Then There Were 4

June

2013-09-22T16:36:00.001-06:00

Yay for summer season!

And children running around in their undies:)

Notice Rae's??

Yup we started potty training.

Oh. What. Fun.

She caught on quickly and loves being a big girl

like her big sister!

Daddy took the girls on a date to the zoo!

I'm so glad we bought a pass because

the girls never get tired of the zoo.

While they went to the zoo I managed to

put 26 crock pot freezer meals together!!

It took ALL morning,

but I'm so glad I did it and that it's over....

and that our chest freezer is full!!

If you didn't know,

Kansas is pretty darn humid.

So naturally the girls hang out in swimming suits a lot.

Finger painting and then wash in the kiddy pool.

So much fun!

While Daddy was away three days out of the week

this month doing his internship in Wichita

we basically relaxed in the sun every day.

Thinking of him, of course!

FINALLY!!!!!

Utah bound.....

We left for Utah the end of June!

It has been 1.5 years since we've been home.

First stop,

spend a few days with our bestest buddies

Rod, Kacie and Rendon ( with sweet baby girl coming soon )

We were able to go to Rod's grandparents house

and let the kids ride the tractor and four wheeler.

Here is one of the little kitties that the kids

loved playing with.

We visited Cove Fort!

It was awesome to see all of the original

things they still have in all the rooms.

I'm not sure Madison really understood much

but it was really cool to see.

Look at that boy,

giving his future wife a ride in his wagon :)

Rendon is such a stud!

He really did want to pull the girls.

Ahhh....so wonderful to see mountains again!

I was able to help Kacie out with a

YW boot camp one of the days we were there.

Thank you Rod and Kacie for letting us crash with you

for a few days!!

We loved our late nights and laughs :)

It has been so hard living far away from

amazing friends,

but makes it all the better when we can get together again!

We made a pit stop on our way north for some family pictures!

YAY!!

Thanks to my amazing sister Kristen

( k photography )

We had some really fabulous pictures.

Another post will follow with those pictures.

We were able to meet up in Provo with

my amazing Auntie Karol and Uncle Bryce.

They had just been released from the MTC

and they met us for ice cream at sub zero.

This place was awesome,

and the perfect treat for these guys since they

will be spending the next 2 years in Africa

as mission president!

Totally out of focus,

but I sure love my auntie!

We love and miss them so much!

We were so glad to be able to catch them

before they headed off to live

with the monkeys!

Next on the list....

7 Peaks!

We stayed with Trevor's parents

and were not able to stop running around

and playing!

We loved 7 peaks and so did the girls.

Madi was even daring enough to go

down some of the big slides....

scared me to death,

but she was brave and had fun with her papa and daddy.

Like I said....

we didn't stop till we dropped!

The seats were too hot for Rae

and she was in a dress instead of shorts

she wasn't able to ride the airplanes.

Madi was in heaven at the theme park!

I didn't get a picture with us actually in the boats,

but we were able to float around and squirt whoever.

We were DRENCHED,

but it was so hot that day that it was

wonderfully refreshing!!

Rae wasn't very fond of this one...

but we give her points for trying it anyway!!

They have this new store called Scheels in Utah.

It was AWESOME!

We bought the girls some new keens for a great price

and new life jackets.

Looks like Cabelas has some serious competition now!

And of course,

drive-in movie!!

We saw Monsters University.

Girls LOVED it and had so much fun with

their cousin Kayson.

Of course I forgot to actually take a picture when we were

in the back of the truck.

We had lots of treats and snuggle time!

May

2013-09-11T13:14:00.000-06:00

Although my dear sweet hunk of a man

was away on a conference trip to New Mexico

we still celebrated 5 years of marriage!!

You gotta learn to make sacrifices right?

In the last five years

we have lived in 3 different states,

6 different homes/apartments,

gone through one graduation plus almost all of law school,

owned our first house,

owned 5 different cars,

created 2 gorgeous daughters and 1 son whom we

will meet in a few months!!

Had a few cries and lots of laughs.

Some days I can't believe how fast life has blown by us.

I am so grateful to have Trevor in my life!

It's been a whirlwind at times,

but I couldn't have asked for someone

better than him standing at my side.

So happy to have my lover and best friend forever.

Here is Madison with her buddy Claire!

I LOVE the faces Claire gives when we take pictures.

My friend Annie and I signed the girls

up for ballet!!

Who knows if they really learned

a whole lot,

but they sure enjoyed being together

and they felt like big girls

being able to dance!!

I gave in and made Raelee a tutu

as well.

She totally thought she should be in the recital too.

tippy toe PRO!

Apparently I always walked on my

toes as a kid too.

I guess I gave her an advantage with my

amazing genes:)

Claire bear - you are hilarious!

I'm sure you can tell,

she was pretty confident in her skills!

She did so awesome:)

Tah-dah!!

*clap clap clap*

And there goes Rae strutting her stuff....

Oh the three musketeers!!

Madi, Claire and Wyatt are such good buddies.

We hope to keep them close always:)

Wyatt was so awesome,

he wanted to come watch the girls dance and give support.

I promise,

he totally loved it!

Thanks Wyatt for being such a stud!!

I never did dance as a kid - just isn't my thing,

but I'm so glad I put Madi in!

She did outstanding and loved every second.

Way to go Mads, we sure are proud of you!!

We also had our ultrasound this month!!

and the verdict is......

BOY!!

We are over joyed that we get

to have a little more testosterone in our house!!

The girls are going to dote over him from sun up till sun down!

Before Trevor got too far into his crazy summer

schedule we thought we'd take a

smallish trip with him!

He got an internship position down in Wichita!

( Yay for only being a couple hours away )

During his first week down there we all

went and stayed in a hotel and the girls

and I played and discovered while daddy worked!

This was such a fun wild life park!

We were able to get up close and personal...

even petting and feeding the animals.

The girls were in heaven!

Henry the rhino.

Rae would not take her eyes off him

to smile at the camera.

I don't blame her....he was super slobbery!

These cute little guys reminded us of

visiting grandma and grandpa in California!

They were able to feed them with grandpa:)

YES! That is totally a baby in the pouch.

We could've stayed here ALL day.

Here little bunny...

Albino!

This month we also had Madison screened

for a pre-school program.

She scored 99% and got in!

She will be a mentor - like the teacher's helper - and

will start up in August!

We also had a BBQ at our house for Memorial Day.

Of course I forgot to take pictures.

We had a bunch of friends from the JRC group and

some of our neighbors.

April

2013-08-15T14:13:00.003-06:00

Don't these cookies look SO professional?!

HAHA!

One of my friends came over one morning to

let the kids play and she taught

me a new way to decorate sugar cookies!

Little miss muffet turned 4!!

She enjoyed playing games on daddy's tablet in our bed

as she awaited her breakfast order.

The wonderful cooks:)

This years request -- 4 purple pancakes,

one with butter, one with syrup, one with jelly and one with peanut butter!

Ahh, they always melt my heart.

Such buddies!

Second breakfast!

She noticed there were lucky charms

and so of course she had extra room for those!

We went and played at Bonkers with a bunch

of our friends.

(It's basically a huge play place where the kids run wild

like hamsters)

Then we had a few come over for lunch and cookies.

These kids are seriously buddies for life!

Rae, William, Madi, Wyatt and Claire

Reading her new book

(Yes folks, she really is reading....big words even!)

Later after naps my sister and I

took the girlies to get mani/pedis!

They felt like little princesses getting all dolled up!

We will be doing this again for sure!

We should have had the waiter take the picture

so Trevor could be in here too.

We met up with Trev and ate at Red Robin per

Madi's request.

You can't see the balloons,

but they made her wear the strings behind

her ears while they sang.

Kinda funny!

And here is my masterpiece!

Yes, I made EVERY bit of this!!

Well, except for Flynn Ryder, Pascal and Max:)

Madi wanted Rapunzel's tower

and it literally took me forever to figure out how I was

going to pull it off!

But I did, and was so proud!

She was totally thrilled!!

We opened presents with Nana, Papa,

auntie Caitie, Treygan and Colsen

with gifts everywhere we played for awhile

and then skyped Grandma and Grandpa on their mission!

To top the night off we even lit some lanterns

from the movie Tangled.

This girl had no complaints.

We sure love our Madi to pieces!

Hope you had a fabulous one dear daughter!

Madi met another one of her goals this month

and was rewarded with going on a daddy daughter date!

We dressed her up all fancy and even put on

a little make up!

They dined at Olive Garden and had

dessert at Orange Leaf!

I LOVE my family

and wouldn't trade them for the world!

March

2013-05-06T14:13:00.001-06:00

Make that 3 posts in one day!!

Thank you my dear girls,

for taking such a great nap today:)

I do love how Trevor likes to take time

and play with his girls!

We turned on some music

while I was finishing making dinner one night

and I turn around to see all

this sweet dancing taking place.

These two have their daddy wrapped

around EVERY finger they have!

We went to the zoo a few times since the weather has been so good!

I finally took down all of the snowflakes we had hung

on our ceiling to make up for the lack of

snow this winter.

I ran downstairs to grab something and THIS is what

I return to!!

She is much sneakier than Madi was....

Good thing I usually get an alert from Madison if

Raelee is about to do something she really shouldn't!

We had a fun visit from Nana and Papa

and also Trevor's little sister and two boys!

It was a full house and full of fun!!

They were able to stay for 11 days,

and we didn't stop running!

I don't know if it's my pregnancy brain kicking

into gear or just being lazy,

but we took NO pictures!!

I need to remember to get that camera out!!

We announced our new little addition to the family this month.
We sent out a picture of all of our feet
that said "Our family is growing by two feet"!
When Trevor's family came,
the first night they were here we had Madison say
family prayer before bed.
We had her bless the baby in mommy's tummy to be healthy!
Everyone's eyes peeked open and I just laughed and laughed!!

