First Sleepover

Ally and Jillian are the best of buds. The highlight of springbreak (since the weather was so crummy) was their sleepovers. Kaitlyn had Ruby over a few nights before. Ally went to Grandma's that night (she thought is was a much needed break from her sister). Ally was thrilled when Kaitlyn (the third wheel of all play dates) went to Grandmas and she got Jillian all to herself. It was a fun girls night...with lots of curls the next morning :) They stayed up until 12:30am. Ally didn't know how to get to sleep at that point and was a wreck!

Now I don't know what to when the girls are asked to have a sleepover elsewhere. Hopefully, the parents won't think I'm hypocritical when I say no and hopefully I can find a tactful way to say it. Nothing against the parents, I just know my girls and their need for mom and dad in the middle of the night.

Reese Arrived!

Jeremy's youngest sister delivered beautiful Reese Rebecca on March 30th. This is her 4th child. So happy everyone is healthly and doing well! Congrats Becky, Steve, Sydney, Steven and Tori, she's a beautiful addition!

Jam packed day of fun!

It's official, Kaitlyn is 5 and SO happy! A common statement from Kaitlyn when she's pleased is "You Rock!"


When Kaitlyn returned home from pre-school, she and I had about an hour to enjoy each others company. Grandma came over and had lunch with us. After that we headed to pick up two of Kaitlyn's closest friends, Talitha and Ruby. They all had a great afternoon at Kids Club, then back to the house for presents, dessert and craft-time.


Once the girls were picked up, our family headed out for a great family fun night. It started with the best chinese food ever, free birthday tokens at chuck e cheese, then ice cream. It's lots of fun to be together and celebrate our little sweet Kaitlyn!

Our Baby's Turning 5!

We were so happy to celebrate Kaitlyn's birthday with our family last night. It's always difficult trying to accomodate everyones schedules. This time, a saturday night party worked wonders! Both sets of grandparents, Aaron, Katie and their kids Lauren, Audrey, Rachael and Thomas made it in addition to Kevin, Heather and little Mya. That's all the family close by these days.


This was a Hannah Montana themed party: cake, music, deco, games, etc. The kids had a great time playing "Don't Eat Hannah" and "Pass the Present". It was fun watching them play and enjoying the company of our loved ones. Thanks everyone!!!

More "Goodbyes"

Rosco and Ella went bye-bye this morning. Kaitlyn was a little sad, but not quite as devastated as Ally (more time to cope with the idea). We are thrilled that some friends from church took little Ella and Rosco and don't live far from home. The girls are so happy they'll get to visit...although I'm not sure if they are more excited to visit the goats or the miniture pony they own :)

Here are Kaitlyn's goodbye photos:

Resemblance?

I can't believe I forgot to post this pic of Kaitlyn with her great grandfather in the last posting. It's a great picture of the two of them and I'm amazed at the resemblance I see in the two of them.

Happy 89th Grandpa!

We are thrilled we were able to celebrate your 89th birthday together. You are an amazing grandfather, filled with so much love for your grandchildren. Thank you for being the Grandfather you are!


We love you!!!


Ally and I enjoyed baking a spice cake from scratch. She was glad she got to present it to Great Grandpa and dish-up all the pieces. I think grandpas expression surprised Ally a little...love it!


Surprises are one of my favorite things! When Sami (my cousin) and I scheduled our visit with Grandpa, we didn't tell him about the other people that were coming and that it was for his birthday. Mya was one of the surprises...this was the first meeting. Mya examined him pretty good, but from a distance.


My cousin Sami is my Uncle Tim's (dad's brother) daughter. I haven't seen her since her baby shower and that was over 5 years ago. Our girls Shelby and Kaitlyn are 4 months apart and hit it off SO well! Kaitlyn told Ally away several times, for she wanted Shelby all to herself. They all had a great time on the back patio. It was great to see my Aunt Karen as well. Thanks for the reunion everyone!


A couple of the things I love most about Mya is her expressions and her jibber jabber. SO cute. These are pictures of her with Grandpa's dog Lucy. Thank goodness Dad was holding Lucy in case she snipped at Mya when she got close.

Lauren's 10

Happy Birthday Lauren! You are a lovely young lady with such a loving personality. We are glad we were able to celebrate your special day....and what a great one it was....entering the double digits and having a cousin born on your birthday! LOVE YOU LAUREN!

Wecome Baby Jade

First of the 5 babies in 2010 to arrive in the family. Congrats Kierstin, Wes and Westin, she's adorable!

Saying Goodbye is Hard

It was really hard leaving Rosemary and Eli. They are the best goats I’ve ever had. It was fun watching them play with each other. Eli would not stop jumping up on Rosemary. Eli was my favorite because he had a black stripe down his back and white on his chest. He was my cute buddy. Rosemary was cute. She was named after me. Even though she kicked me, she’s still a fun goat.

I felt really sad the day they left. The people who picked up the goats said they would be nice to them. They also said they would take care of them by bottle feeding them. I believed them. They will take good care of my goats. I’m happy that Carol and her husband will take pictures and let me come visit.

I love you & will miss you, Rosemary & Eli!

Ally

Valentine Treat

Saturday evening the girls and I decided to whip up a little Valentine’s Day treat; chocolate cake with raspberry filling. They did everything (with supervision of course) except for the making the filling. We had a great time together....thanks for your help in the kitchen girls!

