Christmas Card 2009

Family Pic time... ;)

For any of you still checking this... :) My sweet, super-talented sister-in-law, Heather took these pics for us (Thanks H!!), and I did the editing. I am loving how they turned out! Here are just a couple...Enjoy!

Birthday Boy...

Just a page of Jake's 3rd Birthday party. :) We were supposed to have a waterslide party that day, but low and behold...it rained! So we did impromptu coloring, cake and ice cream, and presents. Right about the time came for the party to be over, the rain stopped and the sun came out. So the guests stayed and Jake finally got his waterslide party... :)

tHe WaTeRsLiDe...

Here is a page of the kids playing on our waterslide. I got this at Costco last year and it is one of the BEST purchases I have ever made for my kids!! They play on it for hours, it is a highlight at any party or gathering, and I have come to believe it is virtually indestructible! LOVE IT!!! This is has quickly become a summer fav for our family. :)

Another babies' page...

One more of the girls...

What we've been up to...

Life is crazy as usual. :) We are still settling into life with four little ones, but they are such great kids and that helps. I just wanted to post some scrapbook pages I have done lately trying to catch up. :) I will probably do more of this because I intend to spend the next six months working on scrapping and pics of my kiddos. I am thinking that since I find little time to update my blog, that if I post my scrap pages that you will be up to date. Here goes...

First off, MAUI!!!! Yes we went to Maui AND took ALL the KIds!!! :) When the babies were in the hospital and it was such a stressful time, we always said that once it was all over we would take a trip somewhere fun...we were not thinking Maui, but when our sweet friends from Vegas Eric and Melinda invited us to join them we couldn't pass it up! Thanks again guys!!! It was the most amazing trip. We brought our sweet niece with us as a nanny to help with the kids. It was my favorite trip we have ever taken! Soooo fun, and a vacation much needed after the whole babies in the hospital ordeal. :) So here are some pages from our Maui trip...

If you are not already oozing with jealousy just click on the page about where we stayed and read it! I still pinch myself wondering if I was dreaming that we actually stayed there. :) It was AMAZING!!!

Okay, one more page for now...my first for the babies! Not new pics but their first page of the whole hospital experience...it made me cry creating it. :( But I figure I need to document the happy AND the emotional times in our lives...

Watch for more pages coming...I am working on them. :)

Two Cute!

It has been a while since my last post... :) But better late than never right? I only have a few minutes but I wanted to post some update pics of the girls. They are getting so big and are just tons of fun. I also have to brag for one second...they are SERIOUSLY the BEST babies EVER!!! Very content, only cry if they are hungry or tired (even messy pants are no emergency to them), and are now both sleeping through the NIGHT!!!! Ahhhhh...I really think that is one of the hardest parts of having a baby...total sleep deprivation. So for all you new baby mothers out there who are up all night...it won't last for long. Bless your hearts. OKay, on to babies...

Both girls together (this has been the most impossible pic to get!! I am just a smidge bitter. :) )

Abby in pink, and Claire in blue... Enjoy! :)

Okay, okay.... :)

Wow...it has been so long since I posted on my blog I am not sure if I remember how! :) And all of you have been waiting sooo patiently (some more patiently than others :) ), that I can wait no longer. My list of excuses for not posting is long but I will skip all those and just do a random post of what we have been up to lately. :)

First up...Abby and Claire. :)

As per my last post, we FINALLY got to bring them home from the hospital on Dec. 6th (9 1/2 weeks after they were born). After becoming BFF's with a few of the nurses and obtaining my very own, self-proclaimed, VIP parking spot at the hospital, I was immensely excited when the girls finally came home. In fact, I think I had a perma-grin for at least the first week. :) They are doing marvelous, sleeping better, and are the nicest, happiest babies ever! They are gaining weight (both over 9 lbs now) and have been healthy from the git-go. Unfortunately since they were sooo pre-mature and trying to avoid RSV like the plague, we have not been able to take them out much. Which is why no one has really seen them. :( BUT...I am happy to announce that we will be taking them to church for the Fast Sunday in March to bless them...so then people can actually see these girls they have heard about but never seen. :) We are still not supposed to take them out but I figure having them at church for 1 hour is no more dangerous than being at our house afterward with all our friends and family and 40 grandchildren! Well, without further adue...here is one of the ONLY good pics we have of them! You would be SHOCKED how difficult it is to a good pic of two babies...you get one set up and then the other falls over...then you get one in focus and the other is blurry... Anyway, here they are...

*Can you guess who is who??? Abby has more hair and is bigger... ;)

We are just loving having these girls home! Aren't they darling??!!!

Next up, Holidays....

Okay, these weren't as crazy as normal because we couldn't go anywhere! It was actually kind of nice. :) We just hung out at home, worked on our basement (more on that next), and spent time together. I was smart this year and got all my Xmas shopping done before the girls came home and so we were ready and could just relax...

Here are some pics of the kids on Xmas morning...Jake got a Jeep powerwheel, his very own guitar, and tools. Does it get any better than that for a little guy? Morgan got a gymnastics mat, Littlest Pet Shops, and Barbies...such a girl. :) The babies got...well nothing. :) Lots of love... :)

Last, and quite possibly the thing that has been keeping us the BUSIEST...we have been finishing our basement! We intended to have it done BEFORE the girls arrived but that obviously didn't happen. We have done most of it ourselves (when I say "we" I mean Trev and his brother Rich) :), and so it has taken a lot of nights and weekends and pretty much every other minute we have to spare. We are ALMOST done though...and we couldn't be happier! Trev and Rich have done a WONDERFUL job and I will be posting pics once it is completed. Don't worry, I have before and afters. :) Oh...and we only finished half of it. We finished a great room, kids cubby under the stairs (which I think I am going to make into an old candy shop theme.. :) ), eating island complete with cabinets, a mini-fridge, and a microwave, some shelves in my storage room, and finally Trev new favorite room...a movie theater! We also partly finished a bathroom but will fully finish it later. :) We are REALLY excited and since the carpet was put in, have LOVED hanging out down there. We also moved all of our TV's downstairs and so now I finally have a "living/sitting room" again. That has been the other part of the busiest. I feel like we have experienced a mini-move! We moved Morgan upstairs, the girls into Morgan's room, the "family room/entertainment stuff" downstairs, and created our "living room." Whewww... I am getting tired just thinking about it. We are still in the process of getting everything set up, but once it is all done I will post pics of everything! :)

Well, we are now heading into what I believe to be our busiest month of the year...February. In our house February means Valentines, our 7th Anniversary, Morgan's birthday, President's day, and my birthday!

Morgan just LOVES throwing parties and so you can imagine how psyched she gets for her birthday! This year she wants a Tinkerbell PJ party...I was planning it out last night with her and I was getting excited for her!

Happy Birtday big girl!!! She is turning five, starting kindergarten in the fall, and still just as sweet as can be. She also says some of the funniest things! She asked me today what it means to be "scared out of your shorts." Sooo cute!

Jake is just getting sooo stinkin' big! I swear he believes he is just as big as Morgan. In fact, while the babies were in the hospital he decided to potty-train himself!!! He is the funniest, craziest, sweetest little boy ever. He also seems to have already hit puberty because his voice is the deepest I have ever heard for a 2 year old. We love our Jakey! He starts pre-school in the fall...wow how it flies.

Okay, so now you can see why it has taken me so long to blog... :) But I finally am feeling like we are getting into a good system and life is getting into what will be normal for us. :) We are loving it! Hope to blog again soon...