I think we went to 3 Easter egg hunts this year!

I am SO sick of candy.

It was fun to let the kids run around with friends and find all the eggs though!

Coloring Easter eggs!

This was Rae's first year of really being involved and

she sure had a blast!

We had a cool kit with this shiny paint

and after Madi finished doing her eggs

she went ahead and used the extra paint to

do her nails! ;) One smart cookie!

Couldn't wait for the Easter bunny to show!

Easter Sunday!

Hunting for their baskets.

Raelee's was by the food storage....

since she is ALWAYS in there shaking

the noodle boxes!

And Madi found her's in the dryer...

good thing that bunny didn't turn it on!

Easter cookie decorating!

She looks like the joker :)

February

2013-05-06T13:38:00.003-06:00

Two posts in one day.....

there is hope that I will be caught up one day!!

Madi and Daddy came home with donuts and

milk one night!

What a fabulous treat:)

Madi spilled some milk by accident and decided

she could just lick it up like a kitty,

because we couldn't possibly waste any

of the precious chocolate milk!

I sure love my animal loving frugal daughter!

I made this amazing chart for Madison to help

her listen and obey a little better.

It works wonders:)

She reached one of her goals...

a sleep over and movie with dad in the basement!

They had such a great time!!

Happy Valentines!!

I attempted heart pancakes....

can you see it??

The girls loved it!

Daddy spoiled us, as usual!

We had our heart pizza and heart cookie

for dinner!

There were smiles all around!

Yay for the day of LOVE.

We were spoiled this year and actually had some more snow!

I find it hilarious how everyone in Kansas is more afraid of

a snow storm than a tornado.

EVERYTHING was shut down,

but we didn't complain because Daddy got out of school

and took us sledding!!

They taught Raelee how to make snow angels....

she does them on the carpet inside now since

there is no more snow!

If you look REALLY close between the trees

you can see them sledding down the hill.

Yup,

I took advantage of Daddy being home

and took a nap...

I forgot how tired I get when pregnant!

Madi and Daddy's project!

Madi named her Frostalina

My technologically smart children enjoying

their morning:)

January

2013-05-06T13:13:00.002-06:00

Welp, Madi finished up her last month of

swimming lessons (for now)

She has proven herself to be one sweet little fishy!!

It actually snowed this year!!

YAY:)

Lucky for us, it stayed long enough to play in

for a few days and then disappeared!

The girls loved EATING and playing in the snow.

We are lucky to have a sweet hill right by us

to go sledding on!

We later went and got some sleds,

but for the ghetto that we are sometimes

the lid off a bin and garbage sack worked wonders

for a little bit!!

We celebrated my 28th birthday!

We had some amazing friends come play with

the girls for a little bit so Trevor and I could go out to dinner.

( Thanks Brian and Krystalyn )

Their daddy sure is a good sport!

The girls had a hay day going to town

putting make up ALL over his face:)

Raelee kept taking her diaper off one night

so we decided to let the girls run around in their undies!

Trevor said good bye to his little car

(Madi had nicknamed it the "blue streak")

We bought it for just a couple hundred when we moved out

here and sold it for lots more!

It was great, but we were excited to get a more reliable car:)

Madi has named our new car (Honda accord - the Night hawk! haha )

The girls are constantly dressing up in their high heels these days!

They sure do have the best imaginations and love playing together:)

Notice Raelee's shirt??

It took Daddy a little while to notice! HAHA

We found out this month that we are expecting our 3rd little one

in September!!

This sweet little babe of mine has grown up SO fast.

I realized I say that about both girls,

but it's true!!!

Raelee turned 18 months :)

She is the most independent little thing.

She doesn't like being away from her big sister....

therefore isn't the biggest fan of nursery!

She has the silliest quirk.

She likes to find something small,

the tail of her cat, shoelaces, corner of a blanket

and softly rub in the corner of her eye, her ear, or just under her nose.

And that's not it, she likes to share and insists that you

let her rub it on your face too!

She is showing MAJOR signs of wanting to potty train,

which I'm not surprised

because Madi was the same way.

Although, I'm not quite ready to start yet.

Raelee LOVES to sing.

She will sing the tune to

I am a Child of God and Teach Me to Walk in the Light

ALL day long.

It's fun to listen, because sometimes she

actually says the right words:)

Of course we can't leave out this little thing either...

She has been the best big sister and helper to Rae.

I find that I don't have as much time to sit and teach Raelee like I

did with Madison,

but Madi has taken that roll on and loves to involve and teach

Rae new things all the time!

She would not smile for anything!!

But here is the growth pic at 18 months!

December 2012

2013-04-06T20:16:00.000-06:00

In no particular order,

her is how we spent our last month of 2012!

Decorating cookies with Mrs. Claus

( the kids refused to get a picture with her, go figure )

Playing in the igloo made of milk jugs!

SANTA!!!

Madi has never been afraid of this jolly old fellow,

but clearly Rae's face says it all.

Poor girl!

We saw this ginormous reindeer on our way

out from decorating cookies.

Rae wanted to see him,

but as we got closer she changed her mind.

Madi on the other hand was asking me where Mrs. Claus

parked the sleigh and all the other reindeer.

I told her that this particular reindeer was just a costume.

Madi - "So there is a real HUMAN in there?"

Me - "Yup!"

Madi - "What are they thinking? It isn't Halloween anymore!"

You are the best my sweet Madi moo :)

A week before Christmas the doorbell rang one night after dinner.

As we opened the door, there sat a huge red sack

with a singing/dancing reindeer on top!

The first thought that ran through Trevor's mind was,

"Oh man, someone thinks we are destitute!"

Hahaha:)

I had my suspicions, and sent the girls out to see

if they could find SANTA.

Sure enough,

by the front of the garage popped out

Nana and Papa Mooney!!

We knew they were pretty sad that we were going to be spending
our Christmas break just us in Kansas. So of course they had to pack
up Christmas and bring it to us! It sure was good to see family again
and the girls LOVED spending time with them before Christmas.

And this is how our family pictures usually turn out :)

These two make up the WEIRDEST games

and can hardly breathe because they are laughing so hard!

Yahoo!

It actually snowed

and lasted for more than a day!!

We had the Cook traditional gingerbread house making

with a bunch of our friends.

Weird to not have family,

but was so much fun!

Here is Madison telling one of her amazing

stories to our next door neighbors.

She's pretty descriptive in her story telling:)

This year I decided to just let Madi go to town,

and boy she is quite the little creative thing!

She seriously did her whole house ALL by herself.

Here is the crowd!

We sent the kiddos downstairs after decorating houses
to watch the Christmas chipmunk movie

while we did white elephant gifts.

It was such a blast!

We have great friends here,

we have been SO blessed.

Zach (mr. construction) did an awesome house.

This picture doesn't even show half of it!

Jeff and Heidi did the tower from

Lord of the Rings!

( This was their first time doing gingerbread houses

AND white elephant gifts!! )

Sunday dresses....

church is at 9am.

AND Trevor is already gone so I don't get help.

These were the best pictures I could get of them

before their hair and clothes got dirty and messed up:)

She REFUSED to put the cup down.

But it was super sweet they held hands!

Playing hide and seek in the dark with Dadday!

We made cookies ( of course ) for santa.

This particular picture made me laugh and think of my little brother Dave.

He always sticks his tongue out while concentrating....

and I guess Raelee does too:)

Some friends in our ward (Madi adores their 5 girls)

invited us over on Christmas Eve for dinner and then

all the kids helped do the Nativity.

Madi was Mary and she rode on Marissa!

Trevor was the shepherd.

Raelee represented the animals!

She was more comfy on the bench by Mckenna.

(don't you LOVE that wall!!)

In Kinville boys were the wisemen....they did fabulous!

When we got home from our party

the girls found a note and some new friends

from a secret elf.

He wanted them to have someone to snuggle with while they waited

for Santa to come!

They seriously NEVER sleep without their buddies!

We put the final touches on the cookies....

well, Rae ate and Madi worked:)

By tradition,

they opened up some new jammies

from Grandma and Grandpa Cook.

All ready for bed!!!

Santa surely didn't miss us,

and the girls were pleased!

I luckily finished making Rae's stocking just in time

so she could have a matching one this year!

Happy good morning face to you!

Madi was so nervous Santa forgot her bike,

but it was just hiding in the kitchen:)

We popped popcorn and drove around looking at all the Christmas lights

Testing out the new wheels!

I love Rae's grin in this one:)

I've been very impressed with Madi.

She has fallen a few times,

and even with tears she says she doesn't

want to stop and gets right back up on the bike!

I'm glad she doesn't give up too easily!!

At the end of the month Madi had

a dentist appointment!

She did a lot better this time,

but her mouth is still to small to do x-rays!

Maybe next time.

We ended our year wonderfully

and we are so excited to see what the new year brings!!

November 2012

2013-04-01T14:15:00.000-06:00

Have you ever read the children books,

If you give a moose a muffin

If you give a pig a pancake

???

They are cute books:)

The girls wanted to read

If you take a mouse to school

And after reading it we decided to make

a mouse house out of blocks and clay,

just like in the book!

It was great fun and we enjoyed

creating something new!

Here is Raelee about to destroy that box of crayons!

Not really:)

She just really REALLY likes to color.

You can go ahead and think I'm one of THOSE girls.

The new Twilight movie came out this month!

Let's be honest,

my friends are all game for any excuse for a girls

night!!

My friend Roseanne and Tiffany and I

got together and planned out an awesome party!

Assignments were made and if I do say so myself

we had one outstanding night!

