Jason, Gina and Family

Mashed potatoes

2011-10-30T14:56:00.002-06:00

A few nights ago, we had mashed potatoes for dinner. Colter was too impatient to have me feed them to him, so we just put a big scoop of them on his tray. By the time he was done, he was covered in mashed potatoes. He even had them in his eyelashes.

Megan's 1st day of preschool

2011-10-30T14:46:00.002-06:00

A week after Lindsey started school, Megan started preschool. This is a class for 3-4 year olds and she goes for two hours, two days a week. Megan loves school! The first thing she does when she gets in the door is run around the classroom giving all her teachers a hug (she has about 4 teachers). Then she will come and give me a hug before she heads off to the painting area. She loves to paint. Every day when I pick her up the teachers have a stack of paintings to give to me. Unfortunately, I am starting to run out of wall space. I am amazed at the things that she can do at 3 years old. She loves to color, just like Lindsey, and she takes her time and colors inside the lines. She is very precise about this. She is also beginning to draw stick-figure pictures.

Lindsey just had to be in the picture with Megan.

My big pre-schooler!

Lindsey's 1st day of Kindergarten

2011-10-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

My baby girl is growing up! On August 29th, I sent her off to school for her first day of kindergarten. She goes all day, and has really adjusted well. Her teacher is Mrs. Anderson (Mrs. A) and Lindsey just loves her. She is learning to read and loves to draw pictures and copy letters. It is amazing all the things that she has learned in the last two months.

Haircut gone wrong

2011-10-29T09:44:00.002-06:00

At the end of July in an attempt to get ready for school, I took both girls to my hair stylist for haircuts. She did a great job and they looked so cute. A few days later, Megan came up to me and said, "Mommy, I cut my bangs!" She was so proud because she did it all by herself, but I suspect she had a little help from her sister. On further investigation of her hair, I noticed that she not only had cut her bangs to the scalp, but she had cut off the left side as well. I was pretty upset because I had JUST gotten her hair done! It's been a few months now, but her hair still hasn't grown out. I get people asking all the time if she cut her hair by herself. I do try to "hide" the fact that she cut her hair when I fix it in the mornings, but really how can you hid something like that?

Jelly roll dress

2011-10-29T09:32:00.002-06:00

I made both girls a dress from a jelly roll this summer. In quilting a jelly roll is a bunch of coordinating fabrics cut into two inch long strips all rolled up into a pretty bundle. Trust me when I say that a fabric jelly roll to a quilter is almost as tempting as an actual jelly roll. Well I couldn't resist, so I made two dresses, and they turned out very cute if I do say so myself. Lindsey did not want to wear her dress for the pictures, but she did want to be IN the pictures.

Daddy's helpers

2011-10-29T09:19:00.002-06:00

I think that I have two little daddy's girls. Both Lindsey and Megan love to be with their dad. Whatever he is doing, they want to do too. Even if it is a chore that isn't much fun like mowing the lawn.

It took both of them to push the mower.
But when it got tough, Dad was there to help.

Megan had fun despite the work.

Tent trailer

2011-08-30T09:08:00.005-06:00

This summer we decided it was time to take a step up from tent camping, so we bought a tent trailer. These are pictures from our very first night in the trailer. Sadly, we only owned this trailer for a total of four days before Jason sold it and bought another (larger) one. I have yet to take pictures of the larger one, but we have used it a few times. I must say that I love camping now because it is so much easier with a trailer.

The stove actually works!

Colter enjoying the new trailer.
Lindsey coloring.

The trailer.

Lindsey, Megan, Jason and Colter sitting around the fire.

Colter loves being outside.

Our guard dog, Luke. He chased down all the squirrels for us.

Enjoying our campsite.

Megan

Lindsey. I LOVE this picture! Dirty face and all!

Lindsey wanted her picture with the flowers.

Being goofy.

Megan had to do what her big sister does.

My boys.

Colter-bear

The girls love to roast marshmallows.

Jason enjoying the campfire after the kids are in bed.

Another campfire picture of Jason.

Almost there!

2011-08-29T12:39:00.002-06:00

Well, when I took these pictures at the beginning of July, Colter was not crawling. He was just starting to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He started crawling on August 1st, and is getting so fast I can barely catch him.

Sandbox

2011-08-29T09:40:00.002-06:00

My mom and dad put in this amazing sandbox at their house this year. My kids loved it! I think all the other grandkids loved it too!

Meggie playing with the toys.

She loved the sandbox.
Kacey is all boy. He loved playing in the dirt.

Kacey, Joseph, and Meg all digging in the sand.

Johanna liked the sandbox too, but she also loved playing with Luke.

All the kids: Megan, Kacey, Joseph, and Josh.

Swinging

2011-08-29T09:31:00.002-06:00

Lindsey has discovered that she loves to swing. This summer she even learned how to "pump" her legs which is even better for both of us. She can swing as much as she wants and I don't have to push her! She loves the swing at my mom and dad's house because it is easy to get on. And she gets to swing up high into the tree.

July 4th Parade

2011-08-24T08:16:00.004-06:00

Here are the pictures from the parade in Cody on the 4th of July. I'm just going to post the pictures of family and not all the entries from the parade.

Lindsey, Jason and Megan before the parade, Colter is under the blue blanket in his car seat.

The whole gang. There were so many of us that we took up almost the whole street.
Happy boy Colter before the parade.

Lindsey showing off her candy.

Colter taking in the sights.

Sweet Meg.

Colter getting tired.

Mindy holding on to Kacey so he doesn't run in front of the cars.

Jonathan thought the spray bottle we brought was pretty fun. He was really good at helping to cool people off.

Megan

Jason and Colter

Lindsey, Joseph, Johanna, Josh, and Megan watching the parade.

Grandpa Lyle's horses

2011-08-23T15:06:00.002-06:00

I know it's been awhile, but I have a lot of pictures to post from the 4th of July. While we were in Cody, my dad let the girls ride the horses for a bit around the house. They thought it was the greatest thing ever and had so much fun. Lindsey did not want to get off the horses.

Lindsey on Chessie.

Megan on Chinook.
Nicolas and Megan on Chinook. He was such a good cousin to let her ride with him!

Uncle Eric leading the horse for Lindsey.

Colter enjoyed watching the horses with Daddy.

My girls riding.

I hope they love riding as much as I do!

Me and Colter. His first time on a horse!

Me and Lindsey.

First popsicle

2011-08-12T18:21:00.001-06:00

Colter had his very first popsicle while we were in Cody for the 4th of July. I think he really liked it!

Bike trailer

2011-07-18T15:33:00.002-06:00

We recently purchased a new bike and bike trailer. When we took it out for a ride one day, Megan and Colter both fell asleep. Colter is actually laying on Megan. Too funny!

All dressed up

2011-07-18T11:58:00.002-06:00

JoAnn bought the girls the cutest dresses for Easter. I am FINALLY getting around to taking pictures of the girls in the dresses. They looked so beautiful!

So serious!
Lindsey

Megan

All three of my kiddos.

Thumb

2011-07-18T08:14:00.001-06:00

In my opinion, there is nothing sweeter than a baby sucking his thumb!

Floor moppers

2011-05-31T16:35:00.002-06:00

On one of the more rainy days this last month (ha! what day HASN'T been rainy?) I decided that my kitchen floor was in desperate need of a mopping. I do believe that I have blogged about this particular activity before, but here we go again. I had the girls get their swimsuits on and gave each of them a rag. I filled a bucket with warm soapy water and let them go to town. They loved getting wet and helping me to clean the floor. I admit that there was more water on the floor than in the bucket when they got done, but they had fun and my floor did get clean eventually so that is all that matters.

