Evelyn's 5th Birthday!

As most of you know Evelyn turned 5 this year!  

For her birthday on January 27th we celebrated by...

First, making a surprise stop at the HDM office where the team wished her a Happy Birthday!

Evelyn with HDM Editor/ adopted Aunt Kim.

Her preschool class went on a field trip to Rusty's Pizza Parlor where they got a behind the scenes look at how the pizza is made!

They each got to feel the dough and watch as a staff member kneaded and prepared the crust.

They even got to make their own personal pizzas!

Here they are going through the oven.

The class enjoying their pizza!  

Preston (unofficial member), Evelyn, Mia, Troy, Zane & Meghan.

I even brought cupcakes for the class.

Later that day when Andrew got home we celebrated by singing "Happy Birthday" to her and letting her blow out the candles on her princess cake!

The birthday girl with her mom!

Daddy crowned her princess for the day!

And we enjoyed some delicious chocolate cake!

Last but not least we took the kids out to Camelot or "the castle" (as the kids say) to play games followed by

Ice cream at Baskin-Robbins!

It was a GREAT day to celebrate a GREAT girl!

Happy 5th Birthday Evelyn!  We love you!

Big Kids Only Weekend

This past weekend we did what every parent should do at least once every great while.  We went on a weekend outing with our good friends and totally acted like kids again!  Our real kids, Evelyn and Preston, had a fun stay with their grandparents while Andrew, myself, Kim and Ricky took a little trip to L.A.

Our first night out we took an adventurous step back in time to experience an epic battle, a jousting tournament, a royal feast, handsome knights and a little romance, all at Medieval Times.  It was Andrew and I's first time going and it was so much fun!

 

 The excitement all started with us getting into costume and taking this wonderful little picture as a souvenir.  Wearing the outfits may have cost us a few extras bucks but the picture just wouldn't be complete without them ;)

 

We then proceeded to the Museum of Torture where we had our own private tour guide.  I would NOT suggest messing with this guy...

I also would NOT want to be stuck in one of these devices!  I couldn't believe the crazy contraptions they had to torment people in those days.  Even simply gossiping could get you in a real bind.

Man the gates!

A little pre-dinner photo op.

I may have been a little biased but we definitely got the hottest knight of all!  

 

Kim and I both got flowers from our knight!  Although I did get mine first ;)

 

The food was delicious!  I could have eaten at least 3 bowls of "Dragon Tail" soup.  No utensils necessary, of course.

 There he is, red and yellow baby!  

Our little group easily cheered the loudest in our section but in spite of that our knight was still sadly defeated.

We stayed down in L.A. overnight and the next day headed out early to "The Happiest Place on Earth"!  Somehow I only ended up with these two photos from the day but it was as always a blast!

 

My favorite ride is and forever will be Space Mountain!

For dinner we treated ourselves to dinner at the Blue Bayou which was another first for me.  I splurged and ordered the second most expensive thing on the menu and Andrew ordered the most expensive.  For the record however, it was easily the best steak and potatoes I've ever eaten it was so good.

Andrew and I on Pirates of the Caribbean.

1000 HDM fans!

Our New Little Sunbeam

 Preston went to his first day of Sunbeams today!  He was such a good boy and we're so proud of him.  Here's a video Andrew took of him after church.  Sorry about it being sideways...

 Preston sings "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam"

Fitzgerald Christmas 2010

Thanks to Evelyn the Christmas season started weeks prior to Dec. 25th when Evelyn literally begged me every single day to put up the Christmas tree.  Of course being the procrastinator that I am I kept putting it off until one day Evelyn took the initiative and decided that she was going to do it herself!  The boxed up tree had been laying on the ground in the garage since we moved in and was just waiting to be put up.  So with all her little 4 year old might she grabbed hold of the handles and single-handedly pulled it all the way into the living room!  I was super impressed and that night the kids and I set up and decorated the tree together. 

 The kids each made a wish list for Santa... Preston, having recently watched all the Star Wars movies, was pretty adamant about getting "Star Wars games & Star Wars toys".  For weeks he obsessed over "the gun guy" which I think if I remember right we figured out to be Han Solo.  Evelyn was a little more particular about what she wanted and asked for 2 dolls, Phineas and Ferb phones and a pillow pet!  Afterward, Evelyn with her kind heart decided to make a second list for things she thought the new baby would want.  She put down things like baby food, clothes and toys.  It was so sweet and was once again a reminder of just how thoughtful she is.  P.S.- I did keep their lists but at the moment I can't seem to find them.  As soon as I do however I'll be sure to scan them and include them with this post.

The cousins: Aubrey, Preston, Joshua, Lilly, Eliza & Evelyn 

 

Christmas was again two fold this year.  I've decided I really like it that way!  On December 20th my sister was in town so the Fitzgerald's got together for another fun filled day. 

My beautiful big sister, Nichole, and her husband James.

 And once again with the help of awesome Uncle Scott the kids decorated a gingerbread house.  

On Christmas morning we opened gifts at home and ate a wonderful lunch with Andy's parents and brother but I'll have to save that for another post because my pictures are at the office.

Meeting their New Cousin

Kids meet Scarlet...

Scarlet meet the kids...