From Our Home To Yours....

Milestones.....:)

2009-06-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

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

Kynlee's One!

2009-05-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!!!

2009-04-28T14:27:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-03-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

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!

Dance Class

2008-10-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

I remember my first day of dance class at Val's Dance in Bluewater, NM. I was three. I had on a light blue leotard, white tights, and pink jelly shoes. Since that day, I've been to A LOT of dance classes and done A LOT of dancing. And I've loved every single second of it. I really didn't think anything could be more fun. UNTIL, I took Sierra to dance class.

To be fair, Sierra did do dance class last year. But it took her a good 3 or 4 months to actually stand on her 'X' by herself. (Guess who had to stand next to her and do all the moves? Yours truly!:) This year she couldn't wait to start dance. Every Wednesday, I'll bet she asks me about one hundred times if it's four o'clock yet. Now she is very good at standing on her 'X'. She practices her ballet positions and her splits every day. She loves to do the warm-up on my aerobics video "all by herself." Sometimes at dance I stand back and just watch her twirl; thinking to myself how much fun it is to watch her love something like I love it. Who knows? Maybe it does run in the genes!

The BOX!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Okay so you know the box I mean. It's the one (or two, or three...) that you packed when you turned 18 and moved away. I am now almost 27 so it's been very close to 10 years since I packed MY boxes. Well, my parents got tired of storing them, so they brought them to me about 2 years ago and they've sat in my garage until last week. Let me just tell you that if you want to have one heck of a funny afternoon--just go through your box. I was ASTONISHED at all the crazy stuff I kept. I really don't know what was possessing me when I packed up my room. Here's a short list of some of the things I found in my boxes....
1. a small box full of pennies (none were old or special or anything, just pennies)
2. Every note anyone ever wrote me in junior high (including one from a boy that asked me if he could kiss me! I was DYING with laughter)
3. My AP English, Geometry, Chemistry, Human Biology, and US History notes (because why?)
4. Every book report I wrote from about 6th grade on...including the one where I wrote a letter to Gerald Lund telling him how much I LOVED the Work and the Glory books and his response letter with a picture of him :)
5. A list of everyone I sent graduation announcements to
6. Of course...all the missionary letters...
7. My beaded necklaces that I earned--one bead at a time--at Girl's Camp
8. Scrapbooked pages of every formal dance I've ever been to...with the names of my dates, what we did for our day activity, and where they took me to dinner
9. PICTURES! of me asleep on the bus, at cheer camp, at EFY, the HIDEOUS haircut, the big blue glasses, and ones of some of you out there--Jessica, Megan (can I just say coconut bra?!), Marinda, Jodi, Lindsay, Sarah!!!!!!!
10. A box full of dried, dead flower corsages, movie tickets, gum wrappers, and other junk--I'm sure I was trying to be sentinmental but now I can't even remember why I kept the stuff?

It was a grand afternoon remembering my younger days. I know I'm only 27 but it seems like it was so long that I was in junior high and high school. Remember when the most important things in your life were the football game, who you liked, and what you were going to wear the next day? It's like I found a part of myself that I'd forgotten for a while--amidst all the diapers, dress-up, bills, etc. I remembered how all of those experiences (the break-ups, the moves, the friends, the teachers) that shaped me into who I am today and I was grateful for them. So if you have a box--and I hope you do--go through it someday. Throw away most of it--but keep some of the things that remind you who you are and why you are who you are.

Love,
Tappia

Photo Shoot

2008-10-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

We just got new pictures of the girls! Hope you enjoy!

My Top Ten

2008-10-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

In Popular Mechanics this month it lists the top 100 things that every guy should know. Things like hang sheet rock, change the oil, etc. Well, all that might be good to know but let's face it--not very practical. So I came up with my own top ten list of things I think every guy should know and DO!
1. How to give a good foot rub--with lotion!
2. How to grill (anything!)
3. How to make breakfast
4. How to change a diaper
5. How to use power tools (let's face it girls...we really do love that)
6. How to hunt something...deer, ducks, elk, my keys, the pacifier....
7. How to drive a stick shift
8. How to take out the trash--doesn't actually require SKILLS, but it sure is nice.
9. How to wash a car
10. How to fix anything around the house

Lucky for me, my honey knows and DOES all of these things so well. What can I say? I'm a lucky girl.

Kids, kids, kids....

2008-08-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

So, the other day I was talking to my neighbor Jenny and she said whenever her kids do something messy, funny, outrageous, etc. she takes a picture before getting mad or cleaning up--because SOMEDAY it will be funny. So, I started thinking about all of the crazy things that Sierra has done so far in her 3 1/2 years of life. Here are a few I wish I had pictures of.....the day she got into the sugar canister and threw it--by the handful--all over the kitchen....when she unrolled all the toilet paper off a brand new roll and then dragged it down the hall...coloring with crayons the tile...when she made me keep her blankie in the fridge so it would be cold (go figure?)...how she LOVES the dirt and throws it up in the air and then lets it fall all over her.

So this last month I have a taken a few pictures of her recent antics--coloring with chalk all over the garage (power tools were never cuter than with pink chalk on them) and Easter grass all over the basement. No joke ALL over the basement. When I made her help clean it up I said, "Look at this mess!" and she said, "Yes Mom, but isn't it a beautiful mess?" You gotta love them. Even when they're messy. And someday it will be funny--but even today it makes me smile and wish they didn't grow up so fast.
Love,
The Infangers

2008-07-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! This slide show is from our cruise to the Mediterranean last summer. Enjoy!

Baby Blessing

2008-07-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how time flies! Kynlee is two months old and we just blessed her on July 6,2008. It really does seem like yesterday Ray and I just met each other. Almost five years and two kids later...I can't believe it's gone so fast. Anyway, having a new baby just reminds you of how wonderful babies are--that special baby smell, holding them while they sleep, their soft skin and perfect little fingers and toes, how they stare into your eyes like they already know who you are, and even how cute they are when they cry like they are going to starve in the next 30 seconds.

Most of all it reminds you how great it is to be alive and to be part of a family that loves you. How blessed and lucky we are! Kynlee and Sierra are such good girls and we have so much fun being their parents. The blessing went perfectly--complete with perfect not-to-hot weather and no wind! (what else could I expect with a perfect pregnancy, perfect delivery, perfect baby, of course--perfect blessing with no crying:) We had so many friends and family that were able to come and we had a great time visiting with all of them. For all of you that couldn't make it, we missed you and make sure to check out the pics!

Love,
The Infangers

Welcome!

2008-07-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Let me be the first to welcome myself to the wide world of BLOGGING! Yes, you got it--we are actually attempting to integrate ourselves into the technological world we have so long been avoiding. Well, maybe not proactively avoiding just actively not partaking :) But we just couldn't resist any longer.

Ray's still an agent for State Farm Insurance. So any of you that need quotes....j/k. Tappia is busy with our new little girl Kynlee Jane (who is 2 months old) and trying to keep Sierra (31/2)from smothering her to much. We still live in Idaho Falls and just love it. We love our little house and we even planted a garden this year. It looks a little sad, but what can you do? To top it all off, we have the best neighbors and friends in the world.

We hope all is well with any of you that might stop by our little corner of cyberspace!!!
LOL, The Infanger's