Grandma Kimber

2011-05-27T15:58:00.002-06:00

We had so much fun on our trip to Utah at the beginning of the month. We were able to go to the zoo, the movies, swimming, and shopping. Not to mention all the fun times with the cousins! On our way home, we went through Layton to see my Grandma Kimber. It was great to stop and see her.

The girls found Grandma's marble game. I used to play with this when I was a kid, so it was fun to see my own kids playing with it.

Grandma and Colter. He let Grandma hold him the whole time we were there.
Megan, Lindsey, and Colter with Grandma Kimber.

Me and Grandma and the kids.

A trip to the zoo

2011-05-20T15:13:00.006-06:00

On our first day in Salt Lake, we were able to take the kids to the zoo. That place never gets old! We had a great time running around and looking at all the animals and hanging out with the cousins.

Megan enjoying the sights.

Elephant and baby.
Rhino. This guy was fun to watch because he was running back and forth in his pen. Scary almost, considering that there isn't much keeping us seperated.

Lindsey didn't want her picture taken.

Josh, Lindsey, Megan, Johanna, Joseph.

Lindsey and Joseph were so cute holding hands.

Giraffe.

My cute little family taking a break.

Megan, Johanna and Lindsey holding hands! They could have all passed as sisters.

Once they caught me taking pictures, they made a run for it.

Colter chillin' in the stroller.

Camel. I don't think that I have ever seen a double-hump camel before.

"How do you measure up?"

Johnathan making sure Colter was okay.

It's great being a kid. You can play ring-around-the-rosie with random kids in the gorilla house.

Megan, Johanna and Lindsey hitching a ride in the stroller.

Lindsey, Joseph, Megan and Johanna riding the train.

Enjoying the train ride.

French braids and a cousin

2011-05-17T15:08:00.002-06:00

During our trip to Utah, we were glad that Jeff and Jenn and their kids were going to be there. It has been awhile since we last saw them. My girls have really missed their Alaska cousins. On our first day there, we were planning to go to Hoogle Zoo. I decided to do my girls' hair in French braids, and Johanna really wanted her hair done as well. All three of them looked so cute! The girls got along so well and were best friends the whole week.

French braids

Side view
Group hug!

Silly faces.

Grandma Nina

2011-05-11T15:24:00.002-06:00

We spent all of last week in Utah visiting family, so the next few posts will be from our trip. Our first stop was in Altamont to see Jason's Grandma Nina. She had never met Colter and it was past time for us to visit. She made us a wonderful lunch and it was great to see her.

Nina and Colter

Nina with the kids.

Easter hat

2011-05-11T15:11:00.002-06:00

Megan made this hat just before Easter during story time at the library. (If I haven't mentioned it before, our librarians are awesome and we love going to story time!) So when Lindsey got home from school that day, she thought it would be funny to put the hat on Colter while he was in his jumper. He did look pretty cute.

Love my kids!

A little late, but...

2011-05-11T14:42:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday to Megan! I can't believe that my little Meggie Lu is now THREE!! She is such a joy to have in our family. She is so happy and has the best laugh. She loves to play with her big sister and is a protector of her little brother. She gives the best hugs and kisses. She is also very outgoing. She will go up to complete strangers in the store and tell them that she likes their shirt, or their pants, or their earrings. What a blessing she is to my life!

Megan wanted a purple princess castle for her birthday cake this year. Thanks to my sister who provided the idea and picture for this creation. It turned out so cute!

First day of Spring

2011-04-04T09:07:00.004-06:00

On the first day of Spring, we decided to celebrate with a picnic in the mountains. We drove about 10 minutes from our house and fired up the grill to make some hotdogs and steaks. The girls had a great time picking up sticks and playing hide-and-seek. Of course our weather since then hasn't been the greatest, so I was glad that we got out to enjoy it while we could. It was a beautiful first day of Spring and we had a lot of fun.

Posing for the camera. Look at that smile!

Me and my girls.

Jason and the girls.

Kisses for Daddy.

Sister hugs.

Playing hide-and-seek.

Lindsey counting.

Megan counting.

I bet you're wondering why I don't have any pictures of Colter. That little boy slept the whole two hours that we were having our picnic! I think he had a great time too.

4 months

2011-04-04T08:55:00.002-06:00

Well this post is a little late, but I still wanted to share the pictures. Colter turned 4 months on March 17. We had his well-baby check-up the day after. He weighed 15 lbs 9 oz and was 25.5 inches long. I have one big baby on my hands. He is so much fun! Lately, he has found his hands and feet. He can grab toys and play with them. One of the moves that he does is to pull his pant legs up to his knees and grab his toes when he is laying on his back. I have to make sure to keep his fingernail clipped because he scratches up his knees and shins when he does that. He continues to be a relaxed, easy going baby which is so nice with how busy we are lately. I love my little Colter-boy!

My kids

2011-03-22T18:32:00.002-06:00

Jason came home the other day to find all of us in bed. He thought it was the perfect photo opportunity, so he grabbed the camera. I must say that I have the cutest kids EVER! I love them so much, and I feel truely blessed to have each of them in my family.

Meggie Lu

2011-03-22T14:46:00.002-06:00

I get to spend a lot of time with my sweet little Meggie Lu when Lindsey is in preschool during the day. She is so much fun to hang out with. She is talking up a storm and can even recognize the first letter in her name. If she sees one, she will say, "M goes in my name!" She is so well behaved when it is just her, but she does miss having her sister to play with. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to do a whole lot with the weather being bad and having a little baby. The bad mom that I am, I let her watch her favorite shows on Playhouse Disney most days.

Here she is snuggled up in my chair.

I went in to check on her one night, and couldn't resist taking her picture.

She just looks so sweet and innocent with her hands tucked up under her face.

Colter

2011-03-21T18:14:00.002-06:00

My little Colter-bear is growing up. He has been out of 0-3 months clothes for quite awhile now, but here are some pictures of his cutest outfits from that size.

His baseball jammies. They say, "Mommy's Allstar".

His adventure jammies. The feet on these were the cutest part: little bears.
Big smile!

Cat in the Hat

2011-03-12T10:48:00.002-07:00

Cat in the Hat was at our library at the beginning of March for Dr. Suess' birthday. There were a ton of kids there. More than came to see Santa in December! At first Megan didn't want to sit on his lap. I guess he looked a little scary to a two-year-old, but she finally did when she saw that they were giving out dvd's to all the kids. I forgot to bring my camera, so these pictures are courtesy of the library. Afterwards, we were checking out books when Cat in the Hat came through. Megan went right up to him and gave him a huge hug and high five. I guess he isn't all that scary after all!

Bowling

2011-02-08T16:14:00.002-07:00

Lindsey's preschool hosted a bowling day at the local bowling alley for the kids and their fathers. As this was her first time, Lindsey was really excited to go. Poor Megan was very disappointed when big sister got to go and she didn't. But once Jason and Lindsey got to the bowling alley, they realized that the school wasn't going to have as great a turnout as they thought. Jason called me and said that it would be alright for me to come and bring Megan. I told Megan that she would be able to go bowling, and I have never seen her get ready to go that fast!

Lindsey was having a great time when we got there. She was jumping up and down and screaming whenever someone knocked the pins over. She might make a great cheerleader one day! To make it easier for the kids to bowl, the alley gave them some ramps to use. Those were pretty great.

The only scary thing happened to Megan. I was getting ready to bowl my frames when I heard one of the other mothers yelling to turn the conveyor belt off. You know the one that brings the ball back to the top of the lane? I looked behind me and poor little Megan had her two fingers stuck in the conveyor belt. Luckily, Jason was really close and he was able to pull the belt backwards to get her fingers out. At first we thought that she had broken her fingers, but she had only a few scraps and some slight bruising and swelling. Later that night she was coloring with that hand. We were so lucky that she didn't break them or even worse, lose them. It could have been a very bad situation and we were very lucky. Overall, the girls had a great time. Even with getting her fingers stuck, Megan wants to go bowling again. I do think she learned her lesson though!

