Family Pictures - Round 2

FAMILY PICTURES!

You know us Trujillo's LOVE pictures and while Rob and Ariana are in town we just had to do it!  Rob has recently gotten into photography and took all these amazing pictures!  He did great - it is not easy to take a "good" picture of six kids - three of which don't sit still EVER!

So I was very impressed with what he managed to snap of them...

 This one is my favorite of the kids! 

Of course they are not all looking, that's pretty much impossible, but it's still so cute...

 The FAM!  We are pretty good looking if you ask me...

 This picture was my absolute favorite! 

How lucky are they to have such beautiful grandbabies!

 The only time Eli would sit and stay still was when we gave them all suckers...he sat there in that same spot until the entire sucker was gone!

 That was me trying to be a model and a little bit sexy...

HAHAHA!

Sandy loves pictures from behind, so we took this one of us walking away!

We have definitely multiplied throughout the years, but its AWESOME to have such a big family!

 Until next year...

Class of 2026!

 Ashtyn GRADUATED!

Well only from Kinder Prep, but its still a pretty big deal...

I have been super impressed with the Preschool Program at Lafayette Rec Center and the way they celebrated Ashtyn's last day was the icing on the cake.  They hosted graduation at Waneka Lake and had a BIG party with all 5 classes of Kinder Prep!  It was a great morning and a little bit chilly  celebrating such an awesome accomplishment with our friends and family!

 Ashtyn and her BFFS - Sienna and Chloe (Not sure who the girl is next to Chloe...)

Ashtyn has been more then blessed with the friends she has met over the past couple years.  Such laid back, low drama girls and a couple of sweet boys - I can only hope we have the same luck when we move into kindergarten!

 Of course Auntie Em came to see her graduate before her high school finals!  ...and Grandma Sandy, Nana and Daddy made the party too!

 Adam also attends Kinder Prep at Lafayette Rec but he's in a different class then Ashtyn.  So we got to see him graduate too and it was so fun to see how Adam, Ashtyn and their group of friends interact...pretty darn CUTE!

 Look at the grin on Adam's face...

 The ceremony was the cutest thing ever and YES I had tears welled up in my eyes the entire time! They of course wore little gowns and hand made caps by them and when the teachers would call their names they would slide down to the bottom to receive their diploma and some gold fish!

It was absolutely adorable! I am thinking it was more for the parents then anything, because the kids could care less - but I sure appreciated it!

 We cheered for all her classmates and I of course cheered louder for Ashtyn's friends...

like Christian!

and BFF Sienna!

 Ashtyn is not a "center-of-attention" kinda girl, so she was pretty shy when it was her turn, but still followed through with it - so proud of my baby girl!

 Ashtyn's Kinder Prep Class - Class of 2026!

 Lucas - our favorite!

 How cute is that!  Little Cap and Gown...I wish we could have kept the gown, but the cap will forever be in her scrapbook!

 We watched Adam graduate with his class too! 

He didn't enjoy the ceremony part either...it will be interesting to see what they are like twelve years from now when they graduate from High School!

 

 After the ceremony they all enjoyed cake pops and fruit provided by the teachers!

Ashtyn had like five...!

 Here are the four LOVE birds! 

While I was taking this picture Ms. Sue came over and said to me...

 "Those four are the cutest kids.  They hung out all year long together and truly looked out for each other and were always playing chase at recess!"

Its a shame they will all go to different schools next year for Kindergarten, but hopefully we can have play dates throughout the summer!

 Ms. Sue and Ms. Erin were awesome teachers!

Ashtyn learned so much this year and I am forever grateful for their dedication to teaching little ones - it can't be easy (I know I couldn't do it)!

Ashtyn was so engaged this year and would come home and ask a million questions or tell me a million facts about a spider for example, play rhyming and matching games constantly, wanting to read every sign she came across and constantly wanting to create some type craft or science experiment.  She truly soaked in every minute of what she learned at school and the past year has definitely prepared her for Kindergarten next year! 

Thank you again Ms. Sue and Ms. Erin - you started Ashtyn's experience in school on a very positive note and I think it will pave way to her being very successful - she loves to learn!

