On Saturday, we celebrated my 30th Birthday with a "Game Show" birthday party in the park.
Greg acted as the Game Show Host. Thanks, Kaneversky's, for helping with his attire.
Had some fabulous birthday cake.
And captured it all for YOU- our blogging audience!!!
A special thanks to Nate & Ashley Murray, who helped Greg with a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Thanks guys!!!
No, we haven't forgotten who this blog is really about.
Addie had a really good time. Can you tell?
Everything's a hat.
Asking for water
Erin Kaneversky took this picture and we LOVE it. Don't you?
We really think we have the greatest friends around. Seriously. The following pictures are of some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Let me introduce you:
Erica Oliver (hey guys, she's single), Erin Kaneversky, and Vonna Struck (also single, I mean c'mon!)
The Bruyninckx family. Ron, Joan, Ben, Ellie, and Amelia. Please resist the urge to comment on their last name, 'cuz everyone else will do it for you. It's pronounced Broo-nicks. They are fabulous.
Aaron Johnson. Sorry ladies, he's engaged (congrats Aaron!).
Chrissie Lim and her sister Jessica. Ha ha, just kidding. It's her daughter Jessica.
If you were at the party, and not pictured as one of these great people, it's only to conserve space. Trust me, we like you too!
We had our fair share of cute little ones at the party too.
Clayton Kaneversky
Grant. Notice the shirt.
Amelia Bruyninckx. We think she looks like a Cabbage Patch Doll.
McKenna K. loves on Aiden Barnes
We played some FUN games at my party! 
We started out with a round of Bingo. Here Brooke and our neighbor Gerri show off the Bingo rules (no biting, hip checks are OK).
The winner of each round of Bingo got to come up front and play a special game. Here is Colter Kaneversky (the winner) and his dad, facing off against Ezra Hernandez and his mom in a game called Kid Quiz. The kids were asked questions about their parents (ie: how old is your mom). It was great!
Here Vonna, Aaron, and Nate play another quiz show, called "Beep Ding Buzz." Each contestant had to ring in to answer a question by saying their assigned phrase (beep, ding, or buzz). The questions were all about me! Vonna won, by the way.
Here Nate wallows in defeat after andwering a question wrong that he really knew the right answer to. Sorry Nate.
Here you see Brooke carefully choosing which items she wants to "buy" in the game "The 1977 Store." The goal was for her to spend within 10 cents of $3.00 to win, but all the items were priced from 1977.
Caleb Lim holds the game board as Brooke decides whether to buy a Hershey Bar or a bar of Zest Soap. Sure he's not a Barker's Beauty, but we like him.
For those of you in suspense, Brooke spent 8 cents over her limit and lost the game.
Greg, in true game show host form.
Sorry ladies, he's all mine.
To end the games, several winners came forward for a round of "Let's Make a Deal." Keep their fabulous prizes of trade it fora mystery envelope???? Can you believe it? They all went for the envelopes!!! Chrissie Lim won an opportunity to change a diaper at the Spangler home, Aaron Johnson won an all-expenses-paid trip to downtown Newhall and the Western Walk of stars, and Vonna won the big prize...
dinner at the Spanglers with an exclusive showing of the video of Niki as a contestant on "The Price is Right." Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday Vonna and Erica!
We finished out the party by attempting to get better on Nate's slack line. It's kind of like a park version of a tightrope. Here greg tries.
Here is Addie on her first attempt.
I know she looks a little like a cheerleader, but I can ASSURE you, Kim & Amy, that she IS NOT practicing for her future on the pom pom squad.
My cousin Julie sent Addie this great new book. It is based on Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." It is a sweet, beautiful book. We were excited enough, but then we looked on the inside cover, and there is the author's signed inscription to Addie! Wow! So here is Greg reading it to Addie before bed.
THANKS JULIE! WE LOVE IT!
Incidently, do you not think it is funny that Greg's mom's name is Julie, and she was a librarian, and my cousin's name is Julie, and she is just finishing her Master's Degree in library science, so she can be a librarian?!?!?!