Here is Linds showing off the ramps.

Straight down the middle.

Jason with Lindsey and Megan trying it without the ramp.

Lindsey picking out her ball.

Megan before the accident!

Lindsey and I getting ready to take our turn.

Lindsey with a few of her friends from school: Peyton, Jager, and Samuel.

Smiles!

2011-02-05T16:43:00.002-07:00

Colter has been smiling since December, but I am just barely able to catch them on camera. He has the best smile! And he does it alot, which is so much fun. Every time I look at him or talk to him, he has a big smile.

Blowing bubbles with his smile.
Happy, happy boy.

More bubbles.

Laundry basket

2011-02-04T17:00:00.002-07:00

I must have the craziest kids on the planet. Either that, or they have been cooped up too long because of this cold weather. Their new "toy" is their laundry basket. I'm not entirely sure how BOTH of them were able to fit into the basket, but they did. They were having such a good time laughing and giggling, I just had to get a few pictures. Love my silly, silly girls!

I asked Megan to give Lindsey a kiss.
"No more kisses, Sister!"

Cousins

2011-01-11T16:25:00.002-07:00

On my side of the family we had three babies born in 2010. All of them were boys. Christmas break was the first time that all three boys had been together. Julie, Mindy and I decided that it would be fun to dress our little guys up in matching outfits. I'm sure that this will be the only time that they will allow us to do that. I am also sure that they are going to be great friends and get into lots of trouble together at future gatherings.

James (born in July), Kacey (born in June), and Colter (born in November). James was a little unhappy about having his picture taken. Kacey is trying to help him out.

James is still unhappy, but now Kacey is checking out his other cousin.

This is actually the best picture of the bunch because James doesn't look like he is crying as hard, and Kacey actually has a smile for the camera. Colter is such a laid-back little kid that it is hard to get him riled up.

Sleep-over

2011-01-11T16:15:00.002-07:00

After our fun at Pizza on the Run, we had a huge sleep-over with the cousins. My girls have never done a sleep-over before, so they were pretty excited. Too excited to sleep. I think that my kids were causing the most problems, so none of the other kids could sleep. It took awhile before all the kids finally fell asleep, but it was a good experience for them.

Jacob in the background with Megan and Bethany.

Lindsey and Megan with Bethany. Sorry, Julie, but her expression just cracks me up!
Lindsey and Megan trying to sleep, and not being too successful.

Pizza on the Run

2011-01-07T15:33:00.003-07:00

The day after Christmas, we decided to go to Cody to see my parents. Jason was going to be out of town alot the next week, and I didn't want to be by myself. The plan was for me to stay the week with my parents while he worked. On Monday, my sister and sister-in-law and their kids came up to see us. It is almost a tradition for our family to eat at Pizza on the Run once while you are staying in Cody. So Monday was our night to eat there. We had quite the crew: 6 adults and 11 kids. The kids especially enjoy eating there for the play equipment. I think that I actually got a picture of every kid. They had a great time and were very wound up afterwards.

Wyatt, Lindsey, Megan and Jacob

Wyatt
Jacob and Lindsey

Amanda and James

Megan

Lindsey

Bethany

Colter. He slept the whole time, and we were there for almost two hours!

Katherine

Alex

Kacey and Grandma Sherry

Kacey. Grandpa Lyle was tossing him in the air. I'm not sure if he liked it very much.

Jacob

Mariah

Christmas Morning 2010

2011-01-07T15:21:00.002-07:00

Santa was good to us this Christmas! He brought the girls a fun play tent. We decided to help Santa out and set up the tent early because he is such a busy guy. Lindsey came out while we were setting it up. She said, "DAD! What in the heck are you doing?" Next year, we wait until the kids are fully asleep!

The mess after the fun.
We were spoiled!

Lindsey in one of her new dresses.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-07T15:14:00.002-07:00

One of our family traditions is to open new pajamas on Christmas Eve. The girls had to show theirs off for me.

Cuteness

2011-01-07T15:05:00.002-07:00

He's just too cute to not take pictures of! I can't believe how much Colter is changing. At our doctor's appoinment yesterday, the pediatrician asked if he was the same baby!

Lindsey has loves to hold Colter. She does such a great job that I sometimes let her hold him while I make dinner. Such a good helper!

Santa Claus

2011-01-07T14:58:00.002-07:00

We took the kids to see Santa at the local Masonic lodge this year. All I wanted was a picture of all three of my kids with Santa, but that wasn't happening. Neither of the girls would sit on Santa's lap, so we all had to pose for a group shot. It didn't turn out too bad either.

Megan

This is actually our first family photo!

Christmas photo-shoot

2011-01-07T14:34:00.002-07:00

We decided to have a mini photo-shoot before we went to see Santa just before Christmas. The kids weren't too happy about it, so the pictures aren't wonderful but they will do.

I couldn't get her to smile nicely.

Megan was especially grumpy. This is the face I got because I didn't want her coloring books in the pictures.

Lindsey loves her brother!

All three of my kiddos. I only got one chance at this picture, so Megan looks a little grumpy.

Big sisters

2010-12-17T15:51:00.002-07:00

The girls have really enjoyed having a new little brother. Lindsey loves to pick out his clothes and hold his hand while I change his diaper. She has also gotten really good at helping to burp Colter. Megan loves to bring him toys and push him in his swing. They are such good big sisters!

First Christmas

2010-12-17T15:04:00.003-07:00

It's getting close to Colter's first Christmas! Yesterday, Santa was going to be at Story Time, so I took him and Megan. We decided to do a little photo shoot before-hand.

Almost a smile!

His jammies say "My 1st Christmas".

Our pillow Santa is bigger than he is!

Colter and Santa. If you're wondering, Megan wouldn't sit on Santa's lap this year.

A picnic and a coloring session

2010-12-17T14:47:00.003-07:00

I really wanted to share these pictures, but had no where else to put them. On occassion, we will spread a blanket out on the floor and have a "picnic" with the girls. They think it is great fun to not eat at the table all the time. And when it is really cold outside, we can't have real picnics.

The girls showing off their picnic food. This is right before bedtime for the girls. We normally let them watch a movie in our bed before bedtime. It helps them to relax, and if they have had a busy day they will fall asleep and it saves us the fight during bedtime. This night they decided they wanted to color as well. Both girls love to color. Megan will go so far as to carry crayons and a book around all day.

Love that smile from Megan!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-12-17T14:28:00.003-07:00

Ok, so it's a little late, but they aways say better late than never! Since Colter was only a week old for Thanksgiving this year, we stayed home. We invited all of my family, and it was fun to have them come. Not everyone could make it though. My mom made the whole dinner, which was so very tastey. Mindy made all of the pies, and those were so delicious! Lindsey and Megan had a great time playing with their Uncles Eric and Alex. We hope that everyone else had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as we did!

Uncle Alex with baby Colter.

Megan and Lindey wrestling with Uncle Eric.

Thanksgiving dinner. From the left: Alex, my dad Lyle, Lindsey, Mindy, and Eric.

From the left: Mindy, Eric, Megan, and Alex.

Alex with the turkey leg.

My nephew, Kacey with Colter and Megan.

Kacey and Colter.

Static

2010-12-17T14:23:00.002-07:00

Two girls + one tent = static!

One month old

2010-12-17T09:56:00.002-07:00

Colter is one month old today! I can't believe how fast the time is flying by! I really wish that time would slow down so I can enjoy having a baby just a little bit longer. I feel like we are so busy that I can't really take the time to enjoy his baby moments. Colter is a good baby and is actually pretty mellow when his tummy is full. These pictures were taken when he was about two weeks old, but I will post some more recent pictures in the following posts.

