nest from a sponge cake, complete with jelly bean eggs. Everyone enjoyed eating it too! It is nice to have our Spring weather back again...you know the weather is nice when there is a crowd of kids out front.

Hi Fishies!

I thought it was funny that Shanna was waving "hi" to the little fishes inside a glass paperweight.

Fun at iT'Z!

Today we went to iT'Z Family Fun Center. It's a brand new facility that would be compared to Chuck E. Cheese but times 10. It has an all-you-can-eat buffet and unlimited video games, bowling, bumper cars, etc. They had a jumper, that Shanna was a little timid about at first, since it was her first time, but she ended up loving it, and didn't want to leave.

Spring Blizzard, March 2009

A few during and after pictures of our spring "blizzard". Jesse and Shanna enjoyed playing in the snow. The neighborhood kids built a snow brick wall, which was pretty cool.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Because it was so beautiful outside today, we decided to make a trip to the zoo. This was Shanna's first time to the zoo. Fun was had by all. Kids enjoyed taking pictures with their new camera phones. It was so cool to see the lions, tigers and lynx. Shanna liked them the most, she liked making the lion roar sound. See video below. The deer that you see at the end of the slide show were taken on the street as we were driving out of the zoo.

What does a mountain lion say?

Newest Nephew

Zane Grayson Dahlberg was born today, March 17, 2009, to Todd & Leslie Dahlberg. He weighed 7 lbs, 6 oz., 20 1/2 long. He is Todd & Leslie's fifth son. We all got to meet the newest Dahlberg, however, Shanna wasn't quite ready to have her picture taken with him yet. Jesse and Jenna really enjoyed their bonding time with their new cousin.

Spring Fling School Dance

We had a great time at the Spring Fling School Dance. We brought a few neighborhood kids with us too. Then we agreed for the neighborhood kids to spend the night afterwards. Jenna said it was the best day ever!

Jenna leads the Conga Line

Jesse enjoys the music...

Shanna loves Go, Dog. Go!

Shanna takes after her dad and sister with her love of books, especially Go, Dog. Go!

The Climber

 

Jeff had hid some candy in the kitchen cabinet. Shanna was very resourceful and figured out a way to climb up on the kitchen counter! We could hear things falling onto the floor in the kitchen but we thought it was Jesse. Nope, it was Shanna! We had to take a picture!

Shanna & Kahn

Our dog Kahn, is so good with Shanna. Shanna thought she would cover up the dog like she would her baby doll.

Chatting

Household chatting. Two conversations going on here, Jesse in the background talking about what he doesn't like about being sick and then Jeff is trying to get Shanna to say a few words. Shanna likes to tell our dog Kahn, to "Walk Away" especially while he waits patiently for a tiny morsel to fall to the floor.

Happy Birthday Pop!

The following is Shawn's small tribute to Dad...through the years.
Hope you have a great day!

Lots of Love,
Jeff & Shawn, Jesse, Jenna & Shanna

President's Day

Shawn and the kids enjoyed a walk to the park. Shanna loved the big kids slide and she enjoyed the half mile walk to the park too. Jesse and Jenna had so much fun playing with Shanna.

Jesse scores too!

Jenna scores!

First tournament game, Jenna scores two points! Two more games to go for Jenna and hopefully we get some good shots of Jesse too, he has at least three games today. More to come...

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

We love you and hope you have a great day! Shawn & Jeff, Jesse, Jenna & Shanna

Snuggies

We got snuggies! The kids love them.

Whit's End

We went to our nephew's b-day party today at Whit's End. We enjoyed playing with Shanna in the toddler room.