Wallace Family

Week 5

2012-02-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

Sadly this week can be summed up by one word- Mono! Since Hannah has it they said Rachel probably does too and that explains why they are both laying so nice and still on the couch...

Week 4

2012-02-09T14:41:00.001-08:00

Snow much fun!

Week 3

2012-01-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

I couldn't decide which pic to post this week, so I am going with two! This one of the girls dressed up for church and looking all cute is what I wish that most of our weeks could be summed up by:

but this picture is a more accurate picture of how our week really went. We stayed in our jammies and were really lazy most mornings. This picture is both girls snuggled in our bed, playing on their "phones" (itouch):

Week 2

2012-01-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

The focus of the second week of this year would definitely be Rachel's transition from crib to Big Girl Bed! It was an exciting transition, but it did not go as smoothly as when we moved Hannah. I think we have finally found our groove, but I am scared to say so because usually that's when it all falls apart...

Post Party Park Time

2012-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

When the party was over, we decided to take a walk around the park to burn off some more energy and enjoy the weather. There is a creek that runs by the park and I grew up playing on the rocks in the shallow area and my girls were finally big enough to play on them too!

Sweet sisters!

Uncle Thor and GiGi supervising while I photograph:

Then we went up to a different playground and played. Rachel pretended to swim in the gravel:

Hannah was talking to her dad through the pipes:

Since the boys had been hunting before the party, Clay had Cami Jo with him so she got to play at the park:

I think Parker had a great time at the park too!

Even PaPa played on the equipment!

It was a great way to spend time with my family before we had to leave.

Hannah's Oklahoma Bday Party

2012-01-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

We love getting the chance to celebrate the girls with our families while we are there. We picked the park knowing it would be a little chilly when we got there, but up to 68 before it was time to leave. Hannah made the cake all by herself (with supervision and measuring help from me).

Uncle Brett and Aunt Beverli with cousin Kennedy:

Michael's parents (I love Johnny's hair hat) with Parker aka Lil' P and Uncle Thor in the back:

Rachel in her cute pigtails:

Uncle Clay with Lil' P:

The birthday girl with her presents! She chose to have a pink party so it was nice all the presents followed along too!

She got this scooter from Michael's parents and she loves it! We have left it in the house and she and Rachel take turns on it all over the house. I love that she has to have her tongue out when she is concentrating:

PaPa pushing cousin Peyton in the swing:

And Rachel in the swing next to it. Rachel stayed in this swing as much as we would let her. I think everyone took a turn pushing her:

Aunt KK swinging with Lil'P:

We had a great time enjoying our last day in town celebrating our Hannah with the families and enjoying the beautiful warm weather (that we really miss here in Utah!).

In-Sync Exotics

2012-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

The date on these pics is wrong, but on Dec 30 we decided to go to Wylie, TX and visit In-Sync Exotics. It is a wild cat rescue and they have over 60 large cats including tigers, lions, cheetahs, cougars, panthers, and bobcats. They are all rescued cats, so some of them had minor heath issues like a sore leg or scars. The kids waited patiently while we bought the tickets:

Since the facility is relatively small, you were able to get really close to the animals. There were double fences, but you were only 3-4 feet from the animals. It was pretty cool to watch a few of the cats stalk Rachel like prey.

And anyone that knows Hannah knows she is obsessed with cheetahs! She loved getting to see one up close and personal. She would "talk" to it and it would talk back. She would also run along the fence and it would run along with her. It was definitely the highlight of the trip for her and for me! :)

There were lots of tigers in this cage that we were looking at. One of them got upset that we were there and roared really loud, I think we all jumped!

If you look to the left of the kids sitting on a bench, you can see a female lion just watching them. She was one of the ones that stalked Rachel and Garrett!

I gave up on getting good pics of the animals because my camera kept focusing in on the fences rather than the animals, but I did get one where you could see this tiger really well!

Thanksgiving in OK

2012-01-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

We were blessed to be able to go and spend six weeks in Oklahoma for the holidays again this year. I love getting to share the traditions I grew up with Hannah and Rachel. The girls love helping GiGi in the kitchen playing "little chef."

The guys always go hunting and the "girls" stay home and watch parades, eat ice cream from the carton, crumble biscuits and cornbread for dressing, make pecan pie and paint our toenails to match! We hang out in our jammies and just enjoy the day together before getting ready to go eat dinner with my mom's side of the family. Since G-man is to little to hunt, he gets to hang out with the girls too. Here is Hannah playing with Parker:

All the kids sat and watched a movie on the little tv together:

Our matching toes- Kristen and Parker, Hannah, GiGi, Rachel, Carla and me:

So thankful for family time!

Week 1

2012-01-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

I have a few friends that did a photo a week for the entire year and I love the idea of being able to look back at our year in pictures and remember the highlights! So here is week #1, our big 4 year old. Happy birthday Hannah!

Caterpillars to Butterflies: The Real Truth

2011-09-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

As usual, months later, I am still trying to get caught up! :) So here is the long story with lots of pics about our experience with the caterpillars. I am not a bug person AT ALL! I hate them, would rather they all be dead and never reproduce, however, I know God created them for a reason and I want my children to appreciate the wonder that is metamorphosis. So, since you don't ever have to touch them, I decided this was my best bet. They come in these cups with their food and it tells you not to open it so you don't contaminate their food! Best reason ever! So here they are on my cluttered counter the day we got them.

And then they grew and grew and frankly the food got gross looking:

Then they started hanging upside down to make their chrysalis. Let me just state that my only experience was with silk worms and they just wrap themselves into this cute little cocoon. That is NOT how this happened. They violently jerk and squeeze this waxy looking liquid that forms their shell. It is not sweet or magical, However, my girls didn't care, they still thought it was cool.

So we moved them to their butterfly garden tent and just waited.

They all started "hatching" and it was fun to keep watching to see when the next one would come out. It took about two days for all 10 of them. We had one that just didn't develop right and I kept thinking it would fix itself and it didn't.

(Now let me take a moment to say that I also didn't know that butterflies have meconium. Just like babies, they have a special newborn "poop" and it is disgusting. It looks like blood all down the netting. GROSS!)

So, since I wasn't sure that the abnormal one would make it overnight, we decided to let it go before all the others. We decided to let it go while the kids were asleep, but Hannah caught us! Here is Hannah with our special little butterfly.

Cindi and the boys were here when the butterflies hatched and were ready to be released. We tried to get them to do what we wanted, but with freedom, they didn't stick around long for pictures.

Hannah loved touching them, but Rachel wasn't too sure!

This was the last one that we let go and it just landed on our tree. They were really pretty and fun, but not as cute and sweet as I thought it would be! I still am glad that we did it! :)

Happy Birthday Rachel!

2011-09-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, yesterday our baby Rachel turned two years old! Here are some pics from her life:
In the hospital and her first days home-

Age 2 months:

Age 6 months:

Age 8 months:

Age 11 months:

First Birthday! :)

Age 14 months:

Age 18 months:

Age 20 months:

Age 22 months:

Her second birthday!

We love you Rachel and look forward to many more birthdays celebrating you!

Summer Update #2- Movie, Parade, and Rodeo!

2011-08-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

We took the girls to go and see Rio in 3D at the movie theater. Rachel didn't quite have the attention span to make it through the movie, but Hannah loved it! She sat still and laughed and had a great time. Here they are modeling their glasses in the dark theater (not the best for phone pics).

We also went to the Riverton Town Days Rodeo and I was so impressed with the girls. We got there early to make sure we got a good seat and they were able to pet some of the horses.

We got some cotton candy (that they ate about three bites and were done with).

But they made it through the whole rodeo with no whining, fits or asking to leave! The rodeo started at 8 which is their bedtime and didn't end until almost 11! We also did the Riverton Town Parade. We were lucky to get to have the Meyers in town with us! Here the kids are watching the parade.

Cole and Rachel were so cute together! :)

Crazy Busy Summer! :)

2011-08-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

We have been having lots of fun marking things off our Summer Bucket List, but I will tell you, it makes for one tired momma! I can't believe it has been almost two months since I updated. Oh well, here goes! Lets start with the food stuff we have made:

We marked off the Watermelon Waffles and they tasted yummy!

