~The Joys of Life~

Another Chrismtas :)

2012-01-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

Gracie, at Shore Acres again with grandparents

Madi holding Grandma Lau's hand

The family at Shore Acres

Christmas Eve night, just before going to bed :)

Christmas, after church

Madi with G&G Lau

Gracie waiting to open her presents

Madi's stash

Jeff's parents and grandparents

First sleeping bags!!!

All the many Christmas cards we received this year

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year. We were fortunate enough to have have Jeff's parents and grandparents celebrate with us. We are so glad they came out! The weather was great while they were here. We of course took them all to Shore Acres on the 23rd. Jeff's parents have seen the lights before, but it was his grandparents first time. What a great activity to enjoy and share with others at Christmas time. We all got spoiled as usual. Thank you everyone for making our Christmas another special one :) Can't wait for next year's! LOL

Santa

2012-01-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

Gracie

Gracie and Madi

Gracie

Gracie telling Santa she wants a flower for Christmas

Madi

Madi telling Santa she wants another stuffed puppy :)

Our pretty girls loved seeing Santa this year. They knew what they wanted and weren't shy at all.

Shore Acres

2012-01-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

Gracie (pink jacket) and Madi in front of the Sea Lion

My sweet Madilynn

Really enjoyed our annual trip to Shore Acres to look at all the wonderful lights. Gracie and Madilynn just loved it, and wanted to get a drimk and cookie as soon as we got there. Silly girls :)

Thanksgiving

2012-01-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving with friends. Didn't take very many pictures, we were enjoying the fabulous meal that the Herzogs made :) We brought a couple of items, but Janet made all the big stuff. Thanks, it was yummy.

New Family Pictures!!!

2011-11-20T14:05:00.001-08:00

Gracie

Madilynn

Yay! Our family pictures for the year! Thanks to my very talented sister, Cordie, I might just get Christmas cards made this year :) I'm so glad she was able to come visit. We had planned to do pictures this summer when we were in Idaho, but the only day that worked with both of our schedules, Madi ended up getting a swollen eye from a mosquito bite! I was really bummed that we didn't get to do them. So thank you my lovely big sister! If you want to check out her her photography blog click, here.

Beaches

2011-11-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

This sounds unbelievable, but I have never been to the beaches in Bandon. Wow, I was missing out! Gorgeous! I'm glad I went for the day with my parents and sister. We will definitely be going back. Afterwards, we had some yummy fish and chips for lunch. Can't go wrong there! The last pictures were takien at a local beach. It's very fun to have a bonfire there. Cordie had just finished taking my family's pictures. I can't wait to see them!!

Halloween Night

2011-11-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

With our friends the Mario Bros and Princess Peach :) So cute!

What a great night we had! Gracie and Madi were just beautiful as Cinderella and Snow White. It was great having my parents, my sister, Cordie and her son, Will trick-or-treating with us. Didn't he make the cutest Sea Otter? Thanks for the wonderful memories :)

Pumpkin Patch and Jack-O-Lanterns!

2011-10-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Madi's Witch!

Gracie is in pink and Madi in blue

Gracie and Daddy's Ghosts

I am using the updated layout for blogger and I don't know how this last picture isn't up with the other Jack-o-lantern pics. Sorry. This last Saturday we traveled 13 miles up the Coos River to Allegany. It was a beautiful drive and the leaves on the maple trees were all orange and yellow. It really felt like Fall! I miss those wonderful colors back home when Fall arrives. The weather was perfect (kind of warm actually!) The girls had a great time picking their pumpkins, going for a hayride, petting farm animals, and getting a treat. We have never done this since living here, but I'm pretty sure it will be a must next year! Last night for Family Home Evening we carved 2 of 4 pumpkins. Jeff and I will do ours later this week (hopefully). Sorry about the blurry pics of the jack-o-lanterns, we couldn't figure out how not to use the flash so they didn't turn our great.

Girls' Fourth Birthday

2011-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Gracie

Madilynn and her blue cake (her new fav color)

We had a great time celebrating the girls birthday this year. They were spoiled as usual :) Each got their own princess castle cakes, clothes, princess dresses, tiaras, hair accessories, money, and oh a trampoline! (thanks G&G Lau, they LOVE it!!) We had some friends over to eat cake and ice-cream. They each brought the girls a litte something too! Thanks to everyone for making their day so special.

Friends

2011-10-21T11:00:00.001-07:00

Gracie and Graham

Madi and Will

Just playing with friends of ours :) We have had pretty good weather the last couple of months and you have to take advantage! Soon our 'winter' will start and that means umbrellas and rain boots :(

New Family Member

2011-09-03T22:05:00.001-07:00

No, not a new baby! A new PUPPY! We have enjoyed the house we moved into back in July. It has a great backyard all fenced in and our landlords said we could get a dog if we wanted. We wanted to get settled into our new place before looking into getting a dog, but the first week of August this little guy came to us. A lady started talking to Jeff at a park one day and asked if we wanted twin puppies for our twin girls. Of course we said no, we definitely didn't want two puppies. We told her we'd come look at them anyways. Well, after seeing them, we knew we wanted one. He was the bigger of the two, whiter, and a bit more mellow than the other one. She let us take him for free too! His name is Gage and he is a Yellow Lab/White German Shepherd. He really is a great dog and is getting soooo big. He will be a big boy when he is full grown. The girls just LOVE him! Every day Madi says " I love Gage, I want to keep him forever." We have never been happier living here. It's taken 3 years, but it is starting to feel like 'Home' :)

Summer Vacation

2011-09-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

I used to be so good at keeping my blog updated! I seriously have SLACKED!!! We went home to Idaho this summer and had a great time. When we first arrived we stayed with Jeff's brother, Jared in the Boise area. It was so nice and hot! We had a great time at the water park in Meridian. Aunt Topaz did the girls' hair before we left. (that's why I have pics of the back of their heads). It was so cute, I didn't take it out for a week! We then traveled through Twin Falls and saw a friend of ours from Moscow, Idaho. While we were there we took the girls to see the Shoshone Falls. After we left, the girls asked where the big ones were at. We told them that was it! The see the very tall Multnomah Falls on the Columbia River Gorge when we come home and they associate all waterfalls with that one. :) I loved seeing the Shoshone Falls, I don't remember the last time I've seen them. We stayed in Bear Lake with my family next and enjoyed a wonderful fire work show in Logan, Utah. We were in Soda Springs on the 4th and saw so many people at the city park. It was great seeing friends and Jeff's old schoolmates. All in all, it was a great visit home and we always miss everyone one when we have to leave. A big surprise to me and Jeff was not bringing our girls home with us! I know right? Jeff's parents offered to keep the girls while we drove back home. As soon as we got back we were moving into a different place and they knew how much easier it would be without the girls there. It took me the whole time there and the very morning we were leaving to decide what to do. In the end we left them, it was so hard! I have never been away from them for more than 12 hours or so. Once we got to Boise, we were okay. It turned into a long date and we enjoyed ourselves. Moving is never fun, but it was a lot better without having the girls to take care of too. My parents also got more time with them and everyone loved taking care of our twinners. Jeff's mom, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two cousins came out on July 18th and brought our girls with them. We were away from them for 10 days! What was kind of sad and also good, was that the girls didn't have a problem with us gone. In fact, they didn't ask about us too much! At first that hurt my feelings, but then again it was nice for the grandparents to watch them without meltdowns. Gracie and Madi understood we were back in Oregon and that they were going to come home soon. It was a chance leaving them, but now we know we can leave them again and go on a "real" vacation in the future.

