Milestones.....:)

So, I had 3 random pictures that I wanted to post, but I couldn't figure out how to tie them all together...until now. They are all milestones in their own way. First, we had family pictures with Ray's parents and all the grandkids. Of course, they were almost all crying or not participating in some way. Amidst all the noise, I just took a second and remembered that when I first met Ray there was only one little grandaughter (Kaylee) who was 6 months old. And now there are seven grandchildren and Kaylee is 6 1/2. So long ago--yet just yesterday. Here's the picture:

Milestone #2: Our cute little Honda finally clicked over to 200,000 miles. Amazing. This is a milestone because how many people really actually see that happen? Not too many I would dare to venture.

Milestone #3: We are finishing our basement and it's finally all sheetrocked. All we have to do now is trim, priming and painting, carpet, cabinets, fixtures and countertops. I know, we are still a little ways away...but it's exciting. Again I thought about how we've gone from a tiny little apartment to a house with a yard and two kids and now a finished basement.

Here's a picture from Kynlee's party!!!!!

Kynlee's One!

It's amazing just how fast one year can fly by. I know it's cliche, but it seems like only yesterday I was writing about Kynlee's blessing...now she's one. She is turning into such a little person. I love that she is starting to show us her little personality more and more. Her new thing is shaking her head "no." Whenever you ask her anything, or try to feed her something she doesn't want, she shakes her head. It's soooo cute!

I love this age because she is getting more independent and can entertain herself (or be entertained by Sierra); yet she is still a baby. She loves to snuggle and be held and you gotta love the open mouthed slobbery kisses. She is so sweet and happy and there is something in her face that is so familiar to me. It's like I look at her and I feel like I've known her for a long time. It's the same with Sierra. I can't remember not having them. I love being their mom!

P.S. the cake was awesome. I made a swimming pool cake where the middle is actually blue jello that looked like a real swimming pool with little "teddy graham swimmers" in gummy saver inner tubes. So cute!

We Got A New Car!!!!!!!

Okay, for all of you that know us....really know us, you're probably saying to yourself, "it's about time." Let me explain. The car we currently drive is a 2001, 4-door Honda Civic with a tape deck and 198,000 miles on it. The check engine light is permanently on (even though we've taken it in to be fixed like 10 times) and if the A/C is on--and this includes defrost--it makes this horrible squeaking sound that could possibly do serious damage to your hearing if you are standing outside next to the car. Inside the car, the squeaking isn't that loud, it's just really annoying, and really, really, embarassing. I mean, have you ever driven out of the parking lot at church, where you know EVERYONE, and had your car making a really loud noise? It's totally embarrassing. However, this is not the car we replaced.

I know what you're thinking--RAY GOT A NEW CAR! When his wife drives a piece of junk? No, he actually drives a piece of junk as well. His truck is a 1996 Toyota truck with 110,000 miles on it (mostly because is gets less miles to the gallon than the Honda, so we don't drive it as much) and we can't legally fit our whole family in it.

No, the new car I am speaking of is a black Escalade EXT with 0 miles on it. It has chrome hubcaps and a jammin' stereo. It can go in reverse, slow and fast. I think it goes up to 5 miles per hour and it doesn't even need gas. Here's the picture:


Yep, Sierra now drives the nicest car in our family. And she's pretty good at it too. She drove around ALL day last Saturday and since the car has seat belts, we buckled in Kynlee and those two had a GREAT time. It's the best babysitter we ever had. Someday, maybe we will spring for a real new car, or van :) but guaranteed it won't be nicer than Sierra's.

Welcome Giselle!

We have officially added a new member to our family. HIS name is Giselle the Goldfish. (yes, I said HIS--go figure :) About a month ago we went to the pediatrician and there was a fish tank and Sierra just LOVED it. So we made a deal--she had to eat all her food, every meal, for 1 month. I know this sounds easy (or maybe hard) but Sierra has really had food issues since she was born. She just doesn't like to eat. Pretty much every meal I end up feeding her so she'll eat something.

Just a sidenote, last time we were at my parents house, she was throwing a fit about eating her lunch and she said, "Mom, when can I stop eating?" When I said,"Never!" She started crying that she was going to have to eat her food everyday for the rest of her life. P.S. She's not anorexic or anything, she just doesn't like to eat very much--but she does like to SNACK....hence, the making her eat her actual meals.