Introducing...!

2010-11-20T16:04:00.005-07:00

Colter Levi Goodrich was born on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 1:34 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. We are so happy to have him here! I will try to be brief with his birth story.

It all started on Sunday. I wasn't feeling very well. My belly hurt and I just felt achey and crampy. Monday was more of the same except I did start having contractions that night. I did the typical go-to-bed-and-see-if-it-progresses bit, but that didn't work. On Tuesday, I was up at 4:30 with more contractions. I had a doctor's appointment that morning at 9:00 and the doctor told me that I was in early labor. He predicted that we would have our baby either that night or the next morning. He sent me home to rest. Around 2:00 that afternoon the contractions really started to pick up. We left for the hospital around 4:30. The doctor checked me again when we got there, but I was only dialated to a two. We decided to stay anyway and see how things went. At 7:00 I had progressed to a three, but things still looked like they were moving slowly. My water broke at 7:10. The contractions became really intense after that, and I was doing everything I could to make it through them. I am so grateful for Jason because he was a great support and a wonderful coach. At 1:00 a.m. the contractions were becoming so intense that I didn't think I could make it much longer. The nurse gave me a shot of painkiller in my I.V. line, but they didn't work. The nurse also checked me at that point and I was at a six, maybe seven. We started preparing for a very long night. Not long after that check, I began to feel the urge to push. I was yelling that the baby was coming and that the nurse needed to get the doctor in there. She didn't believe me because I was only at a six. Jason told her to go get the doctor because this same thing had happened with Megan's birth and it wouldn't be much longer. I don't remember the doctor coming into the room, but I do remember them telling me that it was okay to push. After about three or four pushes, Colter was born. He came so fast that they didn't even have time to break the bed down.

We are both home now and doing very well. Colter is a very good baby and the girls are absolutely smitten with him. Lindsey is constantly wanting to hold him and take care of him. I am going to have some great helpers when my mom goes home! So welcome to our family, sweet baby Colter! We are so happy to have you here!

"Hamburger" helpers

2010-11-09T03:42:00.002-07:00

Jason was able to harvest his deer this past weekend. We are so lucky to have the meat in our freezer now for winter. He found some good help when it came to grinding the meat into burger. He said that the girls did all of the grinding and all he did was empty the bowl when it got too full. Such good little helpers we have! Who would have thought that my two girly girls would like to grind up burger? But they do and they had a fun time doing it!

Earrings

2010-11-09T03:36:00.002-07:00

The girls have been loving my earrings lately and have been wanting some of their own. I am not ready to pierce their ears yet, so they came up with the idea of using their hair clips instead. On Sunday, Megan wanted to put earrings on Jason, and being the good dad that he is, he let her. He said it was actually quite painful as she had put some of the clips on the upper part of his ear. We got a good laugh out of it because his ears turned red from the pressure.

Tent

2010-11-09T03:31:00.002-07:00

I never knew what a great tent we could make out of a king-size sheet and our kitchen table. It was a fun way to keep the girls occupied on a day when I wasn't feeling so well.

Monster March

2010-11-08T13:36:00.002-07:00

October 28th was the annual Monster March. I took the girls last year, and it was so much fun. I convinced Jason to go this year because I wasn't sure if I could do it all by myself this time. We decided to go early because last year we went right on time and had to stand in line for at least an hour before we even got to trick-or-treat. The girls had a great time waiting in line by playing with the other kids and looking at all the other costumes. I couldn't even get them to look at the camera because they were too distracted. I must say, that I had the cutest Alice in Wonderland and Dothory EVER!

Alice in Wonderland
Dorothy and Toto the cat. She refused to carry the dog Toto.

Pumpkin festival

2010-11-08T12:44:00.002-07:00

On October 23rd, we took the girls to a pumpkin carving festival downtown. They had a bunch of pumpkins for carving and decorating. We decided not to take pumpkins as we had already been to the pumpkin patch. We did play a few of the games and stood in line for about an hour to have the girls' faces painted. They each got to pick which design they wanted. The last time I took Lindsey to get her face painted, she would not sit still. This time it was much different. She jumped right up into the chair and sat very still to have her face painted. Megan was a little unsure at first, but sat still long enough to get the job done. They were so sad later that night when we had to wash their faces, but we convinced them that they will always have the pictures to remind them how cute they looked.

Lindsey picked the "Heart Swirls" design.

View #2 of "Heart Swirls".
Megan picked the "Piggy" design. Not MY first choice, but it's the one she wanted.

Lindsey and Megan together.

Turtle

2010-10-12T15:52:00.002-06:00

On the day that we went to the pumpkin patch, we had a few errands to run with Jason. As we were driving, we saw this guy trying to cross the road. He is by far the biggest turtle that I have ever seen in Wyoming. We had to stop and show the girls and of course take a few pictures of him. It was neat to see him because he had moss all over his back. His claws and tail were monstrous. I just couldn't believe the sheer size of him. As we were watching him, some guys drove up in a golf cart and took him to a nearby pond.

Look at that tail!

Pumpkin pickin'

2010-10-12T15:21:00.003-06:00

Last year we were not able to take the girls to the pumpkin patch because of a crazy snowstorm. This year we decided we had to go. The day we picked was very warm, almost hot, which was a huge difference from getting snowed out last year. We started our day with a soccer game and then the drive to Sheridan. Jason had to work just a little bit and then we went for lunch. After that it was time for the main attraction! The girls had a great time picking out pumpkins, and it was a fun day that we hope to be able to do again.

Waiting for the hay ride to start.

Sweet sisters.
Jason and the girls on the hayride.

Lindsey enjoying herself.

Megan liked the hayride too.

Look at all those pumpkins!

Megan's pumpkin of choice.

Megan and Lindsey showing off their pumpkins.

Jason and the girls with our family's pumpkins.

Me and my girls.

Looking at the chickens after the hayride.

Painted faces

2010-10-12T15:11:00.002-06:00

I probably have a post on this same topic somewhere since my kids LOVE to color. The other day they were coloring, and their faces became their canvases. Aren't they beautiful little masterpieces? Good thing it was washable marker!

Lindsey showing off that she also colored on her arm.

Megan's beautiful face. By the way, she also colored in her ears, and I am STILL trying to get it out!
Both masterpieces together.

Reading

2010-10-11T16:48:00.002-06:00

These pictures were too cute to pass up! One morning before breakfast, the girls got out a few books to read. I didn't realize that they were dressed in matching pajamas until Jason pulled out the camera to snap a few pictures. Both girls love to "read" to each other. Most of the time they get the concept of the story because we have read it so many times, and then they just make up the rest based on the pictures. It's especially funny to listen to Megan because her stories always sound like the bedtime stories that Jason tells the girls at night.

Antelope hunting

2010-10-11T16:13:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, Jason decided to take Lindsey antelope hunting with him. They didn't do much hunting as they did camping and playing at the lake. They were able to to a little hunting though, and Jason said that Lindsey was calling the bucks "big-daddy antelopes" and the does were "chicken-heads". Don't ask me where she came up with those names! Lindsey had a great time, and kept asking to go hunting with Daddy again.

Lindsey is a great rock climber.

Jason said she had fun sliding down this rock once she got to the top.
You can't see it very well, but she has a huge grin on her face.

Playing at the lake.

Having a great time in the sand.

Checking out the water.

The next weekend, Jason decided to take both girls hunting with him. I was very impressed that he was willing to do this because it sounds like a lot of work to me. I was very grateful that he did though because it gave me a day to myself, which I haven't had in a very long time. After the first couple of hours though, I was missing my family and I was very excited when they got home. Jason said it was hard, but the girls had a great time.

