A Few More Snow Pics...

The Snow!!

We recently went up to Bakersfield to visit my sister, Jacki, and her family: husband, David, and kids Elise, Kate, and Luke. We had a blast! Patrick especially enjoyed getting to see the snow for the very first time, as we made the hour-long trek from their house up to Frazier Park to visit my aunt and let the kids play in the snow. We all had so much fun throwing snowballs, making snow angels, having tickle-wars in the snow, and of course, building a snowman. The snow and weather were both awesome and we had such a wonderful time. As we were driving back down the mountain, Patrick would wave outside and sadly say with a sigh, "Bye bye snows....I love you snows..." Too cute! :)

The boys

It's hard to believe Shane is almost 7 months old and Patrick is almost 3! They are both growing up so quickly. Shane is sitting up pretty much on his own and is practicing crawling! It is so cute to watch him inch across the floor. :) And Patrick is saying so many words and sentences now...his new thing is loving to dance, jump, gallop, and march. Anything that involves movement! :)

1st Times!

Shane is now 6 months old and is enjoying his rice cereal -- his very first food! He loves to make a mess! And big boy Patrick (almost 3) went to Nickel Nickel for the first time with Grandma Cylene. He drove a speed boat, played skee ball, and even won a tiny plastic jet. PT was thrilled! What a fun way to spend a VERY rainy afternoon! :)

Visitors from Boston!

My best friend from college, Autumn Carlson-Luna, recently came out to visit with her husband, Scott, and stepdaughter, Julie. They loved meeting Shane for the 1st time. We had a blast with them at her family's house in Corona and out at our home on New Year's Eve! Who knew Balderdash could be so much fun?!? Patrick sure loved playing the keyboard...he thought he was quite the rock star! :)

Grandpa Frank's 80th B-day Bash!

We had so much fun at Grandpa Frank's Frank Sinatra-themed 80th Birthday Party! Gotta love my Grandma Barbara's blue boa! :) My Uncle John and Aunt Colleen from Washington state were in town to join us which was wonderful. And it's always fun to see my Aunt Melissa too! They sure enjoyed cuddling with Shane. Patrick had so much fun chasing around cousins Elise and Kate...he just had to lay down and take a rest (which is rare) with Elise! :)

Christmas with Family...

*Patrick's new nativity scene from Santa

*Shane enjoyed playing with cousin Luke

*Spending time
with Grandma Cylene

*Our special "present" Shane (almost 5

months old now!)

Christmas Train!

We went to Irvine Park to go ride the ever-popular "Christmas Train" and boy, was that FUN!! The lights and decorations were gorgeous and Patrick sure enjoyed seeing Santa. Mommy and Daddy were a tad chilly (it was a cold night!)...but it was wonderful to see Patrick so happy. :)

Family Pics -- Nov. '08

Happy Thanksgiving to you all from the Merciers! We really enjoyed spending time with loved ones on both sides of the family today. We have much to be grateful for!! Here are some family photos that were taken recently at a cute little park nearby. :)

Halloween with our boys

Just hanging out at home. PT still seems to like having Shane around. :)

This year Patrick was a firefighter and Shane was wrapped up as a present. He certainly is our little "gift" from God. :) Our family enjoyed the carnival at church with friends and Grandma Cylene and Papa Pat. Patrick even won a prize! (A little orange monkey he calls the "bobo brother" from Go, Diego, Go!) Too cute...

October Fun!

Patrick got to visit our local firestation
with Daddy and boy, was he in heaven!

We enjoyed going to not 1, but 2 pumpkin patches this month! Here is Patrick having fun as the train conductor. We also went to Tanaka Farms in Irvine with some friends from Abiding Savior. It was fun!

Back to work and Shane's baptism

Okay, so I was hoping to update our blog every few weeks or so....well, then I began to work full-time again, and that all changed!! So now, 2 whole months have gone by since my last post. But I promise to do better....really, I promise.

So, what have we been up to lately? Enjoying my time off of work, we spent the month of September going to the park, Angels games (of course!), storytime at the library, and playdates with friends. Then chaos happened...I became a full-time working mommy. I officially reported back to work on October 13th. My first week back to work was awesome! Things at school were great, Shane adapted really well to being at "Miss Melanie's house"....all except for some pathetic guy deciding to hack into my hotmail account! That was sure annoying....so as you all know by now, no, I am NOT in Europe, and no, I do NOT need your money. :) So yeah, I am enjoying teaching computer skills to grades K-8, and the great thing is, it's allowing me to spend a lot more time with my boys. And I really love that! :)

Let's see, what else? Oh yes, our precious baby Shane was baptized on August 30th at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church. His godparents are Nate's parents, Tom and Deb. Our family and friends gathered afterwards at Islands (a favorite dining spot) for some laughs and really good food. :)

Patrick & his "girlfriend" Cassidy :)

This is at Abiding Savior's annual summer picnic.

Patrick says, "Ummm, if it's OK with Cassidy's daddy, I think I'd like to marry her someday!"

Patrick and his dinosaur!

Patrick's 2 new loves are dinosaurs and airplanes! Boys are so much fun!

Big brother Patrick

Patrick enjoys his daily ritual of kissing "baby brudder" on the head! So cute!! We realize this may change once he realizes he needs to share his toys with Shane... :)