Mouth snack- Apple slices with peanut butter and marshmallows. Both girls ate two or three which really surprised me since they usually whine if I leave the peel on their apples.

We made apple sandwiches- apple slices with peanut butter, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Banana Ice Cream- made with frozen bananas and a small dash of milk. This is my new favorite thing to eat! I have been making smoothies with frozen bananas, blueberries and strawberries only. Its way better than adding yogurt, ice and other stuff! :)

The kids and I made what were supposed to be homemade pop tarts, but I didn't cut the crust small enough so it ended up being more like pie pockets instead.

We still have some things to mark off our list, but we are making some good progress and having fun while doing it!

Zoo day with the Poret's

2011-06-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend we went to the zoo with Glenn and Yolonda. The girls had a blast with them and it's always a treat for Michael and I because the girls adore them and it gives us a little break! Checking out the birds:

Riding the carousel:

They were brave and took the girls inside the small animal area. I HATE the small animal area because it is an enclosed building with all the stinky animal smell, it is hot, and most of the stuff the girls can't see in their glass cages. However, my girls love it so occasionally, I cave and go in, but this time, Grandma Yo and Grandpa Glenn took them and Michael and I stayed outside! It was awesome!

We took our traditional picture with the gorilla:

And anyone who knows my husband, this is not a shock to you:

Right now at the zoo, they have alot of things closed because of construction. Luckily to distract from that, they brought in a dinosaur exhibit. They are so realistic its crazy! They make noise, move and one set of them spits water at you. This video is terrible, but hopefully you get the idea...

Random Oklahoma Pictures

2011-06-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

These pics aren't really relevant to any major events, just cute (and sometimes fuzzy) pics I snapped of the girls while we were there.

Playing in their swimsuits in KK's empty room after she moved her bed to Tulsa!

Rachel playing in the car with her glasses and her paci!

Playing in a box, what could be more fun!

Uncle Clay, Katie (his girlfriend), Hannah and Rachel chilling playing with their phones:

In PaPa's t-shirt looking out his bedroom window at the dogs in the backyard:

Soapy Water Play

2011-06-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that you have seen my many posts of Hannah playing in her bowl of soapy water with her toys for some good clean play. Hannah would sit for 30min to an hour and just play quietly and in toddler world that feels like hours! So, this time, I decided to let Rachel try and see how she did. She loved it, and was pretty entertained, however, she got SOAKED! Still good clean fun and they both played for about 20-30 minutes, so I definitely think this will be added to our regular rotation of activities!

Baby Bird Update

2011-06-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, those of you who saw my previous post about our bird eggs will be happy to know that we got baby birds! They hatched while we were in Oklahoma in May and stayed in the nest for about two weeks. They were really kinda ugly when they first hatched, but they got alot cuter!

The mama bird did not like us coming and taking pictures of her babies, she would swoop and yell at us and sometimes dad would join in and they would double team us. We got a few pics, but tried to not upset them any more than necessary. However, the last time I tried to go and take their picture, they flew out of the nest at me and scared me to death! That's when I knew they could at least sort of fly and weren't nest bound anymore. The next day I went down to the basement and I heard one of the babies. I looked and found that one of them had fallen into the window well. There is only a small space between the metal and window and it couldn't get out. I took the cover off and waited to see if it could get out on its own.

I watched its mom circle over and over calling out to it and it would call back and she just couldn't see it. It was so frustrating and heartbreaking to watch her try to find her baby and hearing her and not being able to find it. She even had a worm in her mouth ready to feed it!

Michael came home about an hour later and I told him, so he crawled down in there and got it out and set it on the grass for mom to find. She did and brought it some worms, but it still wasn't flying off, so Michael put it in the empty nest so that he could mow. The mom went to it and fed it and two days later it was gone too.

The girls loved having the birds and still when they see a bird ask if it is one of our babies. If it is a robin, I say yes, because maybe it is. They were lots of fun to have. Now our next temporary pet project has begun, caterpillars that become butterflies...

2011 Summer Bucket List- For the kids

2011-06-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

I have seen Summer Bucket Lists done on lots of the blogs that I follow and thought it was a great way to be intentional in the things that we do this year. I have a tendency to choose the easy way out and just go to the same park over and over or just play in the backyard because it is easier. However, I have lived in Utah almost FIVE years and it is embarrassing how little of the area I have explored. Now that the girls are getting bigger and able to do more and enjoy it, we are changing that! So here it is:

2011 Bucket List
- Order Caterpillars- CHECK
- Chalk Paint- CHECK
- Professional Family Pics (either JC Penney or a local photographer)
- One new park per week (attempting to hit all splash parks, and others that look fun)
- Use memberships at least once a month- zoo, aquarium, and children's museum
- Make something in the kitchen with mom once a week including some of these:
      Chocolate Chip Cookies- CHECK
      Donuts- CHECK
      Glo-Snow cones (click on the picture for the link to how to make them)

Watermelon Waffles

Brownie Waffles- grr, now its not letting me post the pics, so here is the link

Banana Ice Cream - its just frozen bananas REALLY blended! :)

Any other cute stuff I find- suggestions are welcome!

- Hike at least 3 places

- Have one "down" day per week where we stay home (in our jammies when possible)

- Take the girls to the movies (dollar theater)

- Go to the rodeo

- Go to at least one parade

- Downtown Farmers Market

- Grow something (even if its just a bean to watch sprout and grow)

- Make a crazy fort in the house

- Make Sponge Balls

- Get new books from the library each week to read

- Rent the Disney movies we don't have (including all the princess ones!)

This list will be added to as we go along, but this is what I have on it so far! I also am working on my own bucket list of things that I want to do that doesn't include the kids, such as read one parenting book every two weeks, work on purchasing stuff for Rachel's big girl room so when she is ready to be done with the crib we will be ready, etc. So, do you have a bucket list? Anything that you think we should add to ours?

Park #2- Vetran's Memorial Park/West Jordan City Park

2011-06-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we met up with Janene and Holly to check out the West Jordan City Park (online it is listed as Veteran's Memorial Park). It was a really cute idea for a park and with older kids, it would have been awesome. They have these wooden structures set up to mimic real Utah locations. The girls loved climbing and running all over, my only problem is that you can't see your kids. I was constantly thinking I lost my kid, when they were literally just around one corner. We eventually walked over to a metal play structure and I was able to relax and enjoy it a little more!

I found this picture online and it shows how cute this park really is!

This is one view from the "little kid" area:

It was fun to see it and mark it off the bucket list, but it is not one we will be going back to until the girls are an age where I don't have to worry about them wandering off!

Park #1- Skye Park

2011-06-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

One thing on the summer bucket list, is one new park per week. There are parks ALL over the place and we usually go to the same two or three. Well, that is changing! We tried Skye Park on Friday and it was a really cute park. There were four or five play structures, a couple connected to each other and some not.

There was a large grassy field and basket ball court:

A cute little metal dune buggy:

And all of these plastic house structures. Hannah kept telling Rachel and I which house was hers and which ones were ours. I think it would have been alot more fun for pretend play if we would have had friends with us!

There was also a sand box. I have mixed feelings about these as I know they can be large cat litter boxes, but the girls loved playing in the sand. They even took my empty water bottle and kept filling it up and shaking it, then dumping it and starting over. If we go back, we will be sure to take sand toys!

Overall, this was a great and the girls and I got to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Summer Bucket List: Homemade Donuts

2011-06-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

This summer I will be posting about things as we knock them off our Summer Bucket List. I haven't finished making the list yet, but maybe I will post it when I do. One of the things on it- making homemade donuts with the girls! We started with canned biscuit dough and rolled it out:

Then we made our holes. Since I couldn't find a small circle cutter, I bought this cute flower one! It took a couple tries before she went all the way through:

Rachel got a turn too!

Then for the really unhealthy, dangerous part. The girls ate at the table something slightly healthier than a donut while I cooked them.