Megan playing at the lake.

The girls playing in the sand.

Lindsey at the lake.

Having fun "hunting"!

Oh, and Jason did get out by himself this weekend to fill his tag. We now have a little meat for the winter! He is such a great provider!

Soccer

2010-10-11T15:43:00.006-06:00

I have been meaning to post these pictures for quite some time now, but just haven't gotten around to it until today. We signed Lindsey up to play soccer this fall. We thought it would be a fun way for her to learn to play on a team with other kids. Some days she enjoys it, but most days it is a test of wills to get her there and playing with the kids. For our first soccer game, she didn't want to play and just stood in the middle of the field for awhile. Finally, she warmed up to the idea, and was running around chasing the ball with the other kids. She even kicked the ball a few times. We only have one game left, but I hope that she has enjoyed playing despite the fights we had to get her there on time. I'm not sure if she is going to want to play next year. Megan has showed more interest in playing, so we may sign her up next year. These pictures are from Lindsey's first game.

Team huddle. Lindsey is #6.

Getting warmed up to the idea of playing soccer.
She may actually be having fun!

Kicking the ball.

Megan wanted to wear the jersey too.

Throwing the ball in. Lindsey is holding the ball in the air.

Running after the ball.

Get the ball, Linds!

That wasn't so bad after all!

First day of school

2010-09-23T13:50:00.002-06:00

I can hardly believe that my first born is now old enough to go to preschool. She sure is growing up fast. Lindsey started at Headstart at the beginning of this month. I think that she really enjoys going and we have started to fall into the routine of things. The first day of preschool kind of snuck up on us this year, and I was very unprepared as far as new school clothes goes. But, thanks to Daddy, she was able to wear brand new clothes to school the next day. I think that Megan is also enjoying the one-on-one time that she and I have now.

Lindsey's first day of preschool. I think she was a little nervous, but she had fun.

Megan was pretty excited too.
Cute girls!

Lindsey's brand new school clothes! Gosh she looks grown up.

New bike

2010-09-23T09:18:00.002-06:00

We got Lindsey a new bike (just in time for winter! Haha!) She was starting to outgrow her pink tricycle and her friend Patrick had a big bike that she kept talking about, so we decided to get her a big bike too. She wasn't very confident with riding it at first, but after a few attempts she is now riding it around all by herself. She has learned how to use the brakes and how to stand up on the pedals when she is going uphill.

Our first egg!

2010-08-22T16:10:00.002-06:00

After months and months of anticipation, we finally have our first egg from the chickens! Jason went out to check on the chickens last night and he found the egg. Then this afternoon, we had another one! Hooray! I know it is silly, but it is so much fun having the chickens and now having them lay eggs.

Megan showing off the first egg. She was so gentle with it.
Lindsey caught Charlie to show off the chicken and the egg. (At least we think it was Charlie that laid the first egg.)

Sewing projects

2010-08-22T15:57:00.002-06:00

My mom came for a visit for a few days this last week. While she was here, I put her to work helping me with a couple of sewing projects for the new baby. It was fun breaking out the old sewing machine and spending time with my mom. Thanks, Mom, for all your help!

Diaper stacker

Crib sheet
Receiving blanket #1

Receiving blanket #2

Receiving blanket #3

Receiving blanket #4

Chicken catcher

2010-08-22T15:48:00.002-06:00

We have one chicken that we call Charlie that lets Lindsey catch her just about anytime she wants to. Lindsey has become quite good at catching Charlie. The other night we had some friends over for s'mores and we let the chickens out of their coop. Lindsey was able to catch Charlie and show her to our friend Gavin.

Lindsey loving on Charlie
Lindsey helping Megan to pet Charlie.

So much fun catching chickens!

So tired

2010-08-22T15:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm not sure what we were doing this day, but Megan was tuckered out! All I remember is that I put a movie on for her to watch in our room and then when I went to check on her a few minutes later, she was out. She must have been really tired!

Summer camping trip

2010-08-22T13:12:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of this month, we went camping with our good friends the Whartons. It was the first time we had been camping all summer and unfortunately, it looks like it will probably be the last time as well. This summer has just flown by and we have been so busy that camping has been put on the backburner for now. I hope that we can get out more next year. This was also Megan's first time camping ever, and she had a ball. We all had a great time, and thanks so much to the Wharton's for inviting us!

Megan enjoying a s'more by the fire.

Mckenna, Lindsey and Eli eating their s'mores.
Me enjoying Jason's bonfire.

Me, 24 weeks pregnant.

The Wharton Family.

Sunset

We brought our portable dvd player to try to help the kids get to sleep that night. Yeah, it didn't work. We still had crying kids until well past 11 that night.

Eli and Mckenna enjoying to show.

Lindsey playing on the rocks by our campsite.

Eli and Lindsey

Megan having breakfast.

Luke waiting for breakfast.

Bobo. I think the boys enjoyed themselves out camping more than we did!

Eli and Mckenna loved having the dogs there.

Jason and Megan

Jason and the girls

We went fishing the next day. This is the lake that we went to.

Out fishing. We didn't have much luck.

Jason and the girls fishing and enjoying a snack.

Sandra and Mckenna

Mckenna soaking her toes.

Lindsey and Jason soaking their toes.

Lindsey

Megan

Megan's 1st haircut

2010-08-22T09:54:00.003-06:00

At the end of July I decided it was time to take Megan in for her first haircut. She was constantly pushing her hair out of her eyes, so I thought it was finally time to do something about it. Jason was home that day, so I was able to take the girls in shifts and get Lindsey's hair cut as well. All three of us got our hair cut. Mine was getting really long as well. Unfortunately, I forgot to take some "after" pictures of Lindsey and I, but I did get one of Megan!

Megan's "before" picture.

"Before"-the back view.
The girls and I "before". I got about 8 inches taken off, so now it comes to my collarbone.

Megan's "after". She looks so cute with her new haircut! I can't believe how grown-up she looks now.

"After"-the back view.

Lindsey's "before".

"Before"-the back view. We took about two or three inches off of Lindsey's hair. It just looks more "even" now.

Day to day

2010-08-22T07:45:00.002-06:00

Here are just a few day to day pictures that I have taken over the last month.

Since Megan has stopped taking naps during the day, she gets really tired around dinner time. This day I had given the girls some foam stickers to play with and she was just too tired to keep her eyes open.

Lindsey was having fun though.
Such a cute smile!

Enjoying a book in the doll stroller.

Goodrich Family Reunion

2010-07-23T14:44:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we had a family reunion in Utah with Jason's family. His parents rented a cabin with five bedrooms and six bathrooms near Altamont. We had two private ponds near the cabin. The girls had a great time going for canoe rides and fishing with Jason and Grandpa Joe. Although it took a little bit of convincing to get Lindsey in the canoe at first. Both girls really enjoyed playing with their cousins. We all had a great time and it was so good to see everyone. It makes me really wish that we all lived closer together. Thanks for Joe and JoAnn, and Jody and Bret for planning such a great reunion!

On the drive to Utah, we saw these two big horn sheep running by the side of the road just outside of Thermopolis. I think that they were fighting when we first drove up on them. We got some great pictures of them.

Be jealous, Jeff! Do you think you could have taken such a great picture?

We stopped at the park in Lander to play for a bit while Jason did a little work. Such a fun park!

Sisters and best friends.

Playing on the tightrope.

I was really surprised at how well Megan did on this.

At the cabin, Lindsey got more birthday presents from Grandma JoAnn and Grandpa Joe. Here she is showing off her new "Neverland" movie: Alice in Wonderland.

A baseball glove and bat. You can also see that she got a pile of clothes! Thanks, Grandma JoAnn!

Eating birthday cake with Andrew.

Happy birthday, Little Girl!

Megan, Johanna, Andrew, Lindsey, Joseph, and Josh. Most of the cousins.

Jason's grandma, Nina, came to visit one night for dinner. Lindsey talked her ear off for about 30 minutes, but I really think that Nina loved it. Aunt Margie, Johanna, Grandma Nina, Lindsey, Megan and Grandma JoAnn.

Our family with Grandma Nina.

One of the activities that was planned was to do a shaving cream "do" on the dads. Each kid had a can of shaving cream, and we able to pile it up on Jason's head. Well, okay, Jason's legs and arms were more covered than his head, but we all had fun. Here is a bit of the aftermath.

As you can see, this activity got pretty messy, but easily cleaned up with a dip in the pond for Jason and some water for the girls.

Four years old!

2010-07-23T11:22:00.002-06:00

Happy 4th birthday to my precious princess, Lindsey! It's hard to believe that four years have gone by already. She is such a joy to have in our family. Her favorite things to do lately are color, play with Playdoh, and ride her tricycle. She loves to go to the pool and the park, and is becoming very confident in the water. She isn't quite to the point where she will put her head underwater, but I think she will be there before the end of the summer. She is also a very big helper and is going to be a great big sister to her new baby brother. She talks about how she is going to help feed him and change his diaper and rock him to sleep. Lindsey is very excited to be going to preschool this fall. I think that she is ready, but it will be hard for me to let her go. She is so smart that I think school is going to be great for her.

The night before her birthday I made cupcakes, and we had an impromptu birthday party for her with the neighbors.

Everyone wanted to help blow out the candle.

Lindsey and Megan couldn't wait to blow up balloons.

On the day of her birthday, we drove to Cody. We had another small birthday party with Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Lyle at Pizza on the Run. The girls love that place because of all the play equipment.

Good little climbers.

Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Lyle gave Lindsey a Toy Story drawing pad. She was pretty excited and has already gone through about half of the paper.

We gave her a portable dvd player. I think this was more for our sanity in the next couple of days than it was really for her. She loved it though.

Big Horn Trail Run 2010

2010-07-23T11:03:00.002-06:00

I ran the Big Horn Trail Run on June 19th, so it has taken me awhile to get these pictures posted. I had been training for this race since December of last year, so when we found out that I was pregnant in March, I decided I was just going to run it and not worry about my time. I am glad that I did. It was a great run, and I feel so good about myself for finishing a 30k run at 18 weeks pregnant. My time was just a little over 5 hours, which I think is awesome considering the downhills were terrible on my knees and I had huge blisters all over my feet. Even though I was hurting the next few days, I would really like to run this race again next year. The weather was beautiful and the race was very well organized.

It doesn't look like it in this picture, but I did finish the race running.

It was so fun to have my baby girls there at the finish with me. Lindsey ran the last little bit with me barefoot, but they wouldn't let her in the finish shoot with me. They did let Megan though.
Soaking my feet after the run. The cold water felt so good!

Being silly

2010-07-22T19:46:00.004-06:00

While I was taking pictures of my flowers, the girls and I had an impromtu photo shoot. Had I known that they were going to let me take pictures of them, I would have cleaned their faces a little better. Still, dirty or clean, I got some fun pictures.

Eskimo kisses.

My flowers

2010-07-22T19:25:00.002-06:00

The last few years, we haven't had much luck with our landscaping. Almost every tree we plant seems to die, and we have lost more bushes than I can count. But, one of my favorite things about spring and summer are my flowers, so I have to show off how well they have bloomed for me. They make me smile.

This is the iris that we got from Jason's grandmother. We planted it a few years ago, but this is the first year that it has bloomed. We also have a white one, and I love them so much.

We call this one our "snow-ball bush" because the blossoms are big white balls. I'm not sure of the actual name for it, but it is very pretty.
Our beautiful hostas. These ones are so much fun to watch grow because they grow fast. Looking back, I think that Jason would have planted more of these because they seem to be the only ones that we could keep alive.

My potted barrel. My mom always had a few barrels out in front of the house, so I feel like my house isn't complete without one. Mom always planted petunias though, and last year I did as well. This year I decided to try something different, and I really like the results.

I'm not sure of the name for this plant. I don't even know where we got it from. The only thing that I do know is that it is one of the only plants that has come back year after year for us. We love it because it gets so tall and full.

My front flower bed. Jason likes the antlers.

Fishing with Daddy

2010-07-22T19:04:00.002-06:00

I understand that it has been quite awhile since my last blog post, so unfortunately, these pictures are a couple months old. A few months ago, Jason decided to take Lindsey and the dogs fishing. Lindsey, of course, had a great time, but so did Luke. Luke loves to go fishing. He is in the water immediately trying to help catch the fish that we snag, but also trying to catch one of his own. Most of the time he isn't very successful, but he sure has a great time.

The great fisherman, Luke.

Chickens

2010-06-03T08:35:00.003-06:00

A little over a month ago, we acquired eight chickens. We thought that it would be nice to have our own fresh eggs and that the girls would have fun with them. And, hey, if Jacob can do it in the city, why can't we? About a week ago, we moved the chickens into their permanent residence of the coop by the side of the house. The girls love to play with them. Especially Lindsey. She has become quite the little chicken catcher lately.

My little chickie baby.

Showing off her prize. Megan likes to look, but not touch.Caught another one.

Lindsey is surprisingly gentle with the chickens.

Megan looking at the coop. She didn't want to catch a chicken for me.

Attempting to catch yet another one.

Not quite all of the chickens.

This is the coop that Jason built. I think that we might end up painting it, but it looks nice as is too.

The inside view.

This is what happens...

2010-06-03T08:28:00.002-06:00

When you play too hard! Lately the girls have been enjoying their days playing with the hose no matter what the weather. They wear themselves out though and this is what happens later that afternoon.

Winter wonderland...in May?

2010-06-03T08:12:00.002-06:00

I know that these next pictures are a little old, but I just wanted to share them and show how wet and snowy our Spring has been this year. We got about 7-8 inches of snow in just one night at the beginning of May. It was so much snow, that I thought we were going to be snowed-in, but thankfully it was starting to melt off by that evening.

The girls getting ready to play in the snow. BoBo wanted to come play too.

After I got the driveway and front walk shovelled. It took me about an hour because it was such wet and heavy snow.
This picture gives a really good idea of how much snow we really got.

Jason had just put our hammock back up and then it got covered in snow. So sad!

So this is what we did for the rest of the day because the girls were cold and tired from playing in the snow. I love snuggling with my girls!

Clifford the Big Red Dog

2010-04-22T13:41:00.002-06:00

Clifford the Big Red Dog came to our Story Time today to promote Wyoming PBS Kids and reading. The girls have been talking about seeing Clifford for a few days now, so they were really excited to see him. I have honestly never seen so many kids at Story Time before. Not even for Santa Claus! This was a big deal! They read a story and then the kids were able to meet Clifford and give hugs and then make a Clifford hat. Lindsey was very excited to see Clifford and kept asking when she could go sit on his lap. Megan didn't want to go meet him at first, but as we were leaving she did go give him a hug, and I was able to snap a picture. It was a fun time today! Thanks Wyoming PBS Kids and Johnson County Library!

Lindsey and Clifford.
Megan in her finished Clifford hat.

Lindsey's Clifford hat and having a snack.

Megan and Clifford.

Let's go fly a kite!

2010-04-20T09:13:00.004-06:00

The last couple of weeks have been pretty breezy here, and it was the perfect time to pull out the kites that Grandpa Joe brought the girls from China. They had a blast helping Jason fly them, and they ask all the time to fly the kites. Here are a few pictures.

This is the giant squid. He is HUGE! I bet he is probably as long as Jason's truck. His tentacles kind of got tangled in this picture, but it is pretty impressive to see this kite flying.

