The Coils

Falling in Love

2011-11-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow will be two weeks since Fisher was born. I just adore this little boy. I haven't accomplished much around the house or anywhere else lately, I am so content just sitting and holding him all day long. I have been blessed with an amazing husband that has made up for my slacking. The girls have been just wonderful too. I was afraid that there would be some jealousy but so far all I have seen from them is love. I feel so incredibly blessed right now.

Kaylee came over for half the day Saturday to take some pictures for me. It was so much fun. By the time we were done I think Fisher was afraid to fall asleep because he thought I might take his clothes off and take more pictures of him:)

The little sleeper that Fisher has on in this picture was Michaels when he was a baby. Thank-you Kaylee for saving that for us!

This little girl is so cute with her little brother. She has come into my room every morning so excited to see him and sing to him. I am so lucky to have both of them.

Fisher Gray Coil...

2011-10-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

...has arrived!

All 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches of him...

...from his long toes, to his cute little nose...

HE'S PERFECT!

Excited for Fisher!!

2011-10-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Four days and counting down until I get to meet my little fish!! I can't wait to see the face of this little guy who has been squirming around inside me for the last 9 months.

My mom flys in tomorrow which adds to all of our excitement. I am just ecstatic that she is going to be here, it makes everything perfect. Time is going by so fast right now, I'm sure Sunday and Monday will seem very SLOW though.

This is a picture of me and the belly at the pumpkin patch last week. As uncomfortable as I am right now I am really going to miss being pregnant.

Fishers Nursery
We were going to paint over "deery lou" but just never found the time, energy, motivation...etc. I still love the room though, I'm sure Fisher won't mind the purple butterfly and yellow flowers all over his wall for now:)

Tuesday, come fast please!!

A few of my Favorite things....

2011-09-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Every year all of the girls in Michaels family get together and have a "favorite things party".

It always involves great food, fabulous company, and lots of laughter!

This year D booked us a night at a beautiful townhome in Midway and the only thing that could have made it more perfect is if Shay were able to be there ( you were missed).

I had such a great time with everybody. It's amazing the stories that come out when the boys aren't around, I loved it!!

We ate at a DELICIOUS Italian restaurant in Park City before we went to midway. YUM YUM!!

I brought my laughing cow cheese with me for my favorite treat.

LaLa and I in front of a darling little house in Midway that looks like it came from Sweden.

Kaylee and I in front of the cool rock entry way of the "Swedish house".

This is my favorite thing that I brought for everyone. I found these vintage postcards of temples when I was antiquing with Eve(with 5 kids, we were so brave:) and I put them in picture frames for everyone.

Kaylee made these way sweet jewelery hangers for us to put all of our "pretties" on. I love mine!! She also got us each some jewelery, a bag, a squishy( I think that's what it's called) and of course some chocolate!

Aubrey got us all a book with 101 things every kid needs to do. I love reading through it and getting ideas on things to do with the girls. We have had a great time already with it. Then she gave us a journal to write down how the activity went. What a great idea, right!?!

Lauren got us all these hot purses, love the color. She asked each of our husbands to write a "love,note/letter(in my case an anniversary card:) for us to keep with us in our purse. Sweetest thing ever!!

D gave us all a bottle of her "signature perfume". I have a new favorite scent now... Tommy Girl! She also found these sweet butterfly magnets for us to remember Grandma Bush, so special!

Shay made us these rose earrings and rings. I LOVE THEM!! I love to wear them everyday!! I just want a set of every color now:)

Thank-you girls for the tradition I look forward to every year, LOVE YOU!!

Let's Dance

2011-09-18T16:44:00.001-07:00

Mandy, my good friend down the street from us, has a little sister who is giving dance lessons in her basement. It is for girls preschool to Kindergarten age but she was sweet enough to let Amelia come too. Emry did a week long summer session with her and it was adorable. Now Amelia is beaming with excitement to have a turn!

Emry couldn't wait to take Amelia with her and teach her how to dance and listen to the teacher. When they came home Emry said Amelia only did 2 things wrong (glad she was keeping track:)

Getting all warmed up

First day

2011-09-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was Emry's first day of preschool. She seemed so grown up walking into the her new classroom. She had show and tell the first day and I printed off a picture of her and her bunny to take with her. I asked her when I picked her up if she showed her picture, she said she was the first one to go up but before she could remember what she was supposed to say about the picture the teacher told her she could sit back down. Oh, she makes me laugh:)

I cleaned most of the morning while she was gone and Amelia kept asking me when we were going to pick up Emry. I felt awful that I hadn't made more time for just Amelia. The next morning I made it a point to take Amelia to the park right after we dropped Emry off for school. We played that she was the "mom" and I was the "sweetheart" the whole time. It was so much fun just being with her, she was being adorable!
This is Emry's teacher Mrs. Stringam, Emry just loves her!

Emry and Courtney walking home from school together on their first day, I love that it is only about a block away from our house.

So Long Sweet Summer

2011-09-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been since March since I posted last? I can't believe Emry is starting Preschool just next week, the summer flew by way to fast! We had a fabulous summer filled with lazy days at the swimming pool, eating ice cream, and catching bugs!! We also got to have one AMAZING week with my mom and dad here to visit, I wish you guys were here always!