Easter Video

2011-05-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

EaStEr!

2011-05-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year.

The girls are just so much fun at 3 yrs old. They are so smart and funny and make Jeff and I laugh all the time. They looked so beautiful in their new Easter dresses. I just love my family so much!!! Gracie is in the green and blue dress. Madilynn in the blue and yellow :)

Oregon Zoo

2011-04-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

After the temple, we headed to the Oregon Zoo! Thanks Gma and Gpa Hendricks! The girls just loved it! Their favorite animals by far were the monkeys and orangutans. I will get a video up soon. The weather wasn't too cold or wet so it turned out to be a perfect day! We all had a wonderful mini Spring Break.

Portland Continued

2011-04-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Just some more pics for our families back home!

Portland

2011-04-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to able to go to Portland for the weekend. While there, Jeff and I did a session at one of the most beautiful temples! It was so wonderful, it lifted us up the rest of the weekend. Hilary was with us so she watched the girls for us. The next day we took the girls and Hilary to walk around the grounds. It was so packed! They were very busy, but what temple isn't on a Saturday? Also, there were quite a few people in work clothes cleaning the grounds, gardening, and scrubbing the temple.

Smooth Madilynn

2011-02-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

I know this is a long video, but I just had to post it! Madi has been surprising me with her dancing. Gracie usually is the one to shake it and command the attention, but not last night! Go Madilynn! (I don't think Gracie liked the camera on Madi so long, you'll see why)

Little Dancers

2011-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Madi in yellow

Gracie in green

I love putting on some Michael Jackson and watching my girls dance! They only really dance to his music. I think it's time to get them into dance lessons!

Party at the Counter

2011-02-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Last October when G. Lau and G&G Baird came up to visit and celebrate the girls' 3rd birthday, G Lau started a "party". This is how she got the girls to eat some food one day she was here. She let the girls bring their stools into the kitchen and eat at the counter top. Now they sometimes like to do it still. So this is them having one of their parties, eating dinner in their princess outfits with straight hair. Hey, whatever works to get them to eat right??? Madi is Snow White and Gracie is Cinderella :)

Beach House

2011-01-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

Awesome jet tub!

Cute! Shopping at the awesome outlet mall.

Pretty Hilary!
Madi

Silly Gracie
Playing Hungry, Hungry Hippo with the girls.
My beautiful sisters Kelsey and Hilary.

At a neat cemetery on our way there.
Two days after Christmas, we drove up to Lincoln City. My parents rented a beach house for two nights and three days. It was so much fun. We really missed my other sister, Cordie and her family. Really wished they could have been there too. Unfortunately it rained the entire time, but we stayed indoors and played a lot of pool and games we brought. The girls just loved it! They will still sometimes talk about the beach house. Thanks again Mom and Dad! We love you and miss you all.

Sunday Pics

2011-01-12T15:26:00.000-08:00

It is always fun going to church when my family is here, and of course there are pics to be taken! We missed Hilary, she had to work. :(

Christmas '10

2011-01-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

The Loot!

Dr. Gracie fixing her Pillow Pet :)
Madi as Snow White
My other Princess, Sleeping Beauty

Wow! I know finally a new post. I have a lot of catching up to do. We had a great Christmas this year. (well last year :) My parents flew up that day and my sister Kelsey flew in on Christmas Eve. We had so much fun with my family. The girls just loved everything they got this year. From sticker books to doctor kits. Thanks to everyone who made this Christmas special!

Santa Claus

2010-12-20T18:00:00.001-08:00

Waiting in line to sit on Santa's lap!

Gracie Ann

Madilynn Michelle

I didn't send Christmas cards this year. Sorry, things just got so busy! So I guess the last picture can be our Christmas greeting. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Christmas Dancing

2010-12-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a video to enjoy too! Madi is in the cape and stockings. Gracie in the yellow dress. (Remember to hit pause on the Christmas music on the sidebar!)

Decorating for Christmas!

2010-12-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

Gracie all dressed up..she did this herself. Tree skirt for a cape and stockings for her boots :) She is also trying to wink at me.

Madi, changing into her "ballerina" dress.

Silly Aunt Hilary

Taking the trimmings from the tree and adding them to a wreath to make a bird nest. They even sat on it and said Tweet, tweet. So funny!

The girls are sooo excited this year for Christmas. They are getting to that stage where it is so fun to see them so happy and excited. They really had fun getting out the Christmas decorations and helping us out. Glad Hilary was able to help and have fun too.

Snow on the Coast!

2010-11-30T21:30:00.000-08:00

Gracie

Madi throwing snow at me!

Madi again :)

Gracie getting a snowball ready to launch!

Using beach buckets to gather snow! Ha!

What an awesome day this was!!! We have been missing snow the last couple of years living here and to wake up to snow, albeit not a lot, was great! The girls woke me up from their room yelling "Mom! It's winter"! I got up and went into their room and saw them standing up in the window watching the snow fall. They were so excited, they wanted to go out right away. They have been wanting to play in snow for the last couple of months and it's made us sad, because when it has snowed here, it melts as soon as it touches the ground. We were thrilled to have all that snow!!! We know it isn't a lot, but it is for here!!! We count this as their first snow experience. They were 15 months when we went home to Idaho for Christmas in 08 so they don't remember it. Jeff surprised us by taking an early lunch to come play with the girls. On his way home he bought better mittens for playing. We were so happy to make a special memory with the girls and their "first" snow. Of course it has all melted, but maybe we'll get lucky and get some more this winter.

Another Halloween!

2010-11-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

Gracie getting a flower

Peter Pan and the mean Witch!

Beautiful Butterfly Fairies

Gracie is in the pink

Aunt Hil and her nieces

Poor Jeff isn't in any pics!!

Madi got a rainbow

"Butterslys" and a Toot!

2010-10-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry they are only in their undies. Gracie grabbed one of their clothes hampers and put the straps on her shoulders and starting flapping her arms like she was flying. So Madi went and grabbed the pink one and did the same. Pretty smart girls to figure out that they looked like wings. I love how Madi says 'buttersly' instead of with an "f". She has a hard time saying the "fl" words. Also, she is so funny at the end when she farts! Didn't know if I should have edited it out or not. But I thought it was so funny and it is so her, so I kept it in. Enjoy!

