Tyler's family birthday party!

I am kinda ashamed to say that Tyler had 3 birthday parties this year. I know, he's WAY too spoiled but I guess that's what happens when he has so much family. The first party was with his friends, the second was with his dad and family, and the third was with my family. Here are the pictures of our family party :)

Tyler shaved for the occasion

I tried something new this year and made GIGANTIC cupcakes, I thought they turned out pretty cute.
I made homemade pizza for dinner, YUM!

MAKE A WISH!

He really wanted to put his face in the cake.

Yummy Dinner

Basil-Orange Pineapple Chicken

I made this for dinner last night and it was so yummy that I thought I would share the recipe. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Basil-Orange Pineapple Chicken

1 medium fresh pineapple
1 tsp butter
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 small red bell pepper thinly sliced
½ cup frozen pineapple orange juice concentrate – thawed
½ cup white wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp cornstarch
1/2cup minced fresh basil leaves
½ tsp black pepper
2 oranges peeled and sliced (opt)

Twist crown from pineapple. Cut pineapple in half lengthwise. Refrig. other half. Cut fruit from shell, then crosswise into thin slices. In nonstick skillet, saute pineapple in butter until lightly browned. Remove.

Pound chicken lightly until even thickness. Season with salt. Brown chicken in oil. Cover, simmer 6 minutes, remove.

Saute red pepper in same pan. Combine juice concentrate, wine, mustard, onion powder and cornstarch; stir until blended. Add to pan. Cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. Add chicken, basil and black pepper to sauce. Spoon sauce over. Add oranges; heat through. Place pineapple slices on platter, put chicken on top, spoon sauce with red peppers over chicken. Add oranges if you want.

Tyler's First Soccer Game!

Tyler hated going to his practices so I was convinced this was going to be a HUGE waste of money. However, once he started playing his games he started to love the sport! He played so well and made 3 goals that day. Hallelujah its not going to be a waste of money after all!

Tyler's 6th birthday party - September 5, 2009

We had Tyler's birthday party several weeks early this year so it would still be hot enough to have a swim party. His actual birthday is on September 25th but we celebrated it with his friends on September 5th. Tyler picked out an "Army" theme and aside from swimming we had a pinata, squirt guns, water balloons, and a slip n' slide. About 10 kids showed up which is more than I expected for it being a holiday weekend.

Deke spent quite a bit of time filling up water balloons and the kids went through them in minutes.

Here are the kids enjoying the slip n' slide

I don't know why Tyler tries to look evil in pictures...he does a good job at it though lol..

I had other plans for this cake however, cake mixes now come with pudding in them so it was really hard to decorate a cake that was SO moist. It was very frustrating.

Tyler opening his presents...he got some good stuff, Tyler and Deke were both excited.

Deke had hot dog duty. Here he is "watching" the hot dogs...yep, they burned.

The kids attacking the water balloon bowl

The food table

Tyler's First Day of the 1st Grade!

Tyler's teacher is Mrs. Fritts and he's enjoying it so far. He's not used to the early schedule just yet (kindergarten was in the afternoon) but he's transitioning nicely.

I woke Tyler up early so I could get him ready for his first day before I went to work. As you can see he's total zombie status right here. lol
Zombieee...

Honeymoon in Lake Tahoe

We decided to take our honeymoon in Tahoe for 2 reasons. One, because we spent the honeymoon budget on our rings..hehe, and two because my parents have a timeshare so it was the economical way to travel. Plus we figured we could always travel somewhere more exotic for an anniversary...especially since we spent most of the week in the room ;D I do regret not taking more pictures because we did do some really cool things there. One day (Saturday) we hiked down to Emerald Bay and also to the lower level of Eagle Falls. It rained on us a little during the hike and on the beach but it was still beautiful and fun. 

The next day (Sunday) we drove to Virginia City which made for a nice day trip. We road the train, took a tour of Collar Mine and saw most of the sites there. The day after that (Monday) we drove around the lake to Kings Beach. It's the beach my family always visited when I was a kid and I wanted Deke to see it. We hung out there for most of the day swimming, picnicking, and just laying out. On the way back we drove through Camp Richardson where we got ENORMOUS ice cream cones. I asked for a single scoop and Deke asked for a double...we had NO idea that his alone was over a pound of ice cream. 
On Tuesday we took it easy and hung around the resort for the day. We played racquetball, swam, played pool, and went hot tubbin. In the evening we went to the Forest Buffet on top of Harrah's.
 Wednesday we planned on going parasailing but our appointment was cancelled due to high winds :( we were really sad. So instead we went to breakfast and hit the casino. Later that day my parents came up with Tyler so we could spend some time with him before heading home. We had to get back early because my work was under staffed and my boss needed me there. So my parents kept Tyler and finished out the week there. Before we left we all went to dinner and went miniature golfing. Tyler had just finished a golf summer camp the week before so it was time to show us his skills.....I want my money back lol

In the end it ended up being a really wonderful trip and I'm truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I'm excited for our future together :)

Dinner at the Forest Buffet


Ginormous ice cream cones in Camp Richardson
Deke got the double scoop
The Silver Queen in Virginia City

The Suicide Table in Virginia City

A train ride in Virginia City

Lower level Eagle Falls

Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay

The hike down to Emerald Bay