Week 5

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

Snow much fun!

Week 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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! :)