B-day Dresses

2010-10-14T21:35:00.001-07:00

Just LOVE these new dresses! Aren't they so cute? Madi insisted on wearing her butterfly church shoes and wouldn't wear her cute brown boots like Gracie. Oh and they have their "church" backpacks on too. I guess that is what you get when you ask your husband to take pics :) Madi is being silly in the only non-blurry shot of herself. Next time they wear them, Gracie will be in the green one.

Cuteness!

2010-10-14T21:30:00.001-07:00

Falling out of the shot :)

Gracie in blue and Madilynn in white.

It is so fun to straighten the girls' hair every once in a while to see how long it really is! Their curly hair is soooo beautiful, but man I love their hair when it is pretty straight (since it really won't go completely straight)

3rd Birthday!!

2010-10-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Butterfly cakes!

Madi and her cake

Gracie and hers
Gracie with the presents

Madi and the presents

Raincoats and boots
Cute ladybug outfits from G&G Baird (yes, I know Madi has one shoe on)

The girls had a great birthday! Jeff's mom and grandparents (Hilary too of course)were able to celebrate with us. It was great to have other family celebrate their birthdays with us. They thought the cakes were pretty cool. I thought they turned out okay too. I am NOT very creative but I found how to make them on YouTube and it seemed pretty easy. Jeff did one and I did the other. We kind of made it a competition to see who made the better one. (I think mine was a little better, not telling which one though) The biggest hits of the night were Tempur-pedic teddy bears from my Grandma Lil and the ladybug raincoat and boots from G&G Lau. Madi would wear her boots and coat all day and night if I let her :) Thanks everyone for all the gifts and cards for the girls! They still say they are 2 years old when you ask them, but they'll catch on soon enough.

Random Stuff

2010-09-12T21:11:00.001-07:00

Gracie Ann playing with the grass.

Madi in her cute brown outfit and brown boots :)

At Splash in Springfield, we had so much fun. The girls just loved it!

My birthday date!

Fun Saturday

2010-08-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Madilynn about to throw a rock in the water, they could do that all day!

We don't go to the ocean much, because it is usually windy and foggy. A couple of Saturdays ago we just woke up and decided to get the girls out and see if we could hit the tide pools. It was so warm! We were so happy we made the spontaneous decision to just do it and not contemplate it. Sometimes you have so much fun when you don't think too much about it. In the last picture you can see that the fog started to roll in pretty fast, but we were just leaving so it didn't get us!

Fort!

2010-08-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Gracie

Madi

My sisters and I used to build tents/forts out of blankets, chairs, clips, and books. It was so much fun. We had a certain area behind our recliner where we could build it. I miss those days! I decided the girls needed one the other day and they loved playing in it. I know Jeff would have built one way better than me, but he was at work so mommy built it. (It didn't stay up long cuz the girls started to throw their balls on top, oh well it was fun while it lasted.)

Family Pics 2010

2010-08-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Gracie Ann

Madilynn Michelle

Madi and her cheeser

I've been meaning to post more of our family pictures my sister took of us this summer. So here they are. Thanks again Cordie!! Sorry I am so boring about how I post them. My Picasa hasn't been working or else I would have done a collage.

Camping

2010-07-18T20:28:00.001-07:00

Looking intentley at the craw fish.

Touching the water snake, it pooped on my fingers! Yuck!

Gracie riding her bike.

Madi too!

A little chilly in the morning.

Elk at Deans Creek

We just spent the weekend camping for the first time of just us four. It was so much fun. Sweet and short. We only stayed one night. Gracie and Madi couldn't stop talking about the mountains and throwing rocks in the water all week long. They were just so excited. They know Jeff works up in the mountains and so they wanted to see the mountains too :) We brought their little tricycles and they did pretty good on the asphalt in the campground. We also played in the river and they touched craw fish that Jeff caught, a salamander, and touched a snake that we both caught for them. The next day we decided to pack up after breakfast to head to Loon Lake. We have never been there before, but heard it is beautiful. It was very fun. We all got burnt and the water was pretty warm. There were a lot of people and boats there. I forgot to bring my camera. Sorry! Next time we go, which we definitely will, I'll take pictures.

In Soda Springs

2010-07-18T20:14:00.001-07:00

The creek was soooo cold! So Jeff tells me. I didn't put my feet in.

Lanett spotted this doe and her fawn, so cute!
Playing in the foam at City Park

Uncle Jared, cousins Makya and Kylee
Jeff and Gracie

GracieOur second week was spent with Jeff's family in Soda Springs. We had a great time there too! We also stayed very busy. Of course we played a lot of golf, visited with family and friends, saw Eclipse twice (Yeah!), went for a drive in the mountains, and celebrated the 4th. The girls loved every minute of being home. They just soaked in all the attention. Both grandma's had little shadows everywhere they went. The only drawback for us was my stinking allergies!!! Blast them to you know where!!!

In Bear Lake

2010-07-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Madi's bulls eye mosquito bite..poor girl she was attacked!

Quick rinse off in the sink!

I love golf!!!

Ian is sooo good! He should have played my short game. We stayed at my parents the first week. It was such a blast! I saw all of my sisters. Cordie's family was up for a long break too. It was great to see the Florida family :) I loved going to church with my family on Father's Day. It was awesome to take up two smaller pews. Our family sure has grown! My dad just loved having all his daughters there, but really he was happy to have all the grandkids taking turns sitting on his lap. Our trip was not very relaxing. We were always doing something, from golfing to the lake to shooting guns to saying up until 3am talking! We loved it all. Cordie took our family pictures you see on my side bar and top of blog. Also, the first pictures are her's. I'm sure you can tell a huge difference in quality! She is awesome at photography.

Aquarium

2010-07-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

Madilynn
Gracie

Madi kissing the fish statue
Gracie's turn

One week after my sisters and mom left, we headed off for our two week vacation. We headed up to Newport to visit the aquarium for the first time. The girls loved it. It was a little out of the way, but worth it. We're glad we went.

Catching up..First week of June

2010-07-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

The first week of June my mom and sister, Kelsey came to visit and pick up Hilary for the summer. Hilary is going to come back for another year of college in September. We are so happy about that! The girls will have one more year with their aunt. It was a great visit and we were so happy to see Kelsey! She hasn't been here since March 2008. It was due time for her to come out and play at the ocean :)

What a Slacker!

2010-05-06T14:22:00.001-07:00

G&G with the kiddies!

Looking intently at a spider...do they looked connected here?

Gracie holding a cool, purple starfish. Oh my Gracie, she squints in sun like her mommy!

Madi's turn! Poor girl, she squints in the sun too!

Touching something slimy!

Gracie holding a crab

Madi holding the crab.
Tide pools

Madi..always cheesing it. See her yellow bow?

