Everlee's 4th Birthday

Last Saturday we drove up to Modesto to help celebrate our niece Everlee's 4th birthday.  What a party!  Our sister-in-law went all out with a mermaid theme, complete with mermaid tails for all the party guests.  Princess Ariel even made a visit!  

Pumpkin Patch & Cousins

Our nieces, Elise and Everlee, were down for a visit at Grandma and Grandpa's this past weekend, so we took advantage of  the opportunity for our girls to have "cousin time" together.  On Saturday morning we headed to the Hillcrest Pumpkin Patch in Reedley for train rides and hay rides and pumpkin patch picture fun.  Grandma (Chad's mom) packed us a delicious lunch and the girls ran all over the place.  It was dusty and exhausting, but memories were made!  Later that night, we attended "Zoo Boo" at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo...great in theory, but truly a zoo (literally and figuratively) and not very well lit, making it hard to keep track of your little ones when there are a thousand girls dressed up like princesses.  The girls got to dress up, complete with sparkly princess hair, and got some candy out of it... I got the flu out of it, literally, and spent the next 2 days in bed, barely able to move!  Sometimes I think I overdo it... The last few pics show Tess's Zoo Boo costume (and attitude), and the small pumpkin that Tess and I carved together.  

Whew! The holiday season is just getting started...and on Friday we are headed off on another family adventure!

Tahoe Vacation 2014

We are so grateful for our family place up at Northstar California (North Shore, Lake Tahoe).  Last week we were able to get away for about 4 days for a short family vacation with Chad's parents Paul and Barbara and our nieces, Elise and Everlee.  Tess sure enjoyed the extended play time with her cousins, and they were equally enamored with baby Kate.  While we didn't have any huge adventures, we spent plenty of time having fun -- at the beach, by the pool, and on the back patio.  Below are the pics from our trip and a video of the fun little "show" that Elise coordinated for us.

And P.S...A sweet little video of our niece Elise singing to Baby Kate!

Happy Easter 2014

We had a lovely Easter this year, and how FUN it was to have two darling girls to dress in matching outfits!

 

We attended church with Chad's parents Barbara and Paul, and then headed out to American Avenue in Reedley for an afternoon lunch with lots of family: my parents Cliff and Melody, Barbara and Paul, Chris and Kristi and their daughters Elise and Everlee, and my Uncle Randy (visiting from Thousand Oaks).  The girls enjoyed an impressive, color-coded Easter egg hunt and filled their baskets to overflowing!

 

Speaking of Easter egg hunts, some of the pics in the slideshow below are from a MASSIVE Easter egg hunt we attended at The Southgate Church in SE Fresno.  Pastored by my aunt and uncle Dave and Gloria White, The Southgate puts on this 2,000+ egg event for families in the surrounding communities. We were blessed to get an invite this year and Tess brought home lots of little treasures! 

An Amtrak Adventure!

Waiting for the train in
downtown Fresno!

We celebrated Easter Monday with a little adventure I'd been hoping to take for a long time!  While Daddy was finishing up his grading, Tess and I -- along with Grandma, Papa, and cousin Everlee, took the Amtrak train down to Hanford for a visit to Superior Dairy. 

 

It was SO cute to see the little cousins waiting at the train station, big-eyed as the train approached and watching the scenery go by outside the train's window.  When we arrived at the Hanford station, it was a short walk to the downtown area and the large park across the street from Superior Dairy.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch made by Grandma, and the girls rode the carousel.  After eating some HUGE scoops of ice cream at the dairy, we stopped in at the Hanford Public Library for some story and play time until it was time to get back to the train station for the ride home. 

 

Little Miss Kate was along for the ride, too!  We had a great day -- see below for the pictures! 

 

Christmas 2013

Here are some slide shows from various Christmas-related events this Holiday season! 

First up...decorating our Christmas tree.  Since it was our first Christmas in our new house, we weren't sure exactly where we would put our tree (and where it would fit best). On Thanksgiving I managed to score a really skinny artificial tree for about $50 that I knew would work until we had some experience with our new space.  Tess had a blast helping decorate it, and true to toddler form, most of the ornaments she hung ended up on just one or two branches of the tree.  It was a joy watching her open each ornament and exclaim, "Oooh, this one's SO pretty!"

Next... our Holiday gathering with Chad's extended family, the Drydens.  The majority of the Drydens live in Hollister, and the whole clan came to Fresno for a party at Chad's parents' home.  Tess had so much fun playing with all of the cousins and it was wonderful to spend time with everyone!

