Disneyland Trip 2011

On June 13th - June 17th the Meiers, the Orellanas and the Barichs left sunny Arizona for 5 days in southern  California and our anticipated trip to Disneyland for 3 full days.

We walked and shopped through downtown Disney on our first evening after arrival and then to bed early so we were well rested for 15 hours at the park the next day.

Daniella was looking forward to riding the roller coasters with Nammie as were most of the grandkids.  Brandon loves Thunder Mountain railroad while Casey loves Space Mountain and Ashley loves everything like Nammie.  Papa outwalked everyone and we wanted to tap into his energy!

Tristan Turns 6!!

Everyone gathered at Nammie & Papa's house for a swim birthday party for Tristan on June 10th.  Tristan's real birthday is June 19th, but he can't remember that!!

We enjoyed pizza, fresh strawberries and red grapes along with chips and plent of birthday cake.  The weather was beautiful and not an Arizona hot one so they kids were able to swim, play and eat outside without complaining about the heat!

After swimming it was time for the cake and opening the presents.  Tristan had a great time and all the kids left very tired!

Cadence Turns 7 Years Old!

Family & school friends gathered at the Gilbert Bowl to celebrate Cadence's 7th birthday on Saturday, May 14, 2011. (Her birthdate is May 12th)

We were assigned lanes 14-16 for the kids to begin bowling. When the kids arrived, their names were already up on the monitors, which they thought was really cool!

Pizza, soda pop and chocolate cake was served as the kids bowled and Mommy, Nammie, Papa, Auntie & Uncle Hector looked on.

Cadence then opened all of her gifts and the two hour party came to an end! Nammie was able to bowl with the kids as she is just a kid trapped in a very large body!

The Gangs All Here - Meiers Grandchildren

It's hard getting 8 grandchildren to sit or stand still for a moment while we try to grab a picture! Well, Zachery's 9th birthday party was the perfect time and we got a good shot of us with all of the grandkids! Here's a couple of pics of the kids with us.

Patty holding Finnley with Brandon behind her. Next to Patty - Tristan, Daniella, Cadence, Casey, Zachery, Ashley and then Rod.

Finnley Turns 4 Months Old

Our latest granddaughter Finnley is growing up way too fast! Here is a couple of pictures at her brother's birthday party in April.

Zachery's 9th Birthday Party

Family & friends gathered at our local Bounce U activity center to celebrate Zachery's 9th birthday on April 2, 2011. Bounce U is a place where all the activities are planned and you just have to show up and have fun.

We watched the kids bounce and slide on many different kids of apparatus wishing we were much younger and had all of their energy!

Pizza and birthday cake were served in the birthday room and everyone ooohed and aaahed when the candles all lit at the same time on Zachery's cake.

Time to open presents placed Zachery in an inflatable "Kings" chair while everyone watched. A good time was had by all and we didn't have to clean up!

2010 Cousins Meet

Finnley meets Ashley, Brandon and Daniella for the first time on 12-16-10. Finnley is a little over 2 weeks old. Brandon can't believe how little she is. Ashley is a natural holding her new cousin.

2010 Grandkids Christmas Programs

During the month of December 7 of our 8 grandchildren took part in the Christmas cantata at our church Desert Gateway Baptist Church. A few days later, 3 of them were in their school Christmas program Klinkenschnell the Christmas Bell.

All of the kids did an excellent job. You could really hear Cadence & Tristan singing their part. Ashley had the only solo in the cantata and did a wonderful job singing about the Saviour.

Great Aunt Sandee and Uncle Jim came from California for a visit and got to see the school program.

Our 8th Grandchild Is Born - Finnley Anne

November 30, 2010 at 6:40 p.m. Finnley Anne Shainman safely entered the world. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz. and is 20 inches long. She has long skinny feet just like her Papa and her Mommy. She has some dark hair and blue eyes.

She was 3 1/2 weeks early and is doing well. They are monitoring her lungs to make sure they are working okay.

She is our 8th grandchild. Add another girl and now the boys are outnumbered!!

Casey's 8th Birthday Horseback Ride

Casey has always wanted to ride a horse, so on her eighth birthday we went to the OK Corral in Apache Junction, AZ for her first horseback ride. The weather was beautiful and the in 60's.

We traveled through the Superstition Mountains famous for a hidden gold mine. We saw saguaro cactus, cholla "teddy bear" cactus, hohoba bushes, palo verde trees, octotillo and prickly pear cactus. Casey even saw a jack rabbit scurring through the brush.

She rode a horse named Buster and Nammie rode one named Hammer. His name sounded scary, but he was a very gentle horse. We spent an hour on the trail and Casey loved her birthday adventure.

Baby Shower for Finnley

On Saturday, October 16th we gathered at Melissa & Steve's home for a baby shower for the newest addition - Finnley.

Everything was pretty in black, pink and white with all the decorations matching. There was a buffet lunch and Zachery, Cadence & Tristan helped open the presents for their new sibling.

Daniella's 4th Birthday at the Phoenix Zoo

Nammie & Papa took Daniella & her friend Evan along with Daniella's mom, Erica to the Phoenix Zoo to celebrate Daniella's 4th birthday on September 19, 2010. We saw lots of animals, but the kid's favorite part was watching a mama tiger eat her lunch - a dead very large bunny rabbit.

The snakes were scary and the prairie dogs were very cute and hard to find when they started burrowing in their holes.

The temps were over 100 degrees, but the zoo had misters to keep us cool.

Daniella also loved looking at all of the turtles in the ponds at the entrance to the zoo.

Summertime Sleepover With the Grandkinds

The grandkids have been looking forward to spending the night at Nammie & Papa's house so they could create a tent to sleep in and roast marshmallows in the fire pit and create smores. (Yes, it was in the 100's, but we still did it!)

They swam all day and into the evening and just when it got dark, Rod fired up the pit and the roasting began. As we all do when working with marshmallows on the end of a wire hanger, a lot of them caught on fire and went into the pit. They had a blast. I can't believe each of them ate two huge smores. (They are going to be up all night!) It was a good thing we roasted when we did, because not a half an hour later, but a huge monsoon thunderstorm rolled in and kept all of us up most of the night. We had a non-slumber party. The only one that slept through the whole thing was Daniella.

Casey played around with one of Cadence's loose teeth and pulled one out. It was the 1st tooth Cadence lost.

Papa & Nammie's thoughts about the evening: these kids really keep us young!