Getting to Know the "Noses"

HAL PAL...

2012-01-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

I am pretty behind on my blogging, but I am going to try and do better. There is a lot to catch up on, but I wanted to do a quick post about my little Hal. She has such a fun little personality and I wanted to write down some cute things that she says often. She switches words around a lot and a lot of them have become part of all of our vocabularies. Here are a few...

*Pol Nalish (Nail Polish)

*AterGade (Gaterade)

*Paty Kerry (Katy Perry)

*Chucky Larms (Lucky Charms)

Halle has such a cute little smile, and a sweet little personality. She is best buddies with her dad and can play with just about anyone. She could spend all day watching Barbie movies or playing with her barbies or princesses. She has a great imagination. We sure love our little Hal Pal and all of her funny words. :)

A FEW RANDOMS...

2011-11-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

(Don't you love those thighs!)

Dave took the girls swimming a couple weeks ago. I drove up to Salt Lake for a benefit concert for my best friends baby. I hadn't driven further than 20min by myself in a long time so it was actually kinda fun. I was singing and having a fine old time by myself. It was fun seeing my friends and my parents just for a night. Anyhow...it was still beautiful at home, and Dave took the girls to the pool. Sophie loves water....and so does her older sisters.

Also while I was gone...Dave remembered something from his childhood and taught the girls. It is called finger weaving. I'm pretty sure I knew how to do it when I was her age too...I'm just glad Dave remembered it. Brynlee was loving it, and it kept her busy for quite a while.

Brynlee had red ribbon week last week and Wed was crazy hair day. I had to fly to Idaho for 24hrs so I wasn't here (explanation coming later). My very fabulous friend Jamie took time out of her morning to come over and do Brynlee's crazy hair. She did a FABULOUS job and Brynlee loved it! I am sooo blessed with great friends like Jamie!

JOSH GROBAN...

2011-11-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post this earlier... In August Dave and I decided to be spontaneous and drove to Salt Lake for the Josh Groban concert. We bought tickets on Friday and the concert was Saturday evening. We took off Saturday morning...dropped our kids off in Provo and went on a little date. We caught a quick dinner, hit Nordstrom Rack, and went to the concert. Oh, and did I mention we were on the 7th row on the floor!!! Dave got some major brownie points! This first picture is of the opening act. I don't remember what his name was, but he was a serious piano player! He didn't sit on a bench. He was in some sort of a lunge the whole time he was playing. He would reach his hand inside the piano and pluck the cords at the same time he was playing. It was crazy. He was very entertaining to watch. He honestly made the weirdest faces...like he wasn't all there. Very entertaining though...and a dang good piano player.

So amazing... just like listening to the radio.

So much fun! Thanks babe!!!

A 6 Year Old Milestone...

2011-11-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

On September 24th Brynlee lost her first tooth. There had been a lot of talk about how all of her friends were losing teeth and she wasn't. I think I heard almost every day that she thought she had a loose tooth. She would wiggle one of her upper teeth and had herself convinced that it was moving. Then about a week before the loss...she was eating something and accidentally bit down on her fork. That instantly made her lower tooth wiggly. After the pain, she was super excited to actually have a loose tooth. It didn't take too long for it to be ready to come out. We actually had family pictures taken this same day, in the morning, so I was glad it held on until the evening. I think she has a pretty cute toothless grin! :)

One week later, Marathon weekend, Brynlee was at a little birthday party for some friends who were in town. None of us know exactly what happened, but when she was eating cake and ice cream she swallowed her other lower tooth. I knew it was slightly loose, but not enough to come out eating soft food. She loves that she now gets to tell people she swallowed a tooth. She is really starting to grow up. Kinda freaks me out. Sure love her! :)

ALL ABOUT HALLE...

2011-09-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALLE RAE RAE

Halle turned 4 on Sept. 9th and she sure is a fun 4 year old. She is really easy to please and plays with just about anything. She LOVES barbies right now and her favorite princess is Ariel. She is pretty dang girly but thanks to her good buddy Eastie...she fits right in with the boys too. She can tell you every character from Star Wars, Transformers and Power Rangers. It is hilarious to listen to a conversation between Halle and East. Most of the time when they are playing Halle has her barbie and East has one of his men. They always seem to come up with a play scenario that works for both. Right now Halle likes to have her hair down but doesn't have much of an opinion when it comes to her clothes and shoes. She is still happy to let me dress her which is so nice for me!

Halle also really likes to sing. The other day we were in the car and she seriously knew the words to 3 songs in a row on the radio. I was cracking up because I didn't know how she knew a couple of them. She seems to pick up on the words pretty quickly. Halle loves to practice cartwheels and handstands and it getting pretty dang good. She is also getting close to being able to do a back bend from standing. This is also a skill that Brynlee is working on right now. She can sit flat in her right splits and likes to stretch with Brynlee at night. It is fun to see them working on these things together.

Dave was unfortunately out of town because he was doing LOTOJA, but luckily my parents were on their way back from a Lake Powell trip and stopped to spend a few hours with us. We went to dinner and Mimi took the girls shopping for a little bit. It was fun to have family here on her special day!

These last 2 pictures were snapshots from a video on her birthday. The one thing Halle asked for was the Ariel Barbie wearing the dress....not as a mermaid. So me being the procrastinator that I tend to be, went to Target the day before to buy the Barbie. She had seen it there and was asking for it for a few weeks. So I got there and the Ariel Barbie was no where to be found....EXCEPT in the box that included ALL of the Disney Princess barbies. Of course.... I sat there stewing for quite a while and knew that she would LOVE having all of the princesses but just wasn't planning on buying that much for her. After thinking, and remembering that Brynlee was able to have a party I thought it was probably fair for Hal to have a big gift. Anyway....I got the barbies and this was her waiting for her surprise.She was so excited and couldn't get the box open fast enough! :)

Halle also just started preschool again and these are on her first day of school. She wanted to do these poses. We are in a carpool with 4 other kids and I only have to drive maybe once a week. So nice!! She loves going to school and learning new things.

SOPHIE AT 9 MONTHS...

2011-09-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that Sophie is getting so close to a year old! Wish I could slow down time a bit! I am not going to put a lot of info about her now, because I am going to do a better update about her later. I just want to post her stats when she was 9 months and 10 days old.

Weight: 18lbs 2.5oz (33rd percentile)

Height: 27.7in (52nd percentile)

Head: 17.8in (78th percentile)

We sure love our little Sophers!!!

1st DAY OF FIRST GRADE...

2011-08-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

Wow!! Do I really have a first grader?? Brynlee was so excited to start school again. She is definitely my child who likes to have structure and a schedule and I struggle with that during the summer. She has a short attention span and doesn't entertain herself well, so school starting was a good thing...for both of us! :) I definitely don't have this mom thing totally figured out, and a lot of days feel like a total failure, but I'm working on it. Anyway, I think she looks so grown up with her hair down, and I love her little preppy uniforms. Just prior to school starting I was starting to really question if we were making the right decision keeping her at the charter school. Not necessarily because of the school itself because I know that she is learning a ton and getting a great education, but mainly because of friends and teacher. Brynlee's best friend Aislee and her family just moved a couple weeks ago and it has been sooo hard. Our kids were together every day...even if it was just for 15min. We would go back and forth from back door to back door and they always had an instant playmate. Last year her mom and I made different decisions on school. Aislee stayed at public and Brynlee went to charter. At the time it worked out well because I think the break from each other was good, and then they missed each other and played well after school. So...my questioning our decision stemmed from 1. Her best friend and several other friends are all in the same class at the public school, and they have a great teacher.

2. A couple of her closest friends from charter decided to go back to public this year.

3. We found out her teacher the Friday before school started and she is brand new, in her 50's, very sophisticated and by the book. These are all not bad things, but a BIG contrast to what her Kindergarten teacher was like.

I was just nervous that he teacher would be really strict and not fun at all. It all seems kinda silly now, but I was definitely struggling. The good thing about all of this is that Brynlee isn't phased by any of it. I just have to hide my feelings and emotions and she is completely clueless. She did say a few times that she wasn't used to her new teacher and missed Ms. Carlston, but we just encouraged her to give her new teacher a chance. I really think it is going to all be ok. With her being the oldest, I just want her to have fun and have a nice teacher and have the teacher like her. Of course...I just want the best for her.

The Spudman Revisited...

2011-08-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Dave, Blake and Chris all participated in the Spudman this year. The weather was slightly overcast and perfect. The guys all did great! Blake shaved a good 15min off of his last year time, and Dave about a min off of his time. (not bad for minimal training with Dave) He ended up in second place, so not bad at all! The kids were kindof upset that he didn't wait for his trophy this year. This was Chris's first triathlon and he did great. It was a bit chaotic getting all the kids there but it was fun to see them cross the finish line. This is definitely a race we will continue to return to. Who knows...maybe one year I will even try it. :)

LAKE POWELL 2011

2011-07-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

Lake Powell was so much fun this year...although it started out slightly eventful. To make a long story short our great family friend, Jeff Chapman, had a heart attack on our first day there. The men were digging anchor holes and Jeff just felt like he got overheated and couldn't catch his breath. We were doing all we could to cool him down and get him hydrated because he had all signs of dehydration. After resting for a bit he started to feel pain/tingling in his left arm, and we then started to get nervous. Jeff lost a brother and father to heart attacks, so he knew he was definitely at high risk of having one himself. We soon after got him in the boat and headed for the marina. There was a ambulance waiting for him there, but once they saw him they told him he needed to be life flighted to a bigger hospital. He is from St. George so they took him there. Needless to say he ended up having a triple bypass that evening and was very lucky to be alive. It is crazy to think about how things went down and we were all playing the "what if" game afterwards. He is doing great now and recovering and we are all grateful! There was definitely some Divine help! From there the trip was very low-key. Only my parents, us, and Nate and his family were there so it was a small group. We had a great time and loved every minute!

Lots of cousin time! :)

Halle teaching Hayden how to play with Barbie's. She was Rapunzel and he was Flynn Ryder.

They played sooo great together!

The kids (and Dave) did a lot of fishing and caught a lot of fish. We didn't keep any of them but that was all part of the fun of it!

Proof that my little 3 year old is one brave little chick! This was sooo dang exciting for me to watch!

Ok...maybe not super brave! ;) She LOVED tubing last year at Powell, but thanks to a royal dump...she is now scared. :(

Brynlee's first time skiing. She did awesome! She popped right up every time and never looked back.

The Chapman's provided these awesome paddle boards and they were a great source of entertainment for my kids. We all really enjoyed them!

Oh yes... and little Soph was there too. Pretty much hooked to my hip the whole time because she wouldn't go to anyone else but me without crying. *sigh* I sure hope she grows out of this soon! :)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY 2011...

2011-07-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

The girls and I had a little red and white theme going on for church today. I sure love my little munchkins! We are sure grateful for the free country that we live in, and for those who have sacrificed and currently sacrifice to provide that freedom! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

BRYNLEE HAD A BIRTHDAY SHOUT...

2011-07-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

HOORAY!!!!

On June 29th Brynlee turned 6! For some reason this has been a very anticipated birthday for Bryn...probably because she is one of the youngest of her friends and everyone had already turned 6. We decided (last minute) to do her party at the fun fro-yo joint called Menchies! It is fairly new to the area and such a fun little place. It was definitely soooo nice for me. We just had to show up and everything was done for us...my kind of party! :) We kept it small, but Brynlee didn't mind. They all had a great time!

Even Soph got in on the Menchies fun!

The cake...

Coloring T-shirts...

Lining up for Yogurt...

A visit from Menchie...

Blowing out the candles...

Brynlee is such a fun part of our family! She is very active and full of energy. She loves playing with friends and sometimes thinks she has to have a friend with her at all times. :) We often times have to remind her that her sister is also a friend and would love to play with her. Still working on that sibling love! :) Brynlee has started really getting into gymnastics and dance and is loving both. She is constantly doing hand stands and dancing around the house. She also recently got her ears pierced. She had been hesitant for a while because she was scared it would hurt. Her dad was fine with her waiting as long as she wanted (his choice would have been like 16yrs old) but I really wanted to get them done. Once I told her that her cousin Remi got her's pierced and she didn't cry at all...that was all it took. She was ready that day! We ended up making a chores chart and made her earn points to get them pierced. It took her about 10 days to earn her 100 points and then it was time. On her birthday it had been 7wks since they were pierced, so I let her try out some new earrings. Fun day for our little 6 year old! Brynlee is a GREAT help with Sophie and loves to take care of her for me. The other day she got her out of bed, changed her diaper, put her in her high chair, made her some oatmeal and warmed it in the microwave. I came out of my room and took over at that point, but she could have done it all on her own. Her wanting to be a constant help is often so nice, but sometimes a little much. I am so grateful for her though. She is growing up too fast and turning into a beautiful little girl. Love you Bryn!!

Sophie Mae is 7 months...

2011-06-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Oh how we love our little Sophie. She is a very happy baby and receives several hundred kisses a day, from me, on those cute chubby cheeks! :) She loves to sit up now and enjoys seeing the world from a vertical position. When she is awake the places you might find her are 1. in her exercauser 2. in her jumper (her favorite) 3. on the floor surrounded my toys, or 4. in her bumbo for food. I actually just pulled out the high chair today because she is loving arching her back when she is in the bumbo and making me nervous. She enjoys her baby food...most days...but likes it best when it is mixed with some rice cereal. She LOVES graham crackers and being able to feed herself a little bit. She has mastered the skill of picking up little pieces of food, but hasn't mastered getting it into her mouth yet. She is super smiley and wiggly at home, but if a stranger comes around she still studies them. She actually does it to me too when I am wearing a hat or a bandanna after the gym. She looks at me very closely, and then I will get a smile. She doesn't always cry with strangers, but they don't usually get to see her smiley self. She is a mama's girl and is going through the faze of being fine when I am not around, but the minute I am in sight she starts to cry and wants me to hold her. Spoiled little stinker! ;) She doesn't like to nap very well and it is making me a little crazy. She wakes up around 7:30, goes down for her nap around 9:00 and sleeps about an hour and a half. Then she's up for a couple hours and goes back to sleep, but only will sleep for like 45min. She is definitely still tired, but I can never get her to lay back down. I usually will try to lay her down one more time, but it rarely is successful. She ends up staying up and then going to bed between 7 and 7:30...which is nice....but she needs to take a longer afternoon nap. Hopefully this is just a faze. She loves taking her baths at night and has enjoyed going to the pool a few times too. Halle can't wait for her to get old enough to play with and I know they are going to be great little buddies.

7 month stats:

Weight: 15.6lbs (28th percentile)

Height: 26in (47th percentile)

Head: 17.1in (68th percentile)

BRYNLEE'S KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION...