I wasn't sure if you had to dunk them in the glaze while they were still hot, so I made a couple right away and waited on the others for the girls to help. (For the record, it didn't matter)

Hannah got to help dunk in glaze (powdered sugar/water mixture):

We also tried chocolate glaze in a bottle and it looks pretty and tastes good, just not the same a donut store chocolate glaze.

And of course we had sprinkles!

The finished product (minus the ones we ate along the way)! I actually loved the flower shaped donut holes.

They were delicious!

Good clean fun!

2011-05-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

It was almost bedtime and Michael had just finished mowing the grass and turning on the sprinklers. Hannah decided to run in them for a second before putting on her jammies. She had the BEST time running around and was soaked.

This is a look of pure joy!

Tulsa again...

2011-05-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Tulsa twice! Once for the graduation/wedding weekend and again the next weekend for Clay's graduation and two baby showers for Kristen. This is the hope and goal of every car trip!

Then the girls played in the hotel room. We got adjoining rooms and the one they gave us is the handicapped room. The girls could actually reach the ironing board and thought it was a great surfboard.

Uncle Heath played hide-and-seek in the closet with Rachel!

Mother's Day

2011-05-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day this year was a little different, no sleeping in, no special church made gifts, no "fuss" was made. We were in Tulsa because my little sister graduated and Lacy Olson got married on the Saturday before so we got up and had the free breakfast at the hotel. The only thing that was marginally redeeming was that at least my mom had all her kids with her! We left the hotel and went to help move some stuff at Kristen's house and got on the road back to Durant. After being up until almost 11 the night before and riding in a car for over three hours, the girls were needing to burn off some energy and do something to stay awake until bedtime, so we decided to go for a really short walk. I was able to get this picture of my mom and my girls and it is one of my favorite pictures from our trip!

Bella Rose

2011-05-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

While we were in Oklahoma we were able to be there when Clay's girlfriend Katie opened her new salon, Bella Rose. I took the girls by to see it and they loved her empty back room to just run around. Clay put this ribbon bow on Rachel's head and she actually left it on for more than two seconds!

I then got the pleasure of going and getting my hair done at the new salon and she did a great job! :)

The Ice Cream Truck! :)

2011-05-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

The ice cream truck came by grandma's house while we were playing outside and we couldn't resist! I'm glad we didn't because it was GOOD!

Rachel and her orange push-up!

Kennedy got a push-up too!

Jacob and his Spiderman popsicles...

Hannah and Peyton got Dora popsicles!

Aunt Jacki liked her ice cream too!

Playing at Grandma's

2011-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Jacob and Hannah eating their suckers!

Grandma was a great sport at playing "horsey" for the kids!

Trying to get the kids to all say "CHEESE!"

They did much better when it came time to do the silly face!

We spent time playing in the yard, this time with Peyton and Kennedy...

Brett took pictures from the deer

So all the kids wanted on the other one!

Snack time in the back room...

Miss Kennedy, she is getting so big!

Park Play with the cousins!

2011-05-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to go the the park with all of the Wallace cousins. Rachel was finally able to climb and slide by herself and it was great!

Hannah and Jacob loved running around together and playing on the slides!

The next day we met up with Brett, Beverli and the girls to play at the same park again!

We tried to get one with the three girls sitting on the end of the triple slide, but it just didn't happen. One of the many joys of all the kids being 3 and under!

Cute Pics of Rachel!

2011-05-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

We were playing in front of the doors at my parents and looking at the dogs, but Rachel just looked so cute, I couldn't help taking her picture. I love this outfit I bought from a high school friend!

Then she played "dress-up" in one of PaPa's t-shirts!

More Food!

2011-05-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

So, we love Roma's Italian Restaurant and the girls really love the spaghetti! Here is Hannah:

I feel like that picture just says it all! The other things always on the list are George's burgers, Salita's, and JJ's shaved ice. I didn't get pictures of any of those, but the shaved ice at the park:

Next time we will have to go to Chuck's or Bob's to get us some good catfish! As a side note, is it sad that the good catfish comes from places named after rednecks??

Dandy Donuts!

2011-05-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Every time we visit Durant, I have a list of my favorite restaurants and things I miss eating here in Utah. We were able to get most of the things off my list except for fried catfish. The first thing to mark off the list is Dandy Donuts and they are the best donuts EVER!! The girls of course like the sprinkle ones.

Flying with Daddy!

2011-05-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

After traveling with the girls by myself, I am always thankful to have a flight with help! It makes a huge difference to my peace of mind and overall happiness when we arrive at our destination. Since on our first flight, we had lots of empty seats we were able to sit in our own rows with one kid, but switched kids a few times along the way. I started with Rachel playing with Hannah's iPod and Hannah watching movies with Michael.

Then I got Hannah and Michael got the squirmy kid!

And yes, she is overly dramatic in all situations...

Some links on mothering

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

It has been too long since I updated and there is lots to share. I came back to a computer on the fritz, so it has made posting not an option until today. Now that my computer seems to be functioning again, I wanted to share a few things that I hoped to share on Mother's Day. I read this post on Lots of Scotts and I feel like it really sums up how I feel alot of the time.

I have my dream job and I am so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids. It's amazing the difference the picture I had in my head of what being a stay-at-home mom would look like compared to the reality of what it is. There are WAY too many days that I am frustrated, exhausted, and overwhelmed, but I am still extremely thankful for the opportunity to be with my kids. I am constantly trying to find some balance in my life and a way to feel like I am doing what I need to do for my family and for myself. I think this post is a good place to start and I am working on figuring out what those three things are for my husband and what I want them to be for my kids. Another post that really helped my perspective is from a new blog one of my real life friends wrote. She just started her blog this week and it was just what I needed to hear.

Hopefully there are others of you out there that can benefit from these links or maybe you have some wisdom of your own that you would like to pass along to me! :)

Robin's Nest

2011-04-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Michael came to get me last Wednesday to show me that a bird had built a nest on top of the slide of our swing set. He asked what I wanted to do with it and we let Hannah choose if she wanted to see if a bird would lay eggs in it or if she would rather slide. Being the animal lover she is, she chose to see if we would get baby birds. On Monday Michael went to check on it and saw that there was one little blue egg in the nest.

I went out on Monday to find the mommy sitting on her nest and confirmed that it is a robin.

I went back to check today while the mommy was gone and found that we now have three eggs!

After a little Internet research I have learned that they usually have four eggs and lay only one per day. They do lay unfertilized eggs, so we won't know until time for these to hatch. They lay the eggs, but won't start incubating the eggs until they are done laying so that they will all be born at the same time instead of days apart. The eggs take 12-14 days to hatch and then they live in the nest for 9-16 days. This means we will probably be in Oklahoma when they hatch (if they were fertilized), but we will get to see the baby birds when we get back. Of course Michael will keep us posted on the progress and if they don't hatch, this will save the girls some disappointment. Lets just hope we have better luck with our eggs than my cousin Audrey had with hers...

Saturday trip to the zoo!

2011-04-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a LONG time, Michael didn't have Bible Study or a running date on Saturday and we got to spend the day together as a family. I was so excited and we refused to let a little cold weather (44 degrees) stop us from having fun. We grabbed the coats and headed to the zoo! The elephants seem to always be the girls favorite animal to watch. I don't know if it is because of Zuri, the baby elephant, or if it is because their area is more open (no glass), but we always stand in front of them for at least 10 minutes- aka-forever in toddler time!

We always take a trip on the carousel that has the coolest animals ever. Hannah picked the baby elephant for her and the cheetah for her sister, which is surprising since her favorite animal is the cheetah.

One benefit to going to the zoo when it is cold, some of the animals are awake and playing, like this Leopard.

And this peacock:

Tried to get the girls to take a pic on the big metal elephant, as you can see, that didn't go well...

It was a fun day and so nice to get out of the house as a family!

Photo Challenge Day 30-Any Photo

2011-04-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the 30 day challenge is over! It was hard to keep up sometimes, but it has really pushed me to be more intentional with keeping the blog more updated. My goal is to update at least 3-4 times a week when I can. Since I am about to spend 17 days in Oklahoma, my updating the next few weeks will be alot more sparse!