 

 

Below are some pics from our Christmas Day.  Tess awoke to the special present Santa had brought her: a play kitchen!  After getting ready, we headed to Reedley for our traditional family breakfast (stuffed blueberry French toast casserole) and opening stockings and presents with the Unruh/Haas family at American Avenue.  From there we headed to River Bluff Drive, where Chad's parents Paul and Barbara joined the Unruhs and Haases for Christmas dinner.  Tess enjoyed watching Grandpa's model train circle around the Christmas tree, and listening to us sing carols around the piano.  In the early evening as we headed home, we stopped to visit Chad's parents Geoff and Toni and open a few last-minute gifts there.

 

It was an exhausting and wonderful day!  In all of the excitement and busyness, we totally neglected to take a family picture...at least not one I can find in any of my saved photos anywhere.  I'll keep looking!  Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas this year!

 

 

Christmas Cousins

"The cousins" were down from Modesto again this past weekend, which gave us the opportunity to take some pictures of them in matching Christmas pajamas, in front of Grandma and Grandpa's tree. What adorable girls!  Thank you, Grandma (Barbara), for helping our kids make wonderful Christmas memories!

Pajama Party!

We made the difficult decision not to attend PrideStaff's Holiday Party this year (one of our favorite events) for the opportunity to make some family memories and hopefully start a tradition!  Paul and Barbara bought us all tickets to attend Hillcrest Christmas Tree Farm's "Pajama Christmas" this past Saturday night.  They had Elise and Everlee for the weekend, and we brought Tess -- it was a freezing cold good time!  There were unlimited steam train rides through the forest (with various light displays to see), hot chocolate and holiday cookies, live music, and warm fires to stand by.  The little ones had a GREAT time riding the train and dancing around!  Although it was supposed to be a "pajama party," we were glad we dressed super warm with long johns and layers.  The girls all wore snow suits!  Tess was adorable in a leopard print kitty hat and mittens.  I realize I sound like I am narrating a fashion show, but what can I say -- she is just the cutest thing I have ever seen!   Below is a one-minute video taken at about 9pm, after cookies and hot chocolate, and well past her bedtime. 

 

  

Thanksgiving & Meeting Santa

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Modesto with Chad's family, which was a real break from tradition for us since we usually head to sunny SoCal to see the Suich clan.  Chris and Kristi hosted us in their home with beautiful holiday place settings and a delicious smoked turkey.  We enjoyed stuffing ourselves (since the turkey wasn't), sitting around talking, and playing "The Thanksgiving Game."  It was so good to see Tess playing with her cousins Elise and Everlee, and we were excited to hear that E&E would also be coming to Fresno to spend the holiday weekend with Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Paul. On "Black Friday" we took all 3 girls to see Santa and have their pictures done.  They had a great time running around in anticipation, but when it came time to see the man himself, Tess got a little freaked out!  It surprised us, because normally she doesn't know a stranger and is very outgoing!  We think she may have been fighting a bug and/or getting some teeth...as you can see in the adorable (and kinda hilarious) pic below, it did not go well.  She is just like her mother, who also had a major freak-out when the parents tried to put me in Santa's lap.  We have a very similar picture of me in the photo albums at home!  Maybe someday I will frame them side-by-side for us to enjoy during the holidays.

 

Easter 2013

I was excited about Easter this year, since Tess is now of the age where Easter baskets are more exciting and the Easter-egg hunt is a viable source of entertainment for her. (Well, let's face it, it's really more for us.) We had a couple of Easter celebrations this year, given our extensive family tangle....we started with pre-Easter dinner in Reedley with my parents and Aunt Debbie/Uncle Dick, where Tess did a "dress rehearsal" of the big hunting event. What a hoot! Grandma had made real, dyed Easter eggs which Tess was able to run around and pick up with her basket. However, whenever she bent over to pick up one egg, another toppled out of the basket. For a bit, we thought the hunt would go on forever! It was quite funny. Next up, she modeled her Easter dress for the family and we attempted to take some backyard pictures. 

 

On Easter Sunday we drove up to Modesto with Paul and Barbara to spend the day with Chris, Kristi, Elise and Everlee. We joined them for church at Calvary Chapel, and then had a delicious lunch while the babies (Tess and Everlee) napped. In the afternoon, Kristi staged a MASSIVE Easter-egg hunt, which included a few dozen "real" (dyed) eggs and then about 10 dozen plastic eggs filled with candy. This didn't work so well for Tess....every time she came across an egg, she plopped onto the ground and wanted to open it and eat its contents. OR she wanted to run off with it ("put it in the basket" was like speaking Chinese to her) OR chase after the neighbor's dog.  This REALLY was the hunt with no end in sight, so after about 15 minutes of trying to get her to comply we decided to just take the little ones inside and open Easter baskets.

