Sunday, December 7, 2008

Well Shauna finally went and saw the doctor, in case you haven't been following the blog - we are (well she is) pregnant. Very exciting news I know, we are quite happy about it! The doctor went ahead and did an ultrasound and determined we are 20 weeks along. For those of you not in the know - an ultrasound at 20 weeks means you can determine the sex of the baby - so without further ado... It's a GIRL! Most of you probably have a smile on, it seems my little boy swimmers are a bit slow - guess we have to keep trying (That makes me smile).

We Are very happy about it - and the process of determining a name starts all over again. We have gotten into a trend with names ending in a "y", at least it narrows our list down a bit.

Other news, Audrey has a cast on her foot. And if you ask her what happened, she puts on her serious sad face and points at her sister. Ginny was kind enough to push her off the top bunk - which ended in giving Audrey a beautiful purple cast. At the rate Ginny is going with Audrey I am really worried about Lily's well being...

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Announcing #4

Lily's first Year

Happy Halloween!


We had a fun Halloween this week. I don't know what it is, but Halloween seems to last all week long! We had Preschool here this week and had all the kids wear their costumes. We played some games and had a great time!
Thursday we went to our Trunk or Treat. They had a ton of fun things to do - petting zoo, bounce house, hot dogs, hamburgers, cotton candy, and the YM even put on a Haunted House. The kids undoubtedly had a great time! Friday, Robert took the kids around Trick or Treating and then we had our annual Halloween Dinner. Here's what the table looked like:





We had some really frightful food. I made tortilla chips in the shape of ghosts (pictures didn't turn our on that one), and we served some of the V8 we had from when my family was here as "monster blood". Ginny almost didn't want to try it b/c it look so real. They both tried it and said they really hate Monster Blood. Funny.

We also had:
Roasted Mummies
Troll Brains -
Robert's creation

We had a great time and are really looking forward to the Holiday's when Rob's family can all be here! We love you guys!

Happy Birthday Ginny!

Ginny wanted to have her birthday at the pumpkin patch this year. She chose pumpkin pie instead of a cake, which I'm sure made Rob's heart burst with pride. He's never had birthday cake as long as I've known him....

Anyway, thanks to all who made the trip out - we had a great time celebrating with you!

Here are a few pics from the party at the patch:






Robert took Ginny out for a Sundae later and she still talks about what a special treat that was for her to get a Sundae with a cherry on top. Good times!

We are so proud of Ginny and how responsible she's getting. 5 years ago we welcomed her into the world and knew the moment she was born how important she is and what an amazing little girl she is. We love her so much and appreciate every minute we have with her!

Fall Greetings

Hello all! We've officially gotten into the autumn spirit around here! We've had a busy couple of weeks and have had a blast with my family here! They were only here for a few days, but I loved having my house full of people we love!

We celebrated Ginny's birthday at the pumpkin patch - I'll post on that next.

Our Primary Program went without a hitch and I really felt the Spirit. I was so glad that it tunred out so well and the kids sang so well! I was so proud.

It's so fun to watch the kids grow! I wish Ginny and Audrey would not provoke each other so much, but hey, what are siblings for, anyway? Lily is pretty great just toddling around and running full speed into whatever she deems worthy of her exuberance. I've decided to call her the Kamakazi baby. We've all had pretty nasty colds/coughs (except Rob and Ginny) that seem to last forever. So, we're doing a lot of resting and not a lot of work....

We had a great Halloween that deserves a post of it's own!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

We are still here

I know it's been forever since I posted, so I thought I'd try to update everyone on our lives...

Rob and I have been busy working on our house to get everything spic and span for my family - we have 5 (plus 2 babies) house guests coming this week! I am so excited to have them here (Mom, Kevin and family, and Grandpa+ma). Plus, we get the added benefit of not having any clutter in the house (which is a huge feat for me!). Seriously, After tomorrow I won't have any clutter piles littering my home. And most of my closets will be clear and organized. Can life get any better than that??? Wow!

Ginny is really growing up. I can hardly believe it. We are looking forward to celebrate her birthday coming up. I'll keep you posted on the events! Our Primary program is coming up in a few weeks (which I'm the chorister for). I've been so focused on getting myself ready that I totally forgot to help Gin with her part until last night. We spent 5 minutes going over it and I was so proud to hear her recite it in practice today flawlessly and totally memorized. What a girl!

Audrey gets more confident every day! We really had a hard time with her getting frustrated so quickly when something was hard for her. But, talking to her we told her that even if something's hard, we knew she could do it. Her personal motto is now "Audrey can do hard things". She tells me nearly every day that she can do hard things. I am so proud of her and her breakthrough in confidence!

Lily just turned 1! I can't believe it! She is walking and expanding her vocabulary more every day. Every time we open the door, she says "Go, go" over and over again. She "runs" to the door to make sure we don't leave her. I think her personal motto is to not get left out of anything. Whatever we are all doing, she needs to do it too. I love to watch her when Rob gets home from work. She drops whatever she's doing and gets really excited and makes a bee-line to the door. I think it's her favorite time of day (mine too!).

Well, that's it for now. Maybe I'll get up to posting more frequently and add some pictures if I can get into the swing of things.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Our week

the girls started Preschool this week and are both loving it! We have been really busy just doing our thing! We had a great Labor Day weekend with Ryan and Amanda visiting. Despite the terrible hotness of the weekend, we did have some fun! We played some Hand and Foot and a little Ticket to Ride. The boys went outside and destroyed an old moniter for fun. Rob and I were also ab le to go to the dollar movies with the kids (nothing like 50 cent movie night!). Poor Ginny must have a really bad outlook on our situation right now. While waitning in line to buy the tickets, she turned to Rob and said: "Aren't the movies to expensive for us?". I've been trying to teach her that we stick to a plan when it comes to money, but I guess it's turning into a "we're poor" lesson. I'll have to work on that!

We had a chance to take a walk around our neighborhood and to our little park. Rob decided to let Ginny try her bike without training wheels. She actually did really well at it and I can't wait to see her keep up her good work.

Audrey is such a talker! That girl will just come up to you and tell you what's going on with her life. Ever since shewas small she would come in and tell on herself when she had gotten into something she knew she wasn't supposed to. We had some graham crakckers this week that her and Ginny had dutifully devoured and she was so prompt at telling me about it as soon as I came into the kitchen. I sure love that little talker!

Lily is really growing up! She really wants to have you walk around everyhere and throw what we call a baby tantrum if you let go of her hands when she wants to walk. I'm convinced she is capable of walking on her own and has even taken a few steps, but just lacks the confidence or the desire to do it on her own. She is also getting pretty efficient at communicating. She knows a bunch of signs including: food, milk, music, dog, and something thatshe uses as a general sing that is a mix between dad and all done. haven't quite figured that one out yet. We'll see as she gets older. SHe has also started to speak definable words at appropriate times, mostly just dada and mama, which dada was first on.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Utah Details

Well, we finally got settled in from our long vacation! It was a blast in Utah and we really miss the friends, family, and the wonderful weather! Seriously, sitting out on the patio on an early afternoon and chatting the evening away is one of my favorite things! So, in honor of my trip, now that I've had a few days to recuperate, I'm posting some of the notable events of the trip:

High school Reunion: Such a blast to touch base with good friends! I've missed you guys!

POCAHONTAS: Seriously, I think Ginny watched that at least once every day we were there! we did watch a lot of movies while I did the cake, but that was by far the most frequented. Others we enjoyed together: Calamity Jane, Lion King, Guys and Dolls, and Cinderella.

Hanging out with Chris and Tara: I loved chatting with you when we all should have been sleeping/working/taking care of my kids (I really hope we didn't destroy your house!).

Girls' weekend in Park City: I got together with my best girls, minus Alyssa :( We had a surprise baby shower for the 2 pregos and stayed up all night talking and chatting about old times and new times. I loved the girl time!

Never on time to church, even though it was just a few blocks away. Somehow out here I manage to make it at least 10 minutes early when it takes about 40 minutes drive time to get there. I don't know what it was, but for the life of me I was about 10 minutes late every time! Go figure!

Making the biggest cake ever! Wow, what an opportunity! I officially made my first wedding cake. Thanks, Mike and Camille, for letting me use your wedding for my trial run! I hope you liked it! I still can't get the pics off my camera, so if any of you have some, please send them my way.

Catching up with my family: It was so great to see virtually all of my family (we missed you, Dwayne!). I loved the time we had together and can't wait until we can spend more time together!

Hanging out with the Bastian's: Even though it was a madhouse trying to get ready for the wedding and all the keys locked in the cars and even the transmission going out, what a blast!

Wedding Festivities: I loved meeting Mike's family and getting to know them better. The wedding breakfast was great - Lily ate an entire chicken breast by herself! She sure loves food! And, of course, the reception - what a great turnout! I was so glad to celebrate such an exciting event! I asked Ginny and Audrey what they loved about the reception:
Audrey: Camille was a princess!
Gin: I loved Camille's beautiful dress.
Camille was as always, gorgeous!

Well, that's a quick rundown on my activities for the month! I am so glad to be home and miss the Utahns already!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

How is she ever going to get anything done...

Well that's it you all are fired. My wife is now addicted to this blogging thing and my kids are going hungry (mostly me going hungry - we had Mac and cheese for dinner... need I say more?)

Well I hope this venture of ours brings you enlightenment, because it has certainly helped us learn a thing or 2 - Shauna is very good at figuring things out and she did all of this herself. I'll chime in here and there to give you my side of the story as it usually differs from hers. Leave comments have fun and let us know what you all are up to.

Pictures from Utah

Here are some pictures from Utah. My camera is freaking out about some pictures, so this is just the first half of the trip. More to come. Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Peer Pressure

Okay, so I've finally given in. I just returned from my LONG trip to Utah. It was a fun, exciting, busy, adventure filled trip. I was so glad to see all my friends and celebrate Camille and Mike's wedding! I'm just figuring out how to post pictures, so please be patient....