Gracie..cute hair bows huh? G&G Lau brought them from home. Jeff's cousin made them. We love them!

Madi, and her cool necklaces..(they are my hairbands)

Madilynn on the swings.

Gracie on the swings...always it is "Higher!"
Daddy taught them to climb the rope ladders like 3 months ago! They are pros now. (Grandma was nervous for them)

On April 22nd-26th we had some visitors! Yes, Grandma and Grandpa Lau came to hang out with us for the weekend. I am such a slacker at getting these pictures posted. Anyway, the girls had a blast with their grandparents. Thanks goodness the weather was awesome. The day they left, it started to rain again. Imagine that! We went to the park, dined out a lot, and went to the tide pools. Gracie and Madi just loved touching the sea creatures. Thanks for a wonderful visit. Glad you came!

Beat It

2010-04-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Last month we introduced the girls to Michael Jackson, boy was that a mistake! They just love him. I have his CD's and a music video DVD that has about 12 of his music videos. The girls' favorite songs are Beat It and The Way You Make Me Feel. As soon as we get in the car to go somewhere this is what we hear. "Michael Jackson, Mom!" "Beat It, Mom!" then"turn it up, Mom". I used to like MJ, not anymore! Madi is more of the star in this video. This was at night driving home so the lighting isn't great and it was my cell phone. They have really good rhythm!

Pillow Fight!

2010-03-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Silly girls. They were having sooo much fun. They just started fighting on their own and I had to grab my camera. I love these little twinners so MUCH!!! Oh and I love Madilynn at the end telling me she has hiccups!

Waterfalls!

2010-02-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

In front of Silver Falls

Gracie

Madilynn

A bit blurry

Golden Falls
Daddy and Gracie

Me and Madi

We have heard about these waterfalls but never seen them. Since Jeff had President's day off and the day was nice we headed to the falls. It is about an hour from home. They were so beautiful. It felt so nice to get outdoors. The girls just loved it. They hiked up to the Silver falls and then got a ride back down in the backpacks. We also did the same thing to the Golden falls. When we got home, the girls took a long nap. We really hiked them hard for their little legs! It was an awesome day.

Ready for Church

2010-02-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Posing with puppies and tea pots.

Gracie is in the pink cardigan.

Long straight hair! Madi is on the right

Now she is on the left :)

Gracie

Madi loves her puppy

Once again the spacing is way off, but if I fix it then you can't enlarge the pics. These are pictures of the last two Sundays. We thought they looked pretty cute so we snapped some pics. We go to church at 11 now and we seem to have a little more time on our hands. That is why I straightened their hair. I had 30 min still and I was all ready! Wow! That is a first. :)

Feeding Birds

2010-01-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

They love birds so much, and love to feed them. We had leftover popcorn from the movie so we let them have fun throwing it parade style.

Fun Stuff

2010-01-16T15:34:00.001-08:00

Jeff and his parents trying out Jeff's new spotting scope out at the ocean. They saw a lot of sea lions and seals.

At the park.

So cute! Gracie is on the right.

The girls just love their new wagon. We took them to a park to feed the birds. They looked so cute in their new scarves and jackets from Great G&G Baird. Thanks so much!

Christmas Post Part 2

2010-01-16T15:01:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas!!

Girls finding stockings and presents left by Santa

Gracie Madi
After the gifts were opened. Riding their new bikes from G&G Lau

Girls posing with all of their stuff. I know! So much!
Now by themselves. This is Madilynn
Gracie

Christmas night. They love their wagon and magna doodles.

We had a wonderful Christmas. As you can see the girls were spoiled! Before Christmas got here, we actually were wondering if we got them enough. What were we thinking? I know this is a late post, but I wanted to get it on here.

Finally a Christmas post!

2010-01-07T15:40:00.001-08:00

Gracie is in the funny dot pants :)

Sorry, this one is a bit dark.
The girls loved watching this frog jump into the water. Very neat light show!

We were lucky enough to have some family spend Christmas with us this year. Jeff's parents drove out here and arrived Wed the 23rd. The girls just had a blast with them. On Christmas Eve we went to the light show at one of the parks on the coast. We went last year with the girls before we flew home for Christmas. It was the same this year, but it was like seeing it for the first time becuase the girls were just entralled with the lights. They knew what animals there were and it was Barry and Lanett's first time too. They girls got to open their hats and coats before we left so they would stay nice and warm. Enjoy the pictures!

Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-19T13:58:00.001-08:00

We had our party last night. There was no Santa :( I was wondering if the girls would cry this year and I never got to find out. Maybe there is a Santa at our little mall. I'll have to go find out. Have a Merry Christmas!!! (Madilynn doesn't have her jacket on)

Striped Shirts

2009-11-28T15:59:00.001-08:00

I love these shirts and wanted to get a picture of the girls wearing them. Then they got all cute hugging each other and it turned into a wrestling match. So funny :)

P.S. Madilynn is on the left.

Gracie plays vball

2009-11-17T14:57:00.001-08:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My girls really love to play ball. They love to throw, kick, and now play volleyball. They both do it, but Gracie more. Hopefully I'll be able to get Madi on her own video, but this one is all Gracie and Aunt Hilary.
P.S. Letter Factory is playing in the background on DVD.

Another Dancing/Jumping Video

2009-11-17T14:15:00.001-08:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My silly girls love this song because of the howling, I think. Gracie is in the orange t-shirt and Madi in her pj's still. I know I know, so mismatched. Oh well, enjoy. This was three videos edited into one.

Halloween Again!

2009-10-30T15:15:00.001-07:00

Getting ready!

Madi is the Ladybug and Gracie is the busy Bee

No costumes for us... :(

Madi with Alyssa, one of our BeehivesAunt Hilary!

Wow, this year has flown by! I love Halloween and two days ago was our ward's Halloween Party. The girls looked soooo adorable in their costumes. I know they enjoyed themselves. Maybe next year Jeff and I will dress up. I know so boring of us, huh?

Eating Lunch

2009-10-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Cheeser Madi

All three girls

Madi

Gracie (she loves her winter hat, won't take it off)

Just eating lunch. My girls are pretty good little eaters. It is the last pictures that BUG me! They like to paint with their gogurts. What turkeys. I babysit the little girl in the third pic on Wed and Thurs. I think it has helped the girls in nursery because they have gone the last two Sundays and have stayed the entire time! Saige is in their nursery class. They call her their "friend" and do the signing for it. So cute. They won't say her name, just friend.

Two 2 Year Olds!

2009-10-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

First of all, I wanted to do a cute collage off of Picasa but it kept shutting itself down. So you get the same old layout. I know boring. So that's that.

