Thanks for coming back to check it out … it’s taken me months to get organized enough again to get this site updated. Whew! Now there are some long-winded posts below with a quick snapshot of pictures from each month. If you make it through, you rock.

It’s taken me most of today to get the pictures uploaded and the posts written etc. so thanks for taking the time to keep up with us.

Much love to those of you we don’t see enough and also love to those of you that we’ve had the pleasure of seeing this year so far.

I will update for August at the end of the month as there’s still quite a bit left for us to do as school gets going this week!!

Love, Jen

Well, as you can see, I had to dedicate an entire post just to the Texas vacation… so there was actually a few other notable events in July.

Obviously, the first was Ryan’s birthday, so I made him a yellow cake with a fruit flag [see below]. He played a softball tournament that day and then we ran over to Daisy Duke’s where my brother Stevie works.

Toward the end of the month, Jordan had a talent show for her
"BASE" program. She and her girlfriends danced to Hannah Montana’s "Rocktar." It was adorable and we shot video that will be so awesome to show her first boyfriend.

That night, I took the kiddos to Kidz Bop Live at the Boulder Theatre. I was so impressed, these kids and the two adults that performed were amazing. At the end of the show, they threw out Beach Balls and Caleb caught one and then they signed anything you brought to them afterward.

Quick Pix:

Ryan’s Cake

Dinner with the ‘rents

L to R: V, Jordan, J, E

Kidz Bop Live   

~Jen

In July, we took our family vacation to Houston, Texas to visit Ryan’s brother, Sean and his wife, Lindsey. Other than the heat and humidity, it was so much fun!

The first evening, we just took the kiddos swimming and figured out quickly that even if that’s all we did each day, they’d be super happy!

Day 2 ~ we trekked down to Galveston to hit the beach and had lunch at Fudruckers afterward. That night we hit a local pizza joint and watched the Home Run Derby.

Day 3 ~ we took the kids to the NASA Space Center. I still think it was a role reversal since the kids were bored the first half of the day while Ryan and Sean ran around like kids at all the exhibits. But, afterward, when they got to run around like maniacs and play, they were happy.

Day 4 ~ we drove downtown and checked out the Museum of Nature and Science. We took the kids to see a 3D IMAX movie about the Galapagos Islands, but of course, CJ fell asleep. They also had an awesome exhibit called Geopalooza that had some of the most amazing geodes I’ve ever seen!

Day 5 ~ went to check out the Galleria Mall and took the kiddos swimming. Lindsey and I were to the Art Museum while the boys took the kids to the Children’s Museum. That evening, Sean and Lindsey took us to a place where the kids could make their own pizzas!

Day 6 ~ took the kiddos to a Houston Astros vs. Chicago Cubs game.

Day 7 ~ Keemah and the Boardwalk. That was by far the hottest and most humid of any day that we were there!! It was great to check out the rides and watch the kiddos play games, and then we had a nice dinner at Pappadeaux that night.

Sean and Lindsey were super gracious hosts and we owe them big for putting up with the four of us for a whole week!!!

Check out the Texas Album for all of the pictures… I took about 500 total, but I’m only uploading 65.

~Jen

Earlier this year, Ryan’s Aunt Maria had told us they were going to have a big family bash in Chicago in June. It was to be a celebration for her 50th birthday, their 25th wedding anniversary, and both kiddos graduating from college.

After we finally got our tickets, we decided not to tell the family and surprise everyone. I also realized that same weekend was eBay Live! in Chicago, and I thought it would be fun to check that out while we’re there.

We stayed with Mark and Lindsay’s place again [this made 3 times we took over their place], and they also shared their big news ~ the engagement and move to San Diego!

The next time we go to Chicago, I think we’re taking the kiddos with us as they haven’t seen it or met most of that side of the family and Jordan only saw Chicago as a baby.

Some of the Chicago pictures:

Then & Now… 25 years! Congrats!!

The Family

The bean!!  

~Jen

I’ve updating these months mainly by the pictures I took each month, and when I looked for my May pictures, I was sorely disappointed …And that’s what I remembered why.

