The Fresh Beat Band Concert

Kev and I got Ashley tickets to her first "real concert" for Christmas.  We didn't tell her about the concert until a few days before, so she could get excited and not have to wait 3+months for the actual concert!

She is in love with The Fresh Beat Band; they are a singing/educational group from Nick Jr. and we all enjoy their music and silly ways of teaching kiddos.  We saw the concert was at a smaller and brand new venue, so Kev and I were super excited too!  We were a little unsure when we had chosen our seats, and we were pleasantly surprised with how great they were!  We chose the 2nd tier (not too high at all) but a better view of the stage.  It had 3 seats all on their own on an angle that faced the stage, so we didn't have people right on top of us.  We also had an aisle next to us on both sides and room for her to dance in front of her seat too, because no one was seated in front of us!  It was the BEST!

The concert was perfect length for kiddos, but we were all a little sad when it ended, we wanted MORE music! :)  Ashley got to pick out a t-shirt and drink cup from their merchandise stand, she felt like such a big kid and Daddy and I had a blast watching her enjoy and be so thankful for every minute of it.  She thanked us as we were driving there, and then as we were walking out she kept hugging her Daddy, and is such a thankful kiddo!  She is truly the best little girl, and we look forward to many more family concert events! :)

Here are a few pictures of our fun night!

On our way to the concert!  

Now, she's excited! :)

Our pretty girl!

Checking it all out. . .

Our Partusch family seats, they were amazing! :) 

View from our seats, to the stage

Lower level view 

Straight across from us.  We are the 2nd level, 3rd box back, but we faced the front to the stage and not into the venue.   

Getting ready

Awesome memories! 

We surprised her and brought glow-in dark bracelets/glow-sticks!   We saved over $20 a piece by bringing our own! tee hee hee

Here they come, she is in shock, but Mommy is super excited! :)

FBB

We loved their bright and fun stage! :)

Marina (her favorite) on drums in blue, Kiki on guitar, Shout in orange on piano, and Twist in yellow on mix table!  

Dancing in front of her chair! :)

Intermission relaxation with her Daddy 

Throwing pennies into fountain after the concert, she was so pumped up! :)

Here is a video with portions of our night (it's a long one, but wanted to show her excitement/dancing along with snips of the actual band/concert!)

Intel Family "Crane" Day

Intel is growing and expanding yet again!  We are so thankful Kevin works for such an rewarding company and we appreciate being a part of such an awesome "Intel family".

The Intel location Kevin works at (Ocotillo site in Chandler, AZ) is building a new manufacturing facility.   It will be the largest of its kind in the world.  They will be making the next generation of computer chips at this facility.  It has been a blast to watch them prepare the area, and then bring in the largest crane in the world to put up the large roof trusses.  It is really cool, that from many of the freeways around the valley, you can view this crane!  It truly is huge, and President Obama spoke in front of the construction site and crane when he visited the valley in January of this year!  This whole process has been very fun, and because Kevin works as a software engineer, we don't see a whole lot of the manufacturing side of things, so this was a great look into Intel in it's entirety.   Ashley has enjoyed every minute of watching the building and we can't wait to see it's final reveal!

Intel opened up the construction site for families to come and view the crane up-close and personal as well as enjoy food, music, and friends!  We had a great time, despite the crazy wind, and got some awesome pictures!

View of crane from parking lot

Oh' yea, going to Daddy's work

They gave out "soft" hardhats as a gift to the kiddos, but we had one of our windiest days in a while and they couldn't keep them on!  Cute idea though!

Part of the building under construction.

Daddy and Ash near the base of the crane

Aerial view of the whole crane 

The Brown family (TJ, Tesha, and Maddie) came to enjoy the Intel festivities too!  The girls always have such a great time together! :)  

Amazed with the crane, enjoying a sucker, and trying not to blow away in the wind! :)  They are sooo cute! :)

A fun day, but exhausted! :)

Here are a few pictures from President Obama's speech at Intel as well as renderings of Intel's projection for site.

President Obama at Intel location

Pretty special to have him at Daddy's work! :)

Rendering of finished buildings at Intel.  

Aerial view of current building at Intel site.

Jen and Jeremiah = BABY BOY!

Our friends Jen and Jeremiah found out they are having a baby BOY!  We are beyond excited and had to celebrate!  We bought a few "Congratulaitons gifts" and had a fun dinner! :)  Ashley loves her Aunt Geesh and is beyond excited for that baby to come so she can play with him!  She's had some great practice with our neighbors baby girl Maddie, and Ashley is EXCELLENT with babies!  :)

Christmas 2011

We were so excited to open more presents. . .and to see her face when she saw what Santa brought her!  These are presents from Santa, Mommy and Daddy! :)  This was such a great Christmas because we bought a ton of games we are so excited to play with her, as well as some great learning games/toys!  She is at such a fun age; she was so excited, but so thankful for EVERYTHING she got!