We decided to have it at my house

so here it is all decked out

before people came....

I did have a picture of Tiff, Roseanne and I

but it was super blurry :(

All three of us took turns going to Walgreens

so we could get enough of the syringes for the "blood"

We had people in charge of food, games, party favors,

drinks and snacks for the movie!

All the pregnant girls are up devouring donuts!!

We had everyone wear red and black of course :)

The party and movie were a blast!

Thanks girls for another fun night!!

I was put in as primary chorister at the beginning of the year.

This month it finally paid off!!

I was so proud of all my little singers.

They knew every song and sang it better than I imagined.

I actually held back some tears,

it's amazing the spirit that not only comes from

sweet children, but the gorgeous music they preform.

Madi and her friend Wyatt started

swimming lessons this month too!

Madi has on the yellow swim t-shirt and Wyatt is in the red one.

Here is Madi going under!!

She was so proud of herself!

She did so much more than I thought she would.

She is a natural fishy!!

Rae worked out too while we waited!

I can picture my Aunt Karol when I was little

"KICK KICK KICK KICK KICK"

Wyatt's turn! He did so awesome too!

These two had so much fun together!

After her class,

Madi started following the water zumba instructor!

And Raelee cheered her on!

Here is Roseanne and Wyatt after lessons one time.

I think this pic is cute:)

GOOD MORNING RAELEE!!!

Trevor's birthday!

It was so early because of school,

but we all wanted to eat with daddy

before he left all day on his birthday!

This is our attempt at a lego cake!

Hey, at least it tasted good:)

We sure love you babe and we are glad you are OURS!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yup, our turkey is green.

It looks quite foul,

but surprisingly turned out quite yummy!

Madi and her sweet cousin Isaac!

We had our sweet cousins, ( David, Sara and Isaac )

and some law friends ( Dave and Holly )

over for our Thanksgiving feast this year!

We had a lot of good laughs and food.

(I later found out that Holly was 5 weeks preggo and

was sickened by the greasy bacon on the turkey! Poor girl!!)

We had everyone sing happy birthday to Trev...

even Isaac!

He is such a sweet little boy.

We love these guys so much!

David is so amazingly fun with the girls.

They went out to draw turkeys with chalk...

since it was 75 degrees again this year:)

Madison literally bawled when David and Sara

started packing up.

She told me that she was going home with them

and I could pick her up in a couple weeks.

It was quite the debate.

I think I got a taste of what my dad and uncle Steve had to

go through every family get together

with Sara and I:)

Thanks so much for staying with us this week!

We loved having you:)

I couldn't resist.

how often do you really see crack from a diaper?!

We waited till AFTER Thanksgiving to put up the tree this year.

It was fun to see Rae get all excited

since this year she actually gets what is going on!

Madison was extra excited since she gets to actually help decorate!!

I LOVE catching them having a good time together:)

Like I always say,

it was another fantabulous month:)

October 2012

2013-03-24T14:44:00.000-06:00

These pictures are in no particular order.

We enjoyed our October to the fullest!
With fall at our doorstep we
began baking more!!
There is just something about autumn time
that gives me the itch to bake.
The girls had no arguments about that,
they fully enjoy cooking in the kitchen with their mama!

We were able to have a fabulous visit for a whole week with Trevor's

dad at the end of the month.

His mom was supposed to fly out too, but Trevor's sister

was having difficulties with her pregnancy and she

needed to be with her.

We sure missed Nana, but the girls still lived up

spending alone time with their Papa.

If you look closely,

you can see that he forgot to take off his crown

after playing dress ups :)

He just figured out he still had that crown on.

Now that is love!

I think Madison secretly wants to be a mechanic someday!

She borrows daddy's tools often to fix her bike.

Eating like a pro with her silverware!

This sweet little Rae babe is a champ and

following pretty close in her big sissy's footsteps.

They are both so smart and learn so fast.

Yup!

It's that time of year again!!!

We drove up to the pumpkin patch and picked out

our very own pumpkins this year.

While at the farm we treated ourselves to some

yummy apple cider slushes and donuts!!

We had Patrick and Papa there to help us carve out some

good pumpkins as we ate those delicious seeds!

Raelee wasn't so sure about the whole thing.

She was pretty content to just watch,

or use the spoon.

Just don't get any on her or you are asking for trouble!

And here they are....

Daddy and Rae's

Papa's

Patrick's

Mommy and Madi's

Just so happens we had the trunk-or-treat while

Papa was still here so we happily

had him join our themed costumes

of Cinderella this year.

Madi = Cinderella

Rae = Gus Gus

Daddy = Prince

Mommy = Fairy Godmother

Papa = Grand Duke

It was hilarious trying to sew

and put everything together,

but I did it!!

( I found a super great deal on Madi's costume so her's is the only one I didn't make)

We couldn't have Halloween without

brewing our own root beer!

Yay for traditions :)

One morning during the month the girls

and I decided to go visit my cousin Sara up

in Omaha!

It was so much fun to spend the day with them

and for the kids to play with baby Isaac.

We sure love being close to these guys!

October craft.....

painting baby pumpkins!!

They turned out quite beautiful.

The weather has still been so warm

so we decided to go out and take some pictures on our walk.

Here are a few fun ones of the girls.

We hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!

September 2012

2013-02-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

We started our month out with a camping trip to

Clinton Lake!

It was our first time camping with Rae

and she did fabulous :)

We went with our stake and Madi was more
than thrilled that all her "big sisters"
would be there to play with!

Rae really enjoyed the chocolate and marshmellow

part of the evening :)

Poor Trev, I totally blinded him with the flash!

Here are a few of our friends from

other wards.

Stephanie and Sarah are in the same ward

and Roseanne and I are in the same ward as well.

We had a few other friends from another one,

but they weren't so sure since it

had been raining earlier in the day.

In the above picture you can see that my hair

magically grew 18 inches!

I decided to get hair extentions

while I was going through the awkward

stage of growing out my hair.

I loved them!

The next morning we went down to the lake

and were saddened but how gross

the beach was.

There were dead fish up on the mud on one side.

We found a decent spot and the kids clearly didn't mind at all.

Trevor and I decided to leave

and luckily on our drive out we found

the REAL beach and called our friends over!

Here is Wyatt, Madi and Raelee

either playing house or dinosaurs!

(That is what they always choose to play)

Here is one of my bestest buds out here,

Roseanne and I soaking up some rays!

We didn't want to miss the Huff 'n Puff

this year,

so after camping we got washed up,

picked up a pizza and headed down

to Lake Shawnee for the hot air balloons!

We are so glad we didn't skip out this year!

We had so much fun and enjoyed getting

to know Dave and Holly a little better.

They had just moved in to start their first year

of school.

Dave and Holly

On September 11

we got together with our fellow

JRC members, as well as local fire fighters, cops and paramedics

at the local food pantry.

We were able to tour all

the different vehicles and learn more about what they do.

Afterwards we had a little pow-wow

taught by the food pantry and one of my good friends Renee,

who works for the red cross!

The girls riding on a real bike!

Hopefully we never have to take a real ride

in one of these!

Madi, Wyatt and Rylee.

Madi and Wyatt on the firetruck!

This is where everyone started up the service project.

They had an amazing line up and got so much done!

What they did was fill backpacks with food

to send home with kids over the weekend

that wouldn't get enough food.

It was a really cool experience to see all these

guys working together for an amazing cause.

There is Trevor in the green striped shirt in the middle!

It was SO hot in there, I felt horrible for these guys.

We left feeling very blessed for what we do have,

and were happy to teach Madison

a great lesson and showing her

how to help serve others!

My friend Roseanne had a birthday this month!

AND she also found out the sex of her baby

ON her birthday!

Talk about a sweet gift.

Well, technically she had the tech text our

other friend so she could make a cake

with either blue or pink inside

and THEN she would find out what she is having!

Great idea right?

Someday I will probably have to steal this idea!

We played a bunch of games guessing what she was going

to have.

We also tried mixing up weird names

to name their baby.

It was hilarious and such

a fun way to celebrate her birthday!

Here she is with her hubby Zach and son Wyatt.

We are singing just before she finds out!

And it's another boy!!

Zach was right!

We are so excited!!!

Camping again!

We seriously went camping every weekend

this month.

It was fabulous!

This time it was just our little family.

Here is daddy cooking us some incredibly delicious

breakfast.

These two were happy as clams just

digging away at that dirt!

Here was our view of Lake Perry

Trevor and I were kept up all night

by a raccoon and a skunk!

They kept coming right up to our tent

and we were so nervous they were going to get into

a fight and we would get sprayed!

Luckily the only bad thing that happened was

just a little lack of sleep!

Heading down to skip some rocks.

This NASTY spider we found was only a few feet from our tent!

Can you imagine if that thing got inside.

YUCK!!

I LOVE HER LIPS!

Not only does she give great kisses,

she makes the cutest faces!

My sweet baby dolls!

I did it all alone this year,

but I was determined to put up some peaches!
I chatted on the phone with my Grandpa so it was
like he was here right?

They weren't as good as our regular Brigham City

peaches, but they worked :)

Someone enjoyed a little alfredo

while watchin' mama work!

In the middle of waiting for my bottles

to finish boiling out back,

Trevor came dashing into the house

with the most terrified look on his face.

The girls were at the table eating and

he sternly insisted I go out front with him.

He had been mowing our front yard

( out here you have to do it TWICE a week cause it grows like crazy )

and the grass was extra long this time.

As he was going along he all the sudden heard

screeching and a bunch of little creatures scatter

from the mower.

He instantly killed the mower and observed

a tiny burrow in the middle of the yard!

It wasn't even a HOLE,

just some dirt scootched to the side with

grass laid down in the bottom.

There was still one tiny bunny inside,

thankfully alive!

Together we looked all over and found three,

we did find a fourth hiding behind the tire of his car
after the picture was taken.

I made a few phone calls and was instructed to

place the bunnies back in the burrow

and cover them back up with the grass and place

an X with yarn over the top so we knew if the mother

had come back.

The mother only comes at dusk and dawn to feed

so we had to wait till morning.

She came and luckily these little guys

grew and were big enough to go out on their own

just after a week!

The girls had fun going out every morning

to see if they were still there.

Poor Madi was sad when they were gone,

she really wanted to keep them as her own!

We went with Roseanne and Wyatt to the nearby fruit

farm for apple slushes and cider donuts!

Madison wanted to make her

own birthday card for Granny Tanny this year!

I loved it!

She drew Grandma as a queen!

She also wrote a get well card

for Grandpa.

He had a horrible kidney stone.

The picture shows Grandpa in bed and Grandma

and Madi are there serving him cookie soup!!

Grandpa and Madi have a thing with cookies :)

One morning during breakfast we noticed some

hot air balloons passing through our backyard!

Great way to start our morning and end our month!!

August - part 2

2013-02-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

We LOVE having visitors at our house

if you couldn't tell!

Our sweet cousin Darcey came to visit

us for a week!

We decided to make an adventure out

of it and headed over to St. Louis.

We took a well needed break

half-way there and discovered

a cave called "Devil's Icebox"!

It was starting to get late so we knew we

had to hurry before nightfall.

The maps ended up being too confusing

and we walked around forever

and didn't end up getting to the cave.

Don't worry - we stopped on our

way home from St. Louis

and made sure we found it!

Those pic's are toward the end...

I tried to go in order this time :)

We had an up close and personal

view of the Arch from our hotel room!!

The girls had so much fun being so high up in the air!

I was scared to death one of them

was going to fall.

We skipped out on quite a few

naps and we explored this new city!

There was so much to see and so much to do.

My sweet girls kept taking turns passing out

in the stroller or on one of us.

I was AMAZED.

My kids seriously never fall asleep anywhere

except their beds!

I was very grateful for Darcey's extra

helping hands!

Just over the hill past the Arch

was a huge staircase that led down to

a bunch of horse carriages and hot dog stands.

They had music and dancers

and they also had a ferry that went up the Mississippi river.

Madison and Darcey stamped some pennies.

Madi thought this was the coolest thing ever.

These are also some views from our hotel.

Here is the baseball game that was going on!

And the Arch at night.

It was so gorgeous!

We tried to keep our eating to

local diners and such

to really get the feel of where we were.

We love to do that as we travel.

All the ladies in this place googled

over the girls.

We weren't in the south,

but they were your typical southern folk.

Some random guy acted like a pro photographer

and wanted to take our picture....

not so pro eh?

I think he asked for money after.

There was a museum underneath the

ground when we went to tour the Arch.

They had a bunch of history about the area in one part.

Of course we had to get a picture with the Madison River!

Here is the tiny bomb shell that we all

squished in to travel to the top of the arch!!

Everyone take your last deep breath!

You had to LAY on the side to see out the tiny windows!

At first it really freaked me out.

It was such an amazing view.

Daddy and Rae checkin' it out.

Madi kept asking me where the Arch went?!

Sweetie - we are IN the huge arch:)

We visited the City Museum.

This is probably the most random museum

I have ever been in.

As we pulled up we were a little nervous.

It was in a sketchy part of town and the building

looked worn down.

It literally looked like a recycled garbage dump.

We were daring and went in anyway,

and boy are we glad we did!

Recycled was the right word.

They had reused a bunch of different stuff

and created this humongous play house!

The floors had crazy designs

throughout the whole place.

Madi and Trevor crawled and climbed through the

craziest places.

This is them up in the ceiling trying to figure out which way to go.

After two floors of fun,

there was still more to do outside!!

Madi had the time of her life!

If we are ever in this neck of the woods again,

we will be hitting this up for sure:)

Daddy was a serious trooper!

His knees were killing at the end of the day

from crawling all over creation.

There was a "cave" part that you

had to walk through small spaces and tunnels

sometimes with very little light.

It was so fun,

except for when daddy scares you....

I didn't do much of the crawling

since I stuck with Rae most the time.

But I was quite exhausted after this part!

Madi getting ready to catch me as I slide down the ramp!

We found a kiddy corner where we all

sat and relaxed for a few while

Raelee went wild!

Daddy helped Madi scare the rest of us this time!

On the very top floor they actually

did have museum stuff.

So, the kids still get to learn

while having loads of fun!!

The bathroom walls were made up of

old bread pans!

They made wonderful drums and sounded

great!

And this is proof Madison loved this place.

Poor girl did NOT want to leave!

Of course we couldn't resist the fountain!

One of my very favorite things to observe in life

is watching my girls play and laugh together.

That face spells pure JOY!

Every one enjoyed the the relaxing break from

running all over.

As you stepped on these squares a bell of

some sort rang out.

Nothin' better than bouncing and making music!

Pinocchio lives in St. Louis!

We also visited another museum of sorts

called the House of Magic.

Here is daddy teaching Madi in the pretend

school section.

We climbed Jack's beanstalk!!

And yes, I did make it out alive.

Art center

We thought these next few were

quite appropriate:)

This place was filled with the most creative stuff.

We could have spent a couple days in here!

I think we sat and stared at this wall for at least

10 - 15 min.

They had these soft balls that you would put in

one opening and it would suck it through

these different tubes and pop out another end.

Everything happened so fast you had no idea where it went.

There was also a lever that you could pull and would switch

the tube that it popped out of.

There was a gardening area up on the roof.

Raelee had picked all the veggies out of the ground!

They had a play house as well that they could cook up

all the food in.

Construction!

They did have hard hats,

but who really wears those right??

The chairs actually made music as you sat

on each one..

Trevor made the biggest bubbles I'd ever seen!!

Madi is always "fixing" her bike,

so she was pretty stoked to be able to

really work on a car her size!

There was a little tykes water play area.

Thank goodness for the water proof aprons

or we would have been soaked.

Daddy forgot to take off his glasses!

I could not stop laughing....

she has some serious hair!!

We really wore her out.

We hadn't even left the parking lot yet and Rae

had passed out!

St. Louis temple

One of the many cool bridges we crossed

My kids NEVER took binkies.

13 months, finds it in the bottom of

the diaper bag and NOW decides she knows

what to do with it.

( don't worry it was the only time she used it! )

Stopped on our way home at Devil's Icebox,

and this time we actually found it!

As you climb down these last stairs you feel the

temperature drop 20 degrees instantly!

It was really hot out,

so if felt FANTASTIC!

It was pitch black down there,

good thing we had some flashlights.

We found a teeny bat!

I seriously couldn't even see Darcey

cause it was so dark.

We were laughing so hard!

We sure do miss her!

We were only allowed to hike in one area.

The other side you had to have a guide to go through.

From the pictures it looks so awesome!!

We are planning to come back again and take

the real tour!

Back in Topeka we visited

the Combat Air Museum.

My grandpa would love this place!

They had stuff dated so far back

and it was so cool to see the different aircrafts!

They had shut down the highway because

they were bringing a really old plane in.

So this is us chillin' while we waited to watch!!

We had such fun exploring some new places

and we were so happy to have Darcey come visit!!

August - part 1

2013-01-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

August was a SUPER crazy busy month!

Trevor was finishing up with the second

half of his summer schedule.

My brother and his family were able to stay again

on their way back home!

Raelee enjoyed playing with my brother's shoes.

He's pretty tall if you didn't know.

She could probably fit inside one of those

gigantic shoes!

Always has time for dress ups...

she is quite girly,

yet hates when I put bows in her hair!

Madi saw these teeny grapes at the store

and HAD to have them!

After Trevor finished school for the summer

we headed out to Des Moines

to welcome some of our good friends!

They had just moved in to start school

and we were so excited to have them closer!!

We were waiting to meet up at this park

right in the very middle of town!

It was so random,

but we loved running around and seeing the

cool different statues.

Daddy teaching the girls how to roll down the hill!

She couldn't resist,

she wanted to be a statue too :)

This is how we roll.

You should try it sometime!

One of Holly's favorite bowl got stuck

inside of another while moving out.

Brian and Trevor took it upon themselves

to be manly men and get it out.

It was hilarious to watch,

but after all the time well spent

they got it!

Snuggled up having scripture time!

We sure have missed that little

Blake character.

Madi misses being able to see each

other from our backyards!

Buddies for life!

After the kiddos all went down we

all
DOMINATED Brian in a game of marbles.

That's right Brian,

I don't remember WHO won,

but I do know it wasn't YOU!!

Austin and Raelee playing on the stairs

It's kinda cool,

Madison is only one month older than Blake

and Raelee is only one month older than Austin!

The kids LOVE having such good friends:)

We were able to visit their zoo!

We actually got in free using our zoo pass from home!

We sat and watched these fish forever.

Insanity!

This hippo drinking fountain was hilarious.

Every time someone would drink out of it

water would spray all over the place!

Good thing it was a hot day!

I don't remember what Blake did,

but this was Brian's way to doing a time out!

Smart man,

what do you do at the zoo??

One word....

HORNS!

These two thought they'd be brave going down the

WET slide.

Here goes Blake!!

Mmmm....Madi decided it didn't seem so safe the

higher she got.

Luckily, she has a great dad to help her overcome

her fears!

( It was a nice long drive being wet! )

Here is cute Austin!

Thanks Holly and Brian for letting us come

play with you guys!

We've missed having you as neighbors,

we're glad you are closer now!!

We left Iowa and headed to Omaha Nebraska!!

My cousin's baby was being blessed we

wouldn't miss it for anything!

We stayed in a hotel and enjoyed

lots of swimming!!

Here is Sara, baby Isaac and my uncle Steven.

Isaac and Madi are quite fond of each other.

He kept cooing and got excited every time she'd

come near him.

It was really sweet to watch her be so gentle with him.

Madi suckered my uncle into playing hide and seek!

He had us laughing so hard.

He climbed in some really good spots.

Here he is under the table laying on all the chairs!!

She LOVED him.

It reminded her of playing hide and seek with Grandpa Cook.

She kept saying,

"Come on uncle Steve, it's your turn to hide!!"

I have always loved spending time with my cousin Sara.

She's more like a sister to me and I'm

so glad that we are only a few hours away!!

Thank you David and Sara for inviting us to join

in on your special day!

On the road again....

The kids think it quite the cool thing

to get wind blown while heading

down the freeway!!

Daddy is DONE being in the car!

We miss the mountains,

but we sure love where we are at.

This is Nebraska,

Topeka is a lot more green

and we really have grown to love it!

Almost home girls.

Enjoying some kind of movie and lollipops

to help with the last leg of the trip!

Can't travel without our trusty pillows!

And there she blows!!

Welcome back to Topeka!!

I always thought it'd be bigger since it's the

capital and all.

I'm not complaining though,

I'd rather be in a smaller area!

Our month is only beginning!!

July

2013-01-10T13:43:00.001-07:00

Trevor was able to have a two week break from school

YAY!!

We played so much!

My brother Rob and his wife Kristi were able to come

stay with us on the their way westward ho!

Madi had SO much fun playing with her cousins:)

Madi, Jace and Alli Jo were literally ROLLING

down the stairs over and over again.

We kept Raelee up at the top blocked by the gate,

but she enjoyed laughing and screaming along with them!

These two had a blast finding out they each owned a 'Melman'!

One of the ways we tried to keep cool this month

was making our own ice cream!

It actually worked :)

Madi sat and squished and rolled and shook that bag crazy.

( perfect to wear her out before nap )

Mexican night.....

Rae LOVES guacamole!

One of our favorite families finished school

and moved away :(

While Alison packed we decided to steal Annie

and go for a stroll at the zoo!

This is our pit stop to enjoy some snacks

while we watch the elephants.

Lovely faces girls :)

( can ya tell we had a hot summer, just look at those cheeks! )

Our sweet little Rae babe had her 1st birthday!

She LOVES animals!

So we had gone to the zoo earlier with our friend Annie.

Here she is opening up her presents.

I was happy to see she was actually getting into it!

This little kitty runs all around.

It has a sensor and knows when you are coming and

runs the other direction.

PERFECT gift!

Getting ready for the cake!

We had just turned on skype so

Grandma and Grandpa Cook

could be in on the good stuff!

Madi wanted nothing to do with her cake when she turned 1.

Raelee on the other,

dove right in!

Grandma and Grandpa laughing at the messy

birthday girl!

She's not so scared now the she knows how delicious it is!

Sweet little thing was trying to share with me.

No thanks babe, I'll get my own!

Happy birthday to our darling.

You've grown so fast Rae!

We don't know where the time has gone.

We are so happy you came to join our family 1 year ago.

You are your sister's best friend!

We love you're cheesy grins, squishy cheeks and laughs galore!

Raelee is one LONG girl! She has grown so tall that she is wearing some 18 mo bottoms! ( of course they are WAY to big in the waist, but we do what we can ) It seems like every time I take these monthly pictures the girls automatically go to Rae's bookshelf. I'm so glad that they enjoy doing everything together, well almost:)

It's my party I'll cry if I want to!!

The night before our dear friends moved,

We had Alison and the girls stay the night at our house

and then we took them to the airport.

(Jake and his parents woke super early to start driving)

We are so glad we were able to play one more time!

Madi and Annie had a blast together!!

Washing the car with daddy!

Our awesome friends from back home came to visit us for

the 4th of July!

Oh how we love Rod and Kacie!!

We did about a million and one things,

and never stopped laughing!

( pssst....you're welcome to come back ANYTIME )

We went to Lake Shawnee and walked around the fair

that they do every year.

Madi and Rendon were playing a bunch of fun little games.

( Madi just dominated this game, can't ya tell? )

Madi thought Rae needed a turn - so good to share!!

The random ginormous duck

Last year Madi would only let us paint a star on her hand.

This year, she wanted to be a cat!!

MEOW!

Way to be patriotic Raelee

Of course we were dying of heat,

so we let the kids enjoy a dip in the swimming pool when we got home.

Our good friend Patrick came over to enjoy the big firework show!

He helped Madi and Rendon figure out the pop-its.

My girls have always been drawn to Rodney!

They're having a stare off,

Rae won - she didn't even make a smirk:)

I'm pretty sure she liked it!

Rodney almost got blown up....

I'm glad I had the camera ready!!

We made crafts, built towers and did puzzles at

the art lab.

We fed the turtles and fish at the pond.

Paddle boating!!

Trevor did all the work,

and he loved EVERY minute of it!

These two have good imaginations!

They played the funniest games.

Do you see his smirk?

He always gives me that look,

or maybe he is planning to steal Madison's ice cream cookie!

We ate at Spangles

Mmmm, I guess Rod stole the cookie instead!

My bestest buddy Kacie!

Long live the King!

Mads rockin' out with Elvis.

We were able to ALL fit comfortably together

in one vehicle!

Rendon kept kissing my girls,

it was hilarious.

It was too cute to stop.

Hopefully he marries one of them!

We couldn't miss out on building our own Penske trucks!

Maybe one day we will use Madi's to help us move

a little closer to Rendon.

We enjoyed some frozen custards at Freddy's.

They had this clown there that day and he

made little balloon animals for all the kids!

We went to Liberty Jail the first day they were here

And clearly they missed each other

having been apart for 6 whole months.

How will they ever survive his 2 year mission is beyond me!

Playing in the pond.

Don't worry, I do have a hold of Raelee's stroller.

Check me out in the background!

Kacie didn't realize till she already took the picture.

I think they were gonna have Rodney look like he was

jumping across the pond.

Classic.

Thanks for all the fun visitors this month!

Come back, we're ready to play again!!

June

2012-09-10T14:58:00.001-06:00


Yes my kitchen is under construction and a huge mess....

The above picture is for Brz....

does that face remind you of anything??

I taught her well!!

We got a family bowling pass for the summer for dirt cheap,

mainly cause the girls were signed up for 2 free games

everyday during the summer.

Why not?

It was a blast to go as a family,

plus we went with some friends a few times

and let the kiddos have at it!

Trevor and Madi discovered the free projects they

do with the kids every month at Home Depot!!

( No Trev didn't wear that out...it's for his new 'work shop' downstairs! )

It wouldn't be a real summer without going to the lake!

We love having it so close and being so warm :)

Trevor was able to play a few softball games with the EQ in the ward,

even though he's moved to the oldies in HP.

It's fun, he's gotten a group of them together and they all

have 'manrichment' once a month and head out to a movie.

We really love everyone in our ward here!!

Father's Day was awesome!

Madi helped me make a basket full of these 'Super Pops'

we gave one to Trev and passed out the rest to my primary!

The 7ft shark kite!!

Madi and I made some yummy treats!!

Trevor LOVES fruit pizza's,

so we decided to make mini ones.

Who doesn't love a good

orange julius mustache?

Rae's kinda ended up all over the place,

mixed in with dinner of course!

Testing out the kite!

It picked right up and the girls had a blast.

11 months!

Where oh where has the time gone?

My sweet Rae babe is getting so big.

She no longer needs a gate on the stairs,

she zips up and down those things so fast!

She is quite girly,

LOVES to put on bracelets and necklaces.

She talks ALL the time!!

Most of it is jibber jabber,

but she says,

mama, dada, papa,

and she woofs like a dog and races to the window

to find the ones that live through the fence behind us!

She could live at the zoo,

it is the ONLY place we can walk for

hours without her wanting to get out of the stroller.

She really enjoys watching and listening to all

the animals.

Raelee likes to make a mess while eating,

today was an exceptionally extra messy one!

We put her right into the sink...

of course Madi didn't want her to be lonely,

so she hopped in to!

Things not pictured...

Madi went to in for her 6 mo dental appt

and she came out cavity free!!

( she didn't get x-rays cause her mouth is so small, just like mine! )

we'll work on x-rays next time!

I should've taken a picture before my friend

Jess moved to Utah!

She's such a great friend and I miss her dearly!

I had a lot of 'girl' time with her,

especially since she used to cut my hair!!

We also went on a fun (LONG) walk with

our friends Roseanne and Wyatt.

We walked around all of Lake Shawnee....

It took us about 3.5 hours!

I think it's about 8 miles.

It was so much fun!

We stopped at a lot of the little playgrounds along the way.

We enjoyed some seriously good talk,

snacks and Raelee even peed on me!!

It was hilarious and we can't wait to do it again,

when it cools down of course!

We got together with some families

in the Ward for a huge water party!

I say it all the time, but I love our ward.

We have such amazing friends here,

and Madi has such a great time playing with all

the kids!!

Yesterday she told me she needs an older sister...

good thing we have plenty to 'adopt' in the ward!

May!!

2012-07-31T21:21:00.002-06:00

( I love that I'm almost caught up to the current month!! )

I get around to doing crafts every now and again,
this one was so much fun.
It's TP rolls and spray paint!!
I added them around a canvas picture in my bedroom.

Still swimming like crazy,

too bad the baby doesn't have a suit!!

Trevor thinks its fun to rough house with the girls.

He taught them how to body slam,

and boy they sure know how!!

Other end you silly sis!! :)

Madi begs me to put on make up all the time

since Christmas.

Thank you auntie Caitie for introducing this!

She is getting more into dress ups so this just tops it off :)

All during May

Raelee had this obsession with just sticking her tongue out constantly.

She is freakishly in LOVE with dogs,

maybe that has something to do with it?

So we totally slacked in finishing our pinata,

but this works right??

Madi's faces were absolutely hilarious!!

She does have a pretty darn good swing.

YAHOO for candy!

One of my favorites!

HAHA, oh Madi how I love you!

Rae crawled everywhere gathering up all the candy.

She stuck 'em in her mouth wrapper and all!

At 10 months she is a PRO at going up and down the stairs!

I'm sure it helps that she sees big sissy doing it.

She has to do everything that Madi does.

We ended up being SUPER disappointed with the solar eclipse!!

We waited forever, and ever and ever.....

Stinkin' Kansas was in the WRONG spot.

Good thing my brother got some seriously sweet pictures.

Just hanging out waiting!

Trev and Madi didn't mind,

they got sucked into some game...

yup, there is the sun....NADA!

Oh our sweet babe turned 10 months...

I tell ya, it goes faster with each kid it seems!

She is ALL over the place.

sneaky, SPEEDY crawler

and she has started standing and walking along the couches!

( trying to imitate Madi )

It seems like every time I take the monthly

pictures they end up reading forever together right after.

I'm loving how they play together so much more!!

There was a fun carnival in the mall parking lot!

Madi saw all the lights and got so excited,

but then when we got her up for the first ride she kinda freaked!

Once she was on she realized she wasn't actually 'going' anywhere :)

Rae enjoyed playing in the stroller with her sparkly bracelet.

It was super super hot!!!

So we walked around the mall till there was SOME shade

for us to hide in.

The helicopter one was her favorite!

When it started moving up you should have seen her face!!

Poor girl.

When she got off she ran up to me and said,

"Mommy!! At first I kinda FREAKED out, but then I loved flying!!"

HAHAHA!

Still chillin'

While we were walking around in the mall

I found this adorable coat for $4!

I can't wait for Rae to actually wear it!

How we thoroughly enjoy the art lab!!

They have all different kinds of activities,

and they have a different art project they work on

every month!

They kids have so much fun here,

plus it's right next to the law school!!

We went with our good friends Sunny with her kids

and Becky with Owen!

Sunny's kids got their tower to touch the ceiling,

but it didn't hold for too long!

It was so hilarious!!

We started another project on the house.

Our kitchen was looking a little dull,

so we took matters into our own hands, literally!

I guess I should take some pictures of the complete thing,

but you get the idea! :)

The new back splash totally adds and we are

completely satisfied with how it turned out!!

I sure love how handy dandy my hubby is!

Madi's sweet little friend Athena comes to play

lots at our house!

They have so much fun, and have such creative minds!

We are the youngest people in our neighborhood,

so we were so excited to find a friend for Madi who

lived just on the street behind us!!

We decided on a whim to travel to Omaha

and see my dear sweet cousin Sara and her hubby David

one weekend!

I never realized how amazing the zoo there is,

look it up online - it totally rocked!!

Here we all our ( little Isaac is in the womb! )

Swinging just like a little monkey!

Sara and I were getting ready to take a picture

and the parrots behind us made this insanely loud noise

and we both just about peed our pants!!

( At least she would've had an excuse since she was preggo! )

It was hilarious,

never a dull moment with us!!

I sure am glad our hubbies chose schools close to each other!!

Rae LOVES animals!

We visit the pet store often,

mainly because I have no desire to buy a pet right now!

She was overjoyed being at this zoo.

They had a shark tube like sea world,

but the nice thing about this one was you could sit in there

as long as you wanted,

no moving escalators!

She HAD to see the jellyfish,

they are quite the interesting creature.

Madi loved being with Sara and David.

She has talked non-stop about them ever since we left.

We are so happy David took time away from studying

so he could play with us!!

We love you guys, so thanks again for letting us come visit!!

HAHA, the above pictures I had to share!

Raelee's amazing lips as she slumbers,

and Madi being her goofy self in the hotel :)

My girls are simply amazing!

It's quite green here in Topeka,

When it isn't 105 degrees for two months of course.

They have some fun 'hikes' that we have gone on.

This one is one of our favorites,

it's up by the governor's mansion.

It's right by a huge pond a railroad track and they have a million butterflies

that land all over you!

It was nice and cool,

well it was cool for humidity if that is even possible :)

It ALMOST made me feel like we were back home in our good 'ol mountains!

This is how Madi dresses on our average 87 degree weather day.

There is no fighting a 3 year old on what she should wear.

She does have curls!!

Yay!! The penguins finally came to our zoo!

Of course we had to watch 'Happy Feet' after!

These are a few random pics I found on my phone...

They have about 1.8 million parks where we live.

This one the girls found particularly enjoyable.

Madi wanted to be the old woman who lived in a shoe!

We spent another weekend playing in Kansas City.

We went to the legends mall...

we love it there!!

We went to the T-Rex restaurant,

HOLY COW!!

We sat by this huge fish tank with gorgeous fish.

The place was covered from top to bottom in jungle stuff and

the best part, they had dino's that moved and made noises!

There was this little boy that totally started crying cause it

scared him so bad, poor thing.

Raelee would laugh so hard every time they started moving.

I would totally go again, so cool!

I guess they only have 2 in the US!!

And we will end May with Madi singing some primary songs for us all....

April adventures

2012-07-18T13:39:00.001-06:00

Besides Madi's birthday we were able to find time inbetween

Trevor's school and work to play!

We had the awesome experience of have a new temple built

and dedicated recently!

They had asked for volunteers to help out with the

tours so Trevor was able to go over and

do some tours on two different days.

They also asked the RS to help make tissue box covers.

I didn't realize how time consuming these things were!!

It was a very learning and touching experience for Madison

to be able to go in the temple before it was dedicated.

She has always been very fond of the temple

and has a collection of pictures she keeps in her room.

Both girls did so well during the tour

and it was so special to be able to teach and be there together as a family.

I rarely take my camera with me to our 'play dates' every Wednesday

with the JRC law wives!

I'm sure glad I brought it this time.

We were able to explore through the fire station and

meet some awesome fire fighters.

Madi was pretty nervous when this one got dressed up

in all his garb.

Notice she is the farthest away:)

Afterwards we took all the kiddos to Sonic

and played on the slides and sand!

We sure love hangin' out with this gang!

I love having a LOOOONG spring!

Perfect weather.

We swim many times a week :)

These girls would die without water!

In prep for Cinco De Mayo!!

Madi and I took the opportunity to make

a pinata while Rae babe was snoozin' away!

She's a perfectionist.....

had to have it in the right spot.

She did fabulous,

now we wait while it dries!

Madi had a wee bit of an accident.

She was running out the front door with an otter pop in the other.

She was pulling the door shut and BAM, smashed her ring finger!

As I reached her all I could see was blood gushing everywhere.

Ugh!

I got it all cleaned up and noticed it turning black already.

Her nail kept lifting and eventually fell off (on her birthday of all days)

It has successfully grown back in and she is so happy to have it back.

We had fun painting her 'stub' and watching how fast it grew :)

Madi's new love this month is soccer!

She's quite good at dribbling the ball all across the yard.

I was really impressed!!

Trevor built her a HUGE goal.

I'm talking almost the size of a real one...

He informed me the kiddy ones wouldn't do.

She's doing a victory dance after she schooled her dad....

The Elders are over often in our house...

I bet they didn't think they'd get a make over before

before they met their investigators that night!

We enjoy having them over,

Madi loves their stories and object lessons :)

Trev found some shutters on craig's list for 30 bucks!

We painted them black to match the door and wow,

the house looks fantastic!!

I was talking on the phone one night with my older bro

when the tornado sirens started blazing!

The power went out...which wasn't a big deal

cause that isn't too unusual.

Kinda made me nervous having the sirens though.

We went downstairs with pj's and flashlights and turned

on a movie for the kids on the laptop.

After the hail and lightening stopped we went back up to enjoy what little light

we had left of the sun since the electricity was still out.

Madi's vote won and we played candy land till bed :)

Luckily we saw no tornados in our neighborhood!

This is the girls' favorite hide out lately!

I love that Rae is getting old enough to really

enjoy playing with Madi!

Random nights of playing UNO.

This girl is serious when it comes to UNO!

Her favorite...."I SKIP YOU!!!"

We still can't tell what color these beautiful BIG eyes are going to be.

They keep changing from brown to blue and back to brown...

Madi's Actual Birthday! Back in APRIL of course:)

2012-07-16T12:37:00.002-06:00

Of course it wouldn't be a birthday unless there was breakfast in bed!

I kept asking if she wanted pancakes or waffles

or even crepes!!

She's a simple girl, always has been.

Lucky charms is all it took to please this cute face!

We enjoyed our morning playing, balloon wars and lounging in our pj's.

Madi thought it was so cool that Raelee turned 9 months on

her birthday!

We got them both ready for their regular pic's

on their quilts.

Of course Raelee STILL won't allow any headbands,

I even do ones that are loose and she

enjoys my frustration as she pulls them out!

lil stinker.

Rae at 9 months

She is into EVERYTHING!

She is so speedy at crawling and she follows

Madi everywhere she goes.

I find it quite cute that she is so fond of her sis.

Here is miss Madi at age 3!

I still can't believe I have a three year old.

She acts as if she were around 13...

you catch my drift.

I love her to pieces and she makes me smile,

but this girl sure knows how to sass!

Here is a pic of Madi at 1 week,

my how time flies!!

I left the room for a few minutes to grab the phone

and this is what I came back to!

No joke, I did not set this up.

They have always thrived off each other

and I could not be happier with the two of them:)

Madi kissed her and then had her come over so she could read to her.

Daddy came home for lunch and Madi was able to open presents!

She was more than excited to finally open gifts.

When Trevor was done with school we headed to Madi's favorite,

Cici's Pizza!

She LOVES their mac 'n cheese pizza!

And of course Rae wasn't about to argue with Madi's choice.

Played with some presents...

Had cake and ice cream,

skyped Granny Tanny and Grandpa

and Nana and Papa!

All Madi really wanted she kept telling me,

was a rainbow cake.

She was thrilled with the skittles on top,

but when she saw what was inside

she squealed for joy!!

I tried doing the fondant over it,

but of course the day I made it

it was soooo humid it ended in disaster.

I knew she wouldn't care though,

so I scraped it off and just did frosting.

Still turned out fabulous enough for her :)

Happy 3rd Birthday baby girl!!

Life would surely not be the same without you :)

Madi's B-day Party

2012-07-12T14:40:00.003-06:00

The weekend before Madi turned 3

we had a little birthday party with some of her friends!

I had many games planned and decor,

but OF COURSE plans

had to change due to TORNADOS!!!

Instead of our backyard we swaped

for the gym at the church.

Half the games were cut out,

but that didn't stop us from having so much fun!

Madi chose to have a RAINBOW theme.

We had lucky charms, colored goldfish,
fruit kabobs and candy by the dozens! We had them start out by guessing how many skittles were in the jar....and yes I color coordinated so it looked like a rainbow! 333 - My friend Randi guessed right on the nose! Who thinks of that number?? They made candy necklaces and bracelets.

I made some bean bags and they had to throw them in a big bucket and then they got to go over and pop a balloon (which did look like a rainbow, but the wind tore about 20 balloons off as we moved it from the car to the church. It was a mess!!) Inside the balloons were little prizes!

The decorating began! Everyone got to decorate their cupcakes like rainbows in the sky! Every kids face was BLUE - I loved it :) Then of course we let Madi blow out candles on hers and we had presents! For a last minute switch I was pleased. We have such amazing friends out here that we love so much! ( Thanks girls for taking all the pictures since I of course FORGOT my camera! ) Madison had so much fun celebrating with her friends and we were glad everyone got home safely in time for the storms!

Madi has hit the 'very curious' stage.

We love her passion for learning new things!

"Why is that mommy?","How does that work?"

We hear these every day!

My favorite quotes as of late...

We were driving to the Young's house I believe,

and as we pass over the freeway off Fairlawn

there is a bump in the road.

As we flew over it ( trev was driving )

I said 'oh that tickled my tummy'

Trev said 'that tickled my insides'

Madi piped in 'that tickled my bum!'

At the dinner table Madi moved her chair

over so she was sitting next to Trevor.

During dinner she kept touching his sleeve when she would talk to him.

He was getting quite annoyed and kept asking nicely if she wouldn't do that

so that his shirt wouldn't get dirty.

after a few times Madi could tell he was getting ticked.

And right when he was about to say it one more time

Madi hurried and started singing

"If you chance to meet a frown...."

We all started laughing and eventually Trevor joined in too.

We LOVE that she knows how to make us all smile!

We love you Madi Moo!!

March (non-stop to CALI!!)

2012-05-23T21:45:00.001-06:00

So, when did blogger get all these new changes?? I sure have been missing out.

Hopefully I'll stay on top of things now...ya right!

Here is our March adventures!

Yay for spring break.

IT WAS REALLY NEEDED :)

This is a picture overload,

not to mention completely out of order.

I'll figure out the new system later!!

We got on priceline ( out favorite site )

and got a seriously wicked deal on flights

and flew to California to visit my parents!!

It's only been about a year and a half that I've seen them!

AMAZING!!!

We didn't stop laughing or playing the entire time.

The day before our trip I took the girls

to the Dr for a check up,

they both had a little bit of a cough.

Glad we went in.

Rae had double ear infections

and they both had bronchitis.

FABULOUS.

Got the antibiotics.

Got the nebulizer - not really convenient to pack

in a suitcase!

But, alas, we made it in one piece.

Both girls did amazing!!

Raelee and I took wonderful naps

while Madison and Trevor enjoyed looking out the

window and watching a movie.

Madi RAN to her Granny Tanny and Gand-piah

when she saw them in the airport!

Raelee went right to both of them and

was full of hugs and kisses.

( Raelee's first time meeting them in REAL life )

We didn't stop running from the first steps

off the plane.

We went right on over to DISNEYLAND!

Madison didn't even know what in the world it was.

It was HILARIOUS watching

both my parents take her to everything.

It literally was HEAVEN for her!

She loved every ride with the

exception of Mr. Toads adventure...

she totally freaked on that one!

She LOVED becoming a REAL princess,

the tiki room and it's a small world.

BOTH girls tasted cotton candy for the first time

that was a DELIGHT!
We made it till the fireworks,
Both girls started nodding off.
They did fantastic for being up for almost
24 hours!

We visited the Safari Park ( aka wild animal park )

and a bunch of beaches and shopping of course!

Madi has a thing for chasing seagulls....

So of course Grandpa gave in and we stopped,

and YES I chased them

IN MY DRESS AND HEELS!

Man, I must love my girl :)

We played hide and go seek...

Grandpa is the winner to this day,

we still wanna know where his spot is!

We came to this pier 18 or so months ago

when Madi was just over 18 months.

The pelicans still hang out!!

Rae thought it was awesome.

She is quite the animal lover.

Too cold for her toes!

Trevor got all of us searching for shells.

We brought home a plethera,

and left some for Granny too :)


Plane ride!! Madi loved her new tiny earphones!

PASSED OUT - can't ya tell

Madi couldn't stop laughing on the carousel

and neither could Grandpa!

She thought it looked kinda gross at first,

but after the first bite neither one

wanted to stop!


Madison becoming a REAL princess.

She almost had a heart attack when she saw that Cinderalla was actually REAL!

Somewhere I have a picture showing the amazing

flower gardens!

There are millions and they were so gorgeous!

Hahha, this was before our trip,

Madi helped daddy wash the car in her rain boots.

Popping out of her egg


This was the FIRST time I've had my parents to myself. And I soaked in EVERY minute!!!

My St. Patty's day delight for dinner!

It was so delicious.

Madi doesn't like taco seasoning,

so she had noodles and hot dogs

and of course one of the avacados!

What kid doesn't like guac?!?

Discovered the white board hidden in the closet

Reading ALL of Grandpa's collection of the 'Friend'

Green Eggs, hash browns and milk for breakfast

on St. Patty's!

Raelee also turned 8 months!

Her first two teeth popped through on this trip!

A bird totally pooped on my leg in the bird feeding area

at the Safari park....

all of us were pretty disgusted!

We didn't get to stay long enough to be

there on my dad's actual birthday,

but we celebrated anyway!

I always get my dad an eclair or two...

kind of tradition.

So this year - I MADE some!!

They were so delicious.

We sat around playing some games

and we all ate a few too many I'm sure!

See - he didn't technically take the WHOLE week off,

he still took a little time to do his stuff :)

It was so nice thought to be able to have

both parents be with us the entire time!

We happened to pick a GREAT week to visit!

searching for shells!

Yes, my husband IS wearing my mother's visor...

Our grass when we returned!

We seriously mow twice a week because

it grows so fast here...

and NO we don't have a sprinkling system,

NO ONE does.

INSANE!

Learning to whistle

Tradition of homemade cinnamon rolls

over general conference weekend!

I made a TON,

luckily we had the Elders over

and they ate most of them :)

Hide and seek

Yay for 8 months!!

Our flowers bloomed while we were gone!

Early spring??

It was mid March!

Becoming a princess

Rae wouldn't let go of Mickey's hand

And Mickey wouldn't let go of Madi,

we seriously have 20 pictures of this,

they never moved!

The strawberries were HUGE and SO

fresh and juicy!

Yes, these are the birds that pooped on me!

But the girls enjoyed feeding them!

We had SO much fun playing and discovering

and shopping and snuggling

on this trip.

It was great having my hubby back for a week

AND being able to see my parents again!!

Madi is already planning our next flight out,

we'll see how that turns out :)

Happy General Conference!!

2012-04-01T15:30:00.000-06:00

I taught this song to my primary kids last week to get ready for
Conference weekend....
I guess Madison picked up more on it than I thought!
Like I always say,
this girl amazes me!!

February

2012-03-28T13:28:00.005-06:00

Miss Rae turned 7 months!!
She FINALLY learned to sit!

Although I'm fairly certain she
knew and just was lazy.
Why?
Because for weeks she wouldn't
even let me sit behind her and help
her sit, or place her with the couch
behind her.
NADA.
Until one day,
I finally decided to sit her up and walk away.
And folks, she just sat there for about 5 minutes.
Ya, the first time.
STUBBORN!
That is what girls are all about though right?

Happy Valentines Day!
Madi had a cute little party at a friends house.
They played BINGO and made place mats
and then had some crepes for lunch.
So much fun,
too much that I forgot to take pictures.

We had a big box that Madi
made to keep our valentines in.
We decorated the table and had
a heart pizza and opened valentines!
We all felt the love :)

We actually witnessed 2 days of snow this year!
Nothing like back home (notice the grass poking through)
Haha, it was different, but actually nice
to not have to shovel our driveway once
this winter!!

Many a nights this month were spent like this....

and we fit in Krispy Kreme's too...
they were so good!

I now find myself buried in songbooks
and crazy ideas for teaching primary kids!
I was released from activity days and put in
as the primary chorister.
YIKES!!
It's been scary and my hands totally
shook the first week...
but I've made it through and things are starting to click now.
But if you have any great ideas for me,
I would LOVE and APPRECIATE
any input!!

JANUARY

2012-03-27T12:20:00.015-06:00

I'm only a few months late....

not to mention these pictures are backwards
instead of in order.
But everyone always just looks through pictures
so who really cares right?

Right after we arrived home from Utah
for Christmas break,
Trevor's parents were able to come out for a LONG weekend!
We had so much fun playing a plethora of games,
staying up late, and eating till we were sick!

Trevor's dad was able to be here to ordain him a high priest,
he was called to be a counselor in the bishopric!
It was a special time for our family and we were so
very blessed to be able to have Trevor's parents
here to spend that time with us.

Raelee turned 6 months!!
15 lbs and 27 in

I was sad this turned out blurry,
she is such a doll!!
I'm surprised she hasn't gotten sick of Madi
crawling all over her yet.
They still are the best of buddies!!
Raelee LOVES to chit chat,
and every once in awhile she'll let
out her giggles...
but for some reason she only saves those
for special occasions!

new entertainment for Madison...
play-doh, spaghetti and fruit loops :)

Tux the penguin at our zoo!!
We are excited to get penguins this May!!

Our last night in Utah
we spent with our DEAR friends
Rodney, Kacie and Rendon!!
We hadn't seen them in almost a year!
And OHHHH how we miss them so.
Rendon came running up and hugged me right
when I got out of the car.
It was so adorable,
even though I know he didn't remember me!
Just look at his darling little face.
HANDSOME!!
We're hoping one of our girls gets attached :)

Rod and Trev both took the kids out
four wheeling a million times!
We stayed up so late and Kacie
made the best food....
pretty sure I gained a few pounds just that night!

I sure miss having them a few doors down,
ahhh the memories!
Thanks a million guys for letting us crash with you!

On our journey to Kansas we stopped
to see different sites!

Here is her haircut! She looks bald
compared to before!!

Swimming time in Denver!
My girls are little fishies,
they could LIVE in the water!

We stopped at Sternburg's Museum
of natural history.
It was a well needed stop and the girls
were totally entertained!

She was happy....she accidentally bonked her head on the
head cut out!

This t-rex had a timer and would
turn and scream right as you get by him....
Madi's face says it all!

Madi's sweet fort....
this is almost a weekly activity for her!

Thank you January for starting
our year out crazy busy!!

DECEMBER

2012-01-29T15:10:00.010-07:00

December came and went too fast
its hard to remember everything we did!

A week before Thanksgiving we had
Raelee in the ER
with a double ear infection.
She healed quick and
then a couple weeks after she got that
nasty flu that went around
where absolutely everything was
coming out BOTH ends.
Rae only had it one day,
then I got it and Madi started right about
the time I finished,
I ended up taking her to the ER
because she couldn't keep any liquids
down and started throwing up some blood.
On our way to the ER that night
Trevor was home while Raelee
was asleep, and he started
throwing up!!
Madi had an IV and was so brave.
All the nurses adored her,
she come home with a beautifully
decorated barf bucket from all
the stickers she received!
And by the next afternoon we were
all feeling MUCH better,
and 6 lbs lighter:)
( we would kick butt in biggest loser now that we know the trick! haha )

I was cooking in the kitchen while Madison was
doodling on some paper,
she got all excited and came over and said,
"Look mommy! I wrote my own name by myself!"
Sure enough,
I didn't have to tell her any of the letters!

It surely didn't feel like Christmas in Kansas...
until you saw all the lights!
The day before we left for Utah,
it was 60 degrees.
We heard it got up to 71 while we were gone!!

Raelee also turned 5 months!
Her stats this month
consist of a whole lotta hair
and she eats through baby food like crazy.

We drove.
16 hours!
Thanks to priceline,
we got a killer deal on a hotel in Denver
and split the drive in two days.
The girls were FABULOUS!
We played a lot of 'I spy'
and 'name that tune'.
If Madi wasn't reading,
it was this...
Of course we couldn't leave without her
'buddy' Clifford

And literally this is what Raelee
did 90% of the time...

Everyone was happy to have a fun
night in Denver!!

We made it safely to the frozen tundra!
We thoroughly enjoyed staying with Nana and Papa!!
We played with cousins, aunties, uncles
and friends!
It seemed like there wasn't a moment
that we sat still.

Raelee snuggled Trevor's cousins
Tiffany and Darcey to death!
She loved them!!

two peas in a pod!

Madi has discovered computer games
and typing in Word.
She was quite sneaky and convinced
her uncles many times to play with her.

Trevor discovered Rae could hold a bottle
all on her own when mommy went out the the
adult girls!

A ride on daddy's shoulder .....

equals this!
haha!!
We discovered Rae has acid reflux on our trip.

Tucker was Raelee's horsey

Nana cuttin' the delicious turkey!

I thought since we weren't with my dad
that we would get away with discovering
'new' things to feed the baby.
I was wrong.
Thank you Papa.

Tradition on my side of the family.
Trevor and I still like to do gingerbread
houses wherever we are!

We were able to skype my Mom and Dad
on Christmas Eve!!
It was really hard not being able to travel a little
farther to see them in Cali,
but hopefully this summer!!
It's been over a year now that we've seen them!

Christmas morning was spent with
cute cousin Treygan!!

The girls had so much fun
and SHARED!

Paper was Raelee's favorite of course!

The lovely Nana & Papa

We miss these two...well three,
David was MIA!!

Darcey took Madi and Rae
to ride on some of her ponies!
They were so THRILLED!!
Madison road one all by herself.

We did make it up north for a few
SHORT
days, to see more family and friends!
I totally forgot to use my camera
everywhere we went cause
I was too busy enjoying myself!

Madi LOVES her uncle Dave,
they have a pretty sweet bond.
One of a kind :)

I never missed my brother's bball games
when he played in high school,
so it was fun to be able to
see him play some Alumni games!
Madi thought it was cool
and Rae was totally entertained and sat
in her car seat the entire game!

It was sooo good to see our family,
Madi was able to play with her cousins!
I enjoyed spending time with my brother and sister
and of course,
we got to see Auntie Karol :)

Then back down to Nana and Papa's for a few more days.
i LOVE his glasses...
so stylin'

Madison is SO good and entertaining herself.
What good sports they are!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012 - yup,
Madi stayed up till midnight,
Rae was tucked away in the crib :)

Let me guess,
you've probably said it at least once,
or thought
"dang, that girl has hair"
This was right before we took the buzzers to it.

You'll have to wait till the next post to see the after! Ha sorry:)
It looks lots better though!

Loopy as ever, hope everyone had
a GREAT new year!!

NOVEMBER

2012-01-28T19:43:00.009-07:00

Had another eventful and busy month.
Madison has been a great
helper with keeping the house
a little cleaner!
Here she is jumping for joy
because she picked up all of her
toys by herself!

Raelee was weird with her sleep schedule
for some reason this month....
a wee frustrating, but who could
be upset with that sweet little face

and then there is this cute face....
yup I give in SOMETIMES
during nap time and we just play!!

I hate pie.
and cake.
I'm weird I know,
I hate to admit this, because it goes against
everything I have always believed.
Trevor REALLY wanted to try a new
pie recipe.
Pecan pie.
I really did fight for awhile,
but gave in while telling him he would
end up eating the whole thing
by himself.
Little did I know that it was actually really good!
shh, I probably ate most of it!

For Thanksgiving we had the missionaries
and one of my bestest friends,
technically cousin,
Sara and her hubby David come over!
It was so different from the huge
family gatherings that we were used to,
but it was great to have SOME family
and enjoy a message and the company
of some really amazing Elders!

We actually grilled our turkey,
and it turned out awesome!!!
I won't rub in too much
that we enjoyed some nice 75 degree weather.
Talk about being THANKFUL!!

We celebrated Trevor's birthday!
He got a sweet helicopter.
Madi and I picked right,
cause he is like an 8 year old
all giddy with joy when he flies that thing!

Oh, and he grew the handle-bar mustache
for MOvember......
appartently it's nation wide??
Anywoo, it was hilarious:)

His theme was Despicable Me.
That is one of our family favorites.
I love the cake personally!

We played pin the alien on the moon

And bowling with the minions
and bean toss with the 3 little kittens!
It was fun and we loved spending the whole
night with Trev!!!

Raelee turned 4 month!!
She was 97% for height
and in the 40's for weight.
She LOVES baby food.
The dr gave the go ahead,
and boy this girl loves her food!!

At the beginning of the month we
finally got around to carving our pumpkins
from Halloween:)
Better late than never!

Madi's huge project this month was
helping me color rice
and fill up her pool in the unfinished room
downstairs!!
Cleaner than a sandbox,
and we can use it all winter long now!!

Dear Blog...

2011-11-29T18:43:00.002-07:00

I've been avoiding you for some time now.
I'm not sure if it is due to my new
love of pinterest,
or that I have so much to write about
that I don't even know where to start.
Some day I'll return:)

On Friday I was unloading the dishes while the
girls were playing in the living room.
Nothing out of the ordinary,
Madison was dancing around Raelee
as Rae babbled to her.
All the sudden I heard a thud and Rae cried,
I instantly thought that Madi was trying to pick
up Rae....luckily I was wrong.
Madi had just jumped up in the air and landed with a thud.

Me: "Madi, what did you do?"
Madi: "I didn't do anything!"
Me: "Why is Raelee crying?"

she placed her little hand on her hip

Madi: "Because mommy, babies just cry sometimes."

ARE. YOU. KIDDING?
I'm pretty sure I stood there for a split second
with a dumbfounded look on my face.
Yup, my 2 year old has common sense!
:)
Thanks Mads, for reminding me yet again, just how bright you really are!