Jason and Megan flying the giant squid.
Jason and both girls flying the squid.

Megan helping fly the kite.

Lindsey helping to fly a smaller kite.

Jason and Lindsey flying the smaller kite.

Happy birthday to Megan!

2010-04-20T08:45:00.004-06:00

Saturday, April 10th was Megan's second birthday. It's hard to believe that my little baby is growing up. She is such a sweet, good-natured little girl. She is a very good helper, and loves to help me pick up the toys and books at night. She loves her big sister very much and wants to do everything that Lindsey does. It is so fun to hear Megan say, "Linsy, I lub you!" She must say that a dozen times a day.

To celebrate Megan's birthday, we took the girls to the new movie "How to Train Your Dragon". Two weeks later they are still talking about it, so the movie was a sucess. If you haven't seen it, it is a very cute movie and one that I think we will buy when it comes out on dvd. I was a slacker for the rest of the day and wasn't able to make Megan's birthday cake until Sunday. It turned out okay though because the girls really enjoyed celebrating two days instead of just one.

So happy birthday to my sweet little Megan! I love you so very much!

Megan opening her gifts from Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Lyle.

Figuring out the wrapping paper.
Waiting for birthday cupcakes.

Here they come!

Not yet. Don't blow the candles out yet!

Okay, now!

Got it done.

Hooray for Meggie!

Lindsey waiting her turn.

Enjoying the cupcake.

Lindsey loved hers too.

An Easter camping trip

2010-04-13T13:36:00.004-06:00

We spent Easter weekend with a couple of Jason's old mission companions and their families in Island Park. We weren't exactly "roughing it" as we were able to rent a very nice cabin with cable t.v. and just about anything else we needed. It was fun getting to know everyone and letting the kids play. It snowed on us the whole weekend, so we didn't get out much except for Saturday afternoon when we took the kids to the Imax theater in West Yellowstone. All in all, a great weekend with great company!

This is the main floor of the cabin. Upstairs were two bedrooms, one bathroom and a balcony with two extra beds.

Another view of the main floor.
Front view of the cabin. See all the snow?

Lindsey painting Easter eggs.

She had a great time painting those eggs.

A few of our eggs.

Easter morning and all the loot.

Lindsey checking out her Easter basket.

Megan and her Easter basket.

Megan taking a good nap.

Lindsey and Carter playing Lincoln Logs. I am so glad that we brought those. The kids had a blast and I couldn't believe some of their creations.

Showing off their "ship".

Carter was pretty proud of this one.

Shyanne and Megan. I couldn't believe how well these two got along. One time I caught them in bed, reading, just giggling like crazy. It was so cute.

Megan and Shyanne.

The girls. Autumn Jensen, Megan, Shyanne Ricks, and Lindsey.

All the kids. Autumn, Megan, Shyann, Lindsey and Carter Ricks.

The kids again. Carter was done taking pictures.

Presten Jensen, Jason and Jason Ricks. Jason's mission companions.

Amy Jensen, Britney Ricks, and me.

French braids and Easter dresses

2010-03-21T16:25:00.003-06:00

Grandma JoAnn bought the girls some very cute Easter dresses. Today was the first day that I was able to have the girls wear them. I was able to french braid both Lindsey and Megan's hair. I can't believe that Megan's hair is long enough to braid AND that she sat still long enough for me to do it. Okay, almost sat still long enough. She had to have a little help from Daddy right at the end. The girls looked so cute, so I just had to share some of the pictures.

This is their "Pretty Princess Smile".

Megan's teeth are looking so much better now that we have taken the paci away during the day. She is also talking a lot more, which is so fun.

Hair cuts

2010-03-21T15:51:00.003-06:00

Here are the pictures from Lindsey's hair cutting adventure a couple of weeks ago.

The before.

Lindsey's before.
Megan's before.

Lindsey's after. I acutally think it looks pretty cute. But I think that we are going to let her bangs grow for a while!

Megan's after. They just trimmed her hair up a bit, but you can't even tell that it was cut.

Hair disaster

2010-03-08T15:09:00.002-07:00

A couple of days ago, we bought Lindsey some children's scissors so she could learn how to cut paper. We pulled them out last night and she was so excited. I gave her a few warnings about not cutting anything but the paper and away we went. Today she was still pretty excited about cutting, so I gave them to her while I paid a few bills. The next thing that I know, she comes up to me saying, "Look at my pretty hair, Mommy. Now it looks just like yours!" She was very proud of herself because her bangs were now out of her face. I calmly asked her if she had done that with the scissors, and she said that she had. I then tried to explain to her that we don't cut our own hair. Mommy does that or we go to someone special to cut our hair for us. She got really upset when I told her that I was going to have to take the scissor away because she cut her hair. She also thought that Daddy might cry and be upset when he saw what she had done. Of course, I snapped a few pictures. I swore up and down that MY child would never ever be the one to cut her own hair. I guess I was wrong. Please tell me that every child has to experiment with scissors and their own hair at some point. I am just really thankful that she didn't get ahold of Megan's hair!

P.S. Any ideas on how to fix this? It is cut almost down to the scalp.

Happy birthday, Jason!

2010-03-08T14:55:00.002-07:00

Slacker that I am, I am a little late on getting this posted. Jason had a birthday a few weeks ago. His parents came up to celebrate with us. He didn't want me to do anything extravagant, so I didn't even buy him a birthday present. I did want to do something a little special to celebrate, so we made T-bones and an extra fancy chocolate cake.

Yummy, yummy steaks! I think between four adults and two kids we only ate one and a half of these huge steaks.

Showing off the chocolate cake.
I am pretty proud of this little cake. It is the first one that I have ever done from scratch. It was three layers with chocolate filling and a chocolate frosting.

The cake was a huge hit!

Mmmm!

So happy belated birthday to my wonderful husband! We love you so very much!

FINISHED!!

2010-02-21T16:26:00.002-07:00

We have finished our basement! Jason has been working so hard this winter to get the basement done, and now we can say that it is finished! We got the carpet in last week. Here are a few pictures of the finished product.

Lindsey wanted to "move in" right away. She brought most of her babies down to see the new carpet. View #1 of the family room.

She was so excited for the new carpet! View #2 of the family room.
Bathroom

Large bedroom

Small bedroom

Puerto Vallarta

2010-02-20T17:49:00.002-07:00

Our last port stop was Puerto Vallarta. As we were getting back onto the cruise ship in Mazatlan, we talked to some people that had been on the cruise before. They said that the best thing to do in Puerto Vallarta was to go to the Krystal Hotel and lay on the beach. We thought that sounded really nice. Unfortunately, that day was very overcast and rainy, but not cold. We still went to the Krystal Hotel to check it out. While we were there we decided to have a couples massage. It was amazing! I really need to get a massage more often!

The pool-side bar at the hotel.

The beach at Puerto Vallarta.
Heading home and watching the sun set.

Another beautiful sunset.

Mazatlan

2010-02-20T17:34:00.002-07:00

Our second port stop was Mazatlan. We hired a drive to take us around the city. He showed us some pretty cool sites.

Our cruise ship is the one on the left.

Jason and I in front of the Twin Brothers.
Mazatlan's light house.

Iguana

One of the big tourist attractions in Mazatlan was to watch these guys cliff diving. Joe actually took this great picture.

Our driver took us to a fish market where we were able to buy some fresh shrimp and scallops. Then he took us to a resturant owned by one of his friends, and they cooked up the shrimp for us. It was some of the best shrimp that I have ever eaten.

JoAnn, Joe, Jacob, our driver (for the life of me, I can't remember his name!), Edie, and me.

Cabo San Lucas

2010-02-20T17:05:00.003-07:00

As many of you know, Jason and I had the opportunity to go on a cruise to Mexico. We went with Jason's parents and his brother, Jacob. It was a lot of fun, and something that I would want to do again. So here are a few of our vacation pictures.

This is the sunset our first night on the boat.

Jason and I, our first night.
Almost to Cabo. Can't wait to get off the boat.

I think these are dolphins. I can't really be sure because we were up on the 12th deck. They were jumping out of the water, and it was really fun to see them.

Our cruise ship, The Mariner of the Seas.

Pelicans. The locals called them Mexican chickens.

In Cabo, Jason and I rented kayaks and snorkeling gear with Jacob and Edie. This is the beach that we went to to snorkel. My first attempt at snorkeling was awesome! I loved it and hope to be able to do it again.

Cabo San Lucas

A ship that we saw that night. I loved that it was all lit up.

Extras

2010-02-17T19:10:00.002-07:00

Here are a few extra pictures for your enjoyment!

Megan has fallen off of the bunkbeds only once since we got them for Christmas. This is what she looked like the next morning. It is almost a perfect 2x4 shape right down the middle of her forehead. She still has a slight lump, but the bruising is gone.

Sweet little Lindsey watching "Annie".
The girls enjoying the bunkbeds.

Lindsey found my stash! She climbed up there all on her own to get my Hershey Kisses!

Playing dress-up

2010-02-17T16:14:00.002-07:00

I'm not sure where we got these scarves. I think that they are from Grandma JoAnn and Grandpa Joe. They have been in our dress-up box for awhile, and the girls pulled them out the other day. They wanted me to wrap them up in the scarves. They looked so cute that I had to take some pictures!

Painting

2010-02-17T14:40:00.002-07:00

Jason has been working very hard on getting our basement finished. His latest project was to paint the trim and doors. Lindsey really wanted to help him paint, so Jason gave her a roller and let her go. I think she ended up making more of a mess than to help paint, but she did have fun.

This is her finished product.

Lindsey painting.

Such a good helper!

Swimming in Thermop

2010-02-17T14:17:00.004-07:00

Just before the New Year, we decided to meet my sister, brothers, and mom in Thermopolis to take the kids swimming. It was a great time. The girls were a little shy at first, but soon warmed up to being in the water and swimming with their cousins and uncles. Lindsey didn't want to go down the water slide at first, but once she had gone a couple of times, she wanted to keep going. We had a great time swimming and hopefully we can do it more often.

Here is Lindsey going down the slide with Alex.

Frame 2. She looks a little nervous.

Frame 3. She actually had a great time going down the slide.
Lindsey after swimming.

Megan and Grandma Sherry.

Megan was a little more nervous about the water than I thought she would be. She didn't want to let me go.

Lindsey taking a short break.

Me and Megan, Eric and Mariah.

Christmas 2009

2010-02-17T13:45:00.002-07:00

Well, better late than never right? Here are a few pictures from Christmas. Santa brought the girls brand new bunkbeds. Jason helped him out a bit though, and they turned out great. The girls were so excited to sleep in their new bunkbeds, and have been sleeping in them every night since.

Lindsey and Megan with their new dolls.

Megan in her new jammies.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

2009-12-18T11:20:00.005-07:00

Well, okay, he came to the Library at least, and we got to see him. I was surprised at how few kids there were this year. It was good for us though because we didn't have to stand in line for such a long time. Grandma JoAnn was able to come with us, and she actually stood in line with the girls while I got ready to snap some pictures. Lindsey was so excited that she was jumping up and down in line. She has been really into Christmas this year. She loves to sit with me and look at pictures of toys, and she will tell me, "I want this for Christmas, and this for Christmas, and this for Christmas." So when it came time to sit on Santa's lap, she climbed right up there. He asked her her name and how old she was, and then he asked her what she wanted for Christmas. I guess Santa couldn't believe that a 3-year-old would ask for bunk beds for Christmas because he had to ask her twice. All the parents were laughing because they couldn't believe it either.

Megan didn't like Santa as much as Lindsey did. She just wanted to get out of there! But the candy cane did make up for things a little bit.

Megan with Grandma JoAnn.

Foam Christmas ornaments

2009-12-16T14:29:00.002-07:00

I was in Billings last month and saw these foam Christmas ornament kits at Michael's. I thought that they would be a fun activity to do with the girls. It was fun, but really messy! Lindsey did the whole second row of ornaments and a few on the bottom row all by herself. Megan made most of the bottom row. The girls loved the glitter and the glue and to be doing something different. I think that these will make nice Christmas presents for the grandparents.

Helping to put the ornaments on the tree.
Megan

Lindsey

Saying "Cheese hamburgers!"

Big Bear

2009-12-16T14:24:00.002-07:00

Lindsey has taken to calling our new giant bear "Big Bear". The other day she insisted on watching a movie in his lap. The next thing I know, she is sound asleep! She was too cute to resist taking a picture.

Are my kids the only ones...?

2009-12-15T09:49:00.002-07:00

That are obsessed with ice cubes? I swear I have melting ice cubes all over my house lately! It is the middle of winter! Why are they playing with ICE CUBES?! Their favorite game is to get the small cups of tupperware from the lazy-susan, fill them up with ice cubes, and put the lids on the containers. I have to repeatedly tell them to close the freezer door, and I feel like I am constantly picking up these cups of ice cubes/ice water/water. Maybe it is just the fact that they can now open the freezer door all by themselves. It keeps them occupied though, and it IS just water. Maybe I will let them play with the ice cubes just as long as they close the freezer door!

Cookie thief

2009-12-10T18:27:00.002-07:00

Well, there won't be any pictures for this post, but I just had to share a funny story about the girls. Lately, Lindsey has been getting Megan to do naughty things for her. Like if Lindsey is mad at me, she will tell Meg to come hit me. And Megan will do it, of course! The other night, I was making a big batch of cookies for Christmas. The cookies were on the counter cooling, and I told the girls they couldn't have any until after dinner. Unfortunately, the cookies were within reach of Megan. Lindsey told Megan to go get a cookie, which she did. And before I could stop them, Lindsey grabbed the cookie from Megan, took a huge bite, threw the rest of the cookie on the floor and walked right into time-out! She knew she was in trouble, but I guess it was worth it for one bite of cookie!

Auction

2009-12-07T10:49:00.002-07:00

This last weekend, we spent most of Saturday at an auction. A construction company was going out of business and Jason wanted to get a saw and drill. Megan and I were able to leave for a couple of hours to get our grocery shopping done, but when we got back, I found that we were the proud new owners of "Teddy". As soon as the girls saw him, I knew that we were going to have to bid on him.

Both girls were so tuckered out from the day that they fell asleep almost immediately!
Close to the end of the auction, the girls were being so rowdy that I decided to take them out to the truck. We made some jingle bell bracelets while we were waiting for Jason. Megan was so tired that she fell asleep with it in her mouth!

Hogle Zoo

2009-12-07T09:51:00.004-07:00

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we took the girls to Hogle Zoo. It was even more fun because our Hicken cousins were able to come with us. The girls had a great time looking at all the animals. Megan took to her cousin, Sarah, right away and was trying to do everything that she did. It was so cute watching Megan try to skip like Sarah. Thanks for coming with us, Hickens! We had a blast!

Lindsey, Sarah, Jenna, Megan, Anna, Andrew, and Addison

Close-up of all the cousins.

Lindsey checking out the animals.

Megan looking at the meercats.
Lindsey enjoying the ride in the stroller.

Revenge!

Jason and I with the girls.

Tiger

Megan and Sarah

Lindsey looking at the baby giraffe with Grandpa Joe.

Penguin

Megan taking a sip.

Zebras

Mama elephant with her baby. This little baby was so cute. They had a big log in there and he was trying to balance on the log.

Monkey