Camping!

We just went on our ward camp out this weekend and it was a lot of fun. Who knew, though, that when they booked the site and date in December that we would have a cold front come through in the middle of August. It was a lot of fun, but truthfully, quite cold. Thankfully, it only rained for a few minutes at the beginning of dinner, and then it cleared up.

Here are Jessica, Duncan and Kelsi sitting under the tree keeping dry.

My favorite thing in this picture is Kelsi's hot dog stick. It is only about 6 inches long, but she was adamant.

We got there in time to put up our tent before it started raining, and it drizzled while they served dinner. A bunch of people from the ward came up for dinner, games and s'mores, but then headed back down the canyon to sleep, for some strange reason.
We had a great time staying up late roasting marshmallows and talking. I knew it was going to be cold, so I came prepared with lots of blankets, sleeping bags, hats and rain jackets for all. We did pretty well until about 3:00 in the morning when first Jes woke up and climbed into DJ's sleeping bag, (Then complained if he tried to adjust positions) then Kelsi woke up crying and was inconsolable. I tried putting her in my sleeping bag, but it was too confining, she didn't want to lay next to me... but she didn't mind if I held her sitting up... so I did that... for a while... until her head fell back and she was asleep. Then I put her in bed between our sleeping bags with lots of blankets. Thankfully, I had brought fleece hats for both girls and that helped a ton. After a bit, DJ started moving all over the place, and since we were on an air mattress, I was bouncing up and down. I finally asked him what he was doing. He had fallen off the edge of the mattress since their were two extra people on it and was trying to get back on without squishing Jes. I laughed and reached over and attempted to help haul up the sleeping bag. We didn't get much sleep that night, but we had a great time. :)

My parents have a 4 foot crawl space under their house and we use it for storage. Since we were halfway there anyway, we decided to go straight there and unload and store all of our camping gear that we will not be using until next summer. Kelsi of course fell asleep in the car, and I guess we looked a little bedraggled so my mom offered to watch Jes and keep an eye on Kelsi sleeping while we took a nap. I had a lot of inertia napping. It took forever to go to sleep and then FOREVER to wake up. When I woke up, I glimpsed DJ and Jes in the hot tub and immediately rummaged through one of my old drawers and found a very old swimming suit and shorts, which still somewhat fit over the pregnant belly... and hopped in. It felt SOOOOOOOO good. Then they ordered pizza and we just had a delightful time. Now I need to go finish my Primary lesson. Any ideas?

Here are some more pictures from the campout.

Happy Birthday Jessica!!!

Jessica is 4 years old today! Happy Birthday! Here are some pictures of her as a newborn- 4 years ago! Wow- I cannot believe it has been that long. She has been a wonderful part of our family!


This is from her blessing day. Her blessing dress was my blessing dress, made from my mom's wedding train. My mom added the embroidery while I was in the hospital with Jessica.
So little! She was only 6 lbs 10 oz a week late.Happy Birthday Princess!!! This is my second attempt at a fun birthday cake. The first was Kelsi's a month ago. Thanks to Emily Stevens for all of her cake decorating supplies, book, pans, tips... plus the idea to make the turrets out of rice krispie treats. I had a lot of fun. The whole process took a while, but Jessica and I had a lot of fun.

My Little Cowgirls

We went to an extended family reunion (My Grandpa's brothers and sisters) in Rexburg, ID. It was a lot of fun. My extended family comes from all walks of life, from big city slickers to real cowboys and farmers. The highlight of the reunion is that it is held at my Great Uncle Melvin's ranch where the kids have unlimited horse riding in the arena. This time they had an even smaller corral set up with the most gentle horses for the little kids that you could lead around. Last year DJ and I went on a 3 hour horse ride in the sand dunes, which was fun. Kelley's kids all came this year, too and it was a lot of fun.

Just Chillin' on a bench eating red licorice.

Where else is a perfect place to wear cowboy boots and a hat than on a ranch in Idaho. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my favorite moment on the whole trip. My dad was leading around Jessica and her cousin Ben on the same horse. He was getting pretty tired of walking circles in the dirt, so he gave the lead rope to me. I was riding a magnificent, docile and obedient horse, but I was still a little nervous. Apparently, though, my horse was the lead horse and the kids and DJ's horses were more than happy to follow mine. Anyway, I led them around and listened to the conversation of the cousins (3 and 4 years old).