Anyway, so Sierra really did make a concerted effort to eat every meal for the whole month of February. And she did great. It was amazing that I didn't have to force her to eat. All I had to say was, "Do you still want your fish?" and she'd eat up. It's amazing what kids will do to get what they want--I'll have to remember that one for when she's a teenager :)

So last Monday for FHE we went to the pet store, picked out the bowl, the castle, the "rainbow" rocks and the pink bush. When we were picking out the fish, there were all these big goldfish with pretty fins and tails. But did she want one of those, no....she wanted the little squirrly one with chunks taken out of its fins and tail from the pretty goldfish.

She named it Giselle (because that's her favorite name...and movie...ENCHANTED) Another sidenote: she really, really wanted to name Kynlee, Giselle, but we had to exercise our parental veto power to told her that the baby liked the name Kynlee better. Anyway, she loves her pet and she loves feeding it and will sit and watch him eat and swim around for hours. She also thinks he might die if she doesn't check on him all the time, so first thing in the morning she runs into the kitchen to check on him. It's been fun and I just love that she tells him "You are soooo cutie!"

Blogger MIA

Hi there everyone! Again, everything's been so crazy I haven't had time to blog :) To start with, Ray and I had our 5 year anniversary! I can't believe it's been five years. In some ways it seems like just yesterday we were dating and driving back and forth to see eachother; but in other ways, it seems like we've been together forever. I can't imagine my life without Ray. He makes me feel so special and I love being his "hot mama".

Right after that the girls got sick...runny noses, coughs, and Kynlee got an ear infection. Due to all the waking up at night, and snuggling sick kids, Ray and I are now sick. And somewhere in the middle of it all Kynlee started crawling! She is now into everything, but very happy to be mobile. She says da-da all the time and ma-ma only when she's tired or sad. Sierra is turning into such a social little girl! She loves talking on the phone. I mean LOVES it. Loves it so much that when you hang up, she knows what buttons to push to call you back (like a hundred times). I usually end up having to take the phone away from her!

That's our life in a nutshell...we're all trying to get better so we can go on a little trip Ray won with State Farm to Savannah, GA! Lot of Love!

Belated Holidays...

Okay, so I don't know how it happened but from October thru January, it seems like we have one holiday after another and I just couldn't find the time to update our blog. So here's our holidays in pictures...

First there was Halloween! Sierra was going to be Sleeping Beauty for probably 6 weeks before Halloween. Then, the day before Halloween, her cousin Tessa came to dance class as Tinkerbell and so then it HAD TO BE Tinkerbell! Luckily, we already had that costume in the closet :) And Kynlee made the cutest little lamb!




Then there was Sierra's 4th birthday! We ended up having three parties to accomodate all the friends and family. This picture is on the morning of Sierra's birthday. She couldn't wait to open her presents, sooooo.....of course we let her! This is all really wanted for her birthday. A doll that goes potty. Only it doesn't actually potty, it just tells you when she has to go and then makes potty noises...


The first party was a pizza party on the night of her birthday. We invited all the cousins and had a great time!


Party #2: This one was with some of our neighbors and all my family. Of course, everyone had to dress up in princess dresses!




And the cake....


Kynlee in the Hannah Montana wig!


I don't have any pictures from our third party. It was with Ray's parents and it was more cake and presents:)

Then there was Thanksgiving. We spent this year in Salmon, ID with Ray's grandma and various other family members. We had a great time and ate lots of good food. There were 56 people there for Thanksgiving dinner. We are really just grateful for everything. We feel so blessed that we are happy and healthy. What more could we ask for?

And then there was Christmas! This year we spent the weekend before Christmas with my family. We saw everybody (including our new baby cousin Wyatt), went to the Nutcracker, went elk hunting, went to my grandma's party, and endured a blizzard. It was great!

Christmas Day was at our own house and it was FUN! It was the first Christmas we've spent at our house and we just loved it. Sierra was so excited to see what Santa brought her and Kynlee just loved all the bows and paper.


Here is Sierra in her dress up clothes and Kynlee in her new saucer!




We had a fabulous holiday season and hope you did as well. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!