The Gissel Grandchildren

These are all the grandkids from Mike's side of the family, except Addison who was too sick to leave my arms even for a moment. Aren't they so cute! They love each other and that makes me very happy to see.

Penny

This is Penny.....the dog we got our kids and then I totally freaked out and we gave it to Mike's sister for her kids. It actually works out great because the dog spends most of her time at their grandma's house so my kids still spend a lot of time with her. I like the arrangement much better! She is hyper but a very fun, friendly and cute dog. My nephew and niece take great care of her.

Easter Time

Easter morning was fun with the older kids. The Easter bunny hid the baskets pretty good this year. The ran all over the house and finally found them.

They each got one toy and a movie with a little bit of candy. What a nice Easter bunny! Oh, and if you are wondering.....the Easter bunny uses tissue paper instead of grass in their baskets!

The bad thing was that Addison got sick Saturday night and was up on and off all night with a high fever that just wouldn't go down. She stayed sick for an entire week and was a VERY grumpy baby.

It was pretty fun dying eggs. The kids are older now so they did most of the work themselves. Addison wanted to do it herself and, as you can see, was a little upset when we helped her. All in all we had a great time.

Dress Up

I was making dinner the other night and I noticed that Addison wasn't clinging on for dear life to my leg. I wondered what she was doing and so I called the girls to come down stairs, and this is what I found!

Carissa has always loved to play dress up. In fact it is a rare occasion not to see her in her Minnie or princess dress. I guess that it is rubbing off onto Addison. She threw a fit when I had to take it off for dinner. I thought it was so cute to see my two girls playing dress up together!

Wow.....5 Years Old

On March 17th, my baby boy turned FIVE. I really can't believe how fast those years have gone. He is one amazing kid. Mike and I are so proud of him and all the things that he has learned in his five short years of life.

I had the girls give Camden a gift this year. They gave him sunglasses, a grabber arm thingy, and a really fun pretend game that lets them play with mail and a mailbox. He loved that.

We decided to get him a pogostick this year. He had mentioned it to me a while back and when we went looking for a gift for him, we found this one that kinda "grows" with him. It has a bigger base on the bottom that allows for more stability while learning to jump. It can be removed to the regular pogo stick base when he gets better and older! Everyday he has gotten better and better. It is really good excersise too!

Camden's Birthday Party

This year, Camden decided that he wanted to celebrate his birthday by inviting some of his friends that he plays with to the park for a small party. He helped me make the invitations. He also got brown lunch bags and decorated them with crayons and stickers to use as goodie bags for the kids.

Camden choose pizza for lunch and Hostess Cupcakes for his dessert. I was surprised by his dessert choice but hey, it made it very easy on me!

Camden and all his friends and cousins had a great time. He loved all his gifts and hasn't stopped playing with them since then!

Bike Ride

We got up this morning and decided to go for a bike ride. This is one of the things that we all really enjoy doing together. It was another beautiful day here and we wanted to take advantage of it!

It has been a while since we last rode our bikes. The weather has not been great. So before we left, we washed the bikes and then dried them off with the air compressor. The kids had fun doing this by themselves. I guess it made them feel like big kids!

We decided to ride on a beautiful bike path in Rancho where it dead ends at a fun park. It feels like a reward for their hard work to get a break and play at the park. They got a little rest and then we headed back. We had a blast and if the weather is nice, we plan on bike riding at the beach next weekend.

More museum pictures!

I thought this was a very cute picture of Carissa and her two best friends, as she would say. I love that she feels connected with them and loves to be around them at all times!

After being inside the museum, we went outside and there was a sand table where the kids could dig for bones. I think that might have been all the kids' favorite part!

Then, we all sat down at the picnic tables and had lunch. It was a beautiful day here....about 80 degrees. It was a great day!

A Fun Day at the Museum

We went to the San Bernardino Museum today with a group of our friends. We had a great time. There were all different kinds of animals to see. Camden had a great time running around with his cousins and friends.


Carissa enjoyed herself, too. She held hands with Kira almost the entire time!

Breana, Emma, Kira, and Carissa


The kids were able to touch some stuffed birds. (Gross!) It was pretty interesting. They loved it!

Getting Ready for Soccer

We have signed Carissa and Camden up for soccer. It starts at the end of this month so Mike has started practicing with them. Carissa is very proud of her new cleats. She loves playing soccer with her dad and it seems to come naturally to her. We think she might be a soccer star someday!
Camden gets out there to practice too but his main sport interest is still baseball. He is excited to try soccer though because his coach is going to be the same coach he had for T-ball. He loves her!

Hey, even Addison loves to kick the ball!