Baby belly

My good friend Terri of Terri Z Photo(www.terrizphoto.blogspot.com)
recently took some pictures of my baby belly...so for those of you who want to see..here they are. The belly might be gone tomorrow...6 days and counting until my due date of 11/26/08!!!!

I love this shot, Owen, Grant, Jeff and myself all have our hands on Pifer #3!!!

Owen gets bottom braces

I just had to take a picture of Owen in the Orthodontist's chair waiting for his new bottom braces to dry! Poor kid!

The doctor says we are making really good progress with his overbite so far. Don't worry Owen it will all be worth it in the end.

Den 15 Participates in Vetran's Day Parade and Dedication Ceremony

Owen's boy scout den participated in Celebration's Founders Day activities which included a parade honoring our vetrans and an "unveiling" of a new vetrans memorial that was an local Eagle Scout project. It was a great experience for the boys and even Mom, Dad and a few friends were moved to tears by the events!

Football trophy's

The "O-Train" and Coach Scott Holstein

Last Saturday 11-15-08 Pop Warner had their end of season bash which involved each coach giving out trophy's to their players. Owen was so excited and proudto recieve his trophy that day!
Way to go Owen--O-Train!

First Heartbreak

Remember Grant's love from a couple of weeks ago, Tiffany? Well, they have since parted ways when Grant overheard her telling her girlfriend she loved another( Nick)!
Grant was heartbroken and in school decided to put his feelings into art. Grant's teacher was very impressed with his ability to show his emotions through his art and even kept the drawing to copy it! Here is the front and back of his drawing below:



This is the front: It says " That's Nick--That's Tiffany" "I hope you will like it"

This is the back with a drawing of himself and 4 hearts, 3 of which are "cracked." "krak"= crack
"Krak mor" =crack more a
The 3rd and 4th hearts say ""kraks som mor"= cracked some more

I think Jeff and I were more heartbroken than he was when we saw this! Poor baby and all before 6 years old! Tiffany you don't know what you are missing! Ha,ha!

Since then Grant and Tiffany have made up and become friends but no longer "love" each other!

Fun weekend!

Drew, Jake and Grant playing Wii at their sleepover.


Rib cook off relaxing!

The rib entries!

After cookoff fun--Heather Nancy and pregnant Melissa!

While we wait for baby #3 we had some fun with friends this past weekend. Grant had 2 buddies spend the night while Owen had a great time sleeping in a tent for his friend Ryan's 8th birthday party Saturday night. Owen and the birthday group even got to toilet paper our friends house that night(they literally asked for it!) He thought it was great fun but we did have to explain some of the consequencess of doing that to other people who aren't expecting it when and if there is a next time.

On Sunday we got together for a "rib cookoff" at the park with 50 of our friends and kids. We had 5 entries for the rib contest and Jeff and our friend Rob tied for 2nd place! Our friend Tim took the grand prize with his Georgia rib sandwich! It was awesome and who Jeff and I both voted for as the winner! Owen and Grant tried Daddy's ribs and were qite biased and really loved Jeff's ribs and thought he should have won 1st place! (Yeah a new food added to the list!!) It was a georgous day and the kids had a blast and so did the adults. Thanks to everyone for the dishes they brought! What will we make for the next cook off? It was a hot topic of discussion that day.

23 Days and counting!

23 days until my official due date of 11/26/08. I am hoping to have baby- X early of course not only because my body and mind are ready but because Grant's birthday is 8 days after my due date. It would be nice for these two brothers to have birthdays that aren't so close. Jeff and I really need to get our name list in order!! Still no official name yet. I think we'll wait to meet him.
Today I am hoping for this birthday to be on 11/11, then again that's only 7 days away. Maybe I should rethink my dates! We have several friends and family with November birthdates. I have already missed Aunt Kim's birthday of 11/3 and our friend Kathy Arce on 11/1 but next is Grandma Anna's on 11/7, then we have Grandma Nanny's on 11/16 and Grandma Gee-Ma on 11/23. Ryan Erickson is on 11/11 and Ryan Sweeny is the 26th. Sounds likely that I could have this baby on somebody's birthday we know!! We'll see!!!

Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween this year. It started with carving pumpkins on Halloween eve, then Grant & Owen got to dress up the next day at school. Grant had a Halloween parade in front of his school complete with Halloween songs. When they came home we all dressed up for our friend Nancy & Scott's pre-trick-or-treating party and then we all went Trick -or-treating together as one big group.

Then we came home to pass out candy to unsuspecting victims from Grant's "Scary's" restaurant curbside in frron of our house. Daddy surprised the boys after school where he set up "Scary's" in our driveway complete with jack-o-lanterns, plants and caution tape marking off our yard. The boys passed out candy from "Scary's" drive in window while Daddy lurked around the corner waiting to jump out with a ban saw (minus the blade of course) running and scare the daylights out of the tween trick-or-treaters. Most were really surprised and scared to death. They then would say said "that was so cool" "that was scarier than Halloween Horror Nights!" The boys got a kick out of it and so did Dad!!! Grant would exclaim after the trick-or-treater left scared.... "Yep that's why I called it Scary's!!!"
Daddy was quite the Halloween hero this year! Thanks Dad!!

Meet Tiffany

Grant & Tiffany at school

Grant's drawing to Tiffany

Grant's teacher has been informing me over the last several weeks that Grant is quite the popular boy lately. He has several interested girls his age who "fight" over him daily. Grant was shocked earlier this year when one of them told him they loved him. He was just appaled and said he did not love anyone other than his family and he could not understand why she would be telling him this--they barely knew each other!

Well I guess he has now chosen "the one" and has told her he loves her. He talkes about her every day and has drawn pictures for her, given her gifts and he even composed a song about the two of them together the other night. I wish I could remember the lyrics to the song because it was just hysterical coming from him. I guess we'll see if this is the future "Mrs. Pifer!"

Owen's Cub Scout Den

Owen joined the Cub Scouts earlier this year and somehow it didn't make it to the blog yet! We are in Pack #125 and Den #15 with our awesome friends and leaders Rodger and Heather Robbins. We have been busy this year with several activities. I have included pictures from our popcorn sale and from our outing to the "fossil hunters show."

The boys have earned a few badges and belt loops for their accomplishments this year already! Right now we are working on "scouting for food." We delivered bags to neighborhood homes this weekend and then next weekend we will return to those homes to hopefully find full bags of non perishable food items to donate to a local charity! We'll keep you posted and thank you to all who helped Owen with his popcorn fundraiser!

Number 3 gets a Baby Shower!

My very good friends here in Celebration decided baby number three needed to have a shower. Since I had gotten rid of all of my "big" baby stuff except our crib set, I agreed because I really needed some items before he gets here.
My friend Caroline suggested we have the shower at a place called "The Barn" www.barnantiques.biz/?section=intro which is a cute place about 15-20 minutes from here that is both a great little lunch place out on a porch and also a fabulous collection of shoppes. If you have never been there you must make it a point to go!

Lots of my friends were there and we had a nice lunch out on the porch, followed by yummy strawberry and vanilla cake that my partner from Mel'Z Cakes, Terri made with the help from my other creative friend Heather. I had seen a picture of this cake a year or two ago and saved it thinking we would maybe make it for someone else! Little did I know it would someday be a cake for my own shower!! I think it turnd out so cute?!! I just loved it! After that I opened the many packages that everyone brought and was blown away by all of the nice things I got. A few of us then went shopping together in all of the shops and had a great time running into each other and buying some fun stuff too!

I was so touched with everyone being there for me and with all of the kind words and generosity that I was a cryin' fool that day! I was really struck with the upcoming reality of a third Pifer baby and what good friends I have that it was a really emotional day for me. My two best girlfriends Susan & Erica from Pennsylvania even flew in especially for the event. I am so very blessed!
Special thanks to Nancy, Heather, Terri, Caroline, Ashley, Kathy and Meg for putting the event together and also a big thank you to Jeff and the boys for making sure there were pretty flowers and beautifully wrapped packages there for me too. I love you all, thank you for such a memorable day!

Owen's Last Football Game of the Season 10-18-08

Well, the season is over and Team Pifer is incredibly sad this football season has ended. I think we all had a great time with this new experience of Owen playing football this year. We all had such a fabulous time learning about Pop Warner Football and how it worked and getting to know the great volunteers and coaches. We couldn't have asked for anything better. Our coaching staff for our team was incredible. We had 6 very knowledegable and dedicated coaches which truly were a gift to these boys. Every boy had a great time playing, learned the game and grew as individuals. It was such a great experience!

