Summer Challenge.

Okay so my friend put out this challenge to increase quality time with your family. She has challenged everyone to do some kind of wholesome recreational activity with your spouse/family everyday for the entire summer. Well, since our family doesn't really have summers we went ahead and started already. Of course - I haven't really told them what's going on yet. So yesterday we went on a walk after dinner. It kept Dallin up about 30 minutes past bedtime, but we saw these beautiful flowers.

These beautiful children enjoying each others company, playing with pine cones and skipping around the block.

We also saw a go cart whipping around the corner. I have to admit that I have missed being outside in the early evening hours. That is one thing Dave and I always did before we had kids was go play after dinner/work. But since we put our kids to bed so early it makes it hard to get outside and play after dinner. It started sprinkling on us at the end of the walk - we talked with our neighbors for a bit and had a fabulous time.

Tonight we played Go Fish, read books, and gave the dog a bath. It was so refreshing to have this quality time together instead of everyone just doing their own thing.

So, I am passing this challenge on to everyone! Get together and make some memories!!!

If you decide to do this challenge you can link your blog to my friends blog and we can all see what everyone is doing.

more happenings

The daily grind is all we've been up to lately, but my sister has been up to some things like...
Getting Engaged!!!

We are so happy for her and her fiance. They are getting married in July and are full into the planning. We are excited that they picked the same week in July that we were already planning to head out to Utah so no extra time off needed.

And - Dave gave me my birthday present early and we have a camera again. I went crazy the first day and took pictures of everything. I was definately in withdrawl. So now I just need to download and edit and then you can all share in how fast the kids are growing.
We have a big dance recital coming up in a few weeks and have begun the craziness of extra rehearsals.
Meanwhile - Dallin is using his binky less frequently and just babbles all day long. He has made sounds very similar to stroller and has said sister a few times when pointing to Danica. Slowly his vocabulary is coming. I can't belive he is 17 months and will be going to nursery soon. He still seems so little.

Conference

While I was putting kids to be tonight we started discussing conference.
Here is a small excerpt from our conversation

Me: So a lot of people talked about the family...
Danica: No mom, they talked about moms. It was all about moms.

Well, at least she was listening.

Easter is here!!

Happy Easter to Everyone!!




Just thought I would share two of my favorite easter/spring songs. I wish I had pics to share, but still no camera.
love you all.

recent happenings

Well, I guess it's been a while since I blogged. Just been busy.
to catch you up...
After we got the dog... I had surgery. Dave was home for a week and then my mom came out and played 'mom' instead of grandma for a week and then I was on my own for two weeks.
Dave (bless his heart) had all these ideas of what he was going to do while he wasn't working for a week. none of those ideas got done. imagine that.
I think we wore out my mom between the kids and staying up watching the olympics.
I learned that I am not a good patient. (unless I am copletely nauseated and druged) I learned that being a couch potato makes you hungry for junk - not fruits and veggies, and you are much more tired. It is definately not what our bodies were designed for.

The dog also had a small degression because I wasn't able to out with her for a while. She is doing much better now. She still gets excited when she meets new people, and sometimes with the girls, but she goes on walks without pulling and comes when called and will sit and lay down on request. I have also learned that I am NOT a dog person. While I enjoy the walks and other opportunities to be outside, I just dread the responsibilities that come with a dog. I just have enough on my plate. The good thing is that Danica has taken complete responsibility for the dog. She feeds her and pooper scoops the yard. I think it is great that she wants this responsibility. I didn't even ask her to have these jobs, she just took them upon herself.

We survived the two weeks without daddy. He went to training at the Grand Canyon and had a blast there, but really missed us. I'm sure I'll post pics of his adventure when we get them. He had a disposable camera so we are back to having to get them developed.

I guess that catches us up. mostly. Whitney had a grand week and ended up with a black eye, swollen arm, goose egg on her leg and a bloody nose to top things off (each of which was a seperate disaster) Guess she must be growing again. hahaha

Dallin missed his daddy terribly and when he came home he wouldn't let him go. He had a death grip on his shirt - it made for unpacking the work van interesting and then Dallin cried when daddy left to take the van back.

Well, I will try to keep you posted even though we won't have pictures (so sad). I am reasearching cameras and think I have it narrowed down to two - what feature would you prefer - a self-timer without manual settings, or no self-timer and the option to control what types of features you use when taking a picture (ie- shutter speed, color contrast, etc)?
Then we have to figure out if it's in the budget.

toodles for now.

Camera Problems

All of a sudden my camera is doing this...

it takes video fine, I have tried everything I know and I can't fix this. Any one have any ideas?

I have a cannon sureshot a540.

Blog

So, while I've been resting, I've been playing around with the digital software from Stampin' Up! that I have. and decided to create my own blog background and stuff.
I don't like the header yet, but tell me what you think!
You can also check out my stampin blog here

Hope you all enjoyed.

How to get kids to play in the rain...

Get a dog...

Meet Bolt. She was found by Dave and his coworkers and brought to our home. We took her to the shelter and waited for someone to claim her since I could tell she was a family dog. Dave kept calling the shelter to see if she was still there and when they said they could uthenize her at anytime we had to go get her.

She is a very smart dog. They think she is 3-4 months old. She has already learned to sit and almost has walking on the leash down. She makes sure that everyone is with us when we are walking - if someone is too far ahead she will try to catch up so they aren't alone, but if someone is lagging behind she stops, turns to look at them and waits until they catch up.

