"oh..maybe, YEAH I see it! there is definitely CHRISTMAS CHEER on that face!

We spent christmas 2006 in New Bedford with mom and dad Mendes, and had a blast. We all got together for a christmas eve dinner the night before and were entertained by the Francesca and Carson's antics together, followed by Carson's impromptu dance performance to Nathan's cell phone ring... good times over all. we all spent the night and then opened presents together with Rachael - here in the picture, Jeff her fiancee, Natalie, Micah and Mom and Dad. There was an unbelievably large pile of presents spilling out from under the tree, and lots of laughs while Logan learned how to rip open the paper, and when Carson finally got his "Diego rescue pack" "with absolutely everything with it!!" -the toy he had spied earlier Sunday morning in our room, and couldn't wait to play with. Both the gifts he had opened on christmas eve were proceeded by "is it Diego??" and followed with a disappointed "thanks... but can I open another one??? Maybe Diego!!"

the kids in their new PJs counting down the seconds until picture time is over and play time starts!

Aunt Natalie with the boys on Christmas morning. it was hard getting them to pose, they were so excited to play with all the presents they had just opened!

Carson's birthday

Carson was so excited to have a party and invite all his friends over for it- he was asking me for the whole week prior to his party if he should call his friends yet and see if they wanted to come. We ended up having mostly family, Francesca, Dahlia, Micah, along with his grandparents, Aunt Cynthia, Aunt Rachael and Uncle Jeff. We also had some friends over, Alexandra and Gabriella, and Asa as well. We had a good time together, especially opening the presents. Carson was so excited about just having a party that he had forgotten that there are presents at birthday parties. So when he got to start opening presents he was so much more excited- presents on top of everything else a birthday brings? He's asked to have another birthday every month since.

Heres the cake and a few of us waiting for it

Carson and Francesca in the explorer tent that Aunt Rachael and Uncle Jeff gave him, which included his magnifying glass, a matching backpack, a matching sleeping bag, water bottle and binoculars. they had so much fun in this tent that night that Francesca didn't want to leave, and Carson wanted to sleep in it. Just wait until our first outdoor camping trip when the boys can both sleep in there!!

Logan's 1st birthday

Happy Birthday to ME!!

We had some friends and lots of family over to celebrate Logan's first birthday. We had a great time, especially when he got to blow out the candle. We had to re-light it two times because Carson kept beating him to the punch!

I finally got that dang candle!!

Asa and Carson being their typical clown selves at a party at our place... if you look closely in the background you'll see twins Nathan and Natalie beating each other up too! nothing much has changed in the past 23 years it seems... good times-except that Natalie felt like she was hit by a Mack truck the next day- yeah they both play for keeps!! its a good thing that you both understand each other - some expressions of love are harder to distinguish than others I guess!!