Steve Celebratin' with Da Boyz

After surprising Steve with a "new to us" Ford F-150 for Christmas I officially had the surprise bug and couldn't get enough, so I decided to surprise him again for his birthday. Any of you that know Steve well know that he rarely splurges on himself, in the form of time, money, anything. My body doesn't want to let me ski anymore because it likes to vomit after only two runs, and this translates into Steve not skiing much anymore either, so I called a few of his favorite boys to join him in a Sun Valley ski trip. I even had his office manager clear out his Friday appointments, and to avoid any suspicion on his part, she scheduled fake appointments.

From what I hear the trip was quite a party. Lots of guy things, like playing cards till all hours of the night (is that a guy thing?), eating huge amounts of food, skiing hard, and did I mention eating huge amounts of food? There are some Bart Hamilton food consumption stories that will go down in history!!

The Fuddy Duddy that Wouldn't Skate

Notice who's not wearing ice skates in this picture...can you say f-u-d-d-y d-u-d-d-y! Although he does have a semi-good excuse - he claims they hurt his cankles!! Capri didn't ice skate either and was probably climbing up and down, up and down, and up and down (repeat about 20 more times for the full effect) the stairs of the rink lobby while this family picture was being taken.

Capri in '09

Can't leave these classic pictures out! Notice the text on Capri's onesie. How true is that! I'm not really sure why I love the screaming picture but there is something adorable and memorable about it. She looks like such a little munchkin in that picture. And I must mention that the sweater she was wearing is one of my very favorites! Is it obvious that I love dressing my girls!

Our Sweet Little Sophie in '09

Just a few pictures of Sophie that somehow missed the blog this year, but are definitely Family Yearbook worthy! We love our Sophie.

Maxwell in '09

These are a couples of pictures of Maxwell that somehow missed the blog this year, but I just can't leave them out of the Family Yearbook. I love his little face. He is my little cuddle bug. I just love everything about this kid...except his occasional moodiness, which he probably learned from me! As I look at the first picture below it reminds me of one of my favorite little things about Max - he loves to wear crazy socks, and he loves for all to see him wear his crazy socks. He has these really long (knee-high) bright yellow soccer socks which he loves to wear with shorts. It makes it quite easy to spot Maxwell during his football game...just look for the yellow socks. He also has some long black, grey and red striped socks, which he wore to basketball practice just last night. It's a quirky little thing that I adore.

We Love Cousins!

Sicily is one of Sophie's favorite little people to play with. Hollie and I both agree that when the two of them are together the Moms don't even see them for hours on end. House is usually their game of choice!

We love cousins, and thank goodness we do because we have LOTS of them! Sophie adores her cousin Emily. Emily is actually Maxwell's age, but she is so good to play with her younger cousin.

Luke, Landon and Maxwell and Sophie, Jake and Luke after baby Jaxon's blessing. So many family events...so many memories!

A Whole Lotta Love!

There was a whole lotta love in the Payne home in 2009. Now don't misunderstand me - there was also a whole lotta whining, arguing and pouting (even by Mommy and Daddy), but love seems to reign. Maxwell is an outstanding older brother. Capri and Sophie adore him, and he has this nurturing instinct like his Daddy. I'm quite sure that he will make a superb babysitter for his little sisters by age 10! Actually, take away that exclamation mark...I'm not kidding. Sophie adores Capri, although I'm not sure that the reverse is true yet. I don't think I would like someone who tries to carry me around in very very uncomfortable and even painful positions. I tell Sophie all the time that she and Capri will be best friends when they get older. Aren't siblings great? And I speak from experience...lots of experience!