2011-06-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

I don't think I ever blogged about what we decided to do with Brynlee this past year for school. Brynlee started out the year at Little Valley Elementary and was loving going to school and riding the bus with her friends. She had a great teacher and it really is a great school. Well about a month into school I received a phone call from the Charter school that is not far from our house, and they told me they had so many kids on the waiting list for Kindergarten that they were adding a new class. We had been on the waiting list all summer and were expecting to get in, but then school started and I didn't think much about it after that. So after this phone call we were forced to make a decision. I don't know why, buy it was a REALLY hard decision and caused me some major stress. We did want her in the charter school, but then she had already been introduced at her other school and was having a great time. She LOVED riding the bus and taking that away from her was tearing me up. I just thought she would have a really hard time. Anyhow, we made the decision to switch her school and she handled the news great. She had known all summer that she would be going to either one of the schools so it wasn't a total surprise. She also went from half day to full day so that would be another transition. We just told her that she would get 3 recesses and get to each lunch at school and she thought that was the best thing ever. She wore a uniform every day and I really wish I had a picture of her in her cute preppy clothes. The uniforms were great and so easy when it came to getting her dressed every morning. With the charter it definitely took a lot more effort as a parent. We had to drop off and pick up everyday (although we did have a carpool for pickup) and we had to make a lunch for her every day. Parents were also required to volunteer for 40 hours during the year. Brynlee had at least one math page every night, had to study her spelling and phonograms for a weekly test, read every night for 20 minutes and fill out her reading chart. Some nights it was exhausting and felt like a lot, but she learned so much. She is a great reader and speller, and learning 1st grade math. The charter goes through 8th grade and is really growing. I don't know if we will keep her there all the way through 8th but I feel like it is giving her a great start and lots of preparation for the future.

This is Brynlee with Ms. Carlston. She was such a great teacher and we are really going to miss her next year. We were hoping she would move up to 1st grade so Brynlee could have her again! :)

This is Mrs. Luci, the teacher Aid. Each Kindergarten class had a Aid so there was always two teachers in the class. Luci was also Awesome and Brynlee loved her!

My little graduate. We were laughing at the picture that is on her diploma. The first thing she said to me is "Mom...my hair was pulled back so I look like a boy!" Kinda funny, but still cute! :)

HALLE'S PRESCHOOL GRADUATION...

2011-06-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

Halle had a lot of fun in preschool this year. It was nice for her to get out of the house, and also introduce her to what school will kinda be like. They put on a very small program for us and then got to do a little water slide party. She is of course sitting next to Easton because they are pretty much hooked at the hip! :)

All the fun in action!

OUR LITTLE DANCER...

2011-05-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Brynlee had her dance recital this past week and it was so much fun to watch. I was so happy that she wasn't scared at all and very excited to get on stage and perform. We had an incidence probably 6 months ago where she was supposed to sing in church and totally chickened out, so I was a little nervous. She really loves dance and seems to do a pretty good job. She stays on beat well, and sure knows how to shake her hips! :) I was very proud of her, and can't wait for many more years to come!

This is Brynlee and her best little friend Aislee. They are such great little friends and we are so grateful her family is our next door neighbors. I'm pretty sure her mom and I wouldn't survive without each other!! They unfortunately weren't in the same class, but both still had a great time.

These little girls are all good friends. A couple are in our ward and I'm pretty sure all but one are in Kindergarten. Such a cute group of girls!!

EASTER 2011...

2011-04-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

This Easter was a little different then years past due to the fact that we had to go up north for a couple days before. Our great friend Jocelyn was made the BYU cheer coach this past year and has totally turned the program around. She is amazing and BYU is lucky to have her! She asked me to choreograph and teach the tryout dance, so we headed north the Thursday before so I could teach Friday morning. I was very hesitant to say yes because I am a total has-been and didn't feel confident, but I'm so glad I said yes. I had a blast and I realized this old body can still kinda move! Being there brought back so many fun memories! Thanks Joss for the experience!

I also had the opportunity to go and visit by bestest friend Sadie and her sweet baby Graham at Primary Children's hospital. This is their home for at least the next 6 months. Graham finished his first round of chemo a week ago and has been so sick. The poor little man is throwing up so much and keeps getting fevers. According to Sadie, even a low grade fever is a very big deal and he is immediately put on 3 different antibiotics. I went to visit late at night so the hospital was pretty quiet and slow. Right when I walked in I felt an overwhelming feeling and it brought tears to my eyes. I kept telling myself that I needed to be strong, but it was difficult. It didn't help that there was a little boy who had a halo screwed into his very swollen face and head right when I walked in, and just outside of the cancer wing a mother was sobbing to her mother about her sick child. I just couldn't believe how strong I felt the spirit, and I knew that there were angels in that building helping His children endure their trials. Still makes me cry to think about it. Sweet Graham is a little trooper and fighting the fight! I was sooo glad to get to spend some time with Sadie! I can't help but to squeeze my little Sophie tighter everyday. She and Graham are so close in age and I can only imagine how Sadie is feeling. She has so much faith and hope, and her example has strengthened me.

We returned Saturday night, and had a great Easter Sunday at home. I sang in the choir at church, and we went home and had a yummie dinner together. I love my family, and I'm grateful for my knowledge of the gospel.

These pictures are far from great. Not sure why Dave didn't inform me that I had nothing but shadows across my face. Oh well...not missing much! :) This is after church so hair is a little messy, but I thought the girls looked pretty in their dresses.

SO I DON'T FORGET...

2011-04-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

I just have to write this down so that I don't forget...

A few days ago I was trying to get little miss Halle to eat her dinner. And as I have said before...this is usually a bit tough. After getting her to take two bites she was really struggling. I asked her many times to take another bite and she was moaning and whining that she had a stomach ache (not true) or that she needed to go to the bathroom (also not true). This is not the first time she has tried to use these excuses. So I told her..."Ok, you either have to eat your dinner or go straight to bed." I reminded her that she would be going to bed without dinner. Surprisingly I didn't raise my voice at her and remained calm, which doesn't always happen. :) She looked at me and said, "K mom, I guess I'll go to bed." I thought...ha, ya right! That little stinker went right into her room, put on her nightgown, turned on her fan and off her light and climbed into bed. I didn't hear a word from her. I thought she would start yelling for me after a few minutes or make her way back out to the kitchen, but it didn't happen. I checked on her after about 15 minutes and she was snoozing away. So much for me threatening her to go to bed without dinner. That threat backfired...big time! Such a silly little girl!

OH HALLE RAE RAE...

2011-04-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

(can you tell Sophie is tired in this picture? Gosh...I took about 10 pictures and this was the best one. Oh rae rae!)

Man my 3 year old is quite the little character. So often she makes me laugh, but then makes me want to pull my hair out a bit too! There are times that you will call her name and she will turn and look at you with her eyes totally crossed and say "What?". Such a goof! She also has a slight listening problem that I am trying to nick in the butt (or is it budd? Geez I should at least know what the saying is before I try to quote it! :)) She has her father wrapped TIGHTLY round her little finger so she tends to get away with a little more than she should. They spend a lot of time together and are the bestest of friends. Her eating habits are getting a little better but I think it will be a life long issue. She will try just about anything now, but it is getting her to take bites and finish her meal that is the problem. She wants a circle sandwich (pb&j on one of the whole wheat thin buns) every day for lunch. Although she is having pb&j I feel good about the fact that the bread is healthy. I took her in for her 3 year well check (when she was 3.5) and she weighs 31lbs which is 33% and is about 55% for her height. She is definitely our little skinny minney!

This has been Halle's new little hobby. She loves to sit down and write out names. We go through pretty much the whole family and she loves to practice her letters. If you ask me, I think she does a pretty good job...but I'm her mom of course! Dave and I have had many conversations on what we will do with Halle when it comes to school. Halle's bday is Sept 9th, which means she technically has 2 more years of preschool before she starts kindergarten. She will be one of the very oldest in her class. Although I know she will definitely be ready for kindergarten after next year I like the fact that she will be older in her class. Dave has a different opinion and thinks we should try to get her in after next year. Have any of you ever dealt with this dilemma? I'd love to hear your opinion if so. I just think that she will like being older (because I was) cuz she will be first to drive, first to date and just kindof be a step ahead being the oldest. I guess we still have another year to figure it out. We sure love our little Hal!

Prayers Needed!!!

2011-04-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

My best friend Sadie and her little baby Graham need your prayers. To read and follow their story click here.

4 MONTHS ALREADY...

2011-03-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

Time is flying and little Sophie continues to grow. She is such a good baby and so much fun! She is really mellow and good natured, and has the cutest shy smile ever. (I tried really hard to catch her in a full smile but I am having serious issues with my "nice" Nikon camera. It won't fire....especially when I'm trying to take a close up. It is driving me CRAZY!! It might help if I read the manual, but something definitely isn't right!) Anyway... she still hasn't attempted to roll, but is really starting to grab at things and put things in her mouth. She really has discovered her voice and loves to squeal. She is starting to show interest in her feet, but hasn't mastered the skill of grabbing them yet. She is already showing signs of "stranger danger" and it is tripping me out a bit. Neither of my other girls were scared of other people and I can't believe how early she is showing signs. She seems to be scared to death of my dad and both of Dave's parents. It mainly seems to be men, but I really wonder what is going on inside of her little head. Like with my dad she would give him a cute little smile initially and then you could see the expression changing and she is soon bright red faced CRYING!! It is so out of character for her because she really doesn't cry often so it just blows my mind. It makes me sad because my Dad LOVES babies and the poor guy could barely look at her. :( I'm really hoping she grows out of this soon!!

As I've said before...she has chubby cheeks and pretty dang chunky thighs. Her little birthmark is bright red right now and Halle always thinks she has an owie and that it hurts. We are told often that she looks a lot like Halle and I agree. She reminds me a lot of Halle as a baby, but then there are certain times that she smiles at me and I can definitely see Brynlee too. It will be really fun to see what she looks like when she gets older! We finally put her into her crib in Brynlee's room and it has worked out a lot better than I expected. Luckily Brynlee sleeps really well and doesn't seem bothered by Sophie at all. She still sleeps pretty well, but I know she could be doing better. She usually just wakes up once to eat, but some days are better and some days are worse. We are working on it! She is such a blessing, and brings me so much joy. We sure love our little Sophie!!

4.5Month Stats:

Weight: 13.7 lbs (40%)

Height: 24in (28%)

Head: 16.5 (69%)

I thought this picture was cute because they had the same funny expression on their face! Sophie is lucky to have two very good big sisters!

My Little Best Friend...

2011-02-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Gosh....I sure LOVE her!!!

LET THERE BE HEALTH...

2011-02-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

Being healthy is something that my family has usually been blessed with. Dave and I rarely ever get sick, and compared to other people, our kids are also very healthy. On occasion we would see a runny nose, or a random 24hour bug, but overall.....healthy. Unfortunately, that seemed to change in the past few months. I didn't really notice the change until right before Christmas break. The day before we left for Idaho Brynlee started to complain that she wasn't feeling well and was very congested. The night before I could hear her snoring LOUDLY and the thought occurred to me that I should probably take a look at her tonsils. I'm not sure why I had never looked before, but the thought had never crossed my mind. Anyway, I took a peak the next day and they were HUGE! (Dang I wish you could see them in this picture)

Kinda freaked me out so I decided to take her to the walk-in clinic that night to make sure everything was ok. Come to find out....she had an ear infection, but no strep. The practitioner looked at her tonsils and just told me to keep an eye on them. She said they could just be inflamed cuz she was sick. The following morning Halle woke up throwing up...grrrreeeaaattt!! We took off to Idaho that day and did have one throw-up incidence in the car, but thanks to a plastic bag we had no mess. Both of them had fevers and we were just hoping to keep them away from other kids....and their baby sister. I just really didn't want Sophie to get sick. A couple days later Dave felt like he might be getting sick...and it hit him HARD!! He was constantly wrapped in a blanket at my parents house, and if you've ever been to their house you would know they keep it WARM! Dave is usually dying every time were are there, so b/c he was wrapped in a blanket we all knew he was sick! Shortly after, I started to feel it. Mine didn't turn into much besides a stuffy nose, cough, and raspy voice. Luckily it passed and we enjoyed the rest of our trip!

( This is a video of Brynlee snoring. She didn't always snore like this...only when she was congested)

Fast forward to the middle of January and Brynlee started crying that her ear was hurting again. Not even a month later and I knew she had another ear infection. I decided it was time to visit the ENT. Thankfully I got her in the next day and we were informed that the tonsils and adnoids would definitely need to come out. He also said her left ear didn't look good at all and he wanted us to come back in 10 days (after a round of antibiotics) and have her hearing checked. We did, and found out she had fluid behind both of her ears with 15% and 20% hearing loss. Tubes had never even crossed my mind, but they needed to be done too. So the surgery was scheduled for Feb. 10th.

The same day Brynlee had her 1st appt with the ENT, Halle came down with a fever. She had no ear complaints but she was congested and fevered for the next 5-6 days. I never had her looked at and just let it run it's course. Then....I started to feel a scratch in my throat. I knew it was coming. And then....Sophie started to show signs. Oh my heck I was sooo sad! I did not want her to get sick so young. Unfortunately, it didn't matter...she got sick. I don't think there is anything worse than having to suck the brains out of your baby to try and help them breath. I felt so bad for her. She had a little cough and runny eyes and would really struggle with coughing and gagging after she would eat. After a couple days I took her in and they told me it sounded like RSV. Those are not the words a mother wants to hear! She also had an ear infection. I was told b/c she was getting air in and out of her lungs and was was still eating(although a lot less) and making wet diapers, she would be ok. They gave me a Rx to take her in and get a high speed snot suction if we needed it, and luckily we didn't. Needless to say I was feeling a little overwhelmed with sick me, sick Sophie, and surgery.

(This is a video of when they were prepping her. This Anesthesiologist was being so nice and trying to make her laugh and feel comfortable, but you can see that she is very nervous! :( )

On Feb. 10th Brynlee had her first surgery. We had to report to the Surgery Center at 7 a.m. She didn't seem nervous at all until they started to take up back to the prep area. I was there with her, but it still scared her. Everyone was super nice, but they had to take her away from me and it was AWFUL!! She was crying and reaching for me and I'm pretty sure it was as hard for me as it was her. It made me cry! Luckily they came out and told me she calmed down quickly and went right to sleep. Kindof a crazy feeling sitting there knowing your child is asleep on an operating table. Overall she did very well. The day of the surgery all she wanted to do was sleep, but after that she seemed to recover quickly. At about day 6 it seemed like the pain really picked up. There were lots of tears and lots of pain meds, but we got through it! We just had her follow up appt yesterday and they said her hearing is back to normal and everything looks good. She was definitely excited to hear she had the go ahead to eat whatever she wants! Certain things still bother her throat, but we are almost back to our regular Brynlee.

(This is right after they brought her out to the recovery room. Poor kid!)

HALLE'S FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL...

2011-02-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

My neighbor and I decided to put the little ones into a preschool for the next couple of month. They could both use some time out of the house and both have a few attachment issues so we decided to to it together. We found a fun little preschool that a lady teaches out of her house. She has been teaching for over 25 years and seems to be great. She is also very cheap so that is definitely a plus! We talked about it all morning and Hal seemed really excited....until I tried to put her in the car. They were going to ride with another lady from our ward it hopes that they would both go in without tears, but the car posed a challenge. I told her I would drive her just that day. Needless to say, I had to leave her crying in her teacher arms. :( It was sad, but I knew she would be fine within a minute of me leaving...and she was. Getting to school without any tears has been somewhat of a challenge for both of them, but they are both being brave and happy to have each other. They really are great little buddies!!

Easton and Halle...two stinkin cute little friends!

Sophie's 2 month stats...

2011-01-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

My little Sophie is growing way too fast!! I love all the cute little smiles we get and the little coo's and noises she makes. It is fun that she can really focus now and enjoys watching the mobile on her swing. She still doesn't love her binky, but likes it when she is going to sleep. She usually eats every 3 hours during the day. Pretty much her routine is wake up, eat, awake for almost an hour, back to sleep, then it starts all over. She likes to be swaddled and always naps in her bed. I just take her in and wrap her up tight and she usually just turns her little head and closes her eyes. At night time (bet 7-12) she will sometimes eat every 2 hours to prepare her for the night. She almost always sleeps through the night with 6:00 being the earliest she ever wants to eat. She then goes right back to sleep. Last night she feel asleep after her 8:00 feeding and didn't wake up again to eat until 6:00. I think Heavenly Father knew that I need my sleep so he blessed me with a good sleeper. She is starting to chunk up a bit with chubby cheeks and thighs. She only poops about once every 5 days and when she does it's a royal blowout! It doesn't seem to bother her at all, so I guess we will deal with the mess. I really can't imagine our family without her in it. Here are her 2 month stats...

Weight: 11 lb 9oz (57%)

Height: 21.8 in (18%)

Head: 15.5 in (56%)

A Few More Christmas Pics...

2011-01-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

The whole George Clan... Do you like Dave's facial hair? First it started as a beard...then the goatee(sp?)....then a handlebar mustache....then a nasty pedro mustache! Needless to say, I wasn't a fan! At least he can grow facial hair...right! :)

One of the days I was up at the ski hill with Brynlee, Dave, Nate, Hayden and Halle built an awesome snowman!

These guys sure love their aunt Sadie!!!

Our happy skier...

Bapa and baby Coco! She is sure a little cutie!!!

A Little Skiing...

2011-01-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Brynlee did a 3 day ski school while we were in Idaho and I was so proud of her. We took her skiing last winter and she did pretty well, but we took her up the chairlift too early and it was NOT a good experience coming down. Soooo, this time she still remembered her previous experience and was very hesitant to ride the chairlift again. Her class went up the chairlift on the second day but Brynlee was content to stay on the bunny hill. I tried to hold myself back and just let her go at her own pace. I tend to use tough love and just wanted to tell her to buck up and get on there, but I decided that wasn't going to help. She had an awesome teacher who was so sweet, and patient with her and I was so grateful! Anyway, the 3rd day I suited up and told her I would ride the chairlift with her. She was slightly hesitant, but we got up there and then her teacher took over. I had to ski down away from her b/c she definitely did better when I wasn't right there with her. I rode up one more time with her and then just skied down and went inside. She did great and I was very proud of her. I hope to get her up on a ski hill at least a couple more times this season, so we hopefully won't have to start all over again next winter.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010...

2011-01-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

*Besides my chubby face, I thought this picture turned out pretty cute! ;)*

We had a great Christmas 2010 and loved spending it in Idaho like we always do! The girls didn't get everything they wanted, but they were happy and excited and loved what they did get. I have learned that there is nothing wrong with a simple Christmas! It is easier to try and focus on the true meaning and it also eliminates the expectation of always getting exactly what they want!

While we were there and had all of my family home we decided to bless Sophie. Dave gave a great blessing and like the other two girls, he wasn't able to stop the tears from coming. He is definitely a softy when it comes to his little girls, even if he won't admit it!! :)

Little Sophers(as Dave so often calls her) is continuing to grow. She is almost 2 months now and it is going too fast. She is a really good baby and sleeps and eats well. She definitely has a similar look as her sisters, but is starting to get her own look too. I think my favorite part is that she already has long, naturally curled, eyelashes. You can kind of see them in this picture. It will be fun to see what she looks like and what her little personality will be when she gets older...but there is definitely no rush!!

All of Mimi and Bapa's grandkids!!! A pretty dang cute bunch of kiddos, all in their Christmas Sunday best!!

All these kids play so well together, and it makes it that much more fun to get together.

Santa stopped for a visit on Christmas Eve and the girls were so excited. They couldn't believe he took the time to stop by before his big night! :)

The kids spent a lot of time playing MarioKart on the Wii and all really enjoyed their vacation!

A fun package came in the mail with lots of red, flashing reindeer noses! We thought they were pretty fun!

*Tricia...these pictures are for you*

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Reason I Haven't Blogged For A While...

2010-12-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Meet Sophie Mae...

Born November 9th, 2010

7lb 6oz and 19inches

Proud older sisters... Brynlee would sit and hold her all day long if I would let her... A shot snapped just after arriving home for the first time. Gotta love those cheeks...

Snug as a bug...

A proud Mimi...

A first encounter...

Minutes after birth. Gotta love the puffy eyes and the look of "what just happened to me!!" (Notice the cute birthmark on her left side)

WARNING: POSSIBLE TMI! READ WITH CAUTION!

This little kiddo was super stubborn and did not want to come out on her own. I did everything in my power to get her to come 11+ days early like both of her sisters were, but she wasn't having it. Luckily my doc agreed to induce me in my 39th week so that is what we did. I got the call from the hospital at 5:45am and was told to be there by 6:30. I got in there and was still at a 1 (which I had been for the past 3 wks) so they started the pit at about 7:30. My doctor stopped in about an hour later and I had progressed to a 3. I was thinking "Sweet! She is going to be here before noon." Ummm ya....I was wrong. She took her sweet time and arrived just before 5pm. I had my epidural so I wasn't really uncomfortable, but I was definitely getting impatient. Kind of interesting that each of my labors have gotten longer, rather than shorter. Towards the end my epidural started to ware off and I wasn't too excited about that. I wasn't feeling pain, just pressure and that was more than I wanted to feel. Once she finally decided to get into place (she had been tipped posterior) the doctor arrived and I didn't even have to push. That was nice after a long day. She has been a really good baby overall and sleeps like a champ. I think her 3rd night home she slept 6 hours straight and has been doing at least that almost every night since. I am starting to see some signs of possible reflux or gas, so I'm hoping to get control of that soon. It is so much fun having a newborn in the house, and I'm SOOOO grateful for a husband who helps me A TON with the other two girls.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY HALLE (Sept 9th)

2010-10-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

This little squirt turned 3 on Sept. 9th and was so excited about her Barbie cake. She is such a fun, crazy little chic! She loves to play with our next door neighbor Easton. They play cars and transformers, but don't think for one second she isn't a girly girl. Most of the time while they are playing she is wearing a princess costume, and if not she always finds a girly toy to fight with the transformers. She talks up a storm, and still struggles in the eating department. Some days are better than others, but a lot of the time she practically has to be force fed. Annoying! :) She was SOOO excited to get her own Barbie bike! We go on at least one bike ride a day and she loves it! It is still hard to believe she is already 3. She loves gymnastics and is still very limber. I am hopeful she keeps her flexibility for future dance and gymnastics years. We play Guess Who and Candyland(in that order) at least once a day, and she kicks our butt every time. If she had her choice we would play chutes and ladders too, but mom and dad have learned that it doesn't go quite as fast as the other two, so we tend to leave it out. She has kinda figured out that 3yr olds can have an attitude, and this has been a bit frustrating for us...but overall she is a very fun, loving, spunky sweetheart.

Pure Joy...

AUGUST 2010...

2010-09-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

LOTS OF FRIEND TIME...

We have been so blessed with GREAT neighbors in this house...which is kind of a must considering we share backyards! :) These kids play at least once a day and sure love each other...most of the time! This summer we shared a garden with this fabulous family and it was totally a trial run. I have to say we were very pleased with the outcome. We planted these mini pumpkins thinking they would be fun for Halloween, but they grew a little faster than expected. So, we decided to have a little pumpkin painting party and the kids had a blast. It was also a must to get this plant out of the garden cuz I think it was overtaking everything else! We love you Websters!!!

ONE LAST IDAHO TRIP...

We took one last trip to Idaho before school started and had such a fun time. My brother who lives in Missouri came for a week so we had to join in the fun. The kids had so much fun with their cousins....sure wish we lived just a little closer!! Silly kiddos!!

This pictures really says a lot. My little Halle is such a little goofball!!!

And we of course had to ride the Merry-go-round at least 3 times while we were there. My girls sure love their aunt Sadie!

The WHOLE fam! Nate and Kate blessed their beautiful baby girl while we were there and we had so much fun snuggling with little Cora. She and I were best friends while we were there!

BRYNLEE'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN...

Brynlee was so excited to start school...and even more excited to ride the bus. We think she sure makes a cute little school girl!

Every morning Hal has to be dressed along with Bryn so that she can walk up to the bus stop too. She isn't dressed in this pictures, but she sure loves her big sister! I sure love these girls!!

P.S. I promise I don't do my girls hair in the messy buns every day. For some reason every time I post a picture on here that is how their hair is done.

Brynlee and Ais headed to the bus stop...

All smiles... :)

A JULY 2010 RECAP...

2010-09-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

JULY 4TH...

This is the first time in several years that we didn't travel to Idaho for the 4th, so we decided to hit up some local festivities. It was hot....big surprise! The kids had a blast riding some rides, and it was fun just being together. We enjoyed the local fireworks, although they were nowhere near as impressive as the IF fireworks. I thought the girls looked cute in their little matching dresses. The 4th is such a fun holiday!!

LAKE POWELL...

We spent a great week in Lake Powell with the family! We were so happy the Pedersen's could join us this year, and the kids had a blast together. The kids enjoyed many tube rides and thanks to 100+ degree weather, we all practically lived in the water. I love going in July or August because the water is warmer yet still refreshing. Floating around definitely felt good on this pregnant body.

The Pedersen's, plus Brynlee...

All the kids (minus Brynlee) had a blast on the tube. It was all I could do to keep Halle hanging on. She thought it was pretty cool to ride with no hands....that is until she was bounced right off into water. Brynlee proved to be very cautious this trip and it was like pulling teeth to get her to try anything. She always wanted us to slow down while riding on the tube, and wouldn't try the houseboat slide, skiing or knee boarding (which she has done before). It was frustrating for me, but oh well! Halle on the other hand was willing to try just about anything. I wonder if it will always be this way. Either way...we sure love them both!!

DAVE'S SPUDMAN TRIATHLON...

Coming down the home stretch...

This was Dave's first triathlon and he did so awesome. I was so proud of him!! We were able to travel to Twin Falls/Burley just the two of us and leave the girls in Utah with Dave's parents. It was a nice break and definitely would have been too much driving for them. Although the swim was kinda difficult and freaked him out a bit, he still finished 2nd in his division (out of about 80) and came home with a little spudman trophy. I'm sure this won't be his last tri and it was so fun to see him do so well!

Of course it was dang hot that morning with no cloud cover...

Blake, Dave Casey, my Dave....the 3 athletes! They all did awesome!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Brynlee...

2010-08-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

Brynlee turned 5 on June 29th, so we threw a little party for her. This was actually her first official party with friends because we are usually in Idaho for the 4th of July. She had a blast and told me many times after the fact that she was so sad it had to end! We had a little slip n slide party and the kids had a great time. It is crazy that I have a 5 year old and that she will be going to kindergarten here in a couple weeks.

A princess cake... Crazy sisters...

Opening presents...

Our little Rae Rae...

Brynlee and Maya...

Brynlee's Preschool Graduation...

2010-07-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Better late than never.....right!?!

(for some reason there was only one setting on my camera that would give me enough light for pictures, but unfortunately most of my pics turned out blurry....so out of about 50 pictures these are the best....annoying)

Our Graduate....with an upsidedown diploma! :)

Sisters...

The graduating (kinda) class...

During the program We are proud of our little graduate and can't believe kindergarten is starting soooo soon! Brynlee starts on Aug. 18th but the rest of her school starts on the 11th. So early!!!

Brynlee's Gymnastic's Review...

2010-06-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

At Brynlee's preschool this past year she got to do gymnastics on one of the days she was there. At the end of the year they did a little gym review to showcase what they have worked on the whole year. Brynlee is also doing gymnastics this summer and really liking it. Thankfully she has some coordination, strenght and flexibility so hopefully gymnastics is something she can do well at.

*Time to warm up*

*And stretch*

*Showing some strength*

*A little beam work*

*And bar work* *And a BIG Final Salute*

On her certificate her teachers said she had an awesome bridge and great flexibility. (I don't know where the certificate ended up so this is for journaling sake, not bragging). Sure love you Bryn, and so proud of all you accomplished!

We ARE still alive...

2010-04-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

The past couple of months have been fun for us. We were able to take a trip to Arizona a couple weeks ago to visit our great friends the Slacks and spend some time with your friends the Jones'. We took the kids to the zoo one of the days and the kids had a great time...McKinley, Alexis, Brynlee and Halle... We made the mistake of letting the kids see the Merry go round right when we got to the zoo and this was the sweet ride that they waited all day to ride! Can you tell they are excited...

Our little Rae Rae....she is seriously so much fun! Although it is difficult to get a smiling picture from her...

EASTER 2010...

We are able to celebrate Easter while we were in Arizona and it was great! Tricia had A TON of plastics egg so the kids enjoyed a fun easter egg hunt and also got to dye eggs. Tricia is always such a great entertainer and took such good care of us!!

The week before Easter I dressed the girls in their dresses and after church we went to the Temple to take some pictures. I think the girls looked so pretty and I loved their dresses this year...

These are just a couple random pics of the girls. I would point the camera at Hal and this is the pose she kept giving me.... Brynlee knows how to pose very well, and she brought her little random penguin along for the photo shoot...

Tricia bought the girls some awesome kites for Easter and the girls are LOVING flying them. Brynlee has a Gecko and Halle has Tinkerbelle. Thanks Tricia...we love them!!

Long Lost Advisor...

2010-02-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we drove up north to meet up with our long lost BYU Cheer advisor Bev, along with several of the people Dave worked with in Athletic Marketing. It was such a fun reunion! Bev played a HUGE part in getting Dave and I together. If it weren't for her, we may not be married!! She is such an amazing person, and so fun to be around! The years that I spent on the cheer squad were seriously the 3 best years ever...and Bev made it all possible. We found out a few years later that she went above and beyond what she needed to for the cheer squad, and thank goodness she did! We had such a great time at dinner and I think most of us nearly wet ourselves from laughter! Such a fun group! Hopefully it won't be another 8 years before we see Bev and get together again!

(Sure wish I didn't look prego in this picture!! That's what I get for wearing a blousy shirt! :)

Merry Christmas 09

2010-01-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas break this year! We always love going to Idaho and weren't disappointed when we got a great snow storm! We have to get our snow 'fix' while we are there! My girls and their cousins play so well together so it makes it that much more fun to get together! It is always so much fun seeing and spending time with family!

Both girls were really excited about Santa this year! When Brynlee was asked what she wanted she would immediately go through her whole list...."a guitar, a pogo stick, a suitcase, an umbrella, and a purse!" Quite the list!! Luckily these were all pretty cheap and Santa knew right where to get them....(minus the pogo stick!) We convinced her that Santa thought she needed to get a little older before she got a pogo stick! If you asked Halle what she wanted, she said "a Christmas tree!" Simple enough! I don't think she quite understood! :)

I didn't take any still pictures on Christmas morning and I'm sad I didn't! We did use our video camera, but I haven't ever taken the time to upload video so you will just have to imagine! Both girls were super happy and excited and it made it so fun for Dave and I! I will hopefully be taking a lot more pictures this year, thanks to a fun Christmas surprise for me!! Yeah!!!

I can't get this video to play, so hopefully it will work for you! I don't even know which one I uploaded so hopefully it is ok. Brynlee's preschool did a little Christmas program and it was very entertaining! She is learning so much and we are so grateful for her preschool!

