Phelan Fest 2008

Yes we are already at that time of the year again for the Phelan Family Christmas Party! Our Family has grown so much over the last year that we had to rent an outdoor picnic area to accomidate us all! John and I sent the girls with My sister, Uncle Ryan, Mom-o and Catfish while we attended a memorial for one of our college track coaches Doc Brown. The girls came home with lots of fun stories about Santa really being Scotty's dad and playing with all of their cousins! Mom and Dad enjoyed a nice weekend off! :) So just to remind you, there are 12 original Phelan Brothers and Sisters, I think 31 Phelan grandchildren and I think 20 great grandchildren!

Kids hugging Santa!

I never thought I would see the day...The Marheineke girls with Santa!

Ryan offically a Phelan, he sat on Santa's lap!

Lisa "always a good girl and forever a Phelan" Braun

Santa catching his breath and drinking a cold one!

Helping clean the ducks!

Grandpa Catfish uploaded these pictures of the girls the ducks from one of his recent hunting outings. We even got a picture of Evie picking up a duck! They are so cute holding the ducks and can't wait for Grandpa to teach them how to shoot!

Daddy Goes Fishing

The weekend after Thanksgiving we were back in Fresno for the HS State XC championships and a little R and R. On Sunday Catfish needed to get one of he son in laws out in the wilderness with him. John so graciously braved the cold at about 7500ft up at Huntington lake for a nice day of fishing. The guys were one fish short of 2 limits and John got the biggest catch of the day. Not the biggest catch of the family though, a couple of years back Mom-o pulled a 26in trout out of the water and to this day still has the record. Ask her and she will proudly show you the picture!

Evie's Bad Hair Day!

Did you think it was possible for little ones to have a bad hair day? Well Evie definitely confirmed that it is possible! Wow, there was nothing i could do to get it to stay down!

Marge, you will be missed....

Our wonderful, Mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, cousin and dear friend Marge Chiesa has found her place in Heaven. She will be missed greatly by all those who knew and loved her. We all wish we had more time with her, but are so greatful for the Fablous last year we had with her. Marge had a fulfilling year after a month long hospital stay last year. She made a miraclulous recovery and took life on full steam ahead! We love you Marge and will miss you so much, You go girl!

The Cake

Here are a few pictures of the Fabulous cake my best friend/Fabulous Cake Designer Marina made for my sister! She replicated the lace from her dress and added some "dramatical" flowers! It was beautiful and added such a personal touch to the wedding! Just Cake is the best! Thank you Marina for the beautiful cake and for bringing it all the way from Santa Cruz!

Ryan and Lisa's Wedding!

On Saturday my little sister Lisa was married to Ryan Braun! It was a perfect day, the sun was shining, the decor was beautiful, the children were angels and we were surround by our closest family and friends. They were married in Fresno at the Fig Garden Swim and Racket Club and had the reception at the Fresno Sportsman's club of course! Who doesn't have mounted deer, elk, snow cats, fish and mallard ducks on the wall of their reception site! Congratulations Lisa and Ryan, it was a beautiful ceremony and the best party ever!

Ryan and Lisa Braun

Evie doing her own thing!

Lisa and the flower girls, Mika, Abby, Ashley and Luci. Where's Evie?

The Bridal Party

The beautiful bride.

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of the girls at Halloween, somehow i missed getting Mika on her own!

Abby is a Pirate Princess although is looks totally Ren-Fairish! :)

Yoda, it really speaks for itself!

Luci the ballerina princess


group shot!

Evie's new face

Seriously like 20 minutes ago Evie started making this silly new face and she knew it! I was blowing bubbles for her and she would crack up and make her new funny face. She then was totally doing it for the camera. Her are some of the best ones!

Disneylandia!

Disneyland was not the sole reason for my sister in law Michelle and I to trek 4 girls to southern California. We went to support Marina while she competed in the Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 Birthday Cake Challenge. She came out a winner and we had a crazy, but fun time at the Disney resort! Just picture two nutty moms, Marge and 4 even nuttier little girls from ages 6 down to 3 running from ride to ride, bathroom, to bathroom, and studio check ins to awards ceremonies! It was crazy! Despite putting out many fires of who is going to sit by who on every ride and whisking them from place to place, they did awesome! A trip to remember! Thanks to Marina for bringing us along as her Just Cake troupe!
Mika, Ashley, Abby and Luci on our first of 3 days!

Everyone say Churros!

Ashley, Mika and Abby watching the fireworks!

another group shot

the girls with Julia and Mike the token dad of the weekend! Thanks Mike!

Happy Birthday Miley!

No we did not attend the Miley Sweet 16 party that closed Disneyland early yesterday, but we did get to witness our own Marina Sousa beat out 3 other competitors to earn the right of making Miley's 16th bday cake! We even got to be V.I.P. status when they presented the cake to Miley yesterday afternoon at Disneyland! It was pretty awesome to see our own Super Star Marina earn another well deserved F.N. Challenge win and the bragging rights of "I made Miley Cyrus' birthday cake." We love you Marina, Congrats! And yeah, it was awesome to see Miley too! Although the girls were smitten with Keegan the Emcee of the Food Network Challenge shows!
Dawn, Keegan and Marina with Miley's bday cake in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle

The Cake!


A close up shot. ( i was standing really close!)

a close up with a smile :)

Yay Fall!

So most of you may know that one thing I just might love more than taking pictures of my kids is taking pictures of pumpkins! I have a whole shutterfly folder filled with pumpkin pictures! So we could not resist stopping by Earthbound farms on Saturday to get our first pumpkin of the season and take some pictures. I love going to the pumpkin patch and we may go like every week in October! Here are a few pictures from our stop.

Luci with her pumpkin

Girls in the Tee Pee in the Kids garden

Isn't that one a beauty?

Evie thought the pumpkins were balls and was throwing the ones she could pick up! Sorry EB Farms!

Evie

Being the youngest of 4 I never doubted that Evie would get to her milestones in a hurry! But this is getting ridiculous! She crawled at 5 months and walked at 10.5 months and now at 15 months climbs on top of the table to get food her sisters leave behind and stands on chairs naked eating her sisters food too!

Evie eating an apple at the "little table"

Eating the rest of Luci's one eye, naked and standing on the chair! Caught!

Even can use a fork while standing naked on a chair!