Grace Ellie Fink's First B-Day Feb 20, 2012

This was our little Grace Ellie Fink's first birthday party.  Her birthday is February 20 and we celebrated it on February 25th.  It was so fun and it was at Steve and Summer's new home.  Their home is just lovely and the house even has a secret hideout under the stairs.  You could even sleep there like Harry Potter did.  Here are a few of the pictures at the party.  These first pictures are the "before" pictures and then I will have some "after" pictures of Grace after the cake smash!

The party turned into a dress up, costume party.  I think Bella started it with her princess costume.  She is doing a little dance for a captive audience!

Bella loves the movie, Tangled, and she always tells me she is Rapunzel...I took this picture to show how long her hair is...truly a Rapunzel

Chase as a gun toting crocodile

or a "transformer??" "avenger"  "wildcat"???

Ethan as Spiderman posing for the audience...

sending a fist my way...

Tyler as a crocodile...

Yep - a gun toting crocodile!

Now for the birthday cake smash! -- what a beautiful little cake.  Looks delicious...

Grace starts in very slowly and cautiously...a little flower here,

getting more into it literally -

Yep - this tastes good...the cake doesn't look so appetizing now...

I would say she pretty much smashed that cake and only got a little in her hair and just a little on her face and a lot on her hands.  She was dressed appropriately for this event!

After getting cleaned up Grace Ellie opened her presents.  Rob and I got her this little bear to hug...

and she did!

Happy birthday little Grace Ellie.  You are the sweetest little thing and it's not because you ate all that sugar, it's just because you are YOU.  I love you! -- Grandma Fink

Tyler's Karate Class - February 2012

While Tyler and Chase were staying with us, we got to take him to his Karate class.  He really was having fun with it.  They would run around, hit things, and try to break things, what else could a youngster want in life -- too much fun!  Check out the smile in this first photo.  He wasn't posing for me, just having fun.  Kate and Ryan had so many activities for their two boys, that it kept us all busy while they were gone.  It seemed like there was something to do with the boys almost every night of the week.  What a schedule they have created for themselves -- it really keeps them on their toes! :)

 I wouldn't want to be the bag here....

 or here!

 Now, here come the poses...serious Tyler and he really was posing for me.  He was doing different poses for me of Karate...

 another pose...

 and another...

I learned alot when I took him to the Karate class.  I liked the fact that the instructor taught about respect and that it was for defense and protection, not to be the aggressor or bully.  Before they would get on the mats, they would bow as a sign of respect...It was fun to have this opportunity to go with Tyler and watch him work out!  Terrific job, Tyler!!!!!!!!



The Aerospace Museum February 2012

We had a lesson on keeping journals in church on Sunday, April 22, 2012, and I feel that my blog is my journal and I haven't been keeping it up to date.  This is my opportunity to do some writing instead of just placing the pictures in Facebook and not saying much about them.

While Kate and Ryan were having fun in Hawaii, the end of January and the first part of February, we were having our own fun in Sacramento, California.  One of the things that we did with our grandkids, Tyler and Chase, was to take them to the Aerospace Museum.  They had been there before, but they loved walking around and getting inside of the different planes.  There were volunteers to give information about the planes and there were even men that had served in World War II to talk about their experiences during the war...

Chase is my little model.  He loves to pose for Grandma so she can get a picture of him and the planes as well -- but most importantly, him :)  Tyler, on the other hand, is harder to get to pose.  He is so interested in the museum that he brought his backpack, some paper and a pencil to write about the planes and what he saw while he was there...

Chase testing out one of the planes...

A plane, hanging from the ceiling... 

A picture of Tyler in Chase outside with what I believe they told us was one of the fastest jets at the site.

Tyler looks like he has a parachute on and is ready to jump out of the plane.  That is what this plane was built for...to take jumpers to their destinations in World War II...

After we left the museum we went over to an adjacent park and let them play on the shuttle

Tyler at the "entrance" to the shuttle getting ready for lift off!



 It was fun for Rob and I to take our grandchildren to this museum and, of course, we had to get a souvenir to remember our trip.  All in all, we had an enjoyable day of it.