Marathon Post... (no I didn't run one...this is just a long one)

2009-11-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a rundown of the months of Sept and Oct... I'm sick of being behind with blogging so I'm clumping these months together. Lots of pictures...not a lot of writing! Enjoy!!

HALLOWEEN 2009...

As you can see... Brynlee is a ladybug and Halle a bumblebee. Two cute little bugs if you ask me! :)

Some silly faces...

Here are the girls with their cute neighbor Aislee at our ward Trunk or Treat! It was freezing that night so it didn't last very long! :(

"Trick or Treat" The girls had so much fun knocking on the doors together this year and scored some serious loot! Several large candy bars and lots lots more! We had to carry their buckets for them towards the end cuz their arms were getting tired!

We were so glad our friends the Harkers and the Harwoods came and joined us for trick or treating. We HATE the fact that they live a good 15-20 min away from us, but we are so grateful for their friendships! Poor Andrea was having some muscle pain issues so she got to ride around on the stroller! :) This pose didn't last long, but I had to take a picture cuz it was hilarious! Love ya Ann!!

Last year we were lame and didn't carve any pumpkins so we decided we better get it done this year. Nothing special but the girls thought it was pretty cool! STAHELI FARM, 2009...

(I'm not sure why this pictures turned out like this!?! I'm assuming the lense was dusty...along with everything else)

This place is so much fun for kids this time of year. They were both in heaven!

The swing...

The Animals...

The Teeter-Toter...

The kids also enjoyed a hayride to the pumpkin patch, and a very fast train ride behind a tractor. This is such a fun place for fall and we will definitely return in the future!

THE HOGLE ZOO...

We had so much fun with Mimi, Sadie, Chels, Blake and their kids at the zoo. We couldn't have picked a better day to go! The kids loved seeing all of the animals and getting to ride around together in the wagon. Fitting all 4 of them was tricky but they seemed to make it work!

We were so lucky to get to see a baby Giraffe and baby Elephant while we were there. They were both SO cute and so fun to watch. They told us that a baby elephant hasn't been born at their zoo since 1918!! I thought that was crazy! We love spending time with family and the girls had so much fun with their cousins!

A FEW RANDOMS...

Dave and I have been trying to take pictures of the girls every Sunday when they are all dressed up. We thought this would be a good way to track their growth and see how much they are changing. We haven't done a very good job of it, but hope to get better in the future!

(Just a cute random pic of Halle)

This is Aislee...our little 5 year old neighbor. We have been so blessed with good neighbors in the past couple of years. I didn't think anyone would be able to replace the Rideouts, but thankfully the Websters moved in and these kids have kept each other entertained. Although both girls (Brynlee and Aislee...heck Halle for that matter) are strong willed, they have fun together and provide lots of fun playtime. Not pictured is 2 yr old Easton who plays regularly with the girls also!

CEDAR CITY BALLOON FESTIVAL...

We decided to get up at the crack of dawn (5:30am) to take the girls to the balloon festival. We were told that the balloons would launch at 7am so we didn't want to miss seeing them pre-launch. Well....lets just say we had plenty of time cuz they didn't launch until 8 or so. Although it was cold, we had a lot of fun!

(photo taken by Brynlee)

A story I want to remember... While I was standing in line for some hot chocolate there was a couple standing in front of me for some breakfast. When we got to the table to pay the man looked at me and said "We want breakfast for 3". I looked at him and said, I actually am just getting some hot choc. He gave me a wink and said... "we want breakfast for 3". I then noticed the sign that said 'Single breakfast $5.00' then 'Breakfast for 3 $10.00'. So either way...if he paid for just he and his wife or said I was their 3rd person he was paying $10.00. I know this seems so small and insignificant, but it meant so much to me. We all enjoyed a warm, yummy breakfast thanks to someone who did a random act of kindness. What a great example for me!! SEPT 09 LAKE POWELL TRIP...

We love the fact that we live so close to Lake Powell and can drop in every time my family plans a trip. This trip we were lucky to have the Chapman's join us with their surfing boat and everyone had a great time! My dad loves the surfing and does a great job!! GOoooo Ricardo!! :)

Brynlee and Halle did a little surfing themselves!!

Nothin like a little tube ride....and a very bright sun! (didn't like this pic of me, but it was the best of the girls:)

These girls love their uncle Chris (aka Freddy)! He is such a character and showed up this trip with a mohawk and sidesteps. It was seriously funny, and seriously ugly! He and Dave had so much fun doing their Lake Powell "special olympics" which included being pulled as fast as they can behind a jet ski on a canoe, and just bareback. They were insane and lucky to be alive after some of their stunts. Dave loved it....keeps him young!

The only thing missing in this post is pictures from a Kansas City reunion and BYU Cheer Alumni get-together. Both were so much fun and I am waiting on the pics from friends so I can post about it. COMING SOON!

Halle Turns Two...

2009-10-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

All of her fun presents...including the fun chair from Mimi!

On Sept 9th Halle turned 2 and I didn't know 2 years could fly by so fast! Isn't she supposed to still be my baby?? This little girl is such a character and keeps us laughing all the time. She is normally super happy and goofy and making silly faces at us....but when she is out of sorts...WATCH OUT! She can definitely be challenging some days but we couldn't imagine life without her! Here are a few 2yr old facts about her: *She still loves her binky and neither she nor I are ready to give it up yet....mainly just for bedtime and those times when she is super loud and I need to quiet time:)* *She sleeps with two blankies...."pink" and "white"* *She LOVES to sing and loves movies that have lots of singing... This was especially true when she was a little younger, but she is still very drawn to music* *She LOVES to watch movies and TV, but is also very good to play with her toys and entertain herself* *We often hear her say "Awesome" or "Are you serious?" *She may be one of the world's worst eaters!! If she doesn't recognize a food then she WILL NOT try it! SO FRUSTRATING!! * *She would live off junk food if I let her* *She loves her big sister, but also likes to hit her on occasion* * She is super good at saying please and thank you, and always says "bwesh you" everytime one of us sneezes* *She gives the best BIG kisses and almost always grabs our faces in the process* *She is a chatterbox and loves to talk our ears off!* We were in Lake Powell on her actual birthday so we had some a cake and cupcakes while we were there. She and Brynlee had a great time blowing out the candles and I think we re-lit them about 10 times!

Speaking of Lake Powell... I will post a few more Lake pictures soon!

Sure love you Halle Rae Rae!

A Summer of Swimming...

2009-10-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

We did A TON of swimming this summer and both of my girls have proven to be little fishes! We honestly went 3-4 times a week and all ended up with pretty nice tans! Brynlee loves to wear her goggles and has become a great little swimmer. She discovered she can swim without floaties and took off! She even swam the whole length of the lap pool a couple of times! It is so nice not having to worry about her...knowing that if she fell in she could definitely get herself to the side. (Don't worry...I still watch her close!)

Halle also LOVES to swim and is a little champ with her floaties on. She was totally low maintenance for me and was always happy in the water! It was so funny to see her bicycle pedal through the water to get to where she wanted to go. (Do you see the little something special I caught in this photo....can you say "snot bubble"! HA!!) I always packed us a little lunch that the girls enjoyed snacking on poolside. Needless to say...we had a lot of PB and honey sandwiches this summer! Yum! I'm really mad at myself that I didn't get any cute pics of Halle in the water. She was so cute to watch and usually floated with her little feel out of the water and crossed. She is such a little character!

Overall, we are so grateful to live next to a pool. I'm not really sure what we would have done all summer if we didn't! Can't beat something free and in walking distance. We definitely look forward to next years swimming season!

Brynlee's 1st Day of School...

2009-09-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

The full outfit...

She loves her clogs and was so excited to wear this outfit!

Brynlee was SUPER excited to head back to preschool this year. After a lot of thought I decided to change her school from last year. We really loved her teachers and the things she was learning, but I decided to try a Montessori school this year. She is loving it and doing so well! It is right around the corner and very convenient...so nice for me. I can't believe how big she is getting!

A Little Get Away...

2009-09-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of August I took a FUN trip with my mom and sisters to San Diego! It was a little graduation trip for my lil sis Sadie, who really isn't little anymore. It was such a fun trip and here are some of the highlights...

*Me missing my plane in Vegas, sitting at the wrong gate! Luckily there was another flight only an hour later....I was lucky!

*Sadie leaving my dad's laptop in our cab from the airport and Chels having to try to chase him down.... Luckily he was foreign and we knew the cab company, so later that night it was returned! Again...Lucky!!

*Two yummie lunches at Nordstrom Cafe

*A Chocolate Bag at McCormick and Schmicks....YUM!

*Getting my eyebrows threaded...that was a first!

*When buying some jeans at Nordstroms, being surprised to find a balance of $100 on a gift card rather than the $35 I thought was on there.. A GREAT SURPRISE!

*WICKED, WICKED, WICKED!! It was sooo good and Elphaba's voice was seriously amazing. Such a good show, and I hope to be able to go again soon!

*Purchasing a fake ponytail! Ha...

We decided that we definitely need to take a girls trip again soon. It was so much fun and such a good break! Thanks SO MUCH mom and dad for making it possible for me to go! Sure LOVE YA!!

JULY...

2009-08-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

JULY 3RD....10 YEAR CLASS REUNION...

Oh the anticipation...Try to lose a few pounds....What to wear.....Who will be there....Will people be nice? Ha! Such a silly thing to anticipate. Since we didn't have a 5 year reunion it was fun to see people that I hadn't seen in such a long time. During the afternoon there was a picnic where people brought their families, and then that evening a dinner just for adults. There was a decent turnout, but I hope more people show for the 15 and 20 year. So fun to catch up with old classmates!

This was the evening group with the spouses.

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JULY 4TH...AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY!!

I didn't take any pictures, so these were thanks to my SIL Kate! 4th of July is such a fun holiday. It was fun dressing the girls in their red, white and blue! We made it just in time for the end of the parade and it was perfect for the kiddos, and then enjoyed the yummie Walker BBQ that has become a tradition in our family. We did some little sparklers with the kids that night and due to too many late nights decided to skip the big firework show. I'm so glad we are always able to make it home to Idaho for this holiday!

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LAKE POWELL 2009

We had a great trip to Powell this year....but seriously, I don't think Lake Powell is ever a bad trip! The last few years we have gone in June so the water was a little cold, but this year it was perfect!! We spent a lot of time in the water and the kids loved it! We went with a different group than the norm and it was a lot of fun. We didn't do a lot of boating, but I definitely got in a few late evening/nice water ski runs! Those are a must! Here is what we/the kids did for fun...

*Lots of jumping on the tramp*

*A little P90X yoga*

*What is daddy doing under the tramp*

*Played some fun card games* This is Halle with Grandma Great....it was pretty cute to watch. We were so glad Grandma made the trip with us!

*Some silly hat time*

*A little tubing*

*Lots of swimming*

*Say Cheese*

Oh this child brings so much fun....does this expression tell you anything about her personality?! Sure love her!

*A few jetski rides*

*I told him that b/c he dropped his drawers it was going on the blog! Ha Ha!!! Look at those hot white legs! :)* Soon to come....Some August updates! I'm almost caught up! :)

June Happenings...

2009-08-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a little recap of what we were up to during the month of June. Sadly I don't remember everything we did, but here are some highlights!

JUNE 4TH

We celebrated Dave's 32nd birthday! His parents and sister surprised him with a visit and we had a great time! Dave's mom cooked for us (which is always a treat for Dave after living with me) and we just hung out and let Brynlee, Halle and their cousins play. I am grateful daily for my hardworking husband who is such an awesome dad to our little girls. Love you Davey!

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Later on in the month...

THE RIDEOUTS MOVED!!! :(

We have missed our sweet neighbors soo sooo much, and feel so blessed to have lived by them for a year. I miss seeing these sweet girls faces at my back door and my girls have gone through some major Sammi, Maci and Jeni withdrawls! To make matters worse, Jeni had her sweet baby girl Shayne about a week after moving and I haven't been able to hold and snuggle her yet! I cannot wait for our next trip up north when I can stop by and meet this beautiful baby girl!

(Jen I stole these pics from your blog...hope you don't mind)

____________________________ JUNE 29TH... Brynlee celebrated her 4th birthday!! We took off to Idaho a couple days before it to celebrate birthday, the 4th of July and I had my 10 year class reunion. It was a great trip! We took Brynlee to Jackson to go swimming and get a burger and it was a lot of fun. She was a little hesitant at first after a couple rides with Dave she was going down the small slide on her own. She didn't do the big waterslide alone, but went about 100 times with Dave, my dad, Mimi and Sadie! Chels, Blake, Crew, Remi and Cash joined us a few days later and that is when we did cake and ice cream and opened presents. Obviously I didn't get Brynlee all cleaned up for her pictures, but it was at the end of the day and I didn't really care! She told us she wanted a princess cake, so we delivered!

We took the girls to the Merry go round in Rexburg and they were loving life. They both rode 4 times in a row and Halle cried every time we had to get off to pay for the next ride. I wish we had one of these here cuz I would always have an easy form of entertainment!

Nate and Kate made a surprise visit to Idaho while we were there too, so we had a fun little reunion! This is little Hayden! He and Halle are about a month apart, and they were so cute playing together. The kids spent a ton of time outside riding bikes, riding scooters, jumping on the tramp, swinging on the swings, riding the fourwheelers, and playing a little golf on the putting green. I love that my parents have such an awesome yard and house that help keep my kids entertained while we are there. We love going to Mimi and Papa's house and always look forward to the next visit!

A LITTLE HIKE...

2009-07-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Bofore it got smoldering HOT here, we took the girls on a little hike. Brynlee asks almost daily when Dave is going to take her on a hike. Bryn had a great time, and Halle did most of the time. It was nothing intense, but had some beautiful scenery! We are really grateful for the beautiful area we have to live in!

A great view of the Temple

The girls...

One of the places called the "Narrows". I didn't believe that an adult could fit between the rocks, but apparently it happens.

TIME FOR SOME CATCH UP...

2009-07-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Lots to catch up on. Although I am totally overwhelmed when I think about trying to get my blog up to date, I guess I have to start somewhere. I have come to the conclusion that I have done so bad with blogging this past year because there are a lot of things that I don't want to remember. That sounds terrible, but our family has faced some trials this past year and it has been tough. Although we are still dealing with trials, we are trying to keep a good attitude and be positive! We are so grateful for our health and for being a family. Anywhooo......back to catch up!

I guess we will start with Brynlee's preschool graduation! (Yes it was in May...better late than never) *sigh*! She definitely was a cute little (indian) graduate! She sang all of her songs and wasn't shy at all, so I was very proud of her! She really loved all of her teachers and I am sad that she won't be returning next year....we are going to try a Montessori preschool next year! Now for my indian comment....every summer she never ceases to amaze me with her tan skin! I am very strict about putting 50+ SPF on her every time we go to the pool, but she always comes home with new tan lines and a slightly darker shade of brown!

Our little graduate enjoying her after graduation snack! We are sure proud of her and love to see the new things she learns daily! She just turned 4 (future post) and keeps us smiling and on our toes! Speaking of toes...have I ever mentioned that she ALWAYS walks high up on her tippy toes? I get asked weekly if she is in dance class due to her toe walking. I just hope it is good prep for future dance/gymnastics/cheer/sports or whatever she/we decide she wants to do. She already has some rockin calf muscles! Love you Bryn!

