2nd Annual Greenie Luau Party!

The Greenies have begun the semi-annual tradition of hosting a fun, backyard Luau Party. We thought every year would be a bit much, so we've stuck with doing it every other year... and 2011 was time! For this tropical blow-out, we invite all of our co-workers, our friends, neighbors, and pretty much anyone willing to wear a goofy Hawaiian shirt!

Some photos of the prep work - Carter playing with the "flowers"...
Setting up the shade canopies in the back yard (which is pointless, they just blow over anyway...):
Lots of decor:
Both small (above) and big (below):
Some fun backyard games (and an invasion of crabs on our concrete wall):
Not sure when this pink guy flew in...
Beer (of course!):
Decor inside too:
The trio of monkeys say "Hi!"...
Personal decor is also a must (yes, that's me under all that garb):
Matt and Gundar at the grill:
Our neighbor, Dan, helping outfit Carter with a lei:
Apparently it goes around your arm like a satchel:A few fun shots of our guests in the backyard:


After the "luau dogs" we had some fun, tropical cupcakes. Carter took a liking to the neon orange-frosted batch:

The, ahem, kids, had a water balloon fight (yes, our pals Brett, Jennifer, Kristin, and Justin helped us fill up something like 700 water balloons...):
Carter thought they were fun too:
Mischievous little guy, eh?
Justin ended up SOAKED, but he was a great sport about it:
We also had the "Ugliest Hawaiian Shirt Contest" - here's a sampling of the ugly:
Our winner, Mark:
We then moved on to the limbo contest:
(the next one shows our winner, Michelle - I don't think she actually had to bend backwards with the pole at this height, but hey, she was a great sport
Baby Luke (with some assistance from Papa Dan):
Our neighbor, Dan, again:
Michelle:
Shawn (and little Greta behind him):
Sorry, Shawn, you're out!
Ok, REALLY out!
Carter and his dump truck made it through without a hitch:
Me, my ukulele, and the kids:
A fun shot of Senor Brett:
And our littlest guest, Natalie, and proud papa, Jeremy: (awwwww!)
Despite some uber windy conditions, a little bit of rain, and maybe a cup too many of beer, I'd say the Greenie Luau Party was a success!! See you again in 2013!
~kerrie

Congrats to Kelly and Richard!

I'm nearly a month late with this... So to kick it off, I'll start with a REALLY BIG:
...to Kelly and Richard! They were married atop Pike's Peak on Independence Day!
While I wasn't able to make the trek, I WAS able to steal a few photos from one of our co-worker's (thanks Paul!)! Kelly (also one of my co-workers) is a super-cool gal and is a huge inspiration to me and my career!

Couple shots of the happy couple (again, I didn't take these, but they're TERRIFIC pics!) - AWWWWW!:
The after-kiss celebration walk (??):
And then they had a reception at a much more reasonable elevation (7200 feet) - how cute are they in this next shot?!?:
We wish you both a wonderful marriage and here's to a long, happy life together!
~kerrie, matt, and carter

Wiggle Worm Fun!

Today was a beautiful day here in Albuquerque and the sun was shining with all of it's might! Since Carter napped right through pool-time hours at the YMCA, I decided it would be just as fun to run around the back yard in the sprinkler. After donning the appropriate swimming gear, Carter was ready to hit the beach, er, astroturf...

I tried to pare these photos down, but I just thought they were ALL too cute. So here's my boy in his wiggle worm fun glory:
(And just look how big my tomato plants are getting in the back corner!)
After seeing this next shot, you'd think he was a little timid. Nah, he'd run up and grab the worm and douse himself silly:
See... (And Matt kept turning the water up and down, up and down to drive him nuts.)
Carter had to get Daddy over to make sure it wasn't "broken"...
Nope, there's the water!
And soon thereafter, the clouds rolled over threatening a monsoon (nope, not this time...shucks! We SOOO need the rain!), so we had to pack it up. Carter got one last round with Mr. Wiggle Worm, this time making sure Daddy was soaked too:

And in case you'd like to see his playing in real time, here are a couple short videos of him running around, screaming like a banshee:








Love that 20 minutes of sprinkler time in the back yard is enough to make Carter a super happy kid! Remember those days? Maybe we should all take tomorrow off and play in the sun, eh?

Have a great week and thanks for reading! Eight posts in one day! It feels great to be caught up!
~kerrie