With summer coming to an end and little baby Fisher on the way, I wanted to get a few pictures of the girls before things got too crazy (in a good way:).

My friend Eve told me of some pictures that she took with her family (that I am dyeing to see) where they did an awesome outdoor scene with her boys playing games and up in trees with a background of sheets hanging from trees with lanterns making a tent. I thought that sounded like so much fun so I decided I wanted to try it with the girls with a sort of vintage tea party scene.
My amazing mother-in-law didn't even hesitate saying yes when I asked her to help me out, she is actually the one that took all of the pictures.
So with a can of whipped topping as bribery (mother of the year award goes to me right?) we headed out to the park. This is what we came up with..........

Thank-you so much Kaylee for coming with me to do this, it was so much fun!

Soccer mom

2011-09-02T09:21:00.001-07:00

Fall is on it's way (my favorite season in the whole world) and that means one thing in the coil household......SOCCER! Well okay, maybe not for me, I can't go more than 10 feet with a Soccer ball without triping over it and ending up flat on my face. Michael has higher hopes for Emry though. He is coaching her little "Green Dragons" team this fall and she had her first game last Saturday, we had a blast watching her....
Emry's favorite part of Soccer is getting to wear the cool uniform

Amelia and Grandma waving at the Airplanes

Go Green Dragons!!!

Sisters

2011-03-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

I went to check on the girls after they went to bed

My heart stopped for a moment when I saw Emry's bed was empty

But then I looked down in Amelias bed and saw this....

I just wish I could have witnessed their pillow talk too:) I am so glad that they will always have eachother!

Reminiscing

2011-02-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

February 14th 2002

Michael and I's first valentines day together.

We had been dating for almost a month and were madly in love.

The pressure was on for the perfect gift.

Being the way cool girlfriend I was, I came up with an idea that was sure to impress him.......a shirt with MY name on it.

I painted the words "Erin (hearts) ME" on a T-shirt and from the look on his face when he opened it up, it seemed that he couldn't believe that I could (or would) make him such an awesome shirt:)

My mom then proceeded to take this little photo shoot of us.....

I was telling this cheesy little story to the girls at the dinner table on valentines day when Micheal got up from the table.

He came back moments later wearing "the shirt".

I had no idea that he still had it (why hadn't he been wearing it all these years?:). I'm just joking, I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world!

lucky me

2011-02-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

My Grandma celebrated her 80th birthday this weekend. It is times like this that make it hard to live so far away from my family. I longed to be there with her!

My childhood memories are filled with trips to my Grandma and Grandpa's house. Those visits were the highlights of my summers. I can still taste the cherries I could not stop picking from their tree, or the chocolate rice I would beg them to make me for EVERY breakfast.

Oh, the patience my grandparents showed me. They were never quick to anger when I did things like drive their tractor straight into a tree or my cousin and I decided all of their cats needed a bath.

My Grandmother sat through all of our "performances" we had prepared for her and she didn't bat a lash when we had the terrific idea to have a lemonade stand at her house (in the middle of the country).

Thank you Grandma for all of my cherished memories you have created. Thank-you for the pillowcase pajamas you made me, whenever I see fireflies my mind turns to the evenings we would wear those pillowcases and run around your yard. Thank you for the long country drives with breath taking Kansas sunsets we have shared. You are the best and I am lucky to have you!! Love you!!

Feeling Inspired

2011-02-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Eve gave me this book "The Creative Family" to borrow and I have been totally inspired by it!! It is written by Amanda Blake Soule, she has a blog at http://www.soulemama.com/. I'm sure I am probably one of the last people to hear about her. I have to admit I have only checked her blog out once (as I have mentioned before I am a horrible blogger) but what I saw I loved.

Her book has so many simple ideas for family activities, like charades, family drawing time, making up stories together, just simple little things but they can create the best family memories.

I love in her book she said about children's toys "less is really more". Sometimes it seems that the girls have so many toys strung out that they don't know what to do with them all. This week I took 3 big trash bags of toys to D.I. and it felt great. I also stored a lot of their toys that they don't use very often in our crawl space. Now there is more room for them to play, and there is order to the toys we have.

Here are some things that I am dying to try from the book:

-Transfer some of my girls drawings onto cloth, embroider them and make them into pillows

-Make children's pants out of an old T-shirts

-Have regular family drawing time

-create a stage somehow in our backyard for summer time "performances". (something real simple, probably with just a couple of poles, string, and sheets)

Here are some "Valentines Crowns" that eve made for the girls out of a pattern that was in the book. How darling are these! I want to make some birthday ones for the girls that they can wear every year!

I made these bean bags a couple of days ago. The girls and I love to try to knock over toilet paper rolls and toss them in the laundry basket.

I'm not trying to sound like I am telling you I am the perfect mom. I am Far from it (the girls are actually watching a movie and raiding the snack cabinet as I type). But I enjoy being inspired by other peoples ideas to become a little better myself.

Wow...

2011-01-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

...I have been very bad at blogging lately. Here is a quick recap of what has been going on in January.