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you Ashtyn!

You have totally impressed us the past couple years and we are so excited to see what you will do when you start the big leagues! 

Now its off to the pool and the lake to soak in as much of summertime as we can before we drop you off at Kindergarten!



Happy Mama's Day

I had the BEST Mother's Day!

I initially had very little expectations for the day, since Matt had to work all day, I just assumed it would be a repeat of Easter...but thankfully is was not!

I joined the family for breakfast at the Elks and was greeted with a rose, a glass of champagne and a big hug from ALLIE - she was back in town!

Nothing else needed to happen...it was already great!

Of course my parents were there also, who had just got back from their cruise so they were eager to spend long over due time with the kids!  I gladly passed my duties to them as I just sat there and sipped champagne, chatting with Allie and catching up!

After breakfast, I took my precious babies to the park! 

Cottonwood Park was my favorite growing up and has quickly become my kids favorite park too...

We swung, climbed the big tree stump (which used to be a gorgeous Cottonwood when I was growing up), played soccer with some nice family (Eli pretty much invited himself to that party and they were nice enough to not turn him down), hunted for pine cones and went up and down the slides countless times!  Oh and did I mention the weather was unbelievable!

 After the park we headed to get a Mother's Day snack...Menchies for the kids and Starbucks for me!

Eli wore most of his, but that is nothing new for him!

 After our snack I dropped the kids off at my Mom's so I could enjoy an afternoon drinking margaritas at the Rio!  I was so excited that my Mom offered to watch the kids, so I could join the Pierces and Papa Bill!  It was so GREAT sitting on the roof top in Boulder, looking at the mountains and drinking margs with my favorite people!

 My Allie - I love you so much!

 The Pierces are always FUN to hang out with, but I rarely get to hang out with Papa Bill, so getting to spend an afternoon with him was such a treat!  When Pam took our picture above, Papa Bill said he wanted to be in a picture too, so we snapped one...

 and then another one!

 He then went on to tell us that he recently went to some funerals and was so impressed with the picture slide shows that were shown of his friends.  So he asked Mimi if she was going to create a slide show for his funeral and she told him...

"No, I don't have any pictures of you!"

Mimi can be a little ornery when she wants too!  So he told us to take lots of pictures of him so he could have a slide show at his funeral!  I really couldn't stop laughing hearing him talk about this, but I will make for damn sure we have plenty of pictures to pick from when that day comes - it will be the best slide show ever - maybe with a little Johnny Cash playing in the background!

However, this next picture will be the cover photo for sure...

Of course there is a story that goes along with it...

 We all enjoyed our afternoon atop the Rio Rooftop and Papa Bill drank his max of three margaritas - with no rocks!  Getting Papa Bill down the stairs and to the car was a struggle in itself...

Steve dropped Papa Bill off at home and was quite certain when he sat in his chair he would not be joining us for dinner at Debbie and John's...

Of course we all meet over at Debbie and John's and Mimi shows up alone with a dirty look on her face - she was a bit upset with Papa Bill, whom had fallen asleep and would not wake up to come over for dinner, so Mimi left him sleeping in his chair.  I think Mimi's exact words when she walked in was "What did you do to Papa Bill?"...

We all just shrugged our shoulders and of course had big smiles on our faces - Mimi found no humor in any of this...

So we all sit down to eat dinner and by the end of it guess who stumbles through the door...PAPA BILL!  Steve and I looked at each other like "how did he get here" because clearly he was in no shape to be driving a car!  We ask him what he was doing and he said he was hungry - LOL!  Later on Brooke comes in from playing outside with the kids and says "You gotta come see this!"...so Allie, Mari and I went out and found this...

Yes, that's Papa Bill's truck parked at the very end of the street, half on the curb, half on the street!  I think I peed my pants a little when I saw this!  He managed to get himself to the party for some food, but I do wonder what he may have hit on the way over...He of course had no shame and this just made Mimi even more mad at him!  I would have loved to have seen him park his truck, and what kind of thought process went into thinking that was a great parking job!  I was even more impressed he managed to miss the light pole!