On May 9th, I had my tonsil/uvula/soft palette surgery. It was supposed to be a one - two week recovery, but ended up being quite a bit longer. At the 10 day mark, there’s a [usually] small risk of bleeding. Well, I ended up back in the hospital for an emergency re-cauterize dealio. The bad news about that deal was the fact that the clock started over on my recovery. I have to say, the only real big plus on the whole surgery/re-surgery deal is the fact that I truly never want to smoke again.

Once I recovered finally, our summer started to pick up and get into full swing.

~Jen

So of course, I have to talk about our anniversary! Our one year wedding anniversary… wow. Time has flown by so quickly, and we really wanted to just celebrate with the kiddos. We defrosted our cake, and I am proud to announce that is honestly tasted just as good as it did at our wedding! Yummy!

Coors hosted a suite for the Crush arena football game and we had a great time hanging out with the group of managers that met us there.

Ben and Heidi and baby Torin came to visit us and have dinner and after Heidi spent the week in Colorado, they started making plans to move back here from Seattle.

We also had Naomi’s birthday dinner with the family at Texas Roadhouse [mmmm, steak].

Caleb was still having some troubles at school, so when it came time for Take Your Kiddo to Work Day, I ended up just bringing Jordan and we had a great time hanging out on our own.

Quick Pix:

Anniversary Picture by Jordan

CJ on his bike with all his gear

Lieber Family

Bowling ~ Kids 2 Work Day   

~Jen

Moving right along… March was odd this year also, since we had this freak early Easter and of course it had to be the weekend of Jordan’s birthday also!

So, we ended up having a Build-A-Bear party with Jordan and her friends and then a second party at the house with the family on Easter Sunday. I got awesome pictures of all the kiddos with their bears [funniest part - not one of them actually picked a BEAR to create]. I posted all the pictures in the Birthdays 2008 folder.

My dad also had a funky Chorale concert which featured some Beatles songs so I have to include this picture:

Hippy PaBob

Build-A-Bear Crew

9 year old!

Eggs!!!

~Jen

Looking back now [6 months later], it’s a little easier to sort out all of the events in February, which was the catalyst of my slacking off on updating the website. The first week of February, I had strep throat. AGAIN. It was the worst case I’ve ever had and I immediately found an ear, nose, and throat specialist that would remove my tonsils. Of course, this lead to my sleep study where they decided that I was suffering from UARS and not sleep apnea but still wanted to remove my uvula also. I had no idea what this would entail but more on that later [see May Update].

On Friday, February 8th, Ryan’s dad’s girlfriend, Lee Ann called the house and left us an emergency message. Ryan’s dad, Frank had fallen and hit his head the night before and was on his way to the hospital. As we are collecting our things to head that way [Kansas City], Ryan called the hospital to let them know that we were heading that direction and they told him that Frank didn’t make it. I don’t want to go on and on about the situation since most everyone talked to us that week and knows the majority of the story anyway, but what I really wanted to say about it was this: 1. I was so proud and impressed at how Sean and Ryan got all of the arrangements taken care of while driving, working, etc. I swear that our phones were in use for a full 24 hours that day. 2. During such a sad and crazy time, the family pulled together and I truly feel like it changed for the better. It’s like I [we] gained a whole new set of relatives over the last year and that part has been amazing.

On the work front, my new manager had arranged for the entire team to meet in San Jose for the first time. I was so excited to finally meet people I had worked with for almost 3 years and had never met in person! So, the afternoon after the service for Frank, I hopped a flight from Chicago to San Jose. I spent the rest of the week out there and we got a lot accomplished.

Of course, another big moment was Caleb’s first *real* birthday! It was leap year so we threw him a Spider Man birthday party for the little monkey. I even attempted a Spider Man shaped cake… which turned out not so bad! I think it was pretty good for the first attempt. Oh!! And let’s not forget ~ Ryan’s new "grill" ~ he had his front teeth fixed and I am still in shock at how different he looks and how much he and Sean look alike now with their identical smiles.

Here’s the quick pix:

The Clark Kiddos

L to R: John, Eric, Nitesh, Andy, Thad, Danny, Jen, Rich

CJ with his cake

R.I.P. Frank James Clark 1957 - 2008

~Jen