FRUSTRATED!!! So I edited this video, along with a few others and was able to turn it on Picasa....but it won't uploud when I do it from Picasa! So I was able to upload it from Kodak, but now it is sideways! I was going to add a couple more videos, but turning your head while watching isn't much fun. SORRY!

This Happens A Lot Lately...

2009-05-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

Our little Rae Rae has been loving puzzles lately. At least twice a day she heads for the puzzle drawer, and struggles to get it open so we hear "help pee (please), help pee!" She is getting pretty good too. She went through a phase that she got really upset when she couldn't make the pieces fit, but she has learned to just keep working at them. She has also proven to be our little singer. It isn't very often that she isn't singing some little tune throughout the day. Right now her favorite is the Barney song and if I try to start singing something else, she interrupts me with it. She sings the alphabet really well, minus the L.M.N.O.P part. I'm hoping to get it on video soon. She also loves Twinkle Twinkle. Another fav of her's is Poker Face. She loves to sit in front of the computer and watch the video on YouTube. It is pretty funny. She is drawn to pretty much any show or anything that has music involved. She's sure a fun little squirt!

Fun Photos...

2009-05-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to the temple last Sunday and took our friend Joe's awesome camera. Unfortunately I didn't really know how to work the camera and did a terrible job with shadows across the girls faces. I think a few of them turned out pretty cute though. They are both getting so big!

Later in the day, my sweet neighbor Sammi took these pictures. She is a natural when it comes to photography. I wish I was better at kandid shots like these!

Mother's Day...

2009-05-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty good Mother's Day weekend! On Friday Brynlee and I went to a little Mother's Day Tea Party and her preschool and she was pretty excited for me to go. She told me how I was going to wear a purple crown and feel really special. Dave was able to watch Halle for me, so it was fun just being the two of us. She was so excited for me to go, but once we got there she kind of clammed up. I had to walk her to the front of her little classroom for her to sit on her chair. She didn't say her little part that she had practiced, and didn't sing the song. She just sat up there biting her lip being embarrassed. She has definitely proven to be a bit more shy when she is in front of an audience. I tried not to get frustrated with her because it is so out of character! She looked pretty cute sitting up there though, and it was fun for the two of us to have some alone time. I can't believe she is almost 4!

I had one of her teacher snap a picture of us on her special day. I'm thinking maybe bangs and me don't mix! I don't mind them when I look in the mirror, but I rarely like how they look in pictures! Don't you love my purple crown!

This was the pretty bouquet of flowers Dave and the girls brought home for me. Brynlee picked them out and I loved them. Such fun, bright colors! She couldn't wait to surprise me with them. I sure feel lucky to be the mom of my two little girls!

If some of you already read this post, I decided to add a little more! I wanted to add what Brynlee said about me on a couple of questionnaires.

One from church: How old is your mom? 17

What is your mom's favorite color? Red (correct)

What is your most favorite meal that your mom cooks? Pancakes (Dave is usually the one who makes the pancakes)

What do you like to do with your mom? Go to the store (kind of random, but ok)

What is your mom's favorite thing to do? Clean up (Ummmm...Wrong)

What color of eyes does your mom have? Grey (correct)

What's your favorite thing about your mom? When she sings

It was then signed with her cute signature!

The one from school was similar....According to it, I am 15, have a favorite food of salad, and my favorite thing to do is clean my closet. She must have been in my closet just before school and realized I needed to clean it! Too funny!

I also wanted to post how grateful I am for my mom! She is more like a best friend to me and probably the most giving person I know! I am so blessed to have her as my mom and I love her so much!

I hope everyone else had a Happy Mother's Day!!!

Holy Crap!!!

2009-04-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

K-so I just finished watching the Oprah show where she had the two 14 yr old's on that were wanting to have sex. Can I just say DISTURBING!!! First of all, the show started with the "sex" therapist saying how she thought we should teach our girls about "self pleasure" and I was dying! Seriously...what is this world coming to?? I won't go into the details, but in my opinion....SO WRONG!!

Then there is this YOUNG couple who thinks they love eachother and are ready to have sex. The boy is sitting there with his peach fuzz, looking weeks past puberty and OF COURSE HE THINKS HE'S READY TO HAVE SEX!!! HE'S A BOY!! Man, those teenage years are just sooo based on hormones. Thank goodness the therapist scared the young girl a bit about getting pregnant, so she will hopefully prolong losing her virginity.

My sheltered LDS life doesn't seem bad right now! Nope, not at all! Oh, if I could only put my little girls in a time capsule and keep them young and innocent! They said 1 in 5 kids are losing their virginity by the age of 15. Can I just say...SIGNS OF THE TIMES! I'm scared....I hope I'm prepared.....and I hope I can prepare my girls for this world!

Easter Fun...

2009-04-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone...it's me again...you know...the crappy blogger! I know I say this every time, but I am really going to try to do better. Not just with blogging, but with a lot of things in my life. Does anyone else ever feel like they are falling short in about every aspect of their lives? Anyway, here are some Easter pics of the girls in their pretty dresses. Better late than never...right? They both looked so pretty and loved the dresses that Mimi provided! Seriously....my girls are sooo lucky to have a Mimi who provides them with so many cute clothes! We appreciate it SO MUCH!!

Halle was concerned in this picture because she had lost her shoe! She LOVES shoes right now! She goes into my closet daily and brings out a mismatching pair of shoes or slippers to put on my feet. She is such a character!

This is our attempt at a family picture....of course, post-church! Sheesh, I'm lucky to have time to brush my teeth before our 9:00 a.m. sacrament!

Halle and Sammi having a little conversation! Halle is a little chatterbox! Every day the words get more and more clear, but she also has her times where I swear she is speaking Chinese! The poor horse is broken, but it doesn't stop her from riding it! Little Twinners! My spunky little Rae Rae!

Cute picture with daddy!

Miss Brynlee! Or should I say Miss Sas! We are going through a little attitude phase and I am ready for it to end!

Daddy and his girls! He is wrapped tightly around both of their finger!

Brynlee got a bike for Easter and it has been the BIGGEST HIT!! She absolutely loves it and wants to ride pretty much from sun-up to sun-down. She had a tricycle for the last year or so, but for some reason really struggled to ride it. After seeing her on other kids trikes, and seeing other kids not be able to ride her's we realized it is definitely the trike and not her. She loves going on bike rides, so I figured she would love the bike. We just returned from a long weekend in Idaho and of course the bike came with us. She has so much room to ride it in my parent's driveway and had such a fun time!

Our good friends and neighbors invited us over for Easter dinner and it was so much fun to be in good company! Especially when we couldn't be with family! We enjoyed yummie tacos and then put together a little easter egg hunt in our backyards. It worked out great because after the initial hunt the girls proceeded to hide and find all of the eggs about 5 times and it kept them quite entertained! We sure love the Rideouts and are SOOO going to miss them if/when they move!

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GREAT SPRING WEATHER=LOTS OF TIME AT THE PARK

Monkey #1 (Notice Halle's beautiful hair! We are lucky to make it to naptime without her pulling out her hair. So a lot of days she looks like a peacock with scraggly hair!)

Monkey #2

This is definitely the time of year that we love the weather. We get in a lot of park time and today we had 3 hours of pool time. Halle has proven to not be too hesitant when it comes to the park and pools. She loves to sit herself down and cruise down the slides, and today she proved that she loves to swim. She did so well with her little floaties on and enjoyed floating around on her belly. Brynlee was also very happy to remember how she swims under the water and we had a great day! There is nothing like getting a little sun on the skin!

I'm Lovin It...

2009-04-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

So I recently purchased one of these babies...

and I'm lovin it! I have used it only twice at the gym now, but love to see where my heart rate is and more importantly...how many calories I have burned! I did a spin class Sat morning and was pleased to find that I burned just over 700 calories during the class. There are a couple of spin teachers at my gym that are INSANE!!! You have to sign up an hour early to get a bike (thank goodness we live next door to the gym) and their classes are always between 65-70 min long. I come out of there drenched, and I have to say that it is ADDICTING!! I have been doing 3 classes a week and really love the way I am feeling. Nothing like a BIG stress release!

I purchased my Polar Heart Rate Monitor on ebay and they are definitely a hot item. It turned into a bid war every time I was trying to buy one. I have to say that I was pretty excited when I won the auction. Someone tried to outbid me with like 10 seconds left! There is a ton that this little watch can do and I am still learning. Now I just need to jump back on my healthy eating and try to lose, lose, lose!!

SOME FAMILY FUN...

2009-03-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

I had to start this post off with this darling picture of little Cash-man! He is such a smooch and such a good little baby! I couple weeks ago my mom, my sister and her kids came to visit us for a couple of days. Although I hated to see them go it was so much fun to have them here! I hope they come back again soon!

For Valentines (yes this post is old news) I picked up some heart shaped cupcake molds so we pulled them out while the kids were here. It was just before bedtime so we had a little pre-bed snack in our PJ's.

We used food coloring on the frosting and they were BRIGHT COLORS, so that made it fun for the kids.

Crew (Boo Boo) of course had to have BLUE! Don't you love how it matched his PJ's. He had this frosting ALL over his face and kept us giggling!

Miss Remi most definitely had to have PINK!! Lip-Lickin Good!!

We had to have Sammi and Maci here to join the fun! Miss Maci is Miss Creative!! She is always drawing and coloring at our house and has such a cute little creative mind! Don't you love her multicolors!

Sammi is about as sweet as they get!! She is soooo polite and caring and always gives Halle the cutest little kisses on the cheek. Both of these girls are going to be GREAT older sisters to their new baby sister (coming in July)!! Speaking of awesome kids....they also have an awesome MOM......who is a great friend, and a great hair cutter!!

BRYNLEE FINALLY HAD HER FIRST HAIRCUT!!! Can you believe it!!

It was just a little trim (obviously she still doesn't have a ton of hair) to even things out in the back. She was pretty excited! She said to Jeni a couple of times, "Are you cutting my hair, so it will grow long?" She says to me pretty often, "Can you believe how long my hair is getting?" Poor kid won't experience LONG hair for many more years at this rate!

Gotta love that round little face with the dimple on one side! Silly girl! What is crazy is that her hair has some natural curl! Not a ton, but definitely some there. Not sure where that came from since my hair is very straight! Kinda fun though!

HAPPY VALENTINES!!!

2009-02-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO EVERYONE!! Hope you have a great day! Brynlee was so excited to have her Valentine's party at preschool. She helped me decorate her box and couldn't wait to give away her Valentines. We attached a Fun Stick {aka pure sugar} to her princess Valentines. They had a fun little party and decorated yummie sugar cookies.

Brynlee has been requesting a side pony almost every day now. Pretty much all of her hair fits in it, and for those hairs that don't...that's what water and hairspray is for. I love when my girls pull out books and read/look at them. Halle does this A LOT and I love it! I have a pile of books set up next to their little PB chair and I find her sitting in it looking at a book several times a day. Brynlee has gotten a little more into books lately which I'm glad. She has never had much of an attention span to sit and listen to a book, and I haven't been very good at pushing the issue. Every day the girls have been playing more and more together. It is so fun to hear them giggling and squeeling together. This day Brynlee was pulling Halle around the house on her blanket. This went on for about 30 minutes. Halle would just run over and lay down and they were having a great time! Oh miss Halle Rae Rae! She is really such a fun baby and keeps me so busy. I can't believe that she will be in nursery in less than a month. I just wish that I could keep her young, but at the same time it has been fun to see her grow up a little bit. She is a little jabber box....some words make sense and others don't. If she isn't sick she is such a good little girl. She just tromps around the house looking at books, pulling out all of the DVD cases and looking at them, playing with the crayons and markers (she gets soooo excited when she puts two markers together), turning the TV on and off, climbing up on chair etc etc. This poor kid is always climbing on a chair and unfortunately falls off of them quite often too! I guess the only bad thing is that she makes some major messes while she is entertaining herself. Most days I don't mind, but when I have cleaned up the same toys/DVD's/markers about 10 times it starts to get old. Halle also loves music! For a very long time she was obsessed with the movie Enchanted and we would watch parts of it pretty much every day. Now her new favorite is Mama Mia! Kind of random...I know! She would sit and watch pretty much this whole movie and loves all the music. She walks around singing "My My" all day long. Brynlee is also loving this movie. I feel kind of guilty because it is PG-13 and has a couple questionable parts, but I have tried to shield them from those parts. When the bare bum part comes up Brynlee always looks at me and says, "don't worry mom, I won't watch because we aren't suppose to look at other people's bums". It is seriously funny how much Halle loves this show!!

It doesn't take much to get a goofy face out of this kid! She has such a fun/goofy personality!

This is what I found after one of those "suspiciously quiet" moments with Halle. There is one set of washable markers that she has figured out how to get the lids off, so those have been removed from her sight and reach. This one only one of the spots on the tile that I found! I'm just glad it wasn't on the wall somewhere....knock on wood!! This picture is blurry, but this is what happened when I let Halle feed herself some baby food. She is still our picky eater and what she will eat for me changes daily (VERY FRUSTRATING)!!

At least she had fun!

Halle is almost 18 months now, but I never posted her 15 mo stats for my journal

23 lb 7 oz (right about 50%)

31.5 in (75th%)

48cm head (95%)

Nothing Special...

2009-02-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Wow....my blog has gotten really boring!! I haven't taken any pictures, besides a few on my cell phone and I need to take the time to figure out how to upload those. Nothing too special is going on. We did have a little excitement the last couple of weeks...some good, some bad....some my fault, some not. First, (bad but not my fault)...as I was updating my quicken (which luckily I do almost daily)I discovered that some idiot whom we had written a check to back in Oct, took our account number off of the check, fabricated some fraud checks, and emptied our checking account!! Definitely not something fun to find. Luckily the bank was easy to work with. We got our money back the next day and they are working things out on their end. I finally got everything switched over to our new accounts, but it definitely took some work. It has definitely made me think twice about who I write a personal check to. Seriously....who can we trust in this world anymore! (just re-read this....ummmm I definitely use the word definitely too often!!) Next, Dave surprised me with a little trip to Vegas. He had his mom come to stay with the girls and we left for a little relaxation and a break from the world. Things have been a bit stressful for us lately so it was nice to leave it all behind for just one night. We enjoyed LOTS of good food and a nice break. Dave's mom stayed a few more days and it was fun having her around. My girls love their Grandma Margret! Last, (the one that is bad and my fault) a couple days ago I was THIS close to having my jeep impounded! I was already having a stressful, crazy day so when the motor-cop started following me CLOSELY for about a mile I new my day wasn't going to get any better! So, he finally pulled me over, came up to the window and asked, "I pulled you over because it appears that your registration is not up to date. Your plates say Mar 08...did you just forget to put on your stickers?" Ummmm "NO, I didn't realize they were past due (a little white lie)!" It wasn't a total lie....I had known at one point, TOTALLY FORGOT, and the nice officer had just reminded me! So I just figured I was going to get a nice BIG ticket, promise to get it registered that day or the next, and go on my way. So I was a bit surprised when he came back and told me he was 95% leaning towards impounding my car! He said in Utah if a car is over 3 months over they almost automatically impound the car! Freaking A....I'm an idiot!!! So he stood their stewing over his decision, while I started to plead! He peaked through my back window at my girls a few times and then finally told me that if it wasn't for my girls and the inconvenience of the kids he would have for sure impounded my car. Believe me....I thanked him about a thousand times!! Lets just say that I will never forget to register my car EVER AGAIN!! A little too much excitement for me! So things have been a little crazy, but overall good! The girls are growing and doing great! I will post an update about them soon.