 

Here's a big "thank you" to the Grandmas (Melody & Barbara) for making sure Tess is always the most beautiful/adorable baby girl in sight....I absolutely loved both of her Easter dresses!  Below are pictures and video of our fun family day.
 

Happy St. Pat's!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated the weekend of my most favorite holiday with an Irish-themed dinner party with friends, complete with a Guinness roast, corned beef and cabbage, roasted potatoes and carrots, and lots of Irish liquir (car bombs included!. On Sunday, we had a family gathering in honor of Grandma Vida's 92nd birthday. Chris and Kristi came down with their girls for the day and Grandma was able to really enjoy her celebration. It was a fun-filled weekend and a great start to an adventurous week!

Happy Holidays 2012

As usual, the Haydens enjoyed a busy holiday season full of gatherings with family and friends.  I have always felt like we were light on tradition, but as I wrote this I realized just how many holiday traditions we do enjoy each year.  We are certainly blessed as we head into 2013!

December 3 - Junior League Holiday Social at Piazza Del Pane.  Below is a pic of me with the rest of the 2013-2014 Board of Directors.  Next year I take on the role of Board secretary!  This was a fun little social designed for girl time, cocktails, and a "favorite things" gift exchange.  A great way to kick off the holiday season!

I'm in the back row, second from left, in red!

December 7 - PrideStaff Christmas Party at Fort Washington Country Club.  This is our favorite holiday party every year -- PrideStaff never disappoints!  Somehow I missed getting a picture of Chad and I together, but I got a few with the girls and PLENTY with our special entertainment: Elvis!  Local Elvis impersonator Jeremy Pierce has been a regular at the PrideStaff holiday parties for at least 10 years and he never gets old (literally and figuratively)!  He's also an old debate buddy of Chad's, so it's fun to say "We knew him when...."

Sarah & Dani. Love the dress she loaned
to me...and then GAVE to me!

Elvis in the house!

December 9 - Gingerbread Houses with "the cousins."  We are really enjoying this holiday tradition that we've graciously been included in!  Each year we get together with my aunt/uncle/cousins (and their spouses/kids) to decorate graham cracker "gingerbread" houses.  It's super fun despite the fact that our structural integrity and artistic flair are devolving as the years progress.  Year one we had the standout house, year two our roof collapsed, and year three I spent so much time working on a house that would stand up that we lost precious decorating time.  OH WELL!  Although next year I'm going to suggest that we all come with our houses pre-made, blank on the outside, so that we can concentrate on eating candy decorating them to the hilt.  Here's a pic of this year's masterpiece, omplete with half-marshmallow pseudo-snow tufts on the roof.

December 14 - PrideStaff RiskManagement Department Christmas Party at Nathan and Trish's.  Since our department has gotten so big in the past year, we thought it would be fun to have our very own Christmas party.  Nathan offered to host it at his place, so we made it into a potluck.  His wife, Trish, planned out some very fun games and prizes for us and when we finished "Christmas Pictionary" we were all sore from laughing so hard.  It was a really fun night and we came home with a super plush "sherpa" throw for our couch that matches our living room perfectly.

Clockwise from top left: Nathan, Danielle B., Danielle H. (Dani),
Beverly, Me, Shirley, Maribeth, Rachel.

December 21 - Forensics Christmas Potluck at Christiana's.  How do you know you're a fantastic teacher?  When your students still want to hang out with you over the holidays and/or long after they graduate!  This has turned out to be a new holiday tradition for us -- a get-together with all of the forensics students from class of 2011 (those who graduated and also those who were on the team with those who graduated). This year instead of going out to a restaurant we had a potluck and white elephant gift exchange at the home of one of Chad's favorites, Christiana.  She's a sophomore at Duke this year.  (This is a totally separate topic, but MAN these class of 2011 kids are SMART.)  We had a great time catching up on their latest college adventures and I brought home a Mr. Potato Head for Tess!

The group, minus a few who couldn't make it.

With Christiana ~ she captioned this photo "Two people I really
look up to." Aww! She's about as great as they come!

