Christmas Train 2009

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from the Mercier family!

We enjoyed a chilly winter night at Irvine Park once again with the exciting train, sparkling lights, and of course Santa! :)

May you all enjoy this special time of year as we celebrate the holy birth of Jesus Christ our Lord! :)

Love,

Nate, Sandy, Patrick (3 1/2 yrs.) and Shane (almost 17 mon.)

Patrick's Preschool Christmas Program 2009

Mommy and Grandma Cylene had so much fun watching Patrick's first Christmas Program. Once he warmed up a little, Patrick sure enjoyed singing his "baby Jesus" songs! :)

Halloween 2009

Playing carnival games with Daddy

Having fun at the church carnival with best buds, Troy and Cassidy

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating

Our little Elmo and cousin Elise (a pretty maid)

Patrick the "friendly" bat with cousins Elise and Kate (Sherlock Holmes)

All 5 cousins on Halloween day: Kate, Shane, Luke, Elise, and Patrick

Shane and Poppy Tom at Uncle Dave's Oktoberfest party!

Patrick and Auntie Rach dancing with a German hat :)

"Daddy and Me" Pumpkin Carving

Eating yummy pizza with Daddy!

The jack o' lantern with the Shane/Mater teeth! :)

Hanging out with Daddy at preschool is fun!

Big smiles from PT, our big preschool boy!

Fun with Pumpkins!

Enjoying time with friends Melinda & Agatha and our kiddos

Shane's thinking "if I could only just taste it..."

Cassidy and Patrick's great teamwork :)

Patrick loved going to the pumpkin patch this year...Tanaka Farms is fun!

Family Portraits -- Oct. 2009

Happy Fall to you all! Here are our recent family pictures taken at "Dinosaur Park" nearby in Laguna Hills, CA. :) Big boy Patrick is now 3 1/2 and little bro Shane is 15 months. It was HOT that day, but we had fun!

VBS and Preschool!

Patrick attended Vacation Bible School (VBS) this summer for the very first time and had a blast with his buddy, Cassidy! He got to hold up the sign for his group (#10) during opening songs, loved learning about Jesus, and enjoyed his teacher, Ms. Clements. She is one of his preschool teachers too, so it was a great way for him to get to know her ahead of time. :)

He also just finished his 1st week of preschool....he LOVES it there! In fact, he cried when I came to pick him up the first day, because he wanted to stay longer. I guess that's a good sign. :) He loves his teachers, Mrs. Howard and Ms. Clements, and is so excited each morning, because he gets to go to "big boy preschool!"

Shane's 1st Birthday!

It's hard to believe we have a walking 1-year-old now, but we do! Shane turned ONE in early August and is loving his new-found freedom of getting around on 2 feet! He loves to follow Patrick all around the house and is saying lots of words, such as: all done, more, hi, bye-bye, mama, dada, papa, eat, cookie, and ball. :) Here are some pictures from his baseball-themed 1st b-day party with family and Shane's 1st baptism b-day, as well. Our tradition on this day each year is to light the child's baptism candle, eat cross-shaped cookies made by mommy, and open cards/gifts from the godparents. Shane's godparents are Nate's parents, Tom and Deb...he is such a blessed little boy! :)

Random Summer Pics

We are sure enjoying our summer! Here are some pics of our trips to the park, beach, swimming at Grandma's house, Irvine Park, and hanging out at home. Wish it could be summer all year long. :)

OC Fair

We went to the Orange County Fair with my mom and had so much fun!! Once again, it was super HOT but we stayed busy riding an elephant, watching big boy Patrick go on lots of rides, eating yummy "Fair food," and of course, the piggy races! :) Gotta love the Fair!

Fun in Palm Desert

We had a blast out in Palm Desert! It was definitely HOT, but we stayed cool in the pool (and awesome water slide)! We also enjoyed going to The Living Desert and feeding the giraffes! We even got to see my sister, Jacki, and her family while we were out there. :)

Our 4th of July Adventure

Grandma and Grandpa Mercier were kind enough to watch Patrick and Shane this year for the 4th. So Nate and I and my parents got to do something very special! We put together and held up the HUGE American flag out on the outfield of Angel Stadium before the game! We were just steps away from Torii Hunter and other Angel player stretching out on the field! :) Then we got to stay and watch them beat the Orioles 11-4! If that wasn't cool enough, we also stayed for an awesome fireworks show! Happy Birthday America...May God continue to bless the USA! :)

The Grand Canyon!

Wow!! The Grand Canyon was absolutely amazing! Such proof that our awesome God is truly a fabulous creator and artist. We were in awe of His masterpiece! And Patrick was excited to take a photo with some Hopi Indians. :)

"Slide Rock" Rocked!

Next we went to Slide Rock National Park and enjoyed a nice sunny afternoon there. There is a huge natural rock formation that is slippery and the water travels fast, so it's a such a fun ride! Patrick yelled the whole way down with Nate, but as soon as they were done, he wanted to do it again and again! Even Mommy got to slide down...it was awesome! So glad we went. :)

Beautiful Sedona!

We had such a nice time on our vacation to Arizona with Nate's parents, Tom and Deb. First we spent 4 days in Sedona. We enjoyed going for walks, skipping rocks at a nearby creek, and just exploring! We also visited a chapel built right into the red rock. Here are some of our Sedona highlights...

Easter '09

Jesus is risen...He is risen, indeed! :) Easter was great! Patrick enjoyed 3 Easter egg hunts this year: at church, inside the house, and in the backyard! Of course the Easter baskets were fun, too. PT even helped Daddy color the eggs from Grandpa Tom's hens...so exciting! We went to church and had brunch at our house afterwards with family. It was a beautiful day to relax outside. We are so lucky to live in sunny SoCal!

Fun with Friends :)

We so enjoy spending quality time with friends. Here are pics of our recent trip to Irvine Park with Andrea and James. It was so fun riding the train and feeding the ducks! Shane and Madden (my friend Melissa's son) had fun playing together, too. And my best friend Delshad (and very cool boyfriend Matt) came to visit the boys...and Mommy and Daddy had a night out on the town in Laguna Beach with them!! Thanks Grandma and Papa for babysitting! :)

Patrick's 3rd Birthday!

We had fun celebrating Patrick's 3rd birthday 2 days in a row! We had a family party at Grandma Cylene and Papa Pat's house with PT's cousins -- Elise, Kate, and Luke -- and Aunt Jacki and Uncle David. And the next day we had a big party at our house with aunts, uncles, and grandparents from both sides of the family. PT chose "Go, Diego, Go!" for the theme and helped Mommy make his cupcakes. Such a big boy! We can't believe it's been 3 years already. He is such a blessing to us. :)