Neeley Family Blog

Some of our favorite people came for a weekend visit recently.  The Colorado Neeleys.  This consists of Brad's brother Eric, his wife Jenn, and our adorable little niece Audrey.  The last time we had seen them was in Disney World this last August.  We all have so much fun together and these days the kids are growing and changing so quickly that we want to make sure our visits with one another are more frequent.  We made a pact quite some time ago ( I think we were on our way to two children) to never let too long go bye without a trip to see each other.  It is important for the cousins to know each other and the brothers to share their connection as friends.  So at least two trips a year to see each other, or meet up is what we came up with.  This time around, the Colorado Neeleys arrived on a Thursday night and the festivities began right away! The "big boys" went to see the "Avengers" movie.  Jenn and I just sat up playing with mis...

We are into season 2 of t-ball.  Brock and Brayden are both playing this year.  Brock was super excited to be able to join in the sports activities. Coach Brad is back in full effect as well.  We are coaching their team and have about 4 or 5 other kids that were on our team last year return to us this year! Our team this year is 9 boys.  At this point we are a month into it and have started games already.  The boys are doing awesome! They are all catching on quickly and are having a lot of fun in the process.  There are quite a few photos so I loaded them all to our Picasa album and you can view them here . :)  The album is a coalaboration of photos...some I took, some Uncle Eric took (while the CO Neeleys were here for a quick visit) and some a mom of a couple of the players took.  But there are some really great ones so enjoy! We are busy with t-ball 3 days a week right now.  So if you happen to call and don't get...

Brock got invited to his first friend birthday party. He was super excited to go! The invite was from one of the boys in his pre-school class. Oliver is a boy in his class and his mom said there were only two people Oliver talks about at home and Brock is one of them. It was in the evening on a Saturday and held at a place called Play Boutique. This in a new place to us. We had not heard of or been there before. Play Boutique is located in Lake Oswego. They do pre-school classes there and then drop-in classes and play hours. Oliver had play time set up for everyone in the open play arena. Brock had fun climbing, racing, jumping and cooking in the play kitchen. :) We then went over to the tables to sing Happy Birthday and decorate cupcakes! There was more snacking and playing and socializing for us parents ;). Oliver ended the party by opening his gifts. Brock did an excellent job of being as social as a 4 year old can be. I was very impressed with see...

We spoiled ourselves and bought 2 tickets last minute to see Cold Play.  Brad and I apparently missed the memo that they were coming to town, but managed to score really great seats anyway a week prior! My mom also graciously offered to watch the kids for us.  Thank you mom!  I know I am going to have to find another babysitter soon for our "date nights" but I so appreciate you helping out when need be! So back to the concert, so so so good!  I think it is one of the best shows I have seen!  Cold Play is so entertaining.  They definitely want you to get your monies worth! Here are a few pictures and concert clips for your viewing pleasure :)... There was confetti, giant balloons, light up bracelets we were all given when we walked in that blinked to the beat of certain songs.  It was so great! We will most definitely see them again when they come to town!

The March for Babies walk was a week ago.  As always, a joy for our family to participate in.  This year we had two additional reasons for walking. In addition to walking for our 3 little amazing people, we had Brad's boss' sister who had just lost her twins.  We wore t-shirts to help support them as well.  She has a heartbreaking story.  Her and her husband were trying for 4 years to get pregnant.  They finally did invitro and became pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl.  At about 20 weeks the baby girls sac ruptured.  She went onto strict bed rest and was given specific orders to help maintain her pregnancy.  She followed all the rules given to her but at 23 weeks she got an infection that she had been trying to avoid.  For her safety and that of the babies she had to deliver her twins.  As many of us know, 23 weeks is just too early.  They only lived for an hour and a half.  Her and her family are lucky to have had t...

I have recently been able to re-connect with a friend from high school.  It was her and her boyfriend at the time that Brad and I went to my Prom with.  She moved to California for college, married then moved to Tennessee for her husband's graduate work.  It was there they had their first child.  Alana is 2 and a half.  She is just about 6 months older than Brylee.  They just moved back to Oregon a couple months ago, which has allowed us to re-connect. Crystal, Alana, Brock, Brylee and I met up for the first time a month or so back where we had a play date at a place called Safari Sam's.  It was a ton of fun and the kids hit it off right away.  Crystal, Alana and Andy (her hubby) are renting a place in North Plains, Oregon which is about 45 minutes away from our house.  We set up a time to head over for dinner.  The weather cooperated and it happened to be one of our first 70-something d...