On Sat the 3rd our little twinners turned TWO! Wow, I can't believe it! They got some great presents as you can see from the first picture. They woke up and came down to that awesome house! Thanks G&G Lau. They loved it. Their little faces just lit up. They also looked a bit confused because it wasn't there the night before. As they came to it, they picked up their Elmo's(they LOVE Elmo) and gave them kisses and then left them to start playing with the fake food. For a little while that is all they wanted. In fact Gracie moved some presents out of the way to get inside the door. Then after about 15-20 minutes she grabbed a present and said "help" as she handed it to Jeff. So we gave the same present to Madi and they both opened up their babies. Madi got all excited saying "babies, babies". Gracie again chose the next gift and what do you know, she picked the strollers for the babies! They played with those for almost 45 minutes then we decided to have some breakfast. I was the one who got impatient and wanted them to open up the rest of their gifts so they did. They got 4 pairs of jammies each, which they really needed, black church shoes, necklaces, jackets, pants, ponies, babies, strollers, Elmo's, a Clifford DVD, and a fun little house. Thanks to everyone who thought of them on their b-day. They are soooo spoiled. Oh yeah they also got money from grandparents, great-grandparents and a great-great uncle too!

P.S. I know there are large gaps in between the pics, but I'm not going to fix it because every time I do, it won't let you click on the photos to be enlarged. Anyone know why it does this? Does it happen to you if you load a lot of pictures?

No More Curls! Well, for a day!!!

2009-09-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

When I got my new hair straightener I had to try it out on the girls. They have such curly hair. It is always so cute and bouncy, but every girl with curly hair wants to straighten it right? My girls weren't too thrilled sitting still for me but I did the best I could. I did it on low heat. They looked so cute and different. Their hair didn't straighten all the way. It still had wavy curls in it. The top three pics are of Madi and then three pics of Gracie. That last pic was taken about 3 hours after I did it and it already was starting to curl again. Oh yeah, after their naps I ran the flat iron through one more time because it was getting curly again. It is all back to bouncy ringlets again, but it was fun to see it straighter for one day. And wow, their hair is pretty long when it isn't in tight ringlets.

Hospital!!!

2009-09-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

Her poor eye! First day in hospital

She needed her mommy

Ouchy!

She LOVES her daddy
In her crib/cage

Madi was sorry for sister

Next morning, you can see a sliver of her eye! Already getting better

Madi loved playing in her crib

Waiting for daddy to come back with food

Hanging out

Sunday morning, the day we got to leave. Look at that eye now!

We are spent! Right after my birthday I noticed that Gracie had sores or cankers in her mouth. I thought she must have been biting on her lip. Well come to find out, she got many more and got they got huge. She wouldn't eat or drink. She was in pain. Poor thing. She was diagnosed with hand-foot-mouth disease(horrible name). Can't prescribe anything for this virus. Just has to run its course. Madi got it a couple of days later. Jeff and I didn't get any sleep the entire weekend. Then a week ago we noticed a little purple bump on Gracie's left eyelid. I just thought she got bit by an insect or something. Didn't worry about it at all. Thursday morning it was significantly bigger, so Jeff took her in and she was prescribed an antibiotic. The doctor said if it got worse to bring her back in. Well Friday it was way worse so all four of us took her in. I had a feeling she was going to be admitted to the hospital and I wanted Jeff there with me. Hilary was gone to a volleyball tournament, so we had to tow Madi around with us. It would have been nice to have her home so she could watch Madilynn for us. Oh yeah Hilary got the hand-foot-mouth disease too. From the girls. Sorry Hil! Anyways, they said that it was bad enough to admit her to the hospital to get antibiotics through IV. I was so scared for her! When we got settled in the room. Jeff said he wanted day shifts. So I got the night shifts at the hospital. What I don't think he realized when he said that was that included her IV being put in. I had to take Madi home, she was sooo cranky and she needed her nap. So Jeff got the IV duty. About three hours later they finally had her IV in after 14 tries!!!! Who does that to a little girl not even 2 years old yet? I was furious. Three diffrerent nurses tried and that equaled 11 attempts before they finally called the anesthesiologist. He even had to try 3 times before they finally got it in. My poor Gracie. She did a great job. Jeff said it was sooo hard to see that. I feel so bad for him, but glad I didn't have to be there. I would have been crying so hard and probably would have decked a nurse or two :) We were at the hospital for two nights and three days. Her culture came back saying it was a Staphylococcus aureus infection. Because of her illness her immune system was weak and she must have scratched her eye and it got infected. Anyway we are so happy to be back home. Gracie still has to take two different antibiotics every day, but her eye is getting better. It isn't back to normal yet. We are hoping by this time next week she is 100%.

BiRtHdAy!!!

2009-09-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

I turned 25 on Thursday. It was a great day. Thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes. I got some sweet presents this year. Hilary got me a way cute bracelet. Thanks Hil. But here is another post about my sweet, thoughtful husband. First he took me to lunch while Hilary watched the girls. Then he got off early and sent me off to a massage. It felt great. He told me to call him when my massage was over before heading home. When I called he told me to go read my book somewhere for 30 minutes then call again. Which I did, and he still wasn't ready for me to come home yet. By this time, I'm thinking....wow is he cleaning the house? Cooking me dinner? I had no idea. When he said I could finally come home there was nothing different about the house, I did notice the girls were bathed, but couldn't understand why he kept me away. He told me I wasn't allowed in the computer room and that is when I noticed a sound coming from within. It sounded like an air pump. I was soooo confused! He kept going in an out and wouldn't let me in. Finally around 7:30pm, he said I could see my present. Hilary had just arrived and brought carrot cake and cupcakes. So she was obviously in on the plan. Jeff brought out a large present. He said I had to open one thing at a time. The first was a card from him and the girls. It said the girls got me the massage and a cute baby sweater....Huh? That is when I pulled out the next present and it was a cute brown and pink jacket, but that is not what caught my attention. It was the cute baby feet prints in glitter paint and a G and M that caught my eye. Then it all made sense. While I was getting my massage, Jeff was sweating trying to get the girls to cooperate and make feet and hand prints on this jacket. And the noise was a blow dryer and fan to get it to dry in time for me to open it. I LOVE it! It is sooooo priceless. Jeff went through a lot to get it done, especially with the girls who just loved getting all dirty. That is why the girls were bathed too! The next present was a dozen cookies from a bakery that I love. The last present was a printout of a hair straightener and money to get my hair done. My flat iron has been broken forever. I always get the $50 ones and they keep busting within a year. So this time he bought me one that is supposed to be better than the Chi. My sister Kelsey researched it on the Internet for him. So thanks! I can't wait to get it in the mail and try it out. So with that money what should I do? I'm definitely growing my hair out, but I can't decide what color to dye it. Highlights? One solid color? I know I want it lighter. I look better with light hair with my complexion. So help me out!!! Thanks Jeffrey! I love you soooo much. Thanks to everyone for your gifts and thoughts. I forgot to say that their hand prints are on the front of the jacket. Don't have a pic of it though, okay bye.

SuMmEr DrEsSeS!

2009-08-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

Old Navy rocks sometimes! Love these dresses Daddy picked out? Madilynn is in the yellow. Too bad our weather here only permits these wearable for a couple of days!

Fun Stuff

2009-08-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

This video is with Jeff's family when they came back with us. Jeff's cousin, Clayton got this toy gun that had a laser on it. My girls turned into little kitties chasing the laser around. Too funny. That is Jeff's family you can hear in the background. Thanks for some great memories.

Family Fun

2009-07-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at home. I say home, because Idaho will always be my home. Some of the young women in our ward got mad at me when I told them, "we went home to visit" They said back to me, THIS is your home. Sorry girls it just isn't true. Anyway, we miss everyone and want to thank all of you helped out with the girls. It was great! I'm sometimes really bad at not grabbing my camera, and other times I'm taking too many pics. So sorry if I didn't get some of you in my pictures. (mom and dad) The first half of our vacation was spent with my family. We were busy everyday. One day was at Bear Lake, then golfing the next, and of course we had to see Harry Potter with my sisters. Oh yeah, and one day my very talented sister, Cordie took pics of our girls. Aren't they great? Thanks Cord! We had a great time!!

The second half we spent with Jeff's family camping at Stanley, Idaho. Where the Sawtooth Mountains are. It is sooooo gorgeous! Like I said earlier about the camera thing, I didn't get any pics of the mountains or when we went to Red Fish Lake. I know, I know my bad. Sometimes you want to just enjoy yourselves and not worry about a camera, but mostly I just forgot! Then on our way home, Jeff's grandparents, aunt, cousin, and parents came with us to spend 5 days here. Wondering about the elk antlers on our van??? That is the elk Jeff got last year, and his brother did a European mount for his b-day. This was the only way to bring them back with us. Attached to our bike rack. Yep, we got sooo many stares and pointed fingers at us. It was so funny. Ahhh memories!

Orange Balloons

2009-07-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

They love balloons! In the video you can hear Gracie saying "sister" and then Madi saying "thank you" They can say quite a few words, but still talk mumble jumble too. I love it!

There won't be a post for a while because we are heading home to Idaho. We start the dreadful drive this afternoon. Won't be back until the 20th. See ya later!

Our 4th of July

2009-07-05T21:10:00.001-07:00

The gang

Gracie's kimono

Kortney and Madi
Mommy and Gracie's "CHEESE" smile

Madilynn cooling off Gracie throwing rocks

Gracie, Madi, and Daddy
Madi and Daddy

First, we hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend. We got an invite to go camping this year and on Thursday we decided we wanted to to go and see how the girls would do. So all of Thurs we got ready and did all the shopping. Friday we drove about an hour and a half to the campsite. It was so hot when we arrived. We set up our tent and went to find our friends who were at the river swimming. They found a great secluded swimming hole. We stayed at the river for 4 hours and the girls just loved it! They didn't complain the whole time. Gracie and Madi love the outdoors. They got so dirty playing in the dirt and petting the dogs. It was so much fun, until about 11pm. And no, it wasn't the girls that made it bad, it was my ALLERGIES!!! We were a bit worried that the girls would have a hard time falling asleep, but within 15 minutes they were out. So the adults stayed up until 12 hanging around the fire. By that time I had tissues jammed up both nostrils and running through a brand new box of tissues fast. I knew it was going to be a rough night, so we put an air mattress in the van so I could sleep in there and not wake the girls up. Around 2 am, I was still awake and suffering so bad. I was running out of Kleenex fast. I decided to go wake Jeff up and tell him that we had to leave. There was no way I could have stayed. I can't remember the last time I had an allergy attack that bad. So we loaded up our perfect sleeping babies into the van and took off. That was the longest hour and half ever! When we pulled into town around 3:15 am I used my last tissue. At 3:30, I was taking a shower to get the smoke off. I was a lot better the next day, which was the 4th, so we went back up to the campground and then went to the beach to watch fireworks. Overall it was a great time, but man alive I hope I don't get an attack like that ever again!!!

The Beach Again

2009-06-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

Goofy sunglasses. So cute!

The weather was finally good today, so we went to the beach! The girls absolutely love the water. Gracie is a little more active in it, than Madilynn, but they both really enjoyed it. Jeff and I loved it too. It is so fun to see your children explore new things. Madi is in the pink shirt.

On a different note, does anyone elses pictures space out like this? Whenever I fix it, it won't let you click on the photos to blow them up bigger. So I don't fix it anymore, but it looks bad. Any tips?

Cute Pics

2009-06-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

Oh my look at those bedheads!

Cute pigtails!

Silly girls!

Gracie in yellow, what a cheeser!

Aww, my sweet Madi

My girls are getting so big and are doing new stuff everyday. The top pick was this morning. Gracie wouldn't leave Madi alone, so when Madi climbed on the couch to get away from her, Gracie followed and then laid on top! In the second picture the girls climbed in their seats all by and were holding their trays saying "color!" They definitely know what they want know and sure tell you! The third picture is waiting to see grandpa and grandma on the web cam. They always get so excited to see them! Both sets, mind you. Gracie is in the pink. The last pics were just cute so I had to add them! I love putting their hair in pony or pigtails because we can actually see their faces! In the top three pics their hair isn't done and it is all over and in their eyes. Poor little chicas.

Hidden Camera

2009-06-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Lately the girls have started to do new and funny things, but whenever we get the camera they stop and come over to the camera and try to look through the lens. Therefore, we hardly catch any of their cuteness and quirkiness on camera. This time Jeff was able to press record without the girls seeing. I guess before he did this, they were being way silly, and on the video it is less. Oh well, I guess that always happens when you want to catch it! It is kind of long, so go ahead and watch if you want to!!

ChEeRiOs!!!

2009-06-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you get new cell phones and are in the other room playing on your new toys instead of watching your children......

Ponytails

2009-06-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Just had to post some cute pics of the girls. I love putting their hair in ponytails. You can see their faces! Gracie is in the pink.

Miny Vacation

2009-06-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Jeff had another training in the Portland area this last week. We left on Wed and got back on Saturday night. We are so glad we tagged along with daddy! During the day,

the girls did great! I was worried about nap time, but the whole trip they slept great during the day and at night. We stayed in a Best Western and reserved a suit. This really helped them sleep being in the other part of the room. They have never swam before and they loved it. Madi at first was apprehensive and cried a little bit, but Jeff calmed her down and she took right to it. Gracie went with me and loved it immediately. Sorry all the pictures are of just swimming, but we didn't take any other pictures the whole time. Just to busy keeping up with two babes running in opposite directions down the hotel hallways!!! Man was I sweating when Jeff was at training.

For a Certain Someone!

2009-05-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

Gracie and Mommy

Madi puckering up for a kiss!

So, certain someone, you like these outfits or what? Thanks I love them!!!

For the rest of you sorry for my face in some of these pics, but it seems I'm always hiding behind the lens and don't have many pics with my girls. I just need to embrace my chubbiness and get over it!!!

Day with Daddy

2009-04-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went with our youth to the temple. I just got called into the Young Womens and really wanted to attend. We had to leave by 6:30am to get there by 10am. It really was a great day and I loved being in the temple. I haven't been to do baptisms for the dead since I was a youth and participating myself. What was really neat was that 4 of the people who came were converts to the church and it was their first time. Two were adults and two were beehives. So awesome. Anyway, so if I'm in Medford of course Jeff is home with the girls. When I got home at 5:30 that evening, this is what I saw. Both girls all dressed up with their hair done and looking so cute. Jeff had the house cleaned and also our van(which was pretty messy). I had to post this so you all know how great Jeff is as a father and a husband.(He won't like that I just wrote that, oh well!) The girls didn't miss me at all! They had Daddy to play with all day. Madi is in the yellow and Gracie in the green. All these pictures were taken by Jeff throughout the day. The pictures with Gracie in the gray headband are her cleaning clothes. She never took a nap and so she helped Jeff with the house. So cute eh?

Video for the post below

2009-04-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Too Cute

2009-04-29T12:28:00.001-07:00

Gracie

Madi

This was a while ago and I forgot about it until today. I just love when my girls do things simultaneously. They really are twins ha! They have different personalities, but sometimes they do things so similar. I just love being a mom to twins. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is really hard at times but so rewarding and worth it. I love my twinners

P.S. The video isn't working, I'll try to post it by itself.

sWiNg SeT!!!

2009-04-20T13:11:00.001-07:00

Madilynn
Gracie

Here is the swing set that Jeff made for the girls! They really love swinging and now they can do it in their backyard, thanks to Daddy! We still need to paint it, but other than that it is done.

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great Easter! Unfortunately for me, I was sick over the weekend and didn't make it to church. So bummed. I am feeling better today. Stupid flu. Anyway, the girls were so cute yesterday. Jeff hid their eggs outside in the backyard and they hunted them all down. We didn't get pictures outside because we were filming with our video camera. We don't film them enough on the video camera and thought we should. They got some fun gifts. The big gifts were blocks to play with and also swings, because daddy is in the process of building them a swing set! When it is all finished I'll post some pics.

I also got some candy from the Easter bunny. My husband is soooo thoughtful and wonderful. He took care of the girls all weekend. He did everything. I love him so much. He went and got me soup and saltines and he also got me some Easter candy. My favorite candy right now are the Raspberry Almond M&M's. He put them in some eggs and hid them for me to find. Also, I was telling him that I used to get chocolate bunnies in my basket growing up and I loved the white chocolate ones. So he also got me one! Thanks Babe! Gracie is pink and Madilynn in green.

P.S. Sorry I was in pj's, you know when you are sick it just feels better to be in comfy clothes....

The Beach!

2009-04-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

We had great weather over conference weekend.! No rain, and no wind! (sorry to those still in snow, I'm not rubbing it in :) So spur of the moment we decided to take the girls to the beach for real! We have taken them to the ocean before, but they were either to little to walk yet, or it was too cold to let them feel the water and sand. They LOVED it! They got so sandy and wet. What a mess but well worth it. There were sooooo many dogs there and the girls were screaming and running towards all the"puppies" nearest to them. So funny. They did get to pet a puppy lab that just wanted to lick their faces. I think they liked this dog that was just their size. Please don't mind the fat lady in the background. I tried to get out of the shot when Jeff was filming. Silly boy, what was he thinking getting me in the shot? Anyway, my favorite is hearing their pitter-patter across the wet sand. Enjoy!

P.S. After reviewing this I noticed that Madi wasn't in a lot of it. We did get plenty of footage of her too, but Jeff turned the camera vertical and you can't watch a movie that way so I didn't put it on here. K that is all.

Grandparents Visit Again!

2009-03-31T12:12:00.001-07:00

Yes it is true, but it was Grandpa and Grandma Hendricks this time! My parents were able to visit for a week and we sure did have fun. The girls just LOVED being spoiled. My parents also spoiled us too. They babysat a lot for Jeff and I. I was able to go visiting teaching, teach a new member discussion, go to dinner and a movie with my hubby, and fish with Jeff at the ocean. I also didn't have to clean up the girls once after eating! What a joy that was. We also went to the Wildlife Safari in Bandon. We went with Jeff's family last May, but the girls were too little to enjoy it. They really loved seeing the animals, although everything was "Puppy!" Thanks so much for everything.... we love you lots and can't wait to see you in August with Hilary and maybe Kelsey?

Croupy Dancing Babies

2009-03-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

My girls have croup, but they are getting better. I have had some hard nights with both of them. Jeff and I both had croup a lot when we were little. We both went to the ER a couple of times. I hope the girls won't go through that. I know the video is quite long, sorry. I know I sound like an idiot on videos. I hate the sound of my voice. Enjoy!

Fun With G&G Lau

2009-03-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

We never really go out to the ocean on our own. Don't ask why. Maybe because it is always so cold and windy. But we like to go when family comes to visit. This last weekend Jeff's parents made a quick trip to see the grandbabes. We ventured out for about an hour to the coast. It was still very cold and windy, but it was fun too. I love taking pictures of the ocean, especially when the waves are huge. It's not like being there, but enjoy the pictures anyway.

OuTSiDe

2009-03-11T16:48:00.001-07:00

Whenever it is fairly decent outside, we try to get out! It has been raining a lot here and the girls get very antsy stuck indoors all the time. Today it was nice, but a little windy. I thought I'd let the girls wear their new flip flops. So cute! They were hesitant at first to take some steps, but they got the hang of it.

Independancy???

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

I know I should be better at letting my girls try to feed themselves. I know they need to learn how to eat off of a plate or out of a bowl using a spoon or fork. But just look at these pictures and tell me you'd be happy to let that happen. All day I'm cleaning up two 17 month olds. So I want to try to control some messes, and feeding them is one. I mean don't get me wrong, they can feed themselves great with finger foods and things like that. But oatmeal or soup(like in the pictures) I just can't let go and let them try it themselves. These types of food I feel like I can control some of the mess if I or Jeff feed them. Oh help! Just for references, Madi is the first pic and Gracie is the last. For some reason you can only click on the last picture. Please do and see how bad it is! I know you moms out there deal with the same thing. I just hate cleaning up such a mess times two! Am I the only one??
P.S. Sorry Cordie, I know you'll recognize Gracie's onesie. It is ruined from cheeseburger soup would you like it back?

My Little Puppets

2009-02-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

I just filmed them this morning, so they are still in their pj's. The other day I was playing with them and said "sleep" while doing the sign language and Madilynn laid down. So funny. They both do it now and showed both of their grandparents last week on web cam. So I thought the rest of you needed to see too! Also you will see that they do other stuff we ask(or tell) them to do. I just have to say that it is so wonderful to have these girls. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for sending them to us. They are a handful at times, but in the end it is things like in this video that just blow the hard days out of the water!

Piggies!

2009-02-11T12:49:00.001-08:00

I just thought these were too cute not to post! As you can see they aren't 'real' pigtails. Their hair isn't long enough for that. These outfits are so cute too. They got them for Christmas from G&G Lau. Love them!!!

Madi

Gracie
Hugging

Little Cookie Monsters

2009-01-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Madilynn and her Oreo mess
Gracie and her Oreo mess

Madilynn and Chips Ahoy (not too bad)
Gracie and Chips Ahoy (yikes)

I just love my little cookie monsters!!!

P.S. Yes, their hair is always this crazy. Not very easy to maintain.

Family Pics

2009-01-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

Cordie, me, Kelsey, and Hilary. Oldest to youngest

Madi and Daddy
My Gracie

The Fam

Yay! I got them on. Here is my side of the family. Miss you all!!!

Over the Holidays

2009-01-14T11:50:00.001-08:00

We really had a great time with our families over the holidays. When we planned to come we had 9 days. Well after getting there and having two travel days, we only got 3 1/2 days with both families. It definitely wasn't enough time. We miss everyone. Thanks for all the yummy food, diaper changes, and babysitting. We really loved the break. We played ping pong (a ton at both houses), cards, games, and we even got some people from my high school volleyball team together to play some volleyball. I don't think I went to bed any earlier than 1am every night. It was so fun and exhausting.

We did family pictures with both families. I'll try to get the ones with my family on here next. We took the ones of his family with our camera on a tripod so I had easy access to those. My mom got a photographer for our family and they were emailed to me and I can't get them larger to post. I'll keep working on it. And yes, you will see the same colors with all the family pictures. It was just easier to bring one outfit for each of us for pictures. Oh well!

P.S. Sorry about those who got cut out a bit on the collages. I didn't have time to resize the pictures before putting them in.

Catching Up

2009-01-11T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Yes, yes I know. Slacker!! Anyway, I'm still here and doing great. Here is part of what we've been up to. Before we flew home for the holidays we had to go to the light festival at one of the state parks. As you can see it is ocean themed. It was really great. The girls enjoyed themselves even though it was cold. We then got them home to open up their presents from us and Santa. The next day is when we started our travels. Oh boy was it AWFUL! I won't go into detail, but lets just say that we could have driven home and gotten there close to the amount of time it took us to fly. I will get more pictures on here soon. (Oh yeah that is a little Christmas tree, but what do you do when you're not spending Christmas at home? We did our best with the decorations for a couple of days.)

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

We knew the girls would scream this year. Last year they were 2 months and asleep on Santa's knee. So sad how we traumatize our kids for a picture. But it is soooo cute, don't you think? Hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas! And be safe!

StAiRs!!!

2008-12-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

We are in our new place and lovin it! The girls especially love it. They get more room to run around in. Plus having stairs is great for the girls. They love to climb them. They can't climb down to well yet, so they get carried down. It is so funny, because when I say "nap time" they look at the stairs, go over to them, and wait for me to lift them over the gate. They know their room is upstairs, and they get to climb them. We play a game where I make a scary noise and they try to get a way from me. That is what I'm doing when they get to the top of the stairs. Gracie got too excited and came back out and they knocked heads. (they do this all the time, I just wish it didn't happen on film.) She was fine just very tired. My dad is always wanting videos. He likes the pictures too, but he feels right next to them in the videos. So sorry if you others don't enjoy them. Oh yeah my favorite part of the video is hearing their diaper bums. I love that sound.

Reading with Daddy

2008-12-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

Our girls just LOVE to read books. They have inherited my bookwormness (is that a word?) Anyway, I don't know why they are in the hall but it was too cute to miss. Our girls need proof that Jeff did read to them when they were little. You won't see Jeff with a book any other time.He does NOT like to read, but they have him wrapped around their fingers. If one brings a book, then the other wants to read too. You can't just read to one. They are so competitive.

Sorry I haven't been updating regularly. We are in the process of packing. We found a 3 bedroom duplex with a back yard and garage! We are so excited to move. We are moving this weekend, so this will be my last post for a while.

In the Act

2008-11-21T15:21:00.000-08:00

The girls just figured out how to turn on/off the TV, and I caught them in the act! Silly girls, it really gets annoying when you are watching something good. Oh, we love them soooooooo much. They are walking everywhere and are just so full of energy. They both are trying to talk. They are constantly talking gibberish, but some you can understand. In fact, Gracie says hi in the video, and although you can't really hear her, Madilynn says bye, bye. So cute!

CuTeNeSs

2008-11-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

We just love these cute, puffy vests. Gracie is in the pink and Madilynn in the purple. They think they are so cool when they wear them. (Don't you just love those cheesers in the first picture?)

Need Addresses

2008-11-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all, well I had to start a new blog. I really don't have time right now to make it all fancy, but I'll get to it sooner or later. Unfortunately I lost all of your blog addresses. Please leave me a comment with your blog address so I can add you back to my blog list. Thanks.

~~~The Joys of Life~~~

Another Chrismtas :)

Santa

Shore Acres

Thanksgiving

New Family Pictures!!!

Beaches

Halloween Night

Pumpkin Patch and Jack-O-Lanterns!

Girls' Fourth Birthday

Friends

New Family Member

Summer Vacation

Easter Video

EaStEr!

Oregon Zoo

Portland Continued

Portland

Smooth Madilynn

Little Dancers

Party at the Counter

Beach House

Sunday Pics

Christmas '10

Santa Claus

Christmas Dancing

Decorating for Christmas!

Snow on the Coast!

Another Halloween!

"Butterslys" and a Toot!

B-day Dresses

Cuteness!

3rd Birthday!!

Random Stuff

Fun Saturday

Fort!

Family Pics 2010

Camping

In Soda Springs

In Bear Lake

Aquarium

Catching up..First week of June

What a Slacker!

Beat It

Pillow Fight!

Waterfalls!

Ready for Church

Feeding Birds

Fun Stuff

Christmas Post Part 2

Finally a Christmas post!

Ward Christmas Party

Striped Shirts

Gracie plays vball

Another Dancing/Jumping Video

Halloween Again!

Eating Lunch

Two 2 Year Olds!

No More Curls! Well, for a day!!!

Hospital!!!

BiRtHdAy!!!

SuMmEr DrEsSeS!

Fun Stuff

Family Fun

Orange Balloons

Our 4th of July

The Beach Again

Cute Pics

Hidden Camera

ChEeRiOs!!!

Ponytails

Miny Vacation

For a Certain Someone!

Day with Daddy

Video for the post below

Too Cute

sWiNg SeT!!!

Happy Easter!!

The Beach!

Grandparents Visit Again!

~The Joys of Life~