Addie is learning to use the keyboard, thanks to some great online games at FisherPrice.com. Push a button and a character pops up and says peek-a-boo. Or, in the game she's playing in the picture, she moves through the alphabet one animal at a time.
Hi mom!
I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to hear how we enjoyed the produce from the Farmer's Market. I apologize for leaving you in suspense for so long! We have eaten almost everything now, and here's how it went:
The beets were interesting. It was very... educational... to make them. They turned out to be yellow beets, and were sure good to look at. We decided though, that beets are tricky to eat. The first bite is kinda like "Wow! That's something!", but by the third or fourth bite, you're kinda "something'd" out. Powerfull flavors can be a bit overwhelming. But, we're glad we tried them.
That same night, I made a tomato salad with the tomatoes and yellow pepper. It was deeeeeeelicious.
So here's a picture of a half-eaten dinner- pork chops, beets, & tomato salad.
A night or two later I made fajitas and topped them with guacamole from the Market Avocado. We also were adventurous this night because the fajita meat came from our local hispanic market- all prepared and ready to go. It was amazing. Here is Greg, singing to his fajita.
Here's a shot of some of the squash cooked up for another dinner. We gave some to Addie and to Grant, who we had with us for dinner, and they both liked it! Now that's good squash!
There are no pictures for the rest of this report, but here's what else we did:
-we sliced the nectarines and served them with pound cake and vanilla ice crem for a dessert with the Kropfs.
-the peaches never made it to a pie because we were so excited to eat them we couldn't wait. They were a great snack.
-and the apple was added to a salad with walnuts, bleu cheese, and a great poppyseed dressing.
Hope you all have enjoyed the eating adventures of the Spanglers!
A decade-mark is always a fabulous time to celebrate something and someone meaning ful. So, for your 30th birthday, I wrote a list of things that I think are important for the world to know.
I look forward to many more happy birthdays....
Thirty reasons MY wife is lovely
1 She loves the Lord, our Savior more than anything else
2 She is beautiful
3 She is kind
4 She is cheery
5 She is warm-hearted
6 She is super-smart
7 She is spunky in a keep-you-on-your-toes kind of way
8 She loves our daughter with her whole heart
9 She makes our home a special place to come home to
10 She sings along with the songs on the radio
11 She can out-cook the lot of you
12 She crushes me at Scrabble
13 She bargain-hunts like a cheetah on the savannah
14 She serves friendliness like cool cup of water on a hot day
15 She is frugal and generous a the same time
16 Did I say that I think she is one hot Mama?
17 She is patient and kind to me
18 She is very creative
19 She has captured my heart
20 She is funny when she is tired
21 When she laughs hard, I laugh even harder.
22 She is faithful in all things
23 She holds our family up in prayer
24 She creates memories, and establishes traditions
25 She demonstrates long-suffering in trials
26 She is compassionate to others
27 She is always available to listen
28 She is always thinking ahead to Glory
29 She is my precious gift from God.
30 She is my wife, my best friend, my trusted companion in all things, and I love her.
First, a little explanation...
While I was on the phone today, Addie decided to run around the living room and kitchen touching things she's not suppossed to because I was distracted. And we had out some silly putty on the coffee table that Greg and I have been enjoying fiddling with. So in the midst of my phone conversation this afternoon, I heard myself say,
"Addie, DO NOT put silly putty on the cat"
and had to laugh. Thought you all would enjoy that.
Do you see the nice battle wound that Addie received?
Before you get all upset and ready to kill the cat, let me explain...
Some of you have noticed in earlier posts that our cat Timmy likes to sit on the edge of the tub while Addie gets her bath each night. Well, Addie decided to maliciously pull Timmy into the tub. You can see what happened. He scratched her while trying to get out, and they both learned their lesson. Well, maybe not... Timmy still sits on the tub each night, but he's a little more wary of Addie. I would like to say she hasn't tried it again, but she has. Some of us are slow learners.