We celebrated Amelia's second birthday this month. She is growing up so fast! She is my little girly girl who loves dress up, jewelery, makeup and dancing. She brings so much life into our home!

For her birthday I had the great idea of inviting the family to the "bouncy place" for $2 Tuesday.... I have never seen so many kids crammed into one place! There were about five other birthday parties there at the same time. We were all crammed on 1/2 of a picnic table, we had to take turns sitting down,so not what I had pictured. Luckily the kids didn't seem to mind. They just bounced the night away.

Amelia was loving being able to fall down and have it not hurt.

Emry caught some air and I actually caught it on camera

Just sitting on daddy's lap soaking in the chaos. It really did turn out to be a great evening!

I just finished reading Les Miserables this week. Great book! I have always loved the music but never quite understood the storyline. Now all the songs make much more sense to me. Someday I would LOVE to see it performed:) I have also been swimming twice a week with Aubrey and D. I have to give myself a pep talk to get the courage to get into the pool. It just doesn't feel right getting in a pool when it is snowy outside. But I have so much fun every time I do.

My new goal: try to be a better blogger

Merry Christmas

2010-12-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

I was talking with my dad on the phone the other day. We got to talking about favorite Christmas memories and he told me that the best Christmases he could remember were the ones where him and my mom didn't have a lot of money. On one of those years my mom had bought me a wagon at an auction and the two of them spent Christmas eve, and I'm sure all the funds they had, cleaning it up and decorating it with a pack of shiny rainbow stickers. I still remember that wagon, I had many fun adventures in it. That same year, probably even the same auction, my mom bought me a tricycle. My dad laughed and said that the chain came off the first time a rode it.....sweet memories.

This year Christmas was a bit tight for us, not nearly as tight as I'm sure my parents Christmases were for a while or better yet some of my grandparents Christmases. But we all have those years don't we? This Christmas is one I will never forget! It was a year filled with making traditions and a lot of homemade gifts, which I ended up loving. As a family we were more observant of the simple things like christmas lights and beautiful carols that really bring the spirit of the season. I learned how to cut out my first snowflake, pretty big accomplishment for a 28 year old, I know. I also learned how to make delicious smelling apple cinnamon ornaments with my girls, just like my mom made with me one Christmas many years ago. I feel so blessed, I know that might sound a bit cliche, but truly I do. We received so much from family and friends and I am so humbled by every body's generosity. I want to be more like all of you who give so much.

On Christmas eve I let Emry open her new apron so she could wear it while making cookies for Santa. Thank-you Grandma for explaining to me how to make it.

We were pretty excited to make cookies!

When did she get big enough to run the mixer by herself?

Dumping in the best part!

This Christmas eve a new tradition was born. All of the family bundled up in their warmest clothes and rode the train to temple square. The anticipation was building as we sat and waited to see the lights of the train!

All aboard and ready to go

Abbie helped out so much with the kids, they all just love her! I loved seeing these brown eyes peeking up at me.

The kids all found their own seats, so of course Emry and Sammie sat next to each other.

The pictures of the lights at temple didn't turn out great. I didn't want to use the flash because then you couldn't see the lights. So, sorry for the blurry pics.

This was my favorite display there. There is a statue of Joseph, Mary and Christ in and manger in the middle of the reflection pool. It was beautiful! Thanks for noticing I wrote I was beautiful, not what I meant to say:)

Another blurry picture, but I loved this cobble stone path.

This is a lit up stream going through the lights, the kids all took a turn throwing in a coin and making a wish

My little family with and array of lights around us

In Kansas it was very popular to set up luminaries in the old brick street neighborhoods during the season. I was ecstatic to see these luminaries!

They all had designs on the bags, amazing.

I love how the temple is glowing in this picture, it is so magical!

It was all fun and games on the ride home. Santa was coming to visit all of the kids that night and you could feel the excitement! Here's Chris being silly with amelia, we are all so grateful he is home and safe this year.

When we got home the girls opened their pajamas and dolls. Seeing and smelling their cabbage patch dolls brought back so many memories.

All tucked in

Loving Meggie

The girls didn't even get up until about 8:00. I woke up at about 7:00 so excited to hear their footprints come in our room, I almost went in and woke them up. We just stayed home and played all day. It was wonderful to not have a schedule. Christmas day was the best!!

a kitty and a bumble bee

2010-10-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

My good friend Aubrey invited the girls and I to go "trick-or-treat"ing at This is the Place, Heritage Park yesterday. We had a wonderful time with her, Kirra and Brigham. The weather was perfect and all of the kiddos looked so cute in their costumes! I think my favorite costume I saw was a little girl dressed up like little red riding hood and her brother was the big bad wolf...oh, this is my favorite time of the year!

I dressed Amelia up as a sweet little bumble bee, thank-you Aunt Katie.

Emry was a kitty, which I thought suited her perfectly, I love that girl.

Kirra was a cute little nurse

and Brigham made the most adorable pumpkin

The girls went trick-or-treating door to door

Peekaboo

They have a petting zoo there and my girls fell in love with one of the goats

The Hayrack ride was tons of fun, how do you like my close up:)

I fell in love with the old houses there and this white picket fence.

Waiting for the pony ride

Emry doesn't look too enthused here, I think she was getting tired of pictures

I couldn't wait for Emry to ride the pony. She has been talking about wanting to ride one ever since we moved right down the street from a field of horses.

I know, Emry looks a little scared, but I promise she loved it:)

Kirra loved the horses too

Pumpkin racing time!!

Go girls, Go!

Emry and Kirra just picked up playing right were they left off when we left student housing over a year ago.

Colorado Springs

2010-10-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

So after we hung out in Wyoming for a couple of days we headed over to Colorado Springs for my "kansas friend" Sara's wedding. Sara and I grew up in the same neighborhood together. I can still remember the first time I saw her, we couldn't have been any older than about 6 and she was chasing her little sister around in the front yard with the toy broom. Oh, the memories we made growing up! I am so grateful that she invited me to her beautiful wedding.

Katie came up for the wedding too, I was so excited to see her! Both of the girls warmed right up to her.

This is Sara, isn't she beautiful! I loved seeing her sooooo happy!

Katie all decked out in her red and black

Sara's mom made these cookies for ALL of the guests. She is amazing, and they were delicious! The sunflower is for Sara because she is from Kansas and the truck if for John because he is a mechanic.

The isle, covered in fresh rose petals.

Emry and Amelia got a little antsy during the ceremony so Michael took them over to a grassy area near by and played with them. I am so lucky to have him!

The wedding was held in a breath taking wooded area. So we decided to have a little family photo shoot. Well with Mike, Emry and Amelia.

It was a beautiful wedding Sara and you were a beautiful bride. Thank-you for letting us be a part of it all!

Wyoming

2010-09-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Michael was about to lose some vacation days if he didn't use them....so we had a week long "stay"cation with him. I loved having him home with us from morning till night everyday! At the end of the week we traveled up to Wyoming for the grand opening of the elementary school that he has been working on all year. The school was very impressive, looked more like a ski lodge to me than an elementary school. Matthew and Kaylee met us up there too, it meant a lot to us that they came and we had a great time with them!

That is the school behind us, I can't believe that is only for grade K-6

Patiently waiting for the ribbon ceremony

The girls loved climbing all over this fence, there was bark spread all around the trees inside of the fence and it smelt AMAZING

Amelia worked all night on this hair do:)

The second day we were in Wyoming we went on a hike with Matthew and Kaylee up in the mountains. It was BEAUTIFUL!

While at a look out point we saw a little chipmunk, it was so funny. I don't know who screamed louder, Amelia or Kaylee!

Emry did everything she could to lure that cute little chipmunk to her

Finally it was patience and a pringle that worked

All ready for the hike

Grandma was so sweet to walk at Emry's pace with her

Kaylee braving the treterous downhill terrain

We had a picnic at our half way point, I thought Amelia looked so cute sitting on a log eating her lunch

Grandpa let Emry explore with his binoculars

Mike was in the middle of a sentence(as usual) but the rest of us look so good in this picture, I had to post it.

The smells, sounds, and scenery that we experienced on our hike were beautiful. One of my favorite memories of it was that we each found our own "hiking stick", Kaylee even knocked down a tree with hers, roots and all:) It was turning out to be a fabulous "stay"cation so far!

No better place to be on a Saturday morning.....

2010-09-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

..than at a soccer game!! Michael is helping Aubrey coach Abby and Lukes soccer teams and their first game was this morning. What a blast is was to watch these two cuties (abby and luke, though mike and Aubrey were pretty cute too:) run around on the field. I loved being outside with the morning dew still on the grass and seeing all of the kids giggling and playing.

The huddle before the game

anxiously waiting for the whistle to start the game

Abby was not timid at all when it came to running after the ball.

Never too busy to give Grandma a hug! The game was in full motion and Grandma showed up, so Abby ran straight over to her to give her a hug.

Fabulous foot work Abby!

These two were a great team

Luker's turn

Luke listening very intently to uncle mike's advice:)

Can you pick Luke out?

We are already looking forward to next Saturdays game!

Today it rained....

2010-08-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

........and we played!
I love the rain! Growing up in Kansas we used to get the best storms. I loved to sit on my front porch and watch them roll in. Now whenever I hear thunder in the distance or see dark clouds coming our way I get so excited. I love to sit with the girls and enjoy the smells and scenery that go with one of natures best shows.

One last getaway....for now

2010-07-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

When Michael and I were first married we lived in Dodge City Kansas while he worked as a Police Officer. It was my first time living away from home(2 hours away, doesn't seem far at all now) and Michael worked nights so I was home alone a LOT in the evenings. I started to get so homesick. I remember praying to heavenly father about it and then...... he sent me eve. She was exactly what I needed. Her husband ( Mr. O)was going to the Police Academy during the week so she was alone all week long. However homesick I got, I imagine it would of had to be 10x worse for her, but she never complained. We had good times in Dodge, we never lived more than a block away from eachother and were together every weekend, I could never get tired of eve and Mr. O.

Well now 6 years have gone by since eve and I met and I still have so much fun just being around her. Our families have grown with her having 2 boys and me with my 2 girls. This last weekend we all went up the canyon and went camping over night together, I was so impressed with her due to the fact that she is 9 months pregnant!

The kids had plenty of room for exploring

Miles picked a flower for emry, aaawww, so sweet!

My favorite picture, our men with our kids

Day at the Lake

2010-07-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday evening of last week we met up with all of the family in Pineview. I love it up there, I think it is so beautiful! Every time we have been there I have thought, "I can't wait to show this to my mom." I was not disappointed in her reaction, she thought it was as beautiful as I do.

This wave runner has been so much fun for the family over the years. I can't believe how long they have had it. If you ever get a chance, ask Matthew about his new fishing adventures on it:) Michael had a great time giving all of the kids a turn driving it.

I love this picture of millie and my mom, by wednesday she was really warming up to her.

Mom was not hesitant at all to get on the wave runner with mike....I wonder if she knew what she was getting herself into?

I love, love, love these pictures of Avey!

Another successful day of making memories!

Lesson from Mom

2010-07-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

The Plan:
Get dressed up, ride the front runner to Temple Square and eat dinner at the "Garden".

What really happened:
Got to front runner station and realized it was closed because of the holiday. Drove to temple square, rode the tracks for a block and then realized that the "Garden" was also closed for the holiday:(

Reward:
Hearing my mom tell me she felt a trip to the temple was never wasted:)

Moms visit

2010-07-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

My mom and avey flew home yesterday and now my house seems just a little too....quiet. I am so homesick for them already! I feel so lucky to have the mom I have, she's one of the funnest people I know, she is very go with the flow and likes to keep things simple, I love that. She was up for anything we wanted to do. Avey was so cute too, she is growing up way to fast. She taught Emry about Webkinz, Princesses and the color PURPLE:)

They came right before the 4th of july so we were able to enjoy all of the celebrations together. Here are a few pics.......

I wanted to make all of the cousins matching 4th of july skirts to wear to the parade, but I saw these adorable dresses for $10 at old navy. Somehow it wasn't very hard to give up making the homemade and buying these:)

emry giving avey a little "love"

Avey was in heaven when the princess float went by and tossed out glass slipper's!

Scary 4th of july clown

My mom and I just laughed when we saw emry cover her ears when the band went by, I remember doing the exact same thing when I was little (or maybe not that long ago:)

We made these rosette hair things to match the girls dresses, they were so easy to make and now I want to make tons more!

After the parade we were walking and Avey yelled "this is the best 3rd of july ever!" So cute, and I had to agree.

You can't have all of the cousins together without a tea(koolaid) party

I have a million more pictures I want to post now........

my life

2010-06-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was looking through my older posts and I realized "wow, I blog a lot about my girls. There is good reason for that, I adore them beyond measure! But, that aside, I thought I would share a bit of what I have been up to lately.....

First of all I have to brag about the man I married and the fact that, as of last Tuesday, we have been married for EIGHT years! Wow, that makes us sound old doesn't it? I suppose that's the point though, growing old with the person you love. Well, looking back on our marriage I am grateful for all that we have done and been through "together", the good and the bad. I love that I get to have Michael as my partner in life to go on road trips , race to the couch with after the girls are put to bed to watch "LOST", to look over at the same perplexed look on his face as mine after "LOST" is over, figure out the bills together, tackle dirty laundry, dirty dishes, dirty diapers, all together, and at the end the day lying in bed and laughing about all of the cute things our girls did and said that day. We don't have it all figured out, that's for sure, but we are learning and making memories while we do:) What more in the world could I ever ask for? I love you Michael!

Speaking of my amazing husband, for mothers day this year he created a garden plot(not an easy feat, he had to cut/dig out the grass, pull out a tree, and line the garden with pretty bricks, via his wife's request) and planted a garden in it for me. We will reap the rewards of his hard work with tomatoes(oh, so many tomatoes) peas, peppers, cilantro, watermelon, raspberries, oregano and thyme. I am so excited to have fresh fruits and vegetables right out our back door. My favorite thing in the evening is to go out and water my garden while the sun is going down and the girls are running around our backyard in their pajamas.

Look at those cute little buds.

And on a last note. The excitement and anticipation has been building in our home because a week from today my mom and niece are coming from Kansas to visit us. Michael has been working like crazy on the basement so that they will have a room all to themselves, with walls(I suppose that probably is essential in a room) and even a door. Thank-you Michael! It will be the first time my mom has seen our new house, it is going to be just wonderful having her and Avey here. There is so much I want to do with them, but mostly I want to set time aside to just do nothing but talk and watch the sun set....sigh...that will be heavenly.

Those are just a few of the things that have been going of in MY life lately.

Instant swimmer, just add water!

2010-05-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

We just finished Emry's first official swim lessons. This girl is at home in the water! I got the biggest kick out of watching her do her "Monkey, Airplane, Solder", blowing bubbles in the water, eventually going under:), and attempting the back stroke. Thank-you Aunt Lala for Emry's darling litte tutu swimsuit, she wanted to wear it to every lesson and wouldn't even hear of taking it off when we got home. And thank-you Kaylee for being such a wonderful grandma and taking pictures of her last day for me:)

Emry with her certificate. Her favorite part was the tootsie roll she got with it.