I LOVE my Papa Bill!  That picture pretty much sums up Papa Bill in a nutshell!

I wonder if Mimi ever forgave him...oh, I am still laughing as I type this - good times!

Mother's Day was great - I am blessed beyond words with two beautiful children who behaved liked angles so I could enjoy my Mother's Day and a family with a Papa Bill I couldn't live without!



Wacky Wednesday

I recently had one of those days that was jammed packed with things to do - from sun up to sun down!  The kind of day you take a deep breath in the morning and hope you can make it through alive...Sometimes chaos overwhelms me and I tend not to enjoy any part of what I am doing, but this day was FULL of chaos and I enjoyed every single minute of it.  First off I headed to work, and finally sold a huge kitchen job I'd been working on for forever, so that started the day out on a good foot...

Next I headed to Ashtyn's preschool where they were hosting a tea party for their Mommies! 

 Of course I had tears in my eyes the entire time, just watching Ashtyn interact with her friends and teachers, hearing them sing us songs and looking through her scrapbook they all put together for us.  I know I say it all the time, but I just can't believe how grown up and mature she is these days, and still amazed at how well she has done in Preschool both socially and academically.  She has so much confidence around her friends and teachers, it gives me peace knowing she will be just fine as she starts Kindergarten this fall.  It's just still hard for me to believe...

 This little questionnaire cracked me up...they are still so cute and innocent, but very observant! 

Some of the other Mommy's questionnaires raised some eyebrows followed by laughs...

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ashtyn thinks I am only 20...

We enjoyed brownies, rice crispy treats, Oreo balls and Iced Tea!  It was a great party and since Ashtyn is surrounded by such an awesome group of kids it was that much more enjoyable to spend the morning in her classroom!

 After going back to work and spending the afternoon working up in Estes Park on another great project, I rushed back to Broomfield to take Ashtyn to her Kindergarten Orientation at Birch Elementary!  I have been so impressed with Birch so far...they have been so inviting to the new parents and students helping us all ease into the transition of Kindergarten!  Ashtyn's teacher Mrs. Murphy (who grew up down the street from me in Louisville) hosted a little get together in the classroom so she could meet all her incoming students and they could get familiar with the classroom and their fellow classmates.  She read them a book, played a couple of games and then gave them sunflower seeds to plant in their gardens at home.  It's a Birch Elementary tradition that each new Kindergartner plants sunflower seeds in their garden and when the sunflower is as tall as they are its time to start school! Then their first homework assignment is to take a picture of them next to the sunflower, bring it to school and hang it on the wall of fame!  

I love schools with traditions, love it! 

 Ashtyn quickly made friends with a little girl, so that again gave me a sense of ease - she was going to be just fine starting Kindergarten!  She has fully been welcomed into Birch Elementary with open arms and will be a proud Bulldog for the next six years!

 After orientation, I rushed home to meet Kevin to go to the Rockies game. 

Of course it was pouring rain outside - the story of my life - but we dressed warm, got our ponchos and headed down to watch the Yankees play!  Kevin is a HUGE Yankees fan and I also am, but mainly just because I love New York City and they have cool colors and logo.  However, I have learned wearing the Yankee apparel does bring controversy your way - I have experienced many dirty looks and comments regarding my Yankee's apparel, and since I don't really pay attention to how their season is progressing I have no comebacks or comments when taunted - but I look good, does that count?

Watching the Yankees play at Coors Field with my brother was the best way to end my crazy day!  The rain stopped right before the first pitch and held off the entire night - it was perfection!  I rarely get to hang out with my brother just him and I so that was a treat in itself, along with the beers, hot dogs and nachos I enjoyed all by myself with no one else to tend to! 

It was a fantastic evening at the ball field!

My Wacky Wednesday was yes, crazy and busy, but packed full of the best things! 

It was a day that reminded me just how lucky I am - I have a job I love and one that continues to challenge me everyday, my kids are happy, healthy and growing up right before my eyes, and I am surrounded by tons of family and friends to enjoy life with!

Life is good even in the midst of total chaos!