A Diagnosis...

2009-01-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

**WARNING**

This post may be long and I am going to talk a little about girls stuff...so GUYS, you have been warned!

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Where to begin....

So over Christmas I was afraid that I was pregnant. It would have been a total shocker/miracle baby, and I honestly wasn't very happy about it. The unhappiness was all for selfish reasons, and believe me I know what a miracle it is to be able to get pregnant easily. I have a sister and several family members who have fertility issues, so please don't think I am insensitive to those who struggle....my heart goes out to you! Anyway...so I thought I was prego and I wasn't excited about it. For once in my life I kind of had things mapped out. I knew when I wanted to start trying again...I had just been given some trainer sessions for Christmas...I had just asked for and started a new skin treatment that was expensive and can't be used when prego...etc, etc. Not to forget the fact that my little one year old can be quite the handful at times. Needless to say I had decided that I really wanted to get back into shape before I got pregnant and was doing some things for myself. Now I am not one to keep track of how many days my cycle is, but all I know is that in the past when I have been late...I have been pregnant. So I finally took a pregnancy test.....NEGATIVE! So I decided to give it another week and see if I start my period. Another week goes by....another pregnancy test...NEGATIVE! Hmmmmm? I was due for my lovely "yearly" appt with my OB, so I gave them a call and had an appointment set up for a couple days later. I went to the Dr. and informed them that I thought I might be pregnant, but had had 2 neg tests. So I asked the nurse to draw some blood and check again. She did, and also decided to draw another vile in case they wanted to check anything else if I wasn't pregnant. About 10 min later she was back....NEGATIVE! Ok, so I wasn't pregnant, but what was wrong with me. My Dr. didn't think much of it and just said it happens sometimes. She told me that if I didn't start in the next couple months they would run a few test. I informed her that the nurse had taken a second vile of blood, so she decide to check my thyroid since they already had the blood. She told me a couple times that she didn't expect anything to come back abnormal. Now jump ahead to last night and I received a phone call about 6 pm from the Dr. office. She was calling to tell me my lab results...

HYPOTHYROIDISM

It was honestly kind of a coincidence that they even checked my blood or my thyroid, because the nurse just happened to draw extra blood, and I went back on birth control which could have easily made me have a period so they would have had no reason to check. The nurse told me that I could have been feeling some symptoms like tiredness, fatigue, skipping a period (this was a first for me), weight gain or difficulty losing weight. Ummm HELLO...YES!! After I hung up and told Dave he asked me if that scared or worried me at all and I said, "No...it actually makes me feel hopeful!" Now let me explain....So ever since I had Brynlee (not Halle...Brynlee) I just really haven't felt like myself. I have in some ways, but I had kindof just lost that drive for life. Thru HS and College I was always a pretty driven person who tried to accomplish a lot, be good at things, and was pretty outgoing. Not long after having Brynlee I felt that part of me kind of diminish. I just didn't really care anymore.....well I did, but didn't know how to get that part of me back. For a while I thought I might be mildly depressed and just mainly because I had no drive and just didn't want to get out of bed in the morning. Honestly...I take a nap almost every day with my girls and in the morning it takes me sooo long to get moving. At times it has been worse than others, but I just chalked it up to staying up too late (which I do), not being a morning person (which I'm not), and just plain laziness. And then there's the weight issue. Now I am not claiming to be hugely fat or anything, but my body has definitely changed and not for the better! I do get very big when I am pregnant, tend to eat more than I need, and have a terrible sweet tooth, but I do work out and don't see a ton of results. There is definitely a lot more that I can/could do to lose weight, but I was putting in some effort.

All in all, it was just nice to know that it was not all in my head...there is kindof an excuse for how I have been feeling for SO LONG now. I really have no idea how long my Thyroid hasn't been working properly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has been for over 3 years! I know this isn't going to be a miracle pill that will make me lose weight in a couple weeks, but I just really hope that it helps me get back to the way I used to be(if I still remember what that is). Obviously my priorities have changed and a lot of my time and effort goes into my kids, but hopefully this will give me more energy and drive to be a better mom. It makes me sad to think that this is the only "me" that Brynlee has ever known. There is still so much that I need to work on in my life, but hopefully this will be a nice push in the right direction. It is weird to think that I will be on a medication for the rest of my life, but if it helps me, it is all worth it!

Christmas Break 2008!!!

2009-01-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

It is crazy that Christmas has come and gone, and that it is now 2009. Doesn't it just feel like yesterday that everyone was worried about Y2K? We had a very fun Christmas break and spent almost 3 weeks in Idaho with my family. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but enough for blogging purposes. Although we weren't spending Christmas at my house, it was still fun to put up the tree and decorations. There is just something about the Christmas decor that seems to warm up the house, and I love that.

We were also blessed with some snow just before we left for Idaho and it was a lot of fun! It didn't last for long, but at least for more than a day, which isn't normal. It made Christmas feel a little more real in our warm climate.

CHRISTMAS SUNDAY...

I was unable to get a great picture of the girls in their pretty Christmas dresses, so this is as good as it gets. Mimi provided these dresses and they looked so pretty. Brynlee absolutely loved her dress especially because, "it twirled soooo pretty". It is so fun to find coordinating outfits for my girls.

Brynlee and her cute aunt Sadie! Sadie says Brynlee is her best friend and I know Bryn feels the same way. Although Sadie tends to teach Brynlee a few bad habits they have so much fun together! (JK Sade) Brynlee said something funny..."Hey there's dog," when Sadie got home one day. Sadie would often say "Hey Dog" to Brynlee when she would see her and Brynlee would always come back with "I'm not a dog"! I guess she got the hang of it though because she started calling Sadie "dog" too. A FRIEND GET TOGETHER... My HS friends are always great to get together every Christmas. Actually we try to get together as often as possible when people come to town. It is always so much fun to stay out late and just talk. My best friend Sadie should be having her first baby within the next couple of weeks and I can't wait to meet her little man! Although I hate this picture of myself (big surprise) I think I have a beautiful group of friends. We missed those who couldn't be there!

CHRISTMAS EVE...

We attended the annual Christmas Eve party at my Grandma's (Grandma Great) house which always means good food and good company. (sorry about the blurry picture) Brynlee did great sitting on Santa's lap, but she was not about to look at him. It was pretty funny. She told him that she wanted a Go Go doll which brought a few questions!

Halle did pretty well with Santa. She sat there for a couple minutes and then the pouty lip showed up and she was done. Overall I thought she was really brave!

Brynlee really enjoyed the Chocolate Fountain (along with the rest of us). I stripped her down because I had already had to wash her white dress just before the party and I wasn't about to do it again.

We had some crazy weather while we were in Idaho. It seriously dumped on us for about a week straight. We picked Brynlee up some snow clothes while we were there and she (we) had a blast playing in it. One day Dave and Blake took the kids to a sled hill and they had a blast! We really enjoyed our time in the snow, although driving in it sucked! A snow angel...

CHRISTMAS MORNING...

I may have posted this last year, but it is tradition in my parent's house that Christmas is set up in the basement and everyone has to be dressed and ready for the day before we can go down and see what Santa brought us. This is Brynlee's reaction when she saw what Santa had brought her. She was very excited about her Go Go Doll! She also go a little V-smile camera and has loved taking pictures and playing games on it.

This is a video of Go Go......Going!

Halle was enjoying one of her toys. That's the nice thing about this age. Santa can bring them on or two toys and they are happy as a clam! Mimi also got her an Elmo that does the Hokey Pokey and she LOVES it!

This is Brynlee opening her stocking! The big hits from the stocking were her stick on earrings and her little makeup kit.

Brynlee also helped Mimi make some homemade playdough and this kept her and the twins busy for a while.

It's amazing!!! Both of my girls can cross just one eye! :) Ok...so Brynlee has mastered the skill, but this pic was just an accident with Halle. I'm thinking the one eye cross must be hereditary....like mother like daughter!

Brynlee has been working hard the last few months on writing her name and she is getting pretty good. I helped her with the Y but the rest she did on her own. She is going to be writing more words before I know it! She is seriously growing up way too fast!

A NEW ADDITION...

My older sister Chelsie was blessed with a new addition to her family just before we went to ID for Christmas. She delivered 4 weeks early on Dec 16th which was pretty good considering she delivered her twins at 29 weeks. Cash weighed 6lbs 3oz and is just perfect. It was so much fun to snuggle with a newborn.

A Sunday With the Ducks...

2008-12-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

Although it was pretty cold out, we decided to visit the ducks. They were pretty excited to have us visit and bring a lot of food! They enjoyed a large bag of popcorn, a couple slices of bread, and a very large bag of old tortilla chips. I don't think they will be hungry again for about a week!

The girls enjoyed a few chips for themselves!

Can you see the mischieviousness (is that a word?) in her face! So sweet....and a tad bit mischievious too!

You can't tell very well, but Brynlee is holding a couple pieces of bread in her hand and this big duck isn't very patient!

I love how they have the same expression on their faces!

Me and my Rae Rae

Dad and his girls!

I'm Still Alive...

2008-12-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

When my husband keeps telling me everyday that I need to update my blog, I would say that I am well past due for an update. The problem is that I haven't taken any pictures lately and I don't really like to blog without pictures. Lately I have had the attitude that if I just ignore things they will go away...the laundry, the bills, cleaning, my stomach hanging over my belt etc etc.....sadly, that isn't the case! I've found that as things get tough in my life I tend to just shut down. Not sure why that is, but I think that I am done feeling sorry for myself. It is the Christmas season and I want to feel grateful for the good things in my life! So here is a little recap of the good things that have been going on in our lives.

THANKSGIVING! We spent a week and a half in Idaho this year for Thanksgiving and had a great time. Our great friends Butch and Tricia were able to come to Idaho this year and it made it that much better. The past several years we have gone to Kansas City for Thanksgiving at Butch and Tricia's house, so this year they decided to come to Idaho. We spent a couple days in Twin Falls to celebrate Chelsie's birthday, and then spent the rest of time at my parents. We had an awesome Thanksgiving feast, and Dave and I enjoyed playing Rockband for the first time. Who would have thought my husband had any rythmn!! Ha ha! :) My girls had a great time playing with their cousins and we are excited to see everyone again for Christmas.

Halle is now 15 months and still as active and crazy as ever. She has the most fun and goofy personality and keeps us laughing daily. For journal purposes...she officially started walking at 13 months and is now "attempting" to run. It is pretty hilarious. She walks with stiff legs, so running is seriously funny to watch. She swings only her left arm back and forth and definitely thinks she is running fast. She still has only 4 teeth, but I'm pretty sure she is working on some molars and laterals.......she has been seriously grumpy the last couple of days! :0 She is a monkey and is always climbing up on everything. She loves to climb on the couch and chairs and scares us pretty often. She still loves buttons and is constantly turning the TV, and anything else that has a button, on and off. She is very attached to her blanket and binky. She talks a lot of gyberish but does say a few words. She says "hi" to anyone and everyone and surprises a lot of people. She loves to just toddle around exploring and is pretty low maintenance.....besides the messes she leaves behind when she is exploring! :) She adores her daddy! The only problem is that every time he is around she wants him to hold her and play with her and tends to be fussy if she doesn't get her way. Dave loves the attention....most of the time! We love her so much!

Brynlee is such a fun 3.5 year old. She is still loving going to school twice a week and gymnastics once a week. She recently surprised us when she just blurted out and said the pledge of a allegiance perfectly. I was glad to know that she was learning something at school. Usually when I pick her up she tells me she can't remember what she did that day. She still loves to sing and learn new songs and is getting really excited to go to Sunbeams in January. She recently informed the whole post office that her little sister's name is "Halle Rae Rae....and she's a drama queen!" She had the whole place cracking up! She is our little social butterfly and I hope that doesn't change. She was soooo excited when we put up the Christmas tree and can't wait for Santa to come and bring her some presents. She is a great big sister and is always looking out for Halle. Although her age brings a bit of attitude and backtalking we love her so much and can't believe how old she is getting!

What's Been Going On...

2008-11-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

Well lately I'm kind of had a blogging schmogging attitude and haven't really felt like updating. There has been a lot going on in our lives and blogging was moved to the back of my mind. So....sorry for no updates and for not commenting. Also, my Christmas template is probably a little early, but I figured we are all thinking about Christmas now, so what the heck!

(this picture has nothing to do with the post, but I decided to add it anyway)

This last week we took a very last minute trip to Idaho for 5 days and had a lot of fun. Dave had to go for work so we made a trip out of it. Chels and Blake came over with the kids so my girls had a great time playing with their cousins. I was able to do a little birthday shopping with my mom, which was very needed. Since I rarely buy anything for myself, some retail therapy was well needed. Overall we had a great time and can't wait to go back in about a week for Thanksgiving.

I have also recently really gotten into coupon shopping. Now I have to admit that there was one point in my life that I said I would never cut coupons. I thought coupons were just for poor people or for those who have too much time on their hands....rude and ignorant....I know. Anyway, I decided that there is nothing wrong with saving some money so I thought I'd give it a try. At first I was pretty overwhelmed, but with help of some friends I found a couple helpful websites. My favorite is thegrocerygame.com because it pretty much tells me exactly what to do, but it also costs money to get their help. I know that a lot of people really like pinchingyourpennies.com also, and I am trying to familiarize myself with this one a little more because it is free. Anyway, it has been kind of fun and exciting to see the amount of money I am saving. The other day I went to Walgreens and my bill came to about $31 and my receipt told me that with my coupons and with in-store sales I had saved $50! Nothing like saving more than I am spending! It has been pretty fun and kind of a pain at the same time, but I'm glad that I am saving us some money.

QUITE THE HALLOWEEN!!

2008-11-02T18:12:00.000-08:00

MY LITTLE BALLERINAS!!!

We had a fun Halloween this year, and probably one that we will never forget. Through most of the the day is was pretty low key. Dave came home from work early, so that was nice, we had a quick dinner, got the girls ready and headed out for some trick or treating. We put the girls in the stroller and made our way through a large neighborhood that is in our ward. Unfortunately at the second door Brynlee knocked on the man opened the door with a scary mask on! Brynlee immediately turned around and ran the other direction crying! Needless to say, she had to be coaxed into going up to every door after that and told several times that they wouldn't have a mask on! It was a bit frustrating! Halle just stayed in her stroller eating a sucker and was pretty content...thank goodness! Brynlee lasted about an hour, but then decided she was hungry and wanted to go home. We made our way back and guess what we found out when we got home......WE WERE LOCKED OUT!!! Brynlee was starving, Halle was tired, and we couldn't get into our house! GREEEAAATTT!! Dave had mistaken a work key for a house key, and the dang thing definitely didn't open our door. Luckily one of our neighbors was just getting home and invited us into their house until we got it figured out. We ended up hanging out for about an hour, and luckily someone from the property management company came and met Dave to give him a key! Thank goodness for nice neighbors! Like I said....we probably won't forget this Halloween!!

Brynlee decided the next day that she wanted some pink hair, and our cute neighbor was happy to indulge!! She ran inside and looked in the mirror about 10 times and kept coming back and saying she wanted just a little bit more! At the end she said, "Look mom...I have pinkalicious hair!" Brynlee has been loving taking pictures lately and she is getting pretty good at controlling the camera. These are some of the random backyard pictures that she took yesterday. And a lovely one of me of course! Maybe we have a future photographer! :) She and Sami were also outside playing with Brynlee's marbles and Sami spelled out our whole family. I'm pretty sure she took that picture. Again...we are grateful for good neighbors and fun friends for Brynlee to play with!

TRUNK OR TREAT...

2008-10-30T14:13:00.001-07:00

Last night we had our ward Trunk or Treat, and we had a great time. This was my first time at a Trunk or Treat and I definitely had the most lame trunk there! I had no idea that people decorated their trunks!! Duh!! There were a lot of fun costumes, and Brynlee was extremely cautious and mellow for about the first 45 minutes (not normal!!). She was just getting used to the whole costume thing, and didn't really love one particularly scary witch costume. I thought she looked beautiful in her ballerina costume and had a fun time putting mascara on her LONG eyelashes! She thought she was pretty cool that she was wearing makeup!

Being a ballerina was perfect for her since she is ALWAYS walking up on her tippy toes. She already has some awesome calf muscles!

She was suppose to eat this doughnut without any hands, but that didn't last very long. She was just lovin life eating a ton of junk food!

She sat soooo still when she got her face painted! She was really excited because I had a flower painted on my cheek also. Too bad I didn't get a picture of us together! Halle was our little Halloween Ballerina! She did look very cute, but I didn't get a very good picture of her. She hung out in the back of the car with me while we handed out candy. I think she had sucked on just about every wrapper of the candy, and then enjoyed throwing the candy out the back of the car! I will try to get some better pictures of both the girls dressed up together, on Halloween night. Nothing like a sucker to keep a child quiet and still for about 30 minutes!! Got to love all that stickiness!! This is Halle's friend Boston. They enjoy playing with eachother out in the hall every Sunday and are only about 3 weeks apart in age. Boston's older sister Taylor is also one of Brynlee's friends. We were so excited when they moved into the ward!

Halle has also finally decided to walk. She does it kind of stiff legged, but I would now say is walking more than she is crawling. It is so fun to see her toddling around! Here is a little video I took a few days ago. Brynlee was doing pretty good hitting the tennis ball so I wanted to get it on camera.

A BIT OF RANDOMNESS...

2008-10-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a fun weekend trip to Mesa and can you believe I didn't take a single picture. PATHETIC!! We went to visit our good friends Tricia and Butch who recently moved there from Kansas City. They were our parents away from home when we lived there and are the most kind hearted, giving people that I know. Every time we would leave their home in KC we would have enough food for a week. My parents and my brother's family were also in Mesa for a dental convention so we thought it would be a great time to drive over and see everyone. We drove over late on Thursday night, and came back late on Sunday. The girls did very well in the car, which I was worried about because we haven't done very many long car rides. The funny thing is though, Halle will not sleep in the car. On the way there it was late and she tossed and turned for a while, but couldn't get comfortable, so she just ended up eating crackers and watching baby einstein the rest of the way. On the way back she fell asleep about 30 minutes from home and it only lasted about 15 minutes! Silly girl! The good thing is that she was really good. She loves to watch movies, so as long as something was on and she was snacking on something, she was good. Man I love that little squirt! It was a quick but fun trip, and it was so fun to see family and friends! Thanks Butch and Tricia....we love you! The girls recently had their 3 year and 1 year well baby check-ups and guess what....both my girls are tall! Brynlee is in the 85% for height and Halle the 75%. The doctor predicts that Brynlee will probably be about 5' 7'' when she is older. It looks like my girls are probably going to pass up their mom! That's all right with me, as long as my boys are tall too....if I get any boys! It will be fun to see how tall they end up. Brynlee did something pretty funny today. As I was walking out to the mailbox the UPS man pulled up to my neighbors house and was going to drop off a package. I informed him that they were out of town and so the package didn't sit by their front door for several days I would hang on to it for them. (Hope that is ok Jeni....I just didn't want it to sit by your front door until Sunday). Anyway, I was out by the mailbox and I could hear Brynlee talking to the UPS man but couldn't hear what she was saying. He left and I got back inside and asked her what she had told him. She said, "I was talkin to the man and I told him that my witch costume was a piece of crap and we had to send it back." I just busted up laughing! She had seen the UPS man deliver her witch costume...which was a total piece of crap.....and I did send it back. She just wanted to inform the deliverer!

NAUGHTY OR NICE...

2008-10-13T18:10:00.001-07:00

Last week Brynlee and I made her a "Good Girl" jar. I know some of you other bloggers have already done this, and I thought it was a great idea. It took me a while to get it done, but lately Brynlee has been kind of on one, so I'm hoping that it helps. When she does something good or a job etc, she gets marbles in the jar, and if she is naughty then I take some out. She really doesn't want any taken out, so it has definitely been helping. Nothing like a bunch of Dora stickers! :)

Say Cheese...

2008-10-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had some family pictures taken and I had to share a few. We were WAY past due for some pictures in our family. I haven't seen them all, and will share more when I get them. A cute girl in our ward has a nice camera and loves to takes pictures, so I asked her to take some of our family. She and her husband both took the pictures and they did an AWESOME job!! I think it's about time she came up with a name and prices and she would definitely be in business. I can't wait to use her again!!!

TuTu Models.....well kindof!

2008-10-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

A good friend of ours makes these cute TuTu's and asked if she could take some pictures of the girls in them. (they have 2 boys) The TuTu's are darling and I thought a couple of these pictures were really cute.

MY LITTLE TORNADO...

2008-10-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

There's nothin I can do, but LOVE HER!!!

A BIT CRAZY...

2008-10-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a crazy week. I feel like I have been running around like crazy, and in and out of my car all day long, and by the end of the day I just want to sit on the couch and veg. When I think back though....I really haven't had that much to do. On Sunday they called me to be an Activity Day leader. Now this is the third time I have had this calling (once in KC and once in Idaho) so I must not have done a very good job the first two times, so Heavenly Father decided he would give me a 3rd chance! :) This calling is on top of my leading the music, so I now have 2 callings. I am trying to have a good attitude though, and I'm going to really try to do well at both! Anyway, we had activity day's this week, plus a meeting, plus Brynlee's school, plus getting my hair done, plus Brynlee's gymnastics, plus lunch with friends, plus two other activities on Monday and Tuesday nights that we hadn't planned on. Everything has been fun, but I am just not very good at this running around thing. I have learned that I don't handle stress very well. I get very easily flustered when I have both my girls myself and they aren't at their best behaviors. Freak....I only have two kids! What am I going to be like when I have more, and they are involved in more activities! I guess I better just chill out and get used to it.

We went to the park on Saturday for a few minutes and Halle was loving the swing. She was seriously squealing and laughing so hard the whole time. I told Dave we were going to have to come up with a swing in our house and she would probably stay there all day! She is such a happy kid and constantly cracks us up! I tried something new with Brynlee's hair this week. We were both excited to do something different, although when Brynlee got home from school she wanted me to take it out because it was hurting her head. If some of you are wondering why I am putting a picture of a very common hairdo on my blog, it is because Brynlee doesn't have much hair. She has never had a haircut and it just doesn't seem to want to grow. Right now it is a lot of different lengths, but I don't want to cut any of it off, for fear of it never growing back! :)

Some Fun...

2008-09-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to Lake Powell over the weekend and had a great time. It was kind of last minute, but we are so glad that we went. I didn't do a very good job taking pictures, but a couple of cute Walker girls who were with me took some fun pics of my kids, so I am hoping they will email the pics! (hint hint) :) Brynlee and Halle both loved going on boat and jet ski rides. It is so nice living close to the lake!

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Halle spends a lot of time in this little corner looking at her books. She loves to flip through the pages and loves the books that have flip up parts. I love seeing her do this because it is very different from her older sister.

Yesterday I was trying to do some cleaning when Halle woke up from her nap, so I brought in the DVD player and turned on baby einstein. She was hilarious and just laid there on her blanket and watched. This child is very drawn to the TV and loves baby einstein. Sometimes I have to turn it on when I am trying to feed her because I need her distracted so she doesn't spit out her food! Little stinker!

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Meet our cute neighbors Maci and Sami! These girls are darling and Brynlee absolutely idolizes them! When she is home she loves to look out the window and see if they are outside. They are a lot older than she is, but they are so sweet to play with her. They also love to play and keep track of Halle and have been a lot of help for me. They take her outside and let her feel like she is a big girl. If not, she just stands at the back door and yells because she wants to be out with them soooo bad. Today they were out playing in the dirt and Halle had a great time eating and playing in the dirt with them.

A PROUD MOMMA MOMENT...

2008-09-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

WARNING: I'M ABOUT TO BRAG! :) (Brynlee has perfected her eye crossing and wanting me to take her picture) Yesterday I had one of those moments when I was sooo proud of my little girl! My calling in church right now is that I lead the music in Relief Society every other week. I have to say this is about the best calling for me right now. Anyway....most Sundays we have a practice hymn, so yesterday I decided to have a special musical number for the practice hymn. I got Brynlee out of nursery and brought her in to sing with me. She stood up on a chair next to me and sang "Come Come Ye Saints". I held her hand and she sang the whole thing all by herself. I sang softly next to her to keep her with the piano a couple of times, but she did it all on her own. She had no hesitation and was happy to do it. The whole relief society clapped for her and she was loving it! I was definitely one proud momma!

After church we decided to some some grilling! During the summer here it is too hot to grill, so we are glad it is cooling down (a little bit) so we can grill. Brynlee was really excited to help her daddy!

A HAPPY DAY.....

2008-09-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

(I'd like to begin by saying sorry about the previous negative post. I wasn't looking for compliments, but thanks to those who gave them. I will try to keep the "pitty party" posts to a minimum, but somedays that is just how I feel. I'm trying to be better today, although it didn't start off too well when I found out the I forgot Brynlee's back to school night last night. Pissed me right off! I am trying to do better though and be happy.....so on to a happier subject!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALLE RAE !!!

I had Dave snap this picture of us just before we left for church. Halle is wearing a birthday outfit and this was her first day of piggie tails! I thought she looked pretty cute. I love that Brynlee and Halle both have the same expression in the picture!

A little help from Brynlee opening presents.

Look at the concentration on her face. She was really excited to frost her own cupcake!

Don't you love the horns!!!

Don't worry.....she didn't touch the fire!

This kid definitely loves to make a mess. She took a few bites, and then had a great time throwing cupcake on the floor and smearing it all over her highchair and herself.

Sorry about all of the pictures. I am not very patient when it comes to watching and making slideshows, so I just decided to put a lot of pictures that you can quickly scroll through. It converts to by book better this way too!

Oh....my sweet spunky little Rae Rae! This kid is seriously sooo goofy and so crazy. She gets really hyper and spins herself in circles while giggling and wiggling her body. She seriously cracks us up! She is almost always happy, but when she isn't she doesn't hesitate to let us know! She has brought so many blessing to our lives this past year and we love her soooo much! Here is a list of things that Halle is doing right now. If you are already bored with this post you can stop reading, cuz I'm going to try and write down everything I want to remember!

She is saying Ah Oh(first word), Mama(when she's sad), Dadda, Ni Night, and Hi.
She says Ooo Ooo when I ask her what a puppy says
She prefers to not be fed by a spoon. This varies and she does better occasionally, but she would prefer to pick up her food and feed herself
She loves to give her mommy open mouth kisses, and usually swats away anyone else who tries to get a kiss from her
She walks around on her hands and feet most of the time, but hasn't started walking yet
She got her first 2 teeth at 10.5 months and we are still waiting for more
She loves to sit and look at books, and is really good at entertaining herself (this is very different from her big sister)
She loves to play peek a boo. She hides herself around the corner and then pops her head around with a huge smile on her face.
She loves to play with anything she isn't supposed to (the computer, cell phones, DVD player, directv box, etc)
She loves to be chased....She will turn around and give me a big mischievious smile and then take off crawling the other direction laughing her head off.
Probably her favorite place to play in the house is on top of my bed. She flops herself backwards, or face down and rolls all over the place. She has to be watched closely, but is lovin life and hates to be moved to the floor.
The only time she will cuddle with me is right before she is going to bed. It usually doesn't last long, but I love every second of it. She would prefer to be laid down in her bed to go to sleep.

We love you Halle Rae!

The Buzz on Blogging...

2008-09-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things I have learned about myself from blogging...

1)There are a lot of really good writers out there, and I AM NOT ONE OF THEM!

2)I wish that I was more of a creative person, like so many of you out there are.

3)I would love to learn a little more about photography. Not necessarily for a business, but just for personal use.

4)My life.....though tough at times.....could be a lot worse!

I'd have to say that blogging has been good in a lot of ways, but I think it has some negative affects too. I know that most people only blog the happy, perfect moments in their lives, or make it appear that way, but sometimes it can be kind of depressing. It is easy to flip from blog to blog and think....."Man, I'm a crappy mom." or "I have a seriously boring life." or "I wish I was skinnier, or more creative." Today I had one of those moments when I wished I was different. One thing that I really struggle with in my life is planning ahead. I am TERRIBLE at seeing the bigger picture! I don't recongnize helpful things that need to be done, I forget birthdays, I'm either right on time or late and always running around like crazy to get out the door.....need I go on?

Halle's birthday is on Tuesday and I seriously can't believe my baby is already a year old. Dave brought up getting pregnant again and I looked at him like he was crazy because it seriously feels like I was JUST PREGNANT! I'm sad because I'm sure that with every child the time is going to continue to fly. Anyway, due to the fact that Dave has YM's on Tuesday nights I though it would be fun to celebrate Halle's birthday today(Sunday). So last night when Dave and I were out on a date we stopped by the grocery store and bought a cake mix. This morning when I was making the cupcakes I couldn't help but think, "I am seriously a crappy mom when it comes to birthday's for my girls." I know that Halle is only 1 but just wished that I was better at planning ahead. This is something that REALLY bothers me after the fact, but I just don't know how to fix it. I am one of those people who is bad at planning but needs a schedule/plan or I don't get anything done. I'm stuck in a dang vicious cycle and I don't know how to get out of it! FRUSTRATING!!!

I HAVE TO ADMIT IT...

2008-09-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

...I THINK I'M ADDICTED TO READING!!!

The last few months I have done a lot of reading. The ones I can think of right now, that I have read are, Twilight Series, A Child Called IT, The Lost Boy, Night, The Glass Castle, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner, and I am on the 4th book of the Harry Potter Series. I don't know why, but I love to have a book to read at night before I go to bed. It does keep me up later than I should be up, but it helps my mind to wind down so I can fall asleep. I have been using the library for most of these books, but I couldn't wait for Breaking Dawn. I was #83 on the waiting list and I didn't want to wait that long. For me it was one of those books that I was sad it was over. I am not one that obsesses over the series or Edward, but they were very entertaining and easy to read, and that is what I like. The Harry Potter books are good and entertaining, but not ones that I can't put down. Anyway, for someone who used to read about a book a year, I am proud of myself and really glad that I have learned to like it! Are any of you out there reading a good book that you would recommend?? Let me know! Also.....if any of you have some kids books that you would recommend for a 3 year old then let me know. I am clueless when it comes to books for my kids, but I want to read to them more. Please....pass along your knowledge!

Also, I have started making a book of my blog, so I am going to try to write and post more often. I figure it is going to be my scrapbook and journal all in one, so I will try to post fun things my kids say and a few more words along with pictures. Blurb.com....check it out!

A few funny things Brynlee has said lately...

"That is so crazy mom"....and then "That is so freakin crazy!" I don't know what she was talking about, but it made me laugh. She has been using the word "freakin" a lot lately and I'm pretty sure it's my fault!

My mom asked her to carry her keys for her and she said, "Of course I will Mimi!" Also, in Idaho my mom was putting Halle and Brynlee down for a nap in the basement. Brynlee had to run upstairs for something and came back down with a look of concern on her face. She had her arms out and was raising shoulders and said to my mom, "Mimi, I'm SO FRUSTRATED because the dogs won't stay upstairs!"

It cracks me up because she has really been talking like a grown up lately. Oh the funny things they say!

AUGUST AND LABOR DAY...

2008-09-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

I just returned from a quick trip to Idaho for the Labor Day weekend. My dad's side of the family had a family reunion, so we headed to Island Park with the fam. We were able to have our own cabin, which was great with the kids and quiet for napping. Dave wasn't able to come with us because he had to go to Kansas City and manage some of our properties there. :( We really missed him, but had a great time.

We decided to head into Yellowstone Park for a day and see Old Faithful. My two youngest siblings had never been there, and the last time I was there was when I was 5 years old, so we decided a visit was long overdue. Dave thought this was hilarious because he grew up in Ohio and had been to Yellowstone Park about 5 times, and I grew up about an hour and a half away and had only been there once.

Overall, the kids did great! For some reason Halle was a bit challenging through the weekend. I don't know if she was just off her schedule or what, but man was she a handful. Both my parents house and the cabin had stairs and she would not stay away from them. She was a pro at going up, but hasn't figured out how to go down. When she wanted something or was hungry she would just yell out and didn't want to be held or let down. Man I was really missing having Dave there to help me. She totally wore me out! This kid has really got some spunk, and I definitely had my fill during the weekend. Thanks to my family for all of their help!

We were able to see a few different buffalo, several elk, and one bear that was way far up a mountain. The only problem with Yellowstone is there there is just one little road, so when anyone sees some sort of an animal it causes quite the traffic jam. Especially when people don't pull their cars over and get off the road! It was a little frustrating, but we had a good time.

When Brynlee is at Mimi and Bapa's house she loves to go outside with my mom and help water her flower, and ride Sadie's scooters. She also loves my mom's puppies Gizzie and LuLu (Lucy). LuLu has always been good with the kids, but Gizzie is getting old and doesn't have quite as much patience. She does really like Brynlee though. This hasn't always been the case, but Brynlee is always willing to sit on the floor and pet her, so now they are best friends. We took the dogs with us to the cabin, and Gizzie sat on Brynlee's lap in the car almost the whole ride there. It was pretty cute, and I'm mad I didn't take a picture.

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WE LOVE WHEN FRIENDS COME TO VISIT...

Dave and I's really good friend Jocelyn has come to visit a couple time this summer and I forgot to post these pictures. Brynlee had a great time playing with Ani and I was loving having a friend to hang out with almost every day. Our kids are very close in age, so we wish that Joss and Warde lived closer! We had a great time and can't wait for them to come and visit again.

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A LITTLE BOATING...

A couple weeks ago some friends of ours, Adrian and Danell invited us to go boating with them. We took the kids on a little tube ride and they loved it. The person who loved it the most was Halle. She was hilarious. The whole time she was giggling and waving at those in the boat. She was on the tube the longest of all the kids. Brynlee had a good time too, but Halle was really lovin it!

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BANGS...

So I cut bangs many months ago, but they have never really been seen in a picture. This isn't that great of a picture because the wind was really blowing, but this is proof that I do have them. This pic is up at Tuacahn where Dave and I went with Joss and Warde to see Les Mis. It was great, and the outdoor theater was awesome!

My Girls...

2008-08-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

OUR SCHOOL GIRL I can't believe it!!! Today is Brynlee's first day of preschool. She was so excited to go but asked me several times if I would watch her for a little while. She wasn't sure about me leaving her there. I just told her that it was like when she went to nursery and I would be back to pick her up. Well the hesitation didn't last long when we got there. She met one of her teachers Miss Anna, and they took her into the "Blue" classroom where she started right off playing with some purple sand. I think she forgot I even existed at that point. I really hope I chose a good preschool. I am pretty clueless since she is my first, but when we did a little tour of the school Brynlee seemed to love it. It is set up with 3 different classrooms, with 3 different teacher. There is a red room, a blue room, and a yellow room. They rotate rooms every hour, and each room has a different focus of learning. I just can't believe that I am already doing this. I know that it will be great for both she and I, but it is still a little sad. One of the ladies asked if she was going to let me leave. I told her she should be fine and went in to give her a hug and a kiss. To be honest it was ME who was having the hard time leaving. I only stayed for about 15 minutes, and then I sat in the car for a couple more with a few tears in my eyes. I know she is doing fine though (she is there right now) and I am so excited for her! ____________________________________ MY LITTLE TORNADO!!!!! It really is amazing how different two children can be. With Brynlee I didn't have to baby proof my house much at all, because she just didn't get into anything. Well Halle is a different story!! :) If I leave all of her messes you can see the path of her tornado through the house. She loves to climb up and push the computer keys, pull off all the papers on the desk, turn off the directv box, etc... She keeps us on our toes! She already has a really goofy personality and it is so much fun!

This is Halle enjoying her first Oreo cookie!

YUMMIE!!

I'm so sweet and innocent mommy!!!! Ha....NOT!

A Time To Vote...

2008-08-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is my very good family friend ShaLyse Walker. Our dad's were best friends through high school and college, so we totally grew up together. She is studying Broadcast Journalism at BYU, but this summer she has been in New York doing an internship with Good Morning America. So I guess they found out that two of their interns were very musically talented so they decided to have an "Intern Superstar"competition. It was broadcasted on Saturday morning and people can go online and vote for who they want to win. ShaLyse is a VERY talented singer and performer. She has a great personality and I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see her on Good Morning America or some sort of show like that in the future. She has a Myspace music page where she also sings an awesome version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Anyway.....here is the link to where you can vote. (I'm pretty sure the poles close on WEDNESDAY) You can choose who you want to vote for, but we are rooting for ShaLyse all the way!

LUVIN THE OLYMPICS...

2008-08-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

This has seriously been such a fun Olympics to watch. Was that relay race not totally freakin amazing!!!!! I had major goose bumps! Dave and I have really been enjoying watching every night. Seriously...what did I ever do without a DVR! It is awesome because we just fastforward through each recording and watch what we want to and then delete it. This way we don't miss anything that is worth watching! The Americans are sure representing us well!

_____________________________________________ SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE...

Joshua!!!!???? I have to admit...I was a little disappointed. Not that Joshua wasn't a great dancer, but I just felt like he was pretty forgettable. Out of the top 4 that were chosen, Katee was definitely the most qualified to win. But, when it came down to Josh or Twitch, I would have chosen Twitch. To be honest, I think Will should have won the whole thing! But hey...what do I know...right! I have to admit that my opinion of the show changed a bit after traveling to Dallas with my mom and sister for a SoulEscape dance workshop. This was the Dallas trip that I mentioned in my last post. My mom took my sister to this workshop and didn't have anyone to go with her. Sadie was dancing pretty much all day long, so my mom wanted someone to play with.......I was happy to volunteer!! Although it took some time to work out the babysitting situation.....(that's right...I went BY MYSELF)....I took off for Dallas for 5 days and 4 nights. (I have never left Halle before, and only left Brynlee for 2 days once) It was sad to say goodbye, but I definitely needed it. We stayed at the nice W Hotel right downtown and had a lot of fun. My mom and I shopped...slept in...ate...swam...and had a great time! It was dang humid but we were tough! :) I didn't take my camera though and trying to track down a picture from my sister has proven to be a little tough. Anyway, it was sooo much fun...as it always is spending time with my mom!

(This dance with these two was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!)

(Now back to why my opinion changed) So there were several SYTYCD people at this workshop. Sadie was taught by Natalie (remember Katee's friend who didn't get into the top 20), and she had class with Matt, Thayne, Chris, and Chelsie. So after talking to some of these people, she was told that the show is pretty rigged. (Don't shoot the messenger, but this is what they told her) One big thing is that Courtney and Kerrington were cut in Vegas, but then brought back because they needed cute girls. They were also told that Will was cut when it came down between him and Mark because they couldn't have 3 african americans in the top 3. Not 100% that this is true, but pretty interesting just the same. I will definitely continue to watch the show, but it definitely gives it a little different perspective!

SWIMMING LESSONS...

2008-08-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

So I recently returned from a well needed little trip to Dallas, so I have plenty to blog about. Honestly, I have just been avoiding it! Not sure why....but anywhoooo! Brynlee just finished her swimming lesson. The girl has seriously turned into a little fish. She LOVES to go under and can swim under the water to her daddy. The other day Dave was taking her over to the pool and she came out and said..."Daddy, I don't need my sunglasses. I'm just going to wear my goggles!" She seriously cracks me up with her goggles on. Her ears are always flopped over and her eyelashes totally hit the lens so it is hard for her to blink. I'm so glad she isn't scared anymore and is learning to swim.

MAMMA MIA!!!!!

2008-07-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

Well, tonight I was able to go to a fun GNO with some ladies from my ward. I was hesitant at first because I didn't know any of them very well, but I'm so glad that I went. We went to dinner and then went to see Mamma Mia!!!! I LOVED IT!! I have seen the musical twice, so I was really excited for the movie to come out. I LOVE the music and the movie definitely didn't dissappoint. It followed the musical almost perfectly and the singing was great. I seriously wanted to get up and dance so many times. If you haven't seen the show it is one that you are on your feet and singing along a lot, so I was really tempted in the movie! Meryl Streep did a great job and who would have thought she could sing so well. All the actors did great and I could seriously go back and watch it tomorrow. Of course they had to throw in a little "rankness" and they do the same in the musical, but seriously it was so much fun! I'm not sure if someone who hasn't seen the musical would like it so much, but I SURE LOVED IT!!

Silly in the Rain...

2008-07-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

It started to rain today and Brynlee decided she wanted to go out and play. The rain didn't last very long, but she had a good time.

She kept on making funny faces and telling me to take her picture. She is such a silly goose!

A couple pics...

2008-07-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple pictures of Brynlee and things she has been enjoying lately. There are a lot of things that she enjoys, but probably the top of her list lately is SWIMMING! With our 110 degree weather it is about all she can do if she wants to be outside!

I meant to post this picture a couple of weeks ago cuz I was so proud of Brynlee. Without me knowing at all, she went into my room and made my bed for me! I was so impressed! She was pretty proud of herself too! (we just hung the wall hanging behind the bed the other day and it ended up crooked! Oops! It will be fixed!! Maybe one day I will have bedroom furniture and really get to decorate my own room!)

Brynlee has been enjoying playing on the computer a little bit lately. She likes to get on starfall.com and play with the alphabet. It is a great site to help the kids learn the letters and their sounds. She also likes the Tux Paint program, which is a free download, and she can paint on the computer. She sure is getting good with the mouse! She is growing up way too fast!

A TRIP TO IDAHO...

2008-07-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a fun 2 week visit to Idaho and we had a great time. My sister and her family were in transition moving from St. Louis, so Brynlee and Halle were able to spend lots of time with their cousins. I didn't take very many pictures, but we had a great time and Brynlee was so excited to ride the merry go round about 20 times. She also rode on the ferris wheel at Fun Land and was so brave! She is getting so big and had her 3rd birthday while we were there. Brynlee and her cousin Remi also sang "I am a Child of God" in Relief Society this past Sunday. My mom was teaching the lesson, so we went and got the kids early from nursery and they got right up there and sang without any hesitation. We were SOOOO proud of them! Overall the trip was so much fun and WE LOVE SPENDING TIME WITH FAMILY!!!! We miss you all already!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYNLEE (June 29th)

I put together a little slide show of some past pictures of Brynlee. Since I didn't start this blog until she was 2 I thought you might enjoy them.

We don't know what we would have done the past 3 years without Brynlee in our lives. She has such a fun personality and if so full of life and energy. She has been such a good little girl and we look forward to all of the years ahead! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBA!!

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HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

We had a fun 4th of July this year. That morning we took the kids to the "hot" parade and they really enjoyed getting a little candy and seeing all the fun things in the parade. We then enjoyed a yummie BBQ at the Walker's beautiful home. This has become a tradition every year. The kids went down the many slides in their back yard and enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs. It was then back home for naps and Mimi and Bapa were so nice to stay home with the kids while us big kids (Chels, Blake, Dave and I) went to the fireworks. The kids had been up late so many nights that we decided they'd had enough fun and could get to bed on time for once. My youngest sister recently purchased a VW bus which is a total piecer but so much fun, so the 4 of us decided to drive it to the fireworks. I wish I would have taken a picture.....but we had a lot of fun! The fireworks didn't dissappoint...as usual, and we had so much fun with Chels and Blake. Although we don't live next door to eachother like we hoped...we are sure glad they have moved closer to home!! The girls had matching dresses on, and I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of them together. I felt like I was running around with my head cut off all day, and didn't stop to take any pictures. I will just have to put them in them again, and then snap some pictures. ____________________________________________

SOME BACKYARD FUN...

The kids spend so much time in the backyard at my parents house. They LOVE to go out and swing or jump on the tramp. It is so nice because the tramp is in the ground so they just jump on and off as they wish! I hope to someday have a nice backyard that my kids can just go out and play and keep themselves entertained. My dad has always taken such great care of his yard and it is so beautiful! I hated working in it when I was growing up...but I sure appreciate it now!

These are some fun pictures that I took of Rae Rae when we were outside one day. She is soooo busy right now and loves to get into everything. It was funny though because I would put her down on the grass and she wouldn't move. She just turned 10 months yesterday and time is flying. We are still waiting on her first tooth, but I don't think it will be long. We sure love this little girl!

A Fun Surprise...

2008-06-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

This isn't a great picture and you can see my flash, but I just wanted to post a fun surprise I got from Dave. One of his friends from work has a little photography business, so Dave sent me out of the house and took the girls to get some pictures taken. He also went and bought this frame and had it all put together for me! You can't see it in this picture, but the frame says "from here to eternity". Thanks babe.....I love it!

SISTERS...

2008-06-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Now that Halle is mobile, she and Brynlee are having a pretty good time together. Brynlee loves to crawl around the floor and have her follow/chase her and they both just giggle. Brynlee has also had a little bit of a hard time with Halle wanting to play with "her" stuff! (And so it begins) Needless to say she has spent some time on the naughty chair, but we are working on it!

Brynlee and Halle watching a DVD together! (i think Brynlee had just turned it off)

Just goofing around! LOOK AT HALLE'S LITTLE PONY TAIL!! YIPPEE!!!!
(Can you say black and white??? This shows how different their skin tone is!)

Halle is starting to pull herself up on everything, which is good and bad. The poor thing has tipped over and smacked her head soooo hard a couple of times. I am seriously considering getting her a little helmet due to the fact that a lot of our house is tile! On Sunday she tipped over in Relief Society onto the thin carpet and the whole class just gasped! Since she is about the only baby in the whole ward, of course the class was silent and it sounded pretty bad. Poor kid!

Enjoying a little Dora while sitting in the clothes basket!

Trying Something New

2008-06-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

A friend introduced me to the Google Picasa program and I am just trying it out.
Thanks, Tara! I am already thoroughly enjoying it!