Kaitlyn wanted to take a pic of the hearts she and Ally made last weekend...Ally got up....with her new cut (bangs) I couldn't help but think of The Bangles hit "walk like an e-gyp-tion" I used to love that group and song LOL

Valentine Dinner

Jeremy and I got to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Thursday evening. It was a great evening at home, dinner for two and the start of a new season of survivor. The day after, Kaitlyn insisted on taking a picture of the rose….she’s our little photographer these days. Thanks watching the girls mom...They had a great time!

Audrey's 8

We all had a blast celebrating Audrey’s birthday. Katie fed us all lunch, played a game (guess the amount of gummy bears…Kaitlyn and Racheal won), then took us to the movies (planet 57). It was a great time and we can’t believe Audrey is 8. This bring us to the next picture.


Audrey’s baptism was a very special day. It happened to be the Saturday after Ally had her “Great to be 8” evening at the church. A program that introduces baptism and what the kids can expect when and if they choose to be baptized. This is something Ally has been very excited about, so Audrey’s baptism makes this special event that much more meaningful or her. Audrey we are very proud of you and your decision. We love you and are so glad we were able to share a piece of your special day.

Kaitlyn and her goats

Kaitlyn had the opportunity to show and tell her little Rosco and Ella at school. I brought them to recess, the kids had a blast, but I have to say that the tutors seemed to enjoy them more than the kids. Kaitlyn was great making her rounds and allowing each child and tutor to take turns petting. She was so happy to share “her babies”. The main picture here is of Kaitlyn and her tutor Taylor.


Rosco and Ella have been so much fun to watch around 2 ½ weeks old we caught a view of Rosco jumping on Chloe’s back. He does it all the time. I’ve got it on video, but haven’t been able to figure out how to post it….Jeremy thinks we should turn it in to Funniest Home Videos. If your ever over…ask to take a look…very funny!

Live-in Back-Scratcher

A common scene at our house, always scratching or rubbing some ones back. Glad I could be of service family :)

Andrea's Birthday

I’ve got to remember back to my birthday (the week after the goats were born…which seems like forever ago). So here I go again….a bunch of posts all at once.
It’s always a thrill when my birthday falls on a 3 day weekend….everyone gets the day off and I get my family to myself!!! Jeremy’s parents took the kids Friday night (pre-birthday night out). My mom offered to take the girls (yes…again) Sunday night. My birthday fell on Martin Luther King holiday. I got to relax Sunday evening at home with Hubby and sleep-in on my b-day. I have to say I felt rather lonely Monday morning (Jeremy unexpectedly left at 6am to help his uncle with a flat tire in the hills). For the last 6 years, I’ve had breakfast made and little ones coming in and waking me with good morning kisses, hugs and singing Happy Birthday…oh how I missed it!!! I can’t complain too much because we all spent a great afternoon together.

The good part of my morning was the phone calls and breakfast. I always look forward to my calls from each of my brothers….it’s not very often we call each other to chat. Kevin’s call came first, my sister-in-laws call followed (from Kierstin, thank you!!!) Then there was a call I did not expect…the call brought tears to my eyes, it was my morning song! The solo came from Elissa, a sister (Relief Society) I visit each month, she sang with accompaniment from her daughter Megan on the keyboard! They are such dear friends and I’m so thankful they were in tune to my loneliness that morning. After the call I had a wonderful time meeting Lori, Emma and Julie for lunch. All three are sisters from Relief Society, this was the first opportunity I had to visit Julie. What a neat gift from each of you, thank you!

When I returned home, Jeremy was home with the girls. Lovely flowers were deplayed on the counter and we spend the rest of the day together. A couple hours were spent at home with the goats and relaxing, then out for ice cream, a movie (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and dinner at The Outback…the surprise there is that kids eat free on Monday’s!!! We didn’t know that when we ordered….glad we ordered the kids-sized ribs and steak.

It was a fantastic birthday and I can’t believe I’m 32!!! The collage includes a picture of me and my youngest brother Kevin. His birthday falls the day after mine. I was so happy I got to see him Tuesday at mom’s. Happy Birthday Keviee!!

More pics of the kids

Here's one of all the kids together...thanks for the pics Katie!!!
Final Names: Rosco, Ella, Rosemary and Eli


Yes...they've consumed our week and we're still loving every moment! (Well, with the exception of chasing the mothers back to the pen!!! Grrrr!!!)

For Katie

Got great pics of my neices and nephew with the kids. Thanks for the visit!!!

Cocoa's Delivery!!!

Cocoa delivered at 4:45pm.
Jeremy went out to check on Chloe's kids. As he was walking back to the house he heard an odd noise come from the goat house. When he went to check on Cocoa he found that delivery had started. He ran to get us. Kaitlyn and daddy made it back for the first delivery. The four of us got to see the second. All of it happened so fast....and was SO exciting!

This is Ally's batch. She has named them Rosemary (black one a girl) and Eli (Grey one a boy).

I'll have to get more pictures tomorrow....mamas cleaned them up and BOY are they CUTE!!!

Chloe's Twins!!!

I checked on Chloe at 7am this morning...no signs of anything. When I returned home at 11am, from the office and just before Kaitlyn's bus was to arrive, I found Chloe caring for her kids. What a shock! They're finally here!!!! We (neighbor Peggy and I) were able to move them to the shed for warmth. Daddy came home shortly after, for a quick visit. I picked up Ally from school so daddy could share in her excitment and I could keep my promise to Ally. What an exciting day! Cocoa should deliver within the next week.

Oh! The white one is a girl, brown a boy. At this point Kaitlyn's named them Cinderella and Phillip (prince from Sleeping Beauty). We'll see what their names are in an hour LOL