Happy Birthday Ethan!

Monday, April 9th was Ethan's 9th birthday! We had an after-school birthday party with one boy from his class and Ethan's church friends. Above is Bleys (pronounced blaze). He and Ethan are good buddies and they sit across from each other in school.

Here all the boys are having a Lego tower building competition. The idea was to build the tallest tower you could in 1 minute. We played lots of games - with all those boys we had to keep everyone busy! I made up an obstacle course for them in the backyard and they all seemed to like that.

This is the hedgehog cake Hannah and I made! It turned out so cute! Hannah's American Girl magazine had a picture of this cake and she just knew it would be perfect for Ethan.

We are so thankful to the Lord for giving us Ethan! What a special part of our family he is. I appreciate his helpfulness and the way he always does a job well. He can always be counted on for a game of checkers...but watch out, he'll probably beat you!

Coloring Eggs & Sunny

Are you ever too old to color Easter Eggs? I don't think so! The kids had fun making some eggs pretty and then we did an in-house egg hunt just because it was cold and yucky outside. I have no idea if Anthony was concentrating so hard he stuck his lips out in the process or if he was being funny like his Uncle Mark (and Uncle Mark, you know what I mean!).

Ethan giving things a try!

Hannah took a really cute picture of Sunny and caught a precious doggie face! Sunny doesn't have a thick fur coat, so we do put a sweater on her sometimes when the temperatures dip. She is such a fun dog with a bright personality - she is my (Ann's) constant companion. She always has to be with me wherever I go. I love having her around!

Pinnacle Mountain Birthday Hike

Saturday the Flores guys: Arthur, Anthony & Ethan, took a long-awaited hiking trip up Pinnacle Mountain.

They got off the main trail for a while - looks like some tough climbing.

Last fall they hiked up part way. The trail is numbered and they got to #9. The top is #10E. Ethan has had a fire-in-the-belly to get to the top!

So for part of his birthday celebration, he got to hike up the mountain and reached the top! What a view!

Anthony climbed up this rock hill that was at the top of the mountain.

The guys had a fun afternoon of hiking and felt a real sense of accomplishment.

I'm Back!

I've been away for awhile and have missed giving you updates! eBlogger changed/updated some things and I couldn't figure out how to get back into my old blog - so I just started over with a new one.

Here are a couple of pics from Easter Sunday.