Our last game was exciting because Owen's Great Uncle Chuck and his friend Chris came to watch his game along with my two girlfriends from PA were here to witness the "O-Train" in action! It was a good game and our defense came alive for their best game all season. We had several good plays and several first downs this game but unfortunately no touchdowns this game.

Although we didn't win one game all season it sure didn't feel that way. Our team improved each game and everyone felt like a winner every game. No one ever was disappointed with our team, everyone was excited to see the growth and enthusiasm of our team. Owen truly found his niche and love of football (wonder where that came from?) and really showed determination and effort every play of every game. He had 3 of our 4 touchdowns this season--we are so very proud of him! Go Owen and Go Storm!!

Decorating for Halloween 2008

This is by far Grant's favorite holiday and he has been busy decorating. I thought I would give everyone a glimpse. Grant in his jammies and Daddy(dressed) put up some purple lights this Sunday morning! Grant is in his glory, he keeps singing "this is the way we decorate, decorate, decorate, this is the way we decorate so early in the mornin'"! We also have decorated with lots of "spiderwebs" all over our house! Take a look isn't it creepy???

Another weekend of sports!

Our 4 Awesome T-ball coaches- Jeff, Eric, Rodger and Scott.

Diamond Jaxx got rained out mid game.

Grant on 3rd before the washout!

Grant's Friday night T-ball game was going well and as expected when a huge rain storm hit and forced the Diamond Jaxx to call the game early. The game was almost over but it was a big bummer for the kids. Although they all seemed to have fun playing in the rain and mud!


Owen post football game.



Owen and friend Jacob "face off."

Owen's team the Storm also had a game this rainy weekend. The Storm played on Saturday, and it proved to be a difficult day for running the ball. The field was sloppy which also made blocking difficult. Owen's buddy Thomas had a nice run on the opening drive but after several attempts we were unable to score. Owen had his second lowest yardage of the season this game--about 30 yards. The Umatilla Bulldogs however, had a great game and beat us by several touchdowns(They don't keep score at this level and I lost track of how many touchdowns the other team had.) Our team still managed to have a good time playing and as always played as hard as they could.

Owen Celebrates 8 years

We celebrated Owen's 8th Birthday this year with his request to go ice skating and to have a snowball fight afterwards. Clearly everyone had an AWESOME time by the looks of the pictures! Ice skating was somewhat of a challenge but by the end of the 2 hours everybody had pretty much picked it up and had stopped hanging on to the wall. Even some of the adults joined in on the ice--Daddy, nanny, Erin and Eric made it look easy.
After the party they dumped "snow" from the rink outside in 85 degree weather and the kids(and a few Dads) had a snowball fight! They had an absolute blast pelting each other with melting snow! Owen has enjoyed all of his presents this year very much and is looking forward to his Birthday Dinner at his favorite restaurant "TGI Fridays." Happy Birthday to a loveable yourng man, Owen!

2 Touchdown Day!!

Owen-full back, Matthew- quarterback, Tommy-tailback

Owen and Coach Holstein

Owen woke up this morning and told me that is was going to be a "touchdown morning" Owen means what he says--he had his first 100 yard game of the season which included 2 touchdowns!! His first touchdown was off of a "31 Dive" for 25 yards and the second was off of a "Shotgun Formation Owen Right" for 60 yards. It was AWESOME!!
I don't know if it was the fact that Owen's "Nanny" was in town from Pennsylvania to see his game or that it was his birthday weekend but he was ready to play today! Our team had one of it's better games this week and came close to winning. The score was 3-2 .... GO STORM!!
The announcers got the song "OPP" (old song from the 80's) and played it after his touchdowns. Owen said that the music was his favorite part of the game! We are so proud of Owen and his team!

Diamond Jaxx 3rd game

Grant had another t-ball game this Friday which was way cool but what was even cooler was that his "Nanny" came from Pennsylvania to see him play this game. Grant put forth a great effort and had 2 really good hits this game and he got to play 1st base. It was a breezy beautiful night for a fun game. After the game the Erickson's treated the whole team to snowcones--what a way to end a perfect night.