December 23 - Holiday Open House In Hollister.  We had a last-minute opportunity to spend the Sunday before Christmas with Chad's extended family (the Drydens) in Hollister.  We enjoyed great food and great company, got to hang out with some of our favorite cousins, and Tess got to see her great aunts/uncles and great grandpa.  (On the Dryden side of the family we are up to 6 great granddaughters and 2 great grandsons!)



Here's Great Grandpa ("Pop") with 5 of his 8 great grandchildren.



 December 24 - Christmas Eve Cookie Baking.  Holiday sugar cookie making/decorating is slowly becoming an annual tradition with my Mom (Grandma Melody), and this year we got together at my house along with her sister (my Aunt Debbie) and cousin Valerie.  Tess enjoyed eating the dough and playing around with all the supplies....at one point her hands and mouth were completely red from getting into the sprinkles!

Tess wearing her first little apron and helping
press out the shapes with the cookie cutters. 

December 25 - Christmas In Reedley.  Another Christmas tradition for us is spending Christmas morning in Reedley with the Unruh parents and Uncle Dick, Aunt Debbie, and cousin Valerie.  We typically open our stocking stuffers first (all individually wrapped!) and then have breakfast before opening gifts.  Each year Valerie makes a delicous "stuffed blueberry french toast casserole" with homemade blueberry syrup.  YUM!

All dressed up for Christmas Day.

A tired Christmas Tess enjoying one of her favorite gifts.

December 28 - Christmas With The Eastons.  Our dear friends Michael and Sara Easton were in town for the holidays, and they threw a fun little holiday get together that included a variety of mutual friends we've met over the many years we've known them.  Many guests were people we hadn't seen in years so we thoroughly enjoyed catching up.  We had a delicious dinner, played "tele-pictionary" (hilarious!) and took turns sharing about 2012 highlights and 2013 hopes.  I took my camera but was having too much fun and forgot to take pictures!

December 29 - Christmas Tea At American.  Cousin Valerie just returned from about 3 months in Germany, and a few weeks ago she mentioned she was having a tea party with some of her girlfriends.  I thought it would be fun to put on a tea party, too, so we decided to have one with our mothers and picked the Saturday after Christmas to do it.  The table was set with china and serveware that is full of family history and while we ate we talked about where each piece came from and why it was special.  On the menu: salad with a variety of flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils, homemade yellow split pea soup, homemade cranberry scones, lemon curd and clotted cream, and Christmas tea from Germany.  Tess was with us and managed to make it through the meal without breaking anything, and ate almost an entire scone by herself!

Table set for beautiful Christmas Tea.

December 29 - Christmas With The Haydens.  Chad's brother, sister-in-law, and our nieces came down for the weekend so that we could celebrate Christmas with the parents on that side.  Although I couldn't make it to breakfast at Geoff and Toni's, we did share a meal with Chris, Kristi, Elise, and Everlee at Paul and Barbara's.  Whenever we do Christmas dinner at the Villescas home we spice it up with Mexican food!  This year was delicious taco salads.  Tess got to play with her cousins and open presents with them.  It was a fun night!

Tess in her Christmas outfit from Grandma V.

The little cousins having dinner together - so cute!

December 30 - Christmas With The Suiches. Our Fullerton family made a day trip up to Clovis to share a holiday meal with us and exchange presents.  Chad and I made a delicious pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and garlic bread for dinner and we had an assortment of holiday goodies for dessert.  We had a quiet day around the fireplace television and enjoyed each others' company. Thank goodness for low-key holiday events, because we were approaching burnout!

December 31 - New Year's Eve With Friends.  It's been several years since we went to an actual NYE party where we could cut loose and count down with other people.  This year we marked the occasion with some dear friends made through PrideStaff, whose daughter is also Tess's favorite babysitter.  We ended up staying night at their place (all three of us) and spending a relaxing New Year's morning recovering together.

Happy New Year from the Haydens!

January 1 - New Year's Day With The Unruhs.  Each year the extended Unruh family (all 30+ of us) gets together on New Year's Day to eat up the last of the holiday goodies and do a name-draw gift exchange.  We started doing this many, many years ago when we got too big to get together on Christmas Eve/Christmas day due to other family commitments.  It really works out well because it guarantees we all see each other and is a nice finale to the holiday season.  This year we got together at my Uncle Dave and Aunt Gloria's new home in Sunnyside, and every single family member was present (a rarity!).  We managed to get a group picture without too much trouble, but we're so big now that it's hard to get time with everyone in just a couple of hours.  Even so, it's a wonderful way to start the new year.