Playing "Alligator, Alligator" with her class.

Hanging out on the steps with her friend Courtney. We are so glad that Courtney did swim lessons with Em, she had so much fun with her.

My sweet little Amelia hanging out with me on the sidelines. I can't wait until it's her turn to get in the water too.

Gone Fishing

2010-05-06T21:12:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful day in Kansas with no place to be but by the pond, fishing poles in hand, enjoying each others company...

Emry was not shy with the worms

Do you see her?

Yep, thats pretty impressive mom

I loved watching these two together

Mike was proud showing off his fish

overcome with excitment from the "Big Catch"

Emry was so brave to hold the fish, I felt squirmish inside just watching her!

Whats the surprise?

WooHoo, two baby frogs, Emry's new best friends for the day!

I suppose this is proof that you don't have to be a great (or even good) fisherman to enjoy fishing, as long as you have good company.

Party,Party!!

2010-04-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we had Emry's 3rd birthday party at our house. I can't believe that I have a 3 year old! We had a great time with family and friends celebrating. She told me she wanted butterflies for her birthday so I made a butterfly cake, we played pin the butterfly on the flower and we even painted butterflies and other critters on all the kids faces...

Emry was so excited to get her soccer shin gaurds, I'm sure she hadn't a clue as to what they were but dad was proud.

and baby Logan slept peacefully throughout the whole party. Thank-you everybody for coming and making it such a special evening for us!

Happy Birthday Em

2010-04-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for coming to us 3 years ago! You were so worth the wait. I love you my angel.

Playing Hookey

2010-03-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and decided I was not in the mood to do ANYTHING productive. So I played hookey from housework and escaped with the girls to Krispy Kreme.

watching..waiting..drooling over the donuts

pretty enough to eat

nothing like a fresh warm krispy kreme

millie loved it, I think she was worried I might take it away

licking off every last bit

Oh yah!!

michael on the other hand......

screwed together some cute chairs

planted flowers

bought and assembled a grill

and painted a dresser for our bedroom

....ya, I'm feeling a little guilty

discovery time

2010-03-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

I have been taking the girls to discovery time at the library once a week. Their program has been pretty impressive. They introduce a new letter every week and have various activities and a craft to go with that letter. With music time, including shakers and the girls favorite, bubbles(amelia loves to eat them), it has become one of our favorite weekly activities. I love this age with emry, it is so fun to watch her learn and become more confident. She is really starting to come out of her shell, I love that girl. These are just a few glimpses of our life on Wednesday mornings....

"thrifty"

2010-02-26T15:47:00.001-08:00

I created cheap pillows in under an hour. It is soooo easy! I just found two sets of place mats and sewed them together and "viola" new pillows for our couch. I believe that one of my goals in life is to see how little I can get away with paying for things. I used to go garage selling in Kansas almost every saturday morning with my mom and find all sorts of treasures to bring home for us to fix up, good memories. Now I love to go to D.I. and any consignment shop that I can find. It is almost an obsession but it is my passion. So I supose I blame you mom.....and thank-you.

Leggings

2010-02-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

My friend sent me a blog address that shows you how to make baby leggings and now I am hooked!! Thanks Sara! I love to put these on amelia when we are around the house, she can move so freely in them and they keep her legs warm. These leggings are made out of knee high socks that I got from target. You can get a pack of three for around four dollars which beats paying $10 or more for the baby legs brand (I still think baby legs are adorable). I was so excited for emry to wear hers for the first time to church on Sunday but by the time she came running out of nursery both of her leggings had fallen bunched up around her ankles: ) Oh well, amelia keeps hers on quite well...love those thighs.

http://www.kimberlymichelle.com/2010/01/13/tutorial-easy-to-make-baby-legs-from-socks/

Feeling Awful

2010-01-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday in the chaos of the evening I shut Amelia's hand in our sliding glass door. OUCH!! I felt horrible! Right away I called Kaylee to come take a look at it and by the time she got here Amelia was a happy giggling girl just excited to see her grandma, you never would have known she got hurt.

.....Then Monday evening I casually mentioned to Michael that Amelia's hand still looked pretty swollen. After a while we thought we might as well take her to instacare to get it checked out, just to ease our worries. I was shocked when Michael called me a half and hour later and told me that her finger was actually broken. This time I felt REALLY REALLY horrible. How could I have not known? I am her mother, I'm supposed to protect her from bad things not cause them. The doctor told us to make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon right away to see if they would need to put a pin in it. Long story short, the surgeon said she should be fine with just a splint on it for a couple of weeks...whew. So now she gets to strut her pretty purple and blue bandage for a while....

Happy Birthday Amelia

2010-01-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

Today is my Amelias first birthday, and I gotta say, I can't imagine my life without her. Thank-you for comming to us my little sweetheart, I have enjoyed every minute of you!

Just for fun!

2010-01-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

With all of the snow and sick kiddos keeping us indoors Michael and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to have fun inside. So we decided to create a mural in Emry's bedroom. Michael's talent amazes me. Neither one of us can draw a straight line, but we didn't let that discourage us. We created a fun little game where we scavenged the house in search of geometric shapes we could trace to make flowers, trees, mushrooms, butterflies...everything in the mural was traced somehow. I think that it is funny that we almost couldn't stay up until midnight on New Years Eve, but this project kept us up easily until 3am. Sunday morning. Thank-you Kaylee for coming up and showing us how it is done. I love the thought of Emrys little imagination being sparked every time she wakes up to her very own meadow.

The most wonderful time of the year!

2009-12-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

We had a splendid Christmas season this year! Oh, how much fun it has been to see Emry react to all of the excitment around her! I believe this has been my favorite Christmas yet!! It has been wonderful starting new traditions that we can look forward to every year...Cutting down our own Christmas tree, Temple Square with the Napierskis', Family Christmas party at Jake and D's, sledding on christmas eve day, opening a new pair of pajamas on christmas eve and baking cookies for Santa that night. I feel very blessed to be able to share all of this with the people I love! That is what makes christmas what it is for me...wonderful! This year was especially special because we were able to talk to my lovely family on Christmas with our new web cam. I love you guys!!

Just for you Shay!

2009-12-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

My sweet sister in law shay lives in Ohio and for a couple of months now has been asking to see pictures of our house. So running on "Erin time" I have finally posted some. The first pictures are from this fall, but the ones inside are more recent. I can't wait until all of our far away family can come to visit us and see everything in person.

One more brown eyed girl

2009-11-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

As soon as we knew we were buying a house the talk of what kind of dog would go in it began. After searching on the internet night after night we found our little 13 week old vibrant, cuddly boxer. I was not sure if I wanted a dog, this is the first place we have lived with such nice carpet, but I have totally fallin for this sweet little pup. We named her Sooki from one of Emrys favorite childrens books, "The Saggy Baggy Elephant". She fits in so well and is very patient with Emry and Amelia always wanting to be wherever they are. Why not add one more girl, right?

Winter wonderland

2009-11-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

a trip to the dentist

2009-11-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

"..and never bite the dentist
when he works inside your head
the dentist is your teeths best friend
bite someone else instead."
-Dr. Suess
Today we took Emry to the dentist for her first checkup. I was so proud of her. She got to wear a bib and climb up into a big chair that leaned back when you said "hocas pocas". She opened as big as she could when the Dentist asked her to and SHE even got to take a peek into her mouth. I had to laugh when she put on the glasses, loved it! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. So grateful for that girl!

Happy Girl

2009-11-02T13:28:00.001-08:00

Amelia woke up from her nap so happy!

Wouldn't life be great if we could all take a 10 a.m. nap!

Em's 1st hair cut

2009-10-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

We took Emry to cookie cutters for her first hair cut. It is the cuttest place for kids. First she was able to pic out a DVD to watch(they had a tv and dvd player at each station). Then they tried to let her ride in a darling little tin car for the haircut, but she wasn't grooving on that so we just sat her on Michaels lap.
She wasn't really sure if she wanted to go through with the haircut, but then the stylist offered her a sucker, and Emry was on board for ANYTHING!

She just laughed and laughed when she got her hair blown dry

Tonight

2009-10-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight michael was trying to get Emry to put on her pajamas but she just wasn't too enthused about it. Then instead of losing his patience with her he put all of the clothes she wore that day on his head. She LOVED this! He was able to then slip her pajamas on her without her even noticeing. Watching him do this reminded me of the 90-10 principle video lauren had on her blog. If you didn't see it, it talks about how we don't have control over a lot of the things that happen to us in life, we only have control on how we react to them. This has left a huge impression on me. Michael could have gotten mad at Emry and forced her pajamas on her tonight and she would have gone to bed in tears and we would have gone to bed feeling guilty, or he could have done what he did and we can now go to bed peacefully. Thank-you michael, I love you!!

2009-10-13T13:13:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that we have been in our house for a month already. The time has just flown by. Now that we have the Internet I can blog again, yay:)
I got to visit my family in Kansas last month and loved it. We went to the zoo a couple of football games and I had my best visit to the state fair in my WHOLE LIFE!!! I love you Mom and Dad! Thank you for being the best parents in the world! Thank-you dad for wrestling with my girls and thank-you mom for making me laugh until I couldn't breathe and had tears in my eyes. I miss you guys so much already!

La Crosse

2009-08-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

This is our last week in La Crosse. I have really enjoyed it here ( aside from living in a tiny hotel room). Michael and the girls and I became pretty close. With not having anybody else we knew out here, we were all that we had. I loved that, though I am looking forward to being around friends and family again. Today driving around I saw this old wall that had an culligan man advertisement on it. I have driven by it several times since we had been here and always thought "I would love to take some pictures of the girls in front of that". Well, today I figured would probably be my last chance. So we hopped out and I took some pictures. Then we went to a cemetery that again I drove by a million times and always thought it was beautiful. It was such a peaceful place. There were sections of it dedicated to veterans. It was a humbling thought that in just this little town so many fought for my freedoms and gave the ultimate sacrifice..... I am so grateful.