The Storm's first Home Game

Home field huddle
Our friends Heather & Carly come to cheer Owen on!
Tiny Mites ready to play!


Saturday September 27, 2008 was the first official Pop Warner Celebration Storm home game weekend. Owen's team the Tiny Mites played on our home field first that morning at 9:00am. It was so nice to not have to get up at 5:30 am this week and travel for a game and lots of our friends came to see the game which made it special.
Our team looked good and Owen had a 60 yard game! The Tiny Mites also had the first ever homefield touchdown by Owen's friend Tommy! It was so thrilling to see that.
Owen also was in on 4 defensive plays and had a tackle in the backfield for a loss. He was so psyched about this game--the announcer even commented that "Owen Pifer is a hard one to bring down"

Mel'Z Custom Creative Cakes does their 1st Wedding

My cake partner Terri and I created our 1st wedding cake for a friend this past weekend. They requested a "tropical" themed wedding cake for their outdoor wedding and this is what we came up with. It turned out beautiful didn't it?

Friday Night T-ball

Grant & his friend Drew Grant arriving at the game

The Diamond Jaxx had another awesome game this week! Grant had some really good plays, especially when he caught a ground ball from second base and then tagged the bag for an out! We were all impressed with that play. Grant thought we should go after the game to celebrate with his favorite treat--a glazed donut from Krispy Kreme. So we did just that!

Jeff's First Triathalon

Jeff along with 4 of our good friends from Celebration(Al, Rodger, Heather and Tim) competed in the Athletes for a Cure Triathalon benefiting the Prostate Cancer Foundation this Sunday Sept. 20, 2008. Jeff was running for all the loved ones we know who have had to battle cancer.

Jeff started training in early August for this event and really put a lot of effort into it the last few weeks of training. He competed in an olympic length Triathalon which was apparently a pretty big feat for a first timer (most people compete in a shorter distance tri their first time). The race consisted of a 1.5K swim in a lake, biking a 40K and a 10K run. Owen and Grant saw Jeff coming towards the end of the race and ran the last few yards with him across the finish line. It was a great moment! Jeff finished in 3 hours and 17 minutes and was feeling pretty good! His only comment was that his feet were killing him! Everyone had a great race and I think they all enjoyed training for this "together."

Storm VS. Harmony- Game #4

We had the 4th game of Pop Warner Football Season at Harmony this Saturday morning. It is our last "away" game this season and we are all looking forward to playing on our home turf next week!

The Tiny Mites played their hearts our again this week but unfortunately came up short with another loss. Owen had another good game with about 30 yards rushing and Coach put him in on 2 defensive plays this game. He really liked being in on defense and said he loved tackling!!

We are so proud of him and love how hard he works and how serious he is about the game. The announcer even said Owen was like the "workhorse" of the team! Go Owen & Go storm!

Grant's 1st T-Ball Game of Season 9-08

This past Friday night was Grant's first big game of T-Ball season this year. Grant plays for the "Diamond Jaxx" T-Ball team with Coach Scott and Daddy as assistant Coach again. Grant has several friends who are on his team too that help make it really fun. Drew, Chase, Aiden and Grant all had a great first game and had lots of fun. Keep checking our blog for future game progress! Here's a video of Grant's first hit this season...enjoy!

Our first touchdown!!!!!!!!!

(click on the collage to see Owen's face up close)

This Saturday Sept. 13, 2008 Owen made the team's first touchdown of the season!!! He had said for the last several days that he was going to score a touchdown and boy was he serious because he did!!! Owen broke free from the mighty Bulldog defense and had about a 50-60 yard run and was then tackled on the 2 yard line. On the next play he took the ball off the right tackle and went in standing up for the touchdown! Our good friend, Caroline Kane took these great pictures and sent them to us which I am so grateful for because I was video taping the event and missed taking any still shots. Thanks to Caroline I can put pictures in the blog to show his big day to all of you who weren't there! I think she did a great job totally capturing the excitement!
Our crowd at the stands went crazy and even chanted--Ow-en, Ow-en, Ow-en...We all knew that this was a great moment for our team and for our season. Each week we get a little better and this was a great confidence booster to everyone! It takes teamwork that is for sure!
Way to go Storm and way to go Owen!