The Rivard Fam

Friday, January 27, 2012

Cole's Preschool Graduation

For the past three years I have been lucky enough to be Cole's preschool teacher. This year Cole graduated from preschool, and I cannot believe that he is now in Kindergarten.

He is literally beaming!!

Daddy was so proud,

and so was mommy!

The bros.

The whole class.

It was a great graduation, and I'm so proud of my little Cole-buddies :).

Alain's 36th Birthday

This year Alain turned the big 36. It's hard to say or write that because I don't see Alain as closer to 40 than 30. Ugh, we're getting old!

Every year Alain always gets a Black Forest Cake for his birthday. I thought I would change it up a little bit by making a trifle. I'm not too big on BFC but this trifle was SO good! Alain loved it and that's all that matters :).

Easter 2011

Easter this year was really special because Abuelita was able to come and be with us. We rode the Road Runner to Santa Fe, which the boys LOVED. It was nice to walk around and see some of the shops, but I think driving there would be a lot faster and more convenient because we would be able to drive to other parts of the city to see more of what Santa Fe has to offer.

We dyed Easter eggs and had a nice yummy meal with the family. It was a really fun weekend :).

Beginning to dye the eggs.

Lots of serious faces.

Ty had to get in on the mix.

Had to do our egg hunt in side the house since our backyard is rock.

It didn't matter to the kids. They still had fun.

I made the cutest bunny rolls for our Easter dinner. Isn't he cute?!

Hopefully Easter 2012 will be just as nice.

ABQ Zoo and Aquarium

We were very excited to find out when we moved here that they have a zoo and an aquarium. We were spoiled with the San Diego Zoo and Sea World that we were able to visit multiple times having lived in Las Vegas since SD was only 5 hours away. But the boys still had fun here even though they were nothing like SD's (sorry ABQ lovers!).

They had elephants,

that made Cole happy :).

Very cute zebras.

These "meerkat manors" as Cole says were lounging in the sun.

Now on to the aquarium.

Ty loved the fish!

So did L :).

There is a big cage with a ton of mana rays (or sting rays?).

Ty trying to touch them.

This one is full of sharks and turtles. It's in a really big room so they were able to stay there for a while and watch all of the fishies.

Fun with the fam :).

Castelan Cousin Reunion

This past summer Alain's cousins had a reunion. We found out literally a day before that it was going to be in UT. Alain was lucky enough to grow up with his cousins and even live with them for a time. Needless to say, he is very close to them. I also love all of his cousins. They are some of the loveliest people I have ever met. This trip was so much fun, and we had a blast at the reunion. Thank you Castelan Cousins for such an amazing 4th of July vacay!

There was construction going on around Paul's house, so the boys had a lot of "boy" things to play with and do.

Cousin Aida, Cousin Soraya, and Cousin Doralia.

The trampoline was a huge hit, of course. Except can you see where Ty is? Yep, right on the edge! I about had a heart attack!

Cousin Audry and Cousin Bridget.

The Smith brood (some were missing, though).

Just chillin'.

Is it time for fireworks yet, mom?!

Almost!

Cousin Monty and Uncle Lamon.

Aunt Betty and Aunt Pepita.

Aunt Amy and Cousin Paul.

Sasha, Cousin Laurie (Sasha's mom), and Cousin Chantal.

These are L's favorite!

Of course Cole has no fear. He loved the sparklers.

They were setting off fire works in the construction bulldozers that were across the street. Can you imagine my anxiety?!

Logan's not too fond of the fire work sounds. Can you tell?!

These are my kids 2nd cousins (Chantal and Monty's kids). They all got along great!

And last, but certainly not least, is my nieces and nephews (Tanner was away). My kids absolutely adore my brother, Doug's, kids. They were so excited to get to see them!

Here's to another fun and awesome summer :).

ABQ Comicon

Most of you might not know this about Alain, but he L-O-V-E-S comic books. He has read them since he was young and collected them in high school. In 2010 he was lucky enough to go with his brothers to Comicon in San Diego, and to say that he had an amazing time is an understatement. Since he wasn't able to go to the Comicon in SD in 2011 he decided he would go to the ABQ Comicon. It was quite a disappointment :(. He took Logan and Cole with him as well, so they were able to have fun, but poor Alain was quite bummed. This year Alain will be able to attend SD's Comicon, and he is SO excited!

The boys are excited to go to SD's convention, and so is Alain!!

Logan

Logan will be 11 in April. I can't believe my baby will be that old! He is in the 5th grade, and can't wait to go to middle school next year. He is still a great helper around the house, and his mommy really appreciates it! He has started to take on the big responsibility of babysitting his younger brothers. It is SO nice having a built in baby sitter, so thank you Logan! Logan still wants to be a pilot when he grows up. I don't know that that will ever change. He is still playing tennis here in ABQ, which his parents love. Logan is an excellent reader, loves Cub Scouts, and is an all-around happy boy.

Cole

Cole will be 5 in Febrary (where does the time go?). He is very excited to start going to mommy's preschool again. He, too, is a great helper (but only on his terms). He has learned to love to play with Ty, which often gets both of them in trouble. Rough-housing is their favorite, but only until someone gets hurt. Cole very much likes to play video games (thanks Uncle Michael), and excels beyone his years (this is not a compliment to his mother's parenting!). He also enjoys, tremendously, playing with Star Wars. As a middle child he is often ignored, but his booming voice makes sure everyone knows he's around :) He played his first season of soccer this last fall, and loved it! He is just starting his first season of basketball, and, shall we say is learning to love it. Cole is such a joyful addition to our family, and we love him dearly.

Tyler

Ty, more than ever, is still feisty!! He even more so knows what he wants and, sadly, he usually gets it. The only problem is that he knows what he wants, but his parents don't always know what he wants. We've been working on his every-growing vocabulary. Saying that Ty loves Mickey Mouse is an understatement. He carries around his "mouse" and any other stuffed animal he can fit in his hands. He loves on them and kisses them all the time. Sometimes when Mom goes into check on him at night he'll kiss his mouse while he's sleeping. It's the cutest thing ever! Ty loves his older brothers, and loves that they dode on him. He is definitely a rough brute! Beating up on Cole is one of his favorite things to do. They both have battle wounds to prove it! He is now in 4T clothes (remember, he's not quite 2), but everyone think's he's older. When he throws fits in the store people look at us funny ;) Even though he's a handful, we love him and am glad he has joined the Rivard ranks.