A New Easter Tradition!

April 12, 2009

A Little Family Beach Trip

Our little family was taking a Saturday afternoon drive and we decided to take Effie to the beach. At first she couldn't decide if she liked the sand or not...it was so funny! She hasn't been to the beach since last summer and she was 3 months old! She ended up liking the sand very much so I know we have a fun summer ahead of us!

April 11, 2009

Hoppy Easter Egg Hunt!

Effie and I went to an Easter party and there was a fun Easter egg hunt! This was Effie’s first Easter egg hunt and after I showed her one time how to pick up the egg and put it in her basket, she didn’t need me for anything! I couldn't even get her to look up and smile for a picture!

April 9, 2009

A Bowl on a Head?

Ok, for some reason Effie things that when I give her a bowl of food, the food gets dumped out and the bowl goes on her head! She will sit and eat her whole meal with her bowl on her head!

April 8, 2009

Happy Birthday R.J.!

Shannon, Maxyne, and R.J. (my sister, niece, and nephew) came up to Long Beach from San Diego to hang out with Effie and me. It happened to be R.J.’s birthday so we took him out to lunch and he got a huge piece of chocolate cake!

After lunch, we went to Color Me Mine and we all picked out a piece to paint…it was a lot of fun! That is something I would love to do again!

The birthday boy with his chocolate cake!
Maxyne and R.J. at Color Me Mine.

Maxyne with her dolphin box.

R.J. and his helicopter.

Effie & I painted the bowl for Gabe to put his change in. Effie's hand prints are all around it.

R.J., Shannon, and Maxyne.

I was so surprised to see this hair salon in Belmont Shore!! Effie & Co.!!

Max and Effie ready to go down to the pool.

April 7, 2009

Disneyland…again!

Whenever Effie and I go to Disneyland, we always ride all the rides and we never hang out on Main Street to watch the street party parade they have. This time we decided to hang out and watch the parade…and I’m glad we did! It was a lot of fun!


Me and Effie on the Jungle Cruise. (Our 1st time on the Jungle Cruise also) Effie LOVES lolly pops!
Us after the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Mary Poppins dancing in the street.

Mickey & Minnie...they were so cute!

Peter Pan.

The float...it was cute, all the characters were dancing on it.

The funky ladies on stilts! Crazy!! I think some of the kids were scared. LOL.

April 2, 2009

Party On!

Ok, I am not joking when I tell you that after Effie’s big birthday bash, our family had ANOTHER party! We had a welcome home party for my Dad and my Sister. There was a dj, dancing, and ice cream sundaes! It was a lot of fun…needless to say; Gabe and I were so beat that the next day we took turns sleeping! One of us would sleep while the other hung out with Effie. It took us about 2 days to recover!


Baby Steele is all packed up and ready to go! Grammy dancing with Effie.
All us sisters doing a little chicken dance!

Shannon striking a pose.

The best MC ever!! Julia!

Max, the dancing machine!

I'm not kidding! She danced for hours!!

Go Effie! It's your birthday!!

Debie & Katie...also danced the night away!

Once Effie found the balls, she didn't care about anything else!

Jace...dancing with the balls.

Effie, in her outfit that Amy got her in Panama. It's a little big, but still looks cute.

She loves hula hoops too!

March 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Effie! Party Time!!

We had a big Baby Einstein birthday bash for Effie! Her actual birthday is on February 27th, however, we did not have her party until March 28th. We waited a month to have her party because my Dad came home from Kuwait in March and my Sister, Amy came home from her mission in Panama in March; we really wanted them at her party so we decided what the heck…we might as well just wait for them! The party was a lot of work; it was months in the planning. Thankfully I have an awesome family that really helped pull the whole thing together the day of the party! They helped with so much and we really could not have pulled it off without them! Julia and Eric blew up balloons and slaved away in the kitchen, Shannon put all the goodie boxes together and helped decorate, Kim helped decorate, slaved in the kitchen, and set up the buffet table, my Mom helped in the kitchen, Amy was on dishwashing and cake duty, my brother Andrew was a HUGE help and set up the popcorn machine, snow cone station, set up tables and chairs and a ton of other stuff; my Dad got the piñata ready and a ton of other stuff!! Also, thanks to my good friend Julie Merrill, we had a birthday cake for Effie! I baked all the cakes but when the time came to put the cake together, I had no time left! Julie worked so hard in the kitchen getting the cake ready and it looked so awesome! I can’t thank everyone enough for all their help! The party really came together, thanks everyone for your hard work!

So many of our friends and family came to Effie’s party, it was great to see everyone! Thank you everyone for the amazing gifts, we love everything!!

Happy Birthday my baby girl! I can’t believe you’re 1.


The first thing Effie did at her party was eat and sleep!
I figured the best time to paint her face was when she was sleeping!

She didn't budge while getting her face painted!

So pretty!

Jesse as Spiderman!

Jace...he is so serious! This is very serious stuff for a 5 year old!

The balloon twister was a hit...Kaelynn thought so!

Gabe's brother, Eddie and his daughter Iris.

Piñata loot! (Jesse, Maxyne, Dawsyn, and Katie)

My good friend Mavin and her daughter Erica.

My great friends, J.K., Maggie, and Erica.

My dad was the pinata master. Effie had so much fun with the pinata! That pig is busted!

Effie's Baby Einstein caterpillar cake. I think it turned out so adorable!

Cute face!

Happy Birthday Effie!

Effie, getting ready for her birthday cake to arrive!

Yay! It's here! A mini caterpillar cake just for Effie!

C'mon Effie...dig in!

Effie loves to share her food!

Go Effie, Go Effie, GO!!

I think she's had enough...bath time!!

Notice the green colored sugar in her hair!

March 28, 2009