The kids love her to death and have spent more time outside in the last week (even in NM cold - hahaha) than they have in quite a while. Dallin gets so excited to go see the dog, but ends up crying because he usually gets knocked down. at least now it's not because she is jumping on him - she just doesn't have good spacial awareness yet, and bumps him with her back end.

We are excited for this new adventure.

Dallin's haircut

Back in December we decided Dallin really needed a haircut. So we got out the clippers and Dave, Dallin and Whitney got their hair cut.
Here's the big boy getting ready. He didn't like getting his hair cut even though he watched Daddy get his.

Here are my boys with their new cuts. Aren't they handsome!

He finaly decided he like it. Now he looks like a boy.

While our computer was down he also learned to walk, say moo and woof. He still won't say mom though. He also signs more and please. Isn't he getting so big!

Dance fundraiser

The kids had a fundraiser for their dance school and got to perform the dances they are learning for Spring. They had a blast and did a great job.

Here is Whitney's Jazz dance.

Here is Danica's jazz

Hope you enjoyed. I think for being their first year of dance they did a fantastic job. Their ballets were just as good.

Dallin says YES

Dallin is so full of fun these days. He is learning to talk and communicate in other ways too. Here he is when he learned 'yes'

SNOW!!!

We were so excited a few weeks ago when we woke up to a winter wonderland. It had been in the 70's and then suddlenly dropped to below freezing (well just below). And we woke up to this amazing site.

So we turned on the radio and TV to see if school had been cancelled and no news. So we got Danica dressed and took her to the bus - and waited... and waited...and then we made a snowman and still no bus. So we went home and played in our yard, but I didn't bring the camera to that excersion. But later that afternoon when Dallin was up we went out again. Yes- we love the snow!! Danica loves it so much she had to eat it...
Dallin really loved it too. So glad we got him this coat when we thought we were going to be in the Rockies for the start of winter.The kids pulled out the sled and pulled each other around the yard for a bit. I think this may have been Dallin's favorite part.

A disclaimer - the girls did have coats and mittens and everything, but they shed them shortly after getting outside. I guess they were getting in the way of their fun. But it wasn't really that cold out anyway. I just love this next picture. The sun just happened to be in the right place, and then it is reflecting off the snow to frame Whitney so perfectly...

And just so you get the idea of how much snow we really had - this is our snowman that we made around 4 in the afternoon and only used a corner of the yard snow to make it.

Yes - I am standing up straight. - we made a 5 foot snowman and look how much snow is left!!

We had so much fun. I wish it would cool off again and snow for Christmas this time. Guess I'll just keep on wishing.

Whitney's birthday

Whitney is 4! She got breakfast in bed compliments of Danica.

She had a few friends over for a party. Princess dresses and tea set and the imaginations of littel girls - what could be better.

They got to make goodie bags, crowns and sparkly pink playdough. A girls dream come true!!

Here's the cake. (I used a Cinderella doll she already had and went from there)

and - who can forget the presents. 7 Dinsey Princess all in one box. The picture doesn't even begin to capture her excitement. She still carries them everywhere, sleep with them, plays with them all day - It's just not wearing off (maybe when she get her Christmas presents - but I don't think so)

A little bit about the new 4 year old. She likes to do things by herself - she gets her snacks and drink by herself because she is a BIG GIRL. She thinks she is now going to catch the bus and go to school (thanks to Danica telling her she would go to school when she was 4).

She is full of smiles most of the time, but her stubborness is starting to show even more (remember that stubborn little baby dad?? she's back)

She loves to watch anything on TV, loves to color (and she can do it almost as good as Danica when she wants too) She loves to 'stamp up' as she calls it. So we do this together anytime I need to pull my stuff out.

She loves her dance classes!! But she is content not to be the limelight (which is probably good because her sister must be the limelight) But I think they are both very good dancers.

Happy Birthday little Princess!

Dallin's birthday/happenings

Dallin has turned one and is suddenly into everything. I was making rolls the other day and forgot to put the lid on the flour container and then turned around to this...


Then Dave found him in the cupboard and played pick-a-boo. Which he didn't really like. I think it scared him having the door closed on him.

Here are some of our friends that came for Dallin's party. Here they are practicing their balancing act.

Here he is trying to figure out how to open his new toys. The cars and helicopter were his favorites. In fact he wouldn't even open the other gifts once the cars were opened. He wanted them right away. What a boy!!

Playing Twister for the party...

And some fun shots of the birthday boy in his new duds and decorating himself with the frosting from the cake. He wasn't a big fan of the cake.

Halloween festivities

So here are the pictures from the last post - and yes Mary you were right - hot dogs wrapped up like mummies. And potato slices cut into claws. The brains were just peach jello mixed with whip cream. (the brain mold was left in the sleeping baby's closet)

Onto the carnival. Who knew that Hannah Montana and Cinderella were such sloppy eaters??

Then we met up with Daphne, and played games.

Here's a group shot of the disney bunch

Dinner on Halloween was boo pizza and dracula punch. The girls wouldn't drink until I gave in and told them what was on the cups. Sorry the pizza didn't get in the shot much - it's just pizza with cheese ghosts nothing too fancy.

Carving pumpkins while watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is a yearly tradition.

What posers I have for children.
Danica and whitney loved cutting the pumpkins, but were kind of grossed out by the guts, so I pulled most of them out. Danica was a trooper and she did a lot of hers.

Dave is carving Dallin's because Dallin went to bed. But Dallin got some pumpkin time later...

Pictures on our way out to trick or treat with friends.

Doesn't smee look like a real bad bottom with his binky.(dave's quote)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN