K's Birthday Party

K attended a school friend's birthday party at a local gymnastics place. She had so much fun that she begged us to let her have her birthday there too. The price was really reasonable so we said sure. She was able to invite 10 of her friends and we had the place to ourselves for an hour and a half. The kids got to jump on trampolines, walk on balance beams, play on the parallel bars, and play games with a parachute. At the end K got to swing up high in a bungee swing. She LOVED it! I think this was by far her most favorite birthday.

K wanted a snowman cake this year.

By the time we got it to our destination, Snowy was starting to lean.

Here the kids are playing follow the leader.
That long black thing with the red sides is a 30 foot or so long trampoline.

The girls going across the uneven parallel bars.

Playing a parachute game.

The girls free playing.

L really liked going up this ladder.

This a floor level trampoline.

Here is K and L with the bungee swing.

K with all of her friends.

K opted not to open her gifts at the party so
everyone would have more time to play.

This is the cool card Grandma made for K.
It is a origami picture of her horse, Red.

All of the wonderful presents K got from her friends.

The Bungee Swing

Here is a video of K in the bungee swing. She loved it.
I think it looks like a blast! I would love to do it!

Valentine's Day

M and I always have a nice dinner together, usually grilled steak, and swap gifts on Valentine's Day. This year we did the same. M grilled up some tasty steak and I made potatoes and broccoli. After dinner we exchanged gifts. I got him an extra clip for his conversion kit I got him at Christmas and he surprised me with a truly amazing gift. I love my SAA 357 replica revolver, I think it is one of my favorite guns. Well, M got me a beautifully tooled leather gun belt and holster for keeping my piece in when we go shooting. I love it and can't wait to use it the next time we can get away for a few hours. What do you think?

Our yummy yet simple dinner.

My cool new accessory.

What's in the Box?

The girls received a box from Bahmah and couldn't wait to open it.

Daddy showed them how they could work together to get it opened.

They each unwrapped the items inside.

Yea! More animals to add to their collection.

A Doe, a fawn, a raccoon, and three kits.

Playtime with Daddy

The girls love playing with Daddy. He rough houses with them, dances with them, tickles them until they beg him to stop. And then they beg him to do it some more. It is always fun watching them play together and I can't help but smile. I am so grateful to a husband who loves his girls and takes time every night to play with them, even when he is tired.

L and Daddy dancing.

All three of them dancing.

Daddy squishing and zerberting the girls.
You can barely see K's head under L's.

Dog-pile on Daddy.

Daddy had K in a foot hold and L in an arm hold.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My friends have always made fun of me because I am obsessed with money, and not in the way that you think. I have always enjoyed sorting my money numerically and alphabetically. You may ask, "Alphabetically?"
Yes, I like to put my money in the correct denominations, then look for the letters in the circle on the left hand side (this is on older money) to alphabetize, and then I numeratize by serial number.
Every since I was a kid, I would hoard my money in a shoebox under my bed and every time I received money, I would do it again. I also kept an accounting book with my money and made an entry every time I received or spent my money and I would put a description for each entry too. Now this trait has moved on to my daughter, not by example but by genes.
K called us into her room the other day and showed us her money all lined up and told us how many coins she had. It was so cute and I was so proud. She is definitely my daughter.

Today You Are Two

I can't believe you are already two. It seems like I you were just a bundle of joy coming home from the hospital. Now look at you! You have grown so much and can do so many things. You love to play outside in the dirt and sand. You love to swing on the rope swing in our living room and wrestle with daddy.
You can put on your shirts and pants but socks and shoes are still hard for you. Your hair is long enough to put into piggy tales, however you don't leave them in for more than a few minutes. You are pretty proficient with utensils but you haven't gotten the hang of cups yet. When you try to use them, you spill all the liquid down your shirt, so you use sippy cups right now.
You only say a few words, dogie, hi, and baby, but I know you will be speaking a lot soon. You are a very curious girl and get into everything. You are also very stubborn. If there is something you don't want to do, we are hard pressed to get you to do it.
You are now 38 1/4 inches tall and weigh 28.8 pounds. You are so much taller than K was at this age and you are a head above all the other kids your age. I definitely think you will be as tall as I am.
I am so amazed at how much you have grown and love spending time with you. The past two years have been amazing and I am excited to see you much more you grown and change in the coming year. We are so blessed to have you as part of our family and we love you oodles!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, L!

L's Birthday

We celebrated L's birthday the night before. She was so excited to open her gifts. K got her a ZhuZhu pet and a pretty strawberry shirt. We got her a nice pair of rubber boots and her Granny gave her some money for her college fund. After opening gifts, we dug into her donut cake. It was very tasty.

L grabbing her gifts she can't wait to open.

Her new rain boots.

The shirt sissy got for her.

L was afraid of the candles after we lit them.
Guess she won't be playing with fire anytime soon.

MMM, donuts. She ate about 6 donut holes before we made her stop.

YW Beach Retreat

The Young Women Leaders wanted to take the girls to the beach for an overnighter and my aunt let us borrow her beach house for the event. We left on Friday around 1pm and drove the two hours to our destination. When we arrived we got some pizza for dinner and followed it with games and movies. The girls got into bed for the last movie. The movie was over around 12:30 am and the girls went straight to sleep when asked to.
On Saturday morning we got up early and ate breakfast then had our planning meeting to figure out our Wednesday night activities for the rest of the year. After that the girls went down to the beach for half an hour before some of them headed home. They ended up getting soaked from head to toe, so we had to get them all changed and cleaned up before heading out. We stopped by a souvenir shop where they each bought a little something. We all had a great time and the girls behaved exceptionally well. I was very proud of how well they got along and listened to their leaders.

Sister Radke and Sister Luciani on our way out of town.

Sister Lake and some of our girls.

The girls in the very back of the car.

All the girls in their pj's.

All the girls singing the camp song "A Jellyfish".

A Party for "TWO"!

L's best friend, Clara turned two today. Since her family is busy trying to get packed for their move, we asked if they wanted to do a joint birthday party for the girls. Emy was glad to do it. We used Elmo as our theme and decorated with balloons and streamers. Emy got a cake from Albertson's and we had a little party along with the Hedgpeth family. The girls seemed to have a good time and especially liked opening their gifts. Thank you to the Brasher's and Hedgpeth's for joining us in this little celebration of our girls turning two.

L wearing her party hat.

Auntie came down for the celebration.

Bahmah came down for a little bit too.

The gift table.

The cake Em brought.

The older kids did a great job playing together.

L loved her cake but Clara wouldn't even try it.

K, S, and G did a great job playing together while presents were opened.

Opening the gifts.