Ben "I want to be a carver some day. A really good one." (He had been watching my dad carve)

Jessica "Well, I want to be a Daddy when I grow up."
then "You could be a Daddy AND a carver!"

Ben "No, my Daddy doesn't carve..." and so on.

It was just so fun to listen to them nonchalantly riding a horse and discussing their career plans. And yes, Jes wants to be a Daddy when she grows up.
Kelsi was a doll. There is a great advantage to your child being on the shy side- they don't leave your site at a reunion full of strange people. My favorite was when I walked in the first time, I went up to a group of people to say hi to my Grandparents-her Great-Grandparents. Kelsi held onto the backs of my pant legs and peeeeeeked around one side, then peeeeeked around the other side. The second day, she ran right into the yard excited for the day, but still didn't get that far before coming back by me. She also cried when I tried to take her near the horses, which was fine by me. On the second day, she took a fantastic almost 3 hour nap in the house which is when we stole away to ride horses.

This picture was while the girls were waiting for Daddy to come home so we could pack up the car and leave. They were excited. And yes, Kelsi's pajamas are on backwards. That is the BEST trick I've heard.
So another story with career aspirations. A few days after the reunion we went to the SWEET'S Candy Factory out by the airport with Kelley, her boys and my mom, which was really fun- especially if you like the show "Unwrapped" on the Food Network. After "Candyland" as Jes called it, she was talking to me in the car. She told me that she wanted to be a "Candy Land Tour Dad." Apparently, her favorite job was the tour guide.

Jessica is a Monkey. I have known if for a while, but recently she has discovered a new favorite past time: climbing Mr. Dipper as she calls the tree in my in-laws back yard. It is a small, but a perfect climbing tree, except for the cement and rocks at the base... She actually got pretty high. The only problem is that Kelsi is also a monkey, but 2 years younger and does not have the same skill set, so she attempts to do everything her sister does, which scares me to death. The other day Jes jumped off the playground equipment onto the wood chips, and Kelsi followed right behind and fell flat on her face. Poor girl. I felt SO bad.

I decided to give the girls and in-between birthday gift since their birthdays are just a month apart and this easel was for both of them. It was a hit!

We have some news to share...

We are expecting a baby in January around the 16th. I am just over 12 weeks along. Here are some ultrasound pictures from our appointment today. The baby was SO active! He/she was moving its mouth, head and literally bouncing up and down in the womb several times. I think he/she was excited for us to meet them. :) It was so fun to watch and a really sweet experience. It is amazing to me that the baby is only 6.1 cm, yet it has arms, legs, eyes, a mouth and functioning heart. Craziness- what a miracle.

Happy Birthday Kelsi!!!

Kelsi is two years old today. She has been such a delightful addition to our family. We had a party for her at my parent's house on Sunday. This is the first year I decided to make a "birthday cake" (as opposed to a cake for a birthday) and I used a cream cheese fondant recipe I got from my foods teacher at BYU. It turned out pretty well. She had a good time and the cake tasted great. Today is pretty low-key, but we are trying to do some fun things for her. This morning we went to story time at the library, then lunch at the park. After her nap, I am going to make cupcakes for the neighborhood kids and we'll play in the sprinklers.
Happy Birthday Kelsi!!!
Here are some pictures of her 2 years ago when she was born.




We sure love her!

Not much going on...

We don't have that much going on. I keep checking other people's blogs and reading them and enjoying them, but I don't update mine unless I have pictures... We have been taking it easy lately. Our biggest item of interest is that maintenance came to "auger" our sink Monday, and they broke a pipe so Kelsi's room has been filling with stinky water all week. We finally figured out what was going on Friday night (of course) so they came by to fix it today. They found the leak and it is mostly fixed now. In the meantime, Kelsi has been sleeping in Jessica's room and we are trying to decided whether to make it permanent now or just wait until later. We want to put them in the same room eventually, but it is just so convenient to separate them...

Kelsi is blossoming. She is almost 2 years now. I was worried because she had been really sick for a month, then had an ear infection, so a first round of antibiotics, then a second and now she is just finishing up her third round. This is all during key language development months. She wasn't talking a whole lot so I went in to get her ears checked by an audiologist (in between the 2nd and 3rd rounds) and she still had fluid in her ears and it was affecting her hearing. No wonder she hasn't been talking a lot. Since we have gotten her the 2nd and 3rd rounds, she is so much more interactive and responsive and she is talking a lot more. My nephew had fluid in his ears and they didn't figure it out until I think he was 3. It was really affecting his speaking. Now he is 6 and speaks very well- you would never know. It is nice to be proactive. I will take her in again this week to follow up. We also have an appointment with a speech pathologist for a speaking evaluation to see how we can encourage language development. Jes was early talking, so I can't compare, but she was talking in full sentences by now. Kelsi is not that far behind, I just want to be proactive. (and the grunting and screeching were getting old) She has improved so much already.

Jessica is really fun. We definitely have days when we are closer and days when we clash. Does anyone else feel this way? I have discovered (well, DJ told me) that what she needs most to feel close is cuddle time- like when she watches cartoons. That really helps. She is very imaginative and will play for hours by herself. She definitely goes through phases- weeks when she will play by herself all day every day, and then weeks when she needs constant attention. She is such a sweet girl and growing up into a real girl- not just a toddler. It is funny to hear the things she says and comes up with. She LOVES playing with friends and we are doing our best to teach her to be inclusive. She is very excited for "Grandma Nettie's pool" and includes it in every prayer. If we forget in our prayer, she whispers "Don't forget Grandma Nettie's pool!" We are hoping to teach her how to swim this summer. She also loves preschool, gymnastics, playing outside and "inviting friends to come over and play," especially when I am outside with Kelsi and they sneak in. Funny girl.

K- Kelsi needs attention.

You just have to love a baby's laugh...

I was putting Kelsi to bed the other night and she was so slap happy. I always want to remember her sweet giggle.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 6th anniversary, and it has been such a wonderful 6 years. I wish I had digital wedding pictures to post, but they would take to much time to find and dig out. :) The past 6 years have been wonderful. We have both graduated from college, moved 6 times, 4 of which were cross-country back and forth to Connecticut, we have 2 kids, worked a real job, gone back to grad school... And had a great time. DJ is truly wonderful and I am so grateful for him. That fateful kiss almost 7 years ago started an eternity of bliss. :) (HE kissed ME, in case there was any question- he even admits to it now after 6 years.)

Last night the Swensons watched the girls and we went to Pei Wei and then shopped for a double jogging stroller and found a great deal on running shoes for DJ. Does anyone know of a good brand of jogging stroller? We were going to go to PF Changs, but as I was at the grocery store the day before, they had asparagus at a killer price, as well as spinach and strawberries, and I knew I had London Broil in the freezer, which we grilled in addition to fresh pineapple, and the asparagus... Why go out for an expensive dinner, when you have all the fixings for an amazing dinner at home-plus Pei Wei was really good. We also made roasted sweet and red potatoes, which we LOVE, we dipped fresh bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and had triple chocolate ice cream with fresh strawberries and snickers bar... but what to do the kids?

We decided to have a candlelight pajama party picnic (bajammies as Jes called them). (Thanks for the idea Kelley) It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures : )

(You can't see the table very well because of a placemat, but my mom painted it for Jes for Christmas with the "Three Little Pigs- it is fantastic) (Kelley wanted a picture- so here it is)

(This picture is what you get for setting it on the counter with a timer)Thanks Hon, for a WONDERUL 6 years!!! I love you.

I've got a Girlie-Girl

So apparently I am on a blogging kick. Enjoy while it lasts. :)

Kelsi has been sick for the last 5 weeks with a bad cold, at least one bad ear infection (the other ear had too much wax) and a sinus infection. I took her back in for a second round of antibiotics when she didn't get completely better and now I have my little girl back!!! Her personality is blossoming. I was worried because she wasn't talking a ton during a key language development month, but the poor girl could not hear! She has been saying new words right and left for the past few days. What a fun age!

It's Spring!!!

Spring is Sprung, the grass is riz... YEAH!!!!!! We have a beautiful tree in full bloom just outside our front window. What beautiful weather!!!





A little blurry, but funny girl.