Once again, since I get to pick any photo, I am going to share something I would have posted about anyway, more of our Easter. These are from our backyard egg hunt. This year we bought two packages of different eggs, Hannah got the animal print eggs and Rachel got the multicolored metallic ones. It worked out perfect because they each knew what eggs they were looking for and returned the ones they found that weren't theirs. We also did 6 larger eggs that they shared! We were also blessed to spend this holiday with our adopted parents, the Porets! We are so thankful to have them in our lives!

Easter Out-Takes

2011-04-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

What would a family photo shoot be without all the fun out takes...

All you can ever hope for is just ONE good one! :)

Photo Challenge Day 29- Recent Pic of Myself

2011-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is our Easter pic for 2011, our colors were pink and white and I love how it turned out!

Photo Challenge Day 28- Weather

2011-04-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, where there are lots of storms and the weather can't decide what season it wants to be- Winter or Spring. These are all pics from last year, but it all looks the same...

The best part of storms-the rainbows! :)

Photo Challenge Day 27- Theme 2

2011-04-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Photo Challenge Day 26- Always Laugh At

2011-04-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

I can't help but always laugh at a really good cheese face!

Showing off the foam puppets we made from a kit

Showing off her new Dora socks (four sizes too big for her)
that we got in the mail from Aunt Carla!

Photo Challenge Day 25- In a Hurry

2011-04-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

Rachel has been "in a hurry" to be as big as her sister forever! She talks better than most 3yr olds, runs and climbs, and tries to do everything Hannah does. I realize this is good in lots of ways, but its really sad to this mommy sometimes because I want them to be little forever. This is her trying to do a somersault! :)

Photo Challenge Day 24- This Makes Me Happy

2011-04-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is a duplicate challenge as Day 10, but I will go ahead and use it as an excuse to show you some pics I was going to do a post on anyways. So this time the thing that makes me happy is creating family traditions, the most recent was decorating Easter Eggs!

In the future, I will be smarter than I was this year (I hope) and be sure to read the box of the egg decorating kit BEFORE I give it to Hannah as an option to purchase. She LOVES dinosaurs! We watch Land Before Time, Dino Dan, and Dinosaur Train and she knows lots of dinosaurs by their really long names and how they look. So, when I saw a dinosaur egg kit, I knew she would love it too. However, there was "some assembly required" and at three, that means for mom to do. So after about 30-45 minutes (with some distractions), I had 8 of these little guys ready to go!

from this...

to this!

Then after dinner, we got all our stuff ready and put on clothes that were safe to get stained and got started! (Kids were not cooperating for pics)

This set up lasted 10 seconds or less because Michael decided he could handle Hannah alot easier than Rachel. Also notice after this, there are no pictures of Rachel for the "during" process because she was in my arms!

Hannah LOVED the dinosaurs, so it was worth it in the end to get this smile!

This is Michael's egg, it was going to just be orange so he soaked it for a long time, then it still wasn't orange enough for him so he decided to try mixing colors to see what he would get. It turned brown and starting chipping and was really ugly. Well, he kept dunking it long after I thought it was a lost cause and here is the end result, its the coolest looking egg we made!

One pic of me with the girls for proof that I did help. As you can tell, the girls were just as cooperative as they were for pictures with their dad.

Another thing that looked alot more fun than it was, were these face stickers. They don't lay flat on your curved egg and so they don't stick well. You would think that since they are made for eggs, they would work on eggs.

We finally let Rachel play with an egg and she was so excited and about 15 seconds later, she smashed it into the table and it cracked. She looked at it and looked at me and said, "Oopsie!"

We had to convince her that it was ok that she broke it!

This picture has some of the egg white from Rachel's egg in the back, but it is a pic of Hannah's favorite egg. She colored it with the clear crayon and dyed it her favorite color, purple!

There are lots of things that we do with the girls that will be easier as they get older (like dyeing eggs) and lots of things they may get older and think are lame, but we will still do them every year we can because traditions are important!

Photo Challenge Day 23- Summer Photo

2011-04-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Since it was snowing today and we are months away from summer weather, I am posting some of my favorite pictures from last summer. This is Hannah reading her book to the dogs at my parents, Lexi and Rev. I was impressed at how great of an audience she got!

Ice cream from the ice cream truck:

This was from the 4th of July, playing in the Poret's backyard:

Swinging at our house:

Three kids enjoying their ice cream off the ice cream truck! I think the thing I love the most about this picture, is that they are all still watching the truck drive away (or it could be the fact that it was just great having Kristen and Clay come visit us)...

A running day!

2011-04-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, while Michael was running his marathon, my mom and some of the Lee family (one of my extra families) were running the OSU Remember the Ten 10K (there were 10 people from OSU killed in a plane crash in 2001). This was their first 10K! Here is mom:

And Kathy and Mike Lee with their daughter, Katie Jones:

I am so proud of them and wish that I could have been at their finish line to cheer them on too!

Marathon Day! :)

2011-04-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

After all the training, Saturday, Marathon Day was finally here! I got there just in time to catch Michael and his running buddy, Ky, coming around the corner to head to the finish line:

Pic they took before the race

They finished in 5:05:13- I cannot imagine running/walking 26.2 miles in 5 hours! Hugs from the girls:

I used my new fun phone apps to play with a few of the pics:

Day 22- My addiction

2011-04-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Technology- I am WAY too attached to these two items...

Photo Challenge- Day 21- When I was little

2011-04-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

(Since most of my pics when I was little are at my parents, I am making do with what I have!)
When I was little, I was bald and chubby. I never got over the chubby part, but luckily I did get over the bald issues!

I was blessed to not only have great parents, but awesome babysitters! This is my favorite babysitter, Laura. She was in the Miss Southeastern Pageant and won! She was a great Christian example and put up with alot from us. I once thought her roommate's hamster looked thirsty so I shared my Kool-Aid and dyed her hamster red, we melted crayons in the top of her car and gave her more attitude than she deserved. Luckily we didn't scar her too bad, she went on to have four kids of her own!

I also had really terrible bangs, thanks mom! :)

Cutie Patooties!

2011-04-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

These two are FINALLY starting to occasionally play well together and it makes me happy the brief moments that it lasts. Gives me hope that one day it will be lots of fun around our house!

Like Daddy...

2011-04-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

When Michael comes home from work, he always takes his button-up shirt off and sets it on the chair. Hannah took it and tried putting it on so Michael helped her to roll up the sleeves. He also bought new shoes so she decided that she needed to wear them too!

And anything that Hannah does, Rachel thinks she needs to do it too:

Photo Challenge Day 20-Theme Different

2011-04-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my girls wearing the same outfit, and they couldn't be more different! There is about a one or two month difference in their age.

Look how tiny Rachel was when Hannah wore this:

And here is Rachel this morning:

I just had to post this one even though it is really fuzzy because it TOTALLY shows how much attitude this kid has! :)

Photo challenge Day 19- I Live Here

2011-04-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

We live in a beautiful area of Utah and I feel really lucky to be able to live in the mountains and enjoy all the wildlife. However, it is way too far away from here:

If you want more specifics of exactly where we live, This is the post with the pics of the house before decorating, including some pics of the outside. This post has the main rooms after decorating.

Photo Challenge Day 18- Emotions-Silly!

2011-04-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

I decided to go with Silly. If it isn't a real emotion, please don't correct me! I have two super silly kids that are always doing the goofiest stuff. I never know what to expect or what will come out of their mouth next. Hannah told me the other day, "Mom, I crack me up!" and just started giggling loudly, and she is always cracking me up too!

Playing at GiGi and PaPa's house

Trying to take pics of her first ponytail. This is the super big CHEESE face!

Playing at the hotel in sister's shirt

Yes, those are what you think,
she pulled them out while I was getting laundry together...

Masks from Grandma and Grandpa

I would like to say she was being modest, but I am not sure what she was doing.
I thought it was funny, so I took a pic. The scrape on her nose is from playing "puppy"
and sniffing so much she got a carpet burn on her nose...

Swimming at the Olson's! :)

Photo Challenge Day 17- One Moment

2011-04-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have had wonderful company this weekend, so I kinda got a little behind on my challenge. I am still considering it a success that I made it about halfway before I missed a day! Working on slowly getting back on track, but the theme today and tomorrow are the two hardest to come up with, so it has been easy to not make this a priority. I have decided I am just going to approach it like I did the last self portrait. I could work really hard finding a picture and I could spend hours to write and rewrite it to come off as really deep or fabulous, but lets face it, I don't have time for that kind of effort! So, moving on!

There are lots of life defining moments-when I got baptized, when I graduated, when I got married, when we moved, when I found out we were pregnant and miscarried-twice, when we found out we were pregnant and got Hannah and then Rachel, when I got over my fear and became the coordinator of my MOPS group, the girl's "first" everything...you get the idea!

There are also lots of less life defining moments that happen every day, some I catch on camera, some I wish I had a picture of and some that I am glad aren't on camera. These pictures capture one of those moments I did get on camera, some fuzzy pics in the car leaving the aquarium this past week. I think it shows how excited the girls were after talking their dad into buying them stuffed animals! One small moment in the grand scheme of things, but a moment of joy all the same...

Photo Challenge Day 16- Self Portrait Black and White

2011-04-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

When I started this challenge, I was going to work on this one and get something all cute and artsy and fabulous to post. However, today when I realized I was three days behind, I decided to just snap a quick photo and call it good. Maybe one day I can play with some photos, you know when I get some more free time...

Photo Challenge Day 15- Love

2011-04-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

I am once again picking my husband for this one! He is the LOVE of my life, but I also LOVE that he is a great dad and loves his kids. Wednesday night we went to a birthday party at Bouncin' Off the Walls and Michael literally jumped right in there with the girls. This is him with Rachel on his shoulders while holding Hannah's had to help them to the top of the slide.

Here are two videos of them coming down the slide! I LOVE to watch my husband having fun with his girls

Photo Challenge Day 14- Winter

2011-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

I just went to do today's post and it said Day 13- Light, and I got really confused. Apparently I titled two posts in a row as 11 and I am on Day 14...Oh well, its fixed now! :)

We have LOTS of winter where we live! We do like to play in the snow (you can see that here and here), but this was our backyard on Sunday morning, yes, this Sunday, APRIL 3rd! Isn't it supposed to be spring?

Day 13- Theme Light

2011-04-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken during one of our trips last year to Silver Lake. All taken on my iPhone and unedited.

It was a beautiful fall day and I just couldn't resist taking some photos of the scenery.

Photo Challenge Day 12- My Life (oops, a day late on this one)

2011-04-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

My life could easily be summed by one picture of my family, but that would get really repetitive and not near as much fun as a rundown of what my life is like! This could get a little long...

For starters, I spend a lot of time feeding these two:

I also spend alot of time picking up the messes they make. They sometimes help and sometimes I do it myself because it is just way faster and easier. On Friday, they played in the basement while I helped it go from this:

To this (our unfinished basement that we adapted into a fun play area for basically no money):

Hannah played office with her princess stool. She was working on the computer and hammering when necessary (note the princess shoes!):

While Rachel cooked in the kitchen in her tutu and bracelets:

We spend some time working on learning. I am working with Rachel on her colors and letters. Hannah is working on her scissor skills so she cut these shapes out and had to glue them in the right shape. We try not to make it "work time" or structured, but she likes to do what she calls "crafts and projects" and when she asks, I just squeeze a little educational value in.

We spend time going to fun places we have here in UT, like our trip yesterday to the aquarium:

We spend time with friends and our adopted family, the Poret's:

We play outside when its warm enough:

And I very occasionally do fun crafty things, sometimes even using the girls hands to make presents for daddy!

Basically, I am just a mom and wife and these three God has blessed me with are truly my life.

Photo Challenge Day 11- Crazy

2011-04-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going with my husband on this one, but not for the reasons you may think! He decided January of last year to start running again (for the first time since High School) and run a half marathon less than three months later. He did it and we were there to cheer him across the finish line!

However, he quit running two months later. Then this January rolls around and he and a friend challenge each other to the FULL marathon, once again, about three months away! So, this morning, he is going to go and run 24 miles. To me that is just crazy! I have no desire to run anything more than a 10K (6.2) while he is training for a full marathon (26.2 MILES)...IN LESS THAN THREE MONTHS!

Photo Challenge Day 10- Makes Me Happy

2011-04-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is just a small glimpse into what makes me happy. My family, they provide lots of joy in my day:

Ice cream of any kind (but this is my favorite):

Sweet tea! I am so thankful that McD's will give me this for $1 and I wish I was back in the south where you can get this anywhere. Making it at home is fine, but it isn't the same...

My kids in matching outfits! It makes me SO happy when they match/coordinate. Its getting harder now that Hannah is in the bigger sizes, so when I find them, I buy them! :)

Nap time, makes me happy because I get some time to myself (even if most of the time I use it to clean my house):

(Look how tiny and sweet she was sleeping while holding her toy)

Photo Challenge Day 9- Today

2011-03-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

I woke up with visions of grandeur for how today was going to be a perfect, fun day that I could photograph from beginning to end and post about how wonderful our day was. As any mother of small children knows, those days are few and far between and today was not destined to be. SO, we take what we are given and move forward. We had plans for a play date at my friend Holly's house and so we (more slowly that usual) all got dressed and ready and go the bag packed and went to load up in the car. And I opened the door and the light didn't come on, I knew this was not good! So I do a little further investigating and my battery is totally DEAD! Luckily, we have two vehicles that we own and then Michael has a work vehicle that they provide for him. This meant I had another vehicle to put the kids in and still go about my day. Unfortunately, we just have two car seats so this meant me moving them both by myself to the truck. So, I got the car seats moved and got the kids buckled and then had to go back to shake out the mats we keep under their seats. I have never been so embarrassed/disgusted as I was seeing what all was hiding under there, and because I blog, of course I took a quick picture to share with you all!

We make it, later than I planned, to Holly's house to play with our friends. I only get my camera out to take a few cute pics of Rachel playing in the cabinet and at least I got Sam (and Hannah's arm) in this one...

This one is my favorite and I can't believe how big she looks!

Since I have Bible study tonight, I am going to sit here for a few more minutes of nap time and play on the computer and hope that I magically get some motivation to go clean my house. (As a side note, I just found out that more people I love have blogs, and I have added them to my sidebar for you to check out!)

Photo Challenge Day 8- Favorite Photo

2011-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Guess I have to limit myself to just one picture on this one! This picture hangs in my hallway and every time I see it I almost want to cry! I love how sweet Hannah is leaning in to kiss her little sister. I love how Rachel is just chilling relaxing while her sister holds her (with Dad's help). I love the bond between them that continues to grow...

This picture also makes me sad because Rachel is now wearing this outfit Hannah has on...

The last few days...

2011-03-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

On Friday Rachel started running a fever and feeling terrible. She was showing no other symptoms, so I just worked on keeping her temps down and spent lots of time looking at this sad pitiful face:

And listening to her cry and whine "hold me":

And being used as a human pillow (yes I love the extra snuggle time, but it makes it hard to do anything else, like spend time with her sister, clean the house, etc):

But today, she is finally starting to feel better and want to play! :) So what is a mom to do, but break out one of my cheap (and easy to clean) self entertainment weapons-SHAVING CREAM! I was able to supervise them while getting my house put back together and they thought it was lots of fun. This is one of Hannah's favorite activities and it was Rachel's first time to get to play in it too.

I think they both loved it and I loved getting my house put back together! And, just a side note, I saw two new teeth in her mouth today, so I am assuming they are the cause of her misery.

Photo Challenge Day 7- A photo I have never shown before

2011-03-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was looking through albums trying to find pictures for some previous posts and came across a "photo shoot" that I did with Rachel one day when I realized she was about to outgrow two outfits that I loved! I looked back on the blog and realized I never posted any of these pictures. I used to do home "photo shoots" with Hannah all the time because it was easy! Anytime she had on a cute outfit or we didn't have anything else to do, I took pictures of her just for fun. I took time to put her on or in front of something as a backdrop and we just had fun (examples here, here -scroll down toward the bottom-and here). With two kids, that went out the window for the most part and I just started taking them to JCPenney. Lucikly, this was one of the times that I just made it happen! Here is a picture from Hannah's "photo shoot" and I had help from two other people:

And these, I took by myself while keeping Hannah away from her sister. I love that Rachel has these outfits filled out and they hung off of Hannah. I hate that Rachel refused from the beginning to keep cute bows on her head because I love the big bows!

These are Rachel:

And this one is of Hannah in the same outfit:

Photo Challenge Day 6- Theme Green

2011-03-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

Apparently I like to wear green! For my birthday this year Yolonda paid to have my colors done and I loved it! It is amazing how I was already wearing some of my colors and also how much of what I was wearing was wrong (hello my entire black wardrobe...sigh). Luckily for me, green is one of my "best" colors. Here are some pics of me in green with some of my favorite people:

Easter 2009, pregnant with Rachel

September 2009, Rachel's first week

Me and one of my best friends, Cindi showing our bumps (her pregnant with Cole and me Rachel, due 2 weeks apart), March 2009

Me with my best friends since we were three, Sharla and Starla, when they came to visit in California to meet Rachel in November 2009

I'm sure Theme Green was probably meant as a recycling/go-green type thing, but frankly, I prefer fashion! :)

Photo Challenge Day 5- Old Picture

2011-03-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm probably not following the correct rules of this photo challenge because it is probably just supposed to be one photo with a brief description. However, its my blog and I can do it however I want! I want these challenges to just be themes for my posts rather than just showcase one photo. It also gives me a chance to share some things about my family that I wouldn't have thought to share otherwise. This "old picture" challenge, I'm taking some liberties on! These are some old pictures...of my little sister and the only reason I'm sharing them is to show how much Rachel looks like Kristen! The first two are Kristen, the second two are Rachel. Tell me I'm not the only one that thinks they could be twins??

I have to add, the funniest part, is that they act ALOT alike too! Kristen is obsessed with teeth and Rachel is too, she cries when I take her toothbrush away and asks to brush her teeth every time we are in the bathroom. Kristen used to sing and talk herself to sleep as a kid and so does Rachel. They both love the water, animals, and playing dress up, the list just goes on and on....

Photo Challenge Day 4- Hobby

2011-03-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

My hobby is scrapbooking! I have been scrapbooking since I graduated high school and don't spend as much time as I would like doing it, but with two small kids, I work on it when I can. All of these pics are taken with my iPhone because I currently don't have a working camera, so quality is not so great (in case you haven't noticed from my last few posts). Sadly I haven't scrapbooked for myself since Hannah was born so I only have older albums to show you, but here are just a few examples of how I scrapbook. I don't have a specific style or "look" like some friends I have, but I just do whatever strikes me at the time. This first one is one of the first pages I did, before I knew about archival quality paper, pens, glue, etc. As you can see it has already started fading (12 years later).

These next few are from trips home the first year after we moved away to Utah. I went home for Kristen's prom:

Carla's wedding:

And of course just a few fun moments also get scrapbooked along the way!

Then I have some from when Michael's mom came to visit and we went to the zoo:

And these are from our Christmas card photo shoot:

Maybe I will start getting caught up this year and share some more current pages as I get them done!

Photo Challenge Day 3- Family Member(s)

2011-03-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have always known that I am indecisive and anyone who knows me can vouch for that! I can do the bigger decisions with minimal issue, but little stuff (like what to wear, where to eat, what picture to choose for this challenge) I go back and forth and it takes me forever. Since I am slightly OCD, I have already been looking ahead and deciding what pictures or memories to share in other posts so I eliminated my husband and children since they will be featured alot! I thought about grandparents, but those posts will make me (and some others who read my blog) cry and I don't want that either. So, I have decided instead of picking just one family member, I would pick my parents! This pic was taken last weekend at my little sister's wedding and is the most current picture I have of all of us together:

I am totally blessed to have such an amazing family. My dad is a strong amazing Christian man that loves his family. He has always made a point to be there for any important event in our lives- dance recitals, football games, church programs, weddings, baby's births, etc. He is very logical and loves to help us work through our issues and come to our own decisions. He is there when you ask for advice, need a sounding board, or just for a hug when you need one. He is totally baby crazy and all kids are drawn to him like a magnet! I feel very lucky that he is an amazing example of what a husband/father should look like and a great role model for my husband and children.

My mom and I are very close. We think alot alike on pretty much everything and I really look up to her and rely on her for lots of parenting advice. She is a great example of a mom that was/is willing to do whatever it takes for her kids. She tried to stay home as much as she could and made sure that the jobs she had allowed for her to be there for us. She was willing to sacrifice having the "best" stuff so that she could be there. I can only hope I am half the mom she is. She has also managed to survive raising four kids and still looks like she is only 35, I am really hoping that I got that gene!

I am thankful for parents that made sure we were raised in church, taught us modesty, values, and respect and love for others. They took us on vacations to lots of fun places and managed to sneak in some educational stops and activities along the way. I have seen lots of things that most people haven't because they cared enough for us to "see history" for ourselves. Most of these trips were not luxurious vacations spent flying first class and staying in 5-star hotels, they were all of us piled in the car, pulling our camping trailer, staying at campsites and cooking our own food. Not only was this a much more fun "bonding experience" for our family (and the families that we traveled with), but it taught us traveling on a budget and that fun is what you make it! They also taught me that honesty is the best policy, just because your friends are doing it doesn't make it right, and that in all things I am accountable to God, not them, for my actions. I don't think I realized how blessed I was to have parents that are still happily married and gave us an idealistic childhood until I got out of high school and realized that what we have isn't the norm, but instead an amazing testimony to what having God the center of your family can look like. Thanks Mom and Dad, I love you!

Photo Challenge Day 2- Favorite Thing

2011-03-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

I admit that picking something for my favorite thing was harder than I thought. Since it is a "thing" instead of a person, I struggled. I don't think that I am overly attached to many "things" in my life because I know that they could all be gone in an instant and most things can be replaced. I love my pictures because they are visual reminders of memories and so I scrapbook, I love my coffee maker because it makes mornings a little happier, but they aren't my favorite thing. I decided to go with something that there is some emotional attachment to that can't be as easily replaced- my wedding ring!

I love that when I got this ring it was just the gold part of the band and a smaller diamond. For the wedding we added the white gold part as the wedding band and Michael upgraded my diamond as a surprise. It was a super sweet surprise and I love my ring, just the way it is! :)

30 Day Photo Challenge- Day 1

2011-03-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have been seeing lots of fun 30 day challenges on facebook and other people's blogs and decided to try one. I am hoping that it will help me to get in the habit of posting more often/consistently and be a fun, exciting new way to share about our life. I chose to do this 30 day challenge because it was less intimidating than some of the others! :)

Day 1: Self Portrait- I will be honest, I stink at self portraits, but I recently took one that I am happy to share! This was taken for Katie (my little brother's girlfriend) after she fixed my hair for my little sister's wedding. She did a great job and my hair actually held curl ALL day for the first time ever!

Anniversary Fun

2011-03-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

For our anniversary, I was very spoiled! I got these roses:And a Cricut machine with 5 cartridges! I have been wanting one of these for about three years, but just couldn't justify spending the money and luckily, they were on sale so Michael spent what he planned on spending on extra cartridges! :) Then, we are truly blessed that Yolonda and Glenn were willing to spend the night at our house with the girls so we could get away and spend the night at a hotel downtown. I have never spent a night away from Rachel and the only time I have ever spent the night away from Hannah was when I was in the hospital having Rachel, so this was a BIG deal for us! Here we are before we left the house:We stayed at the Hotel Monaco and it was really pretty. This is what you see when you walk in the door and I love it. If I could have this in my house (without it looking ridiculously over the top), I totally would!This is our room (Michael always opens the curtains to check out the view no matter where we stay)!Padded leather headboard and foot bench:Desk/bathroom door:Champagne chilling on the desk (it was not my favorite):And this is us at dinner-PF Changs:

I didn't think to take any pics the next morning of our breakfast in bed or us when we went to Massage Envy, but it was truly a fantastic time away and something we will hopefully do again sometime!

10 years!

2011-03-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that Michael and I have been married for 10 years already! We dated for 2 years before we got married so we have been together for 12 years, its so crazy! Those of you that are my facebook friends this will basically be a duplicate to what you have seen there, but I have to put it on here too. This is the first picture that Michael and I intentionally took together after we had been dating for 6 months. Yes, it was a cheesy background, but look how young we were:This is our engagement pic, once Michael had decided that fluffing his hair didn't make it look like he had more and for some reason I thought my hair looked better permed:Our wedding day! :)At Chris and Karene's wedding (this picture always makes me want to grow my bangs back out):Our FBC Durant directory picture:Skiing with the family:October 2005-March 2006, Right after we had moved to Utah:Carla's wedding-July 2006December 2006September 2009Summer 2010-When we joined Grace Community Bible Church- Love the girls' faces!December 2010Obviously there are lots of other pictures that I could post from our 10 years together, but these are some of my favorites! We have changed and grown so much and through it all I am so glad that we have grow closer together and closer to God in the process. I love you Michael- 10 years down, the rest of our lives to go...

JCPenney Pics

2011-02-23T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hannah needed 3 year old pics and Rachel needed 15month pics (you know, since she is 17 months now) so I finally got around to getting them done! :) This was one of the worst trips we've ever had, but we still got a few cute ones. The girls didn't want to cooperate and the photographer was a little distracted so she missed the few brief moments when they would both look and smile. It is just how it sometimes goes with small kids. I am thankful for the few cute ones so it wasn't a complete waste of time! Rachel was saying "Hannah" while pointing to her sister:Come on mom, do I really have to hold her??Cheese!What, you want me to sit?? Crazy people, you make me laugh!No, I won't smile, thanks!Mom's bracelet, a momentary distraction to keep me sitting...Oooo- a book!How many more mom?

Jazz Game

2011-02-22T13:34:00.000-08:00

Michael and I are so excited that this month (February) we are blessed with two very special date nights! The first one we got to enjoy the weekend before Valentine's Day at a Jazz Game. A guy Michael works with gave us his tickets to the game (Row 15-the seats right above where the Jazz come out) and his tickets to the club inside (which got us dinner and drinks and dessert and popcorn at halftime)! It was lots of fun and it was exciting that it was the first game without their coach of 23 years, Jerry Sloan. Karl Malone was also there on the same side we were, just 15 rows closer than we were! :)

And of course the Jazz Bear had to pull a "fun stunt" during one of the breaks and I got it on video.

Spaghetti!

2011-02-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Rachel really enjoyed it! :)

Silly little kid! :)

The Gale Center

2011-02-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

We went with Jenni, Gunner and Georgia Drew Morgan to the Gale Center. It is this really cute little building that is set up with little areas that the kids can play in set up like things from about 100 years ago. There is a grocery store, school, and home as well as some small areas for extras! Hannah and Gunner played with their cute aprons on in the grocery area, Rachel just kinda ran around...

Some of these pics are blurry because they were in constant motion! This is Rachel with the cute bonnet on that she wore for all of five seconds:Gunner and Hannah fishing, poles with magnets on the end and fish with paperclips in the carpet river:Hannah and Rachel trying to squeeze in the car together (chicken coop with chickens and fake eggs to gather in the background):Hannah setting the table and getting ready to make dinner at the stove:Rachel on the bridge over the "water":Collecting eggs! :)Jenni and Gunner playing checkers (Georgia Drew in the stroller):Washing clothes with the washboard and bucket and hanging them on the line:

The kids had a great time and it was lots of fun to watch do grown up things with kids sized toys!

Little Monkey!

2011-02-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hannah has always been fearless and liked to climb on things and people used to say, "she's a little climber," but she has NOTHING on her sister. Rachel will climb on ANYTHING she sees and I can't even turn my back for one second with her! She learned how to drag these little chairs where she wanted to get a little higher. She also pulled every animal down on the floor around her...She climbs under and on top of these bar stools!She is always SO proud of herself when she gets into things she isn't supposed to be in! :)

Snow Much Fun!

2011-02-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

We had lots of snow in the yard, but it was really too cold to go and play in it. Then, one day, it was warm and kinda rainy and when the rain stopped, we decided to go for it and take the girls to play in the snow. Rachel wasn't exactly great at moving in all her gear, but it was really cute to watch her waddle!Since it was really wet snow, it packed really well! Michael decided to make a really big snowman.The girls got out their shovels to "help" dad make the snowman!And it just kept growing:Then we decided to get creative with his clothes and make him a cowboy! :)Rachel couldn't keep her hat on straight:Then of course dad had to tackle the girls in the snow...

We had the best time playing with them! :)

My Favorite Twin Friends! :)

2011-02-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

I loved that on this trip back I finally got to meet Starla's little girl Adalyn! She is so cute and always dressed to perfection with perfectly coordinated head gear! I got to see her briefly in November while Starla and James were in for Thanksgiving. Rachel loved seeing the "baby":Then the week after Christmas, Sharla, Starla and I were able to go on a girls night and go eat dinner at Olive Garden and just hang out without any kids (such a rare treat)! I have a pic of me and Sharla, but for some reason not the one of me and Starla:Here is one of them both so you can see how cute they both look! :)After dinner I got to spend some time with Miss Adalyn and make my mark as her favorite "honorary aunt." I am so blessed to have these girls (and their family) in my life and can't imagine doing life without them!

Hannah Birtday #2

2011-02-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

When we got back to Utah, on her actual birthday, we had another day of fun! Hannah-little chef- made her cake. She sprayed the pans, added ingredients and then licked the beaters!She also decorated it with gels and sprinkles! I wrote the words and she did the rest!Once she got dressed and cleaned up for the day, I tried getting some cute pics. She didn't want to cooperate...Dad came home with her birthday balloons!Then it was time for her birthday cake!

Hannah's Birthday #1

2011-02-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

I love that we get to celebrate Hannah's birthday with family while we are home for Christmas! She gets to be celebrated and made to feel special even though her birthday is right after Christmas. We keep it simple and just do hats, balloons, and cake/cupcakes each year (so far)! Here the birthday girl with her cupcakes:View from the top! Kristen and I decorated these a few hours before the party:Grandma and I lighting the candles:Being sung to:BLOW:MMMM...Happy Birthday Hannah! I love that in the back everyone is pouring attention on Rachel while my mom and Kathy are just having fun celebrating with the horns! (This is what over 20 years of friendship looks like and I am so thankful for such a great example of friendship that my mom and her friends have set for me!)Opening presents, Hannah wanted to sit with Amy:And she had a little help from a couple others...Snuggling with dad to read a book, one of her new presents!

We love you Hannah Mae and are so blessed that you are an amazing THREE year old! :)

Haircuts

2011-02-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

Katie came to the house and gave both of my girls their first haircut! I have no pics of Rachel, because my hands were kinda busy holding her, but here are the ones of Hannah. I really wish that we would have done Hannah's last year so it could have grown in thicker and prettier instead of waiting until now to cut it.Here are some really bad after pics! She would not be still or smile or anything, but this first one shows the front up close:And an action shot! :)

Cheap Fun!

2011-02-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a big furniture box for some good homemade fun! We cut some windows and a door and had the best time playing in a box!We also got a great kick out of spinning my kids on the zebra we borrowed from Carla while we were there. At the end I comment that you can't "see it," because we were giggling about how her eyes twitch back and forth when she was dizzy! :)

Food Fun!

2011-02-08T13:22:00.000-08:00

One night we had corn on the cob and it was cute watching the girls eat it. I am so used to cutting it off the cob for them, that I forget they are now old enough to eat it this way now! I saw these cute sandwiches and decided I needed to make them for my girls- Reindeer Grilled Cheese. I used mini m&ms for Rachel's sandwich:And regular m&ms for Hannah's eyes and a pretzel m&m for the noses: I loved how they turned out and will definitely do it again! They were almost too cute to eat!

I'm sure that she was telling me she didn't want me to take her picture, but whatever...

Picture with Santa

2011-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

As is the yearly tradition, took the girls to see Santa at the mall. I love that this Santa has a real beard and is great at dealing with whatever my kids seem to hand him! First year Hannah couldn't care less, last year Rachel was just chilling while Hannah had a meltdown and this year she LOVED him and Rachel was a little freaked out!

Christmas Parade

2011-02-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

Rhonda, Jacki, Jacob, met me, the girls and my parents for the downtown Durant Christmas parade. It was Hannah's first parade to know what was going on and it was really cold (for Durant anyways). We bundled up and waited on the parade to start:Jacob and Hannah loved collecting the candy for their bags!

Rachel wasn't quite sure what to think about everything, but she liked going person to person watching the people go by! It was just one of the many things that I grew up doing and I loved doing with my girls.

Gingerbread House

2011-02-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

We went and bought one of the kits from Wal-Mart to make a gingerbread house. GiGi helped us while she was home at lunch and Carla and Garrett helped too! Hannah ate more than her fair share of the decorations, but that's the point right? Needless to say, she loved it! :)

Here is the finished product, not too bad for our first gingerbread house ever! Can't wait to see what we do next year!

Chuck E. Cheese

2011-02-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

All I can say is WOW! Five kids under three at Chuck E. Cheese is definitely an experience! There was pizza to be eaten:And pictures with Chuck to be taken:And games to play and ride, LOTS of games to play!

We were there for about three hours and I think we all slept REALLY well that night! :)

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's

2011-02-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

We loved playing outside while the weather was great! Rachel and Jacob liked playing in the cars, of course she played in Jacob's and Jacob played in the one originally purchased for Hannah!Hannah was loving playing with the concrete deer in the front yard:They played ball with Grandma:And snuggled with Grandpa:I love this one of Rachel:Hannah and Jacob had a lot of fun wrestling on the bed together:and squeezing in the basket together!

All the kids had lots of fun playing together while we were there!

Peyton's Birthday

2011-02-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is a little out of order, but I just got all of the pics from Rhonda! The first Monday we were there, we celebrated my niece Peyton's 2nd birthday. Here is the cute birthday girl:

The kids had fun playing pin the tail on the donkey:They played in the playroom together:Snuggled with each other:And had an all around great time! Happy Birthday Peyton! :)

Rachel and Garrett

2011-02-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Carla, Heath and Garrett came a few days after we arrived and this was Garrett and Rachel playing on the bed when they first got there. They were pretty cute checking each other out! :)There is eight months age difference between the two, but they are the same size. We are so thankful that little G-Man is happy and healthy, just a little on the small size! :) This pic has nothing to do with Rachel and Garrett, but it is a cute one of Aunt Carla reading to Hannah!

More Park Fun

2011-02-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

We went to another park to play and the girls loved climing through the tubes! :)

Cracks me up to see them playing in t-shirts, it will be a while before we are in those again! :)

Leaves-Part 2

2011-01-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

Since we arrived the week before Thanksgiving, everyone was still working or in school so Michael and I took the girls to the park. It's not very often that Michael is at the park with the girls and they loved having daddy there to play. We played on the swings:

Then Michael spun Hannah around and around on the swings!

Then we buried Hannah under all the leaves in the park. She kept giggling while we piled handful after handful on top of her! :)

It was tons of fun!

Leaves-Part 1

2011-01-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

My girls love to play outside! Our house we live in was built in 2007 so there are no mature trees in the neighborhood. Since my parents have some large trees in their backyard, Hannah had a blast playing in the leaves the first day that we were there! She kept picking them up and throwing them into the fence where they would "stick." She also just liked relocating the pile from one side to another! :)

Rachel (yes, still in her jammies) got in on some of the fun. She enjoyed crunching them and throwing them too!

Quick Pit-Stop

2011-01-27T13:54:00.000-08:00

Luckily on our long drive to Oklahoma we were able to stop and spend the night at the Meyer home! We went to dinner and back to their house to put kids to bed and that did not go very well. Our girls had a hard time going to sleep somewhere new and then Hannah woke up really early so we were on the road by 5:30 the next morning. Because of this, I have no pics of our kids playing together, but at least Cindi has this one of the two of us. She of course looks amazing and I look like I have entertained kids in the car for 7 hours of the day... Thanks for letting us spend the night and for being my friend! :)

Traveling fun

2011-01-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

On November 19th Michael and I loaded the car and headed to Oklahoma. We were packed for the girls and I to stay for six weeks in Durant and for a 22 hour drive in the car with two little ones. Luckily my car has a built in DVD player, but we also loaded snacks and toys to play with so we weren't constantly watching the TV. One of the entertainment snacks was dumdum suckers. I have learned that a little tape around the sticks keeps them from getting mushy as the kids slobber on them and keeps them from breaking. Here is Rachel with hers:And Hannah with hers (she was pretending it was lipstick at one point which is why it is all over her face):We got lucky enough for this one to take a nap in the car!I think Michael was most excited about this because we were able to get Hannah to listen to her cartoons on the headphones so he could listen to what he wanted on the radio. When Rachel is watching, he is just out of luck since she doesn't do the headphones yet. Notice her color wonder coloring and her marker lids on her fingers!But all good things come quickly to an end and this cuties was ready to be entertained once again! I think on the way to Oklahoma I sat in the front seat for maybe two hours total and in between two car seats the rest of the drive!

Little Chef

2011-01-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves to watch Little Bear and he and his dad make pancakes and he is the "little chef" and Father Bear is the "big chef." Hannah loves pretend cooking, but at Grandma Yo's house, she let her be "little chef" to make real food and she even got an apron to wear! She thought she was pretty cool and since she has learned how to crack eggs and help make other meals. She helped shred the lettuce for the salad:(Side note: these pics properly show off her "crazy hair" and how thin and all over the place it is. She got her first haircut over Christmas and I can't believe the difference from these pics! Sorry, back to November...)

Here she is helping pound the chicken flat with the back of a spoon:
A little help from Grandma Yo to actually flatten them: It was really cute, so I decided to video her and ask her about what she was doing:

Halloween

2011-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween the girls were zoo animals- Hannah the elephant, and Rachel the zebra. We had the zebra from Hannah's first Halloween and we found this elephant costume for $3! :) A few days before Halloween, we went to a carnival at Hannah's school. The girls had so much fun playing games and getting their face painted. Rachel got whiskers and Hannah got a peanut on her cheek. They were really cute!Hannah also got to dress up for school and since its hard to see in the elephant costume, she decided to go as a princess instead. She even broke out the "princess face" for the picture!Halloween night I took them both up and down our street (quickly because it was raining and really cold) while Michael handed out candy at our house. Here they are walking up to trick-or-treat:Here they are after trick-or-treating. Rachel was ready for bed so she was not very happy at this point.Then I took Hannah on the street behind us so that she could have some more fun. She told me about 3/4 of the way around the circle that she was cold and ready to go home, even in her warm costume with clothes underneath. Here she is about to knock on a door:

Pumpkin Carving

2011-01-23T17:24:00.000-08:00

So, looking back, I realize I only posted most of October and not the last week. Hang in here with me while I catch it up completely. I wouldn't worry about it except I keep this as a digital record of our lives and I don't want large chunks of our life missing.

Lets start with pumpkin carving. We had a lot of fun making the girls stick their hands in the pumpkin to feel the slimy texture. Hannah hated it last year, but she did much better this year! We had both girls help us clean our pumpkins out:Then after they went to bed, Michael and I got out the sharp tools and carved them. This year we didn't go off of any pattern, we just free handed. We looked online to see what we liked from a few different patterns and tried to recreate what we wanted. Here is Michael's pumpkin:And here is my pumpkin:Both lit up on the porch with the battery operated candles: