Family Vacations

Note to self: Next time I, or the husband, wines about never going anywhere...

Please refer to the following pictures:

Vacation #1: Tahoe Cabin.

We celebrated Jeremy and Cece's birthday, but who wants to see pictures of a bald man... here are the girls getting ready for the birthday luau!

Vacation #2: San Fran.
My cousin Wayne had a work conference so we went up to visit him. The girls LOVE playing with their cousin "Baby Faye" and "Baby Simon" (not pictured here!)

Vacation #3: Reno

Checking out the area dad had just finished his first race at (Squaw Valley - Tough Mudder)

All you can eat sushi. A must do with Wayne and Melissa. My husband loves his sauces.

First time bowling ever!

Getting too big

Hey Girls!

Knock it off.

Stop growing up.

Last year of preschool :(

A huge wave of relief

At the end of August I had an amnio done to see if our little baby had the genetic disorder that Jeremy carries. Besides the amnio being scary in and of itself, the wait was horrific. Try keeping your mind busy and not wondering if your baby is going to live or not. Not cool.

BUT, when we got the call from the geneticist, they had good news! As far as their test shows (which is 99.something percent accurate) our baby is completely HEALTHY! In fact, this little guy (who we thought was a guy and genetics confirmed it) is apparently not even a CARRIER.

We are thrilled beyond belief. All of my wishes/desires/prayers have been answered. Sometimes I wonder why me? But, for now, I am just grateful. Very Grateful.

July

Yeah.... I am that far behind....

So July pretty much went like this...

*4th of July breakfast at the church

*Keeping the kids cool. (Meanwhile I am battling some mean morning sickness)
*Free slurpees from 7-11 on 7-11
*State Fair= Where plenty of junk food was digested!

Mary Poppins

My Aunt Liz came to town this summer and took my family and the girls to see the Broadway show Mary Poppins! It was awesome. The girls pretty much loved it and now can often be heard running around the house singing "Let's go fly a kite!" My cute sister Emilie came out to see it with us. It was wonderful to spend some time with her too!

Addition

Jer and his dad have been hard at work working on an addition to our home!It was orginally just going to be a huge preschool room, but we decided to add a bedroom as well which is funny because with our little addition to the family coming soon, we will need it! Also, this addition was not going to be complete for 2 years, but it looks as though that date will have to be pushed up as well.
I am really proud of all Jer's work and creativity. It is looking great and we are excited to have more space.

Santa Cruzin!

O.K. still playing catch up on these posts. BUT I wanted to make sure that I documented our favorite family vacation of the year: Santa Cruz! We go every year on Memorial Day and it is ALWAYS a blast. This year did not disappoint.

Bailey LOVED getting buried in the warm sand.

We played with LOTS of cousins! With 8 adults and 7 kids in one beach house there was always some excitement going on! The highlight this year: The singing competition. (Buffalo Solider will forever get a chuckle as we remember this year)

Sweet Little Beans. She was so tired one day that she feel asleep one the beach.

We ate TONS!....

..... and even went on a walk through the beautiful Redwoods. The only downfall was this was the second year in a row that we did not make it to the Boardwalk! This year it was raining. Boo!

All and all it was a fun trip. The beach house was an awesome change, but we can't wait to go camping again next year.

Preschool Graduation

The girls completed their first year of preschool. Here is Bailey at graduation...

... and Kennedy....
.... and all of us.
They did really great their first year! The learned a lot and grew a lot(both physically and mentally). I am glad I get them for one more year before they go off to Kindergarten.

Old news.... to most

In case you have not heard....

My babies turned 4!

So I am a little behind, but yes I did throw a 4th birthday party for my little girls!! We went with the "Under the Sea" theme this year. On the front door.

Decor...

Prizes: Everyone got to take home a goldfish. Yeah, the parents pretty much LOVED me!



Beautiful big Girls!!

Loving the bounce house.

Singing "Happy Birthday" with cupcakes!

At dusk, we put on Finding Nemo outside. All the kids bundled up and enjoyed the snacks while they watched the show.

The after party: the girls could not go to sleep without opening some presents :)

At 4 years old, these two are the best of friends. In fact, my job is really easy. They just play together all day long!

Right now Kennedy loves:

the colors green and pink

the movie: Snow White

the food: carrots? (so she says)

hobby: play at Cece's house

and wants to be a teacher when she grows up!

AND....

Bailey loves:

the colors pink and orange

the movie: Peter Pan

the food: peanut butter and hot dogs (but not together!)

hobby: playing outside

and wants to be a mom when she grows up!

I love these 2 more than I ever imagined I could love!!!

Easter

The girls woke up to their Easter baskets on Saturday morning (the Easter bunny visits the day before the Sabbath at our house). I wished I caught Kennedy's reaction to getting Snow White. It was a victorious dance that was hilarious!

Then that afternoon Cece and family came over for Easter dinner and of course an Easter egg hunt. They had to find the "golden" egg with money inside... and of course there were 3 of them!

On Sunday, we dressed in our best for church. That evening we took the girls to the temple for our "Easter Walk" where we found items that related to the real reason for Easter.

I was surprised by how much they caught on and remembered!

Backyard fun

We bought and installed a fire pit in our backyard. Looking forward to a summer filled with fun! Oh, and please excuse us if our family constantly smells like campfire :)

4th Birthday!

Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet little girls!

We did a small celebration with a few presents, pizza, and big spoon to celebrate.

They had to wait two weeks until their party, so we made a goldfish countdown. Between getting presents in the mail, family visiting and bringing presents, and their party - they pretty much have had a two month long celebration. Spoiled little things.