This is ALL OF US!  Wow.  Shocking we fit into one pic, and we didn't have to use the wide-angle lens!

Tess has a thing for hats...so cute!

Mother's Day Celebrations

Last weekend (Mother's Day) was one of the busiest I can remember in a long time! In addition to celebrating our wonderful mothers, we attended a wedding rehearsal and wedding (Chad gave the ceremony), I helped host a baby shower, Chad ran a speech and debate tournament at his school, we had a short visit with our adorable nieces, and we hosted Mother's Day dinner and dessert in our home.  Whew!

Despite all the busyness, my sweetie did a wonderful job making sure I was recognized and appreciated on my first "official" Mother's Day. He picked out a gorgeous dress from Ann Taylor Loft, with matching necklace, for me.  He also "facilitated" getting me a beautiful bracelet I had stumbled across on Etsy, engraved with a passage from Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (the book that inspired our sweet girl's name).  The bracelet is handmade (like everything on Etsy, right?) and came all the way from England. 

  

Below is a slideshow of our Mother's Day festivities, which included a stop at Paul and Barbara's to see Elise and Everlee.  We enjoyed having my parents and aunt and uncle over for dinner, and then my grandparents came for dessert. We extended the celebration into Wednesday when we had Paul and Barbara over for a belated Mother's Day dinner ~ it was a great excuse to break out our china!



Everlee's First Birthday

Last weekend we headed up to Modesto for the day to help celebrate our niece Everlee's first birthday (she was born on Valentine's Day last year).  It was a smaller party, just us and the grandparents, and we had a lovely time with the three cousins together (Elise, Everlee, and Tess).  Little girls are so much fun!

Baby's First Christmas

Our Christmas this year was quite extended, which is to be expected, I guess, when you have an adorable "first Christmas" baby to show off! We spent five straight days celebrating with family, the good news being that we were able to spend each day in one place. The pics below are from Christmas morning and were taken at my aunt and uncle's place in Reedley.

One of our first "family" Christmas photos

 

Tess in her Christmas finery ~ one of her two special "first Christmas" dresses.

On Friday, December 23rd we drove over to Hollister for a Christmas gathering with Chad's extended family.  His Uncle Ted and Aunt Diane hosted, with a special appearance from Santa Claus. It was great to see everyone and take pictures of all the great-granddaughters together.  (Yes, all 6 great-grandchildren are GIRLS!) This was also Tess's first time meeting her extended Dryden family.  We had a great night!



Five of the six great-granddaughters (Everlee was missing)

Tess with Santa (aka Uncle Ted)

On Saturday (Christmas Eve), the Suich family (Ron, Meg & Uncle Richard) and my Uncle Dan all came up for a visit and present exchange.  It was one of those relaxing days where we all hung out at home in comfy clothes, and so Tess didn't get a special outfit OR much camera time!

We spent Christmas Day in Reedley.  It started with a wonderful breakfast (our traditional stuffed blueberry French toast casserole ~ thanks, Valerie!), church at Reedley MB with the family, and then presents and Christmas dinner at American Avenue (my aunt & uncle's place). 

The day after Christmas, Chris, Kristi and the girls (Elise & Everlee) came down from Modesto and we spent the day at Paul and Barbara's.  We also arranged for Kimi-G Photography (who did my maternity photos and Tess's newborn photos) to come out and take portraits of the girls (Elise, Everlee, and Tess) in their matching Christmas dresses. 

On Tuesday the 27th we went over to Geoff and Toni's (along with Chris, Kristi, Elise & Everlee) for a belated Christmas celebration with Tess's Great Grandma Vida and Toni's family (Michelle & Kevin, kids Toby & Kyra, and Melissa and daughter MiKayla).  It was really special to have Grandma Vida there and get pictures of her with Tess. 

By Tuesday night we were exhausted and I was coming down with a cold that lingered for most of the week!  It was great that Chad was still on vacation so that we could relax and recover together.  On Friday we got to see our friends Brian and Colette (visiting from San Diego) and on Saturday our friend Susanna (visiting from Israel) came over for a visit.  SO many people got to meet Tess over the holidays, and we had a great time showing off our precious girl!

Below are some pics of the various festivities.  The formal pics from Kimi-G Photography will be posted as soon as I have them!

The Nieces...

Here are some recent pics (studio proofs, sorry) of our lovely nieces, Elise (age 5) and Everlee (age 8 months).  They are such sweet and beautiful girls!