CHICAGO

2009-08-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

One of the perks with being out east is that we are much closer to some of our family that we don't get to see enough of. This last weekend we were able to meet Andy and Shay in Chicago. Chicago was amazing, I have never been in a city so big! There was so much history and beautiful Architecture. The part we loved most though was just being with Andy, Shay, Porter, Carlee and Tessa! Emry couldn't get enough of Carlee and Porter. She even had her first sleep over with them, it counts if she stays until 4 Am right? We went to Lego Land(thought of Preston the whole time), Sears not Sears Tower, Millennium Park and got to walk down the famous Michigan Ave. Everything was perfect! Thanks for the great weekend Andy and Shay!! We love you!

Emry and Chocolate Ice Cream

2009-08-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

The first blog posted well so I am adding one of my favorite pictures since we got here. We took the girls to a very old ice cream parlor near the boardwalk and got Emry a "Childrens Cone" of chocolate icecream. It started out about half the size of her head! Of course it didn't take long for her to coat her face in a beard of chocoliciousness. Eating our "treat" as we walked along the river, Emry could not stop smiling and laughing spontaneously. It was one of the most casual and easy-going times I have had here.

The Pebblecreek

2009-08-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! So the bank accepted our offer on the house in Layton. This is the first house we bid on and have been anxiously awaiting word from the bank because it is the only house we have walked into and both said it felt right! It is a tri-level with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a family room, living room, kitchen, dining room, storage crawl space, 2-car garage, and another unfinished basement area with room for a 4th bedroom and bathroom. This is my first blog post ever, so PLEASE excuse me if I have committed any outrageous blogger faupax's (SP?). Hugs from Wisconsin! - Mikey

Iowa

2009-08-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Since we found out that we were going to Wisconsin I have been planning a trip to Iowa. My Aunt Ginny and all of her family live there. I have so many great memories of my cousin Megan and I going to visit her and my Uncle John while we were growing up. I love Iowa, its so pretty with all of its corn fields and rolling hills.
My mom, sister, aunt Bev and Grandma came up to Aunt Ginnys too while we were there. It was WONDERFUL seeing everyone. I'm only sad that all we had was a couple of days together. We made the most of it though and just enjoyed our time together. Michael was a sweetheart and put the girls to bed both nights saying "You stay up and talk girl talk with your mom and sister". So that's what we did! I love my family and spending time with them. This weekend was perfect for that.

paddling down the mississippi

2009-08-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we went on a hour and a half cruise down the Mississippi. Michael and I always said we would go on a cruise when he graduated: ). It was so neat just being out in the river. There was one part where they had to open a bridge for us to go through, it was pretty cool. We saw five turtles one eagle and LOTS of people out in their boats water skiing and tubing. Great Fun!

Walk by the River

2009-07-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

I took the girls down by the river last night while michael had to study for a test. There is actually a trail from our hotel strait to the river. It is so pretty here! If only I had all of my family and friends here then my world would be complete.

Emrys new favorite thing to say is "emmy do it by self". This is Emry putting her pajama bottoms on all by herself after our walk.

Making the most of one day

2009-07-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Michael took Emry on a paddle boat ride in the Custer National Forrest

Amelia and I enjoyed taking in the lovely scenery by the lake

Michael and I were so excited to see the "wild" donkeys on the side of the road. Emry didn't quite know what to think of them.

We got to tour an old gold mine

Michaels favorite part of the whole trip, panning for gold!

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I must have put at least 5 quarters in that horse, but how could I resist making her so happy
Mt. Rushmore... A perfect ending to a perfect day.

South Dakota

2009-07-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

It is so beautiful here!!! I was so siked to see South Dakota because my parents were here just a year ago this month and loved it. We have been so busy trying to cram a week long vacation into a day and a half. We are having a blast!

When we got here last night the first thing we had to do was take our picture next to our favorite buffalo.

Then we ate dinner at the yummy "Purple Pie Place"

Fun Fun Fourth of July

2009-07-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our Fourth of July weekend. Emry got to wear her fourth of July dress that took me five months to make (grandma, I really need to live closer to you :). Then Emry, Sammie and Amelia all wore too toos that we made to the parade. It was such a fun weekend!

Family pictures

2009-07-07T14:12:00.001-07:00

For our 7 year wedding anniversary we decidid to go out and get family pictures taken. It was a blast!

2009-04-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Michaels senior design presentation at the u. He did a fabulous job. I am so incredibly proud of him!! I forgot my camera (but, hey I remembered the two kids). Luckily Kaylee came and took tons of pictures that I think she will post on her blog, I can't wait to see them.
On our way home we had to stop to pay for our parking. As I pulled up to the booth I realized that I had set my diaper bag in the back of the Yukon as I was putting my stroller in. I asked the parking attendant if I could run to the back of the car to get my money. As I did I saw a car pull up behind me. Okay, I thought, I need to hurry. Diapers were flying all over the front seat as I frantically was looking for my wallet. No luck, I could not find it anywhere. I looked in my center console and found enough quarters to make up $2.50 but I needed $4.00. I told the parking attendant my delima and he said he could make me up an IOU ticket saying I needed to pay the $1.50 within a week . Okay, I thought, just write one of those up as fast you can and let me get out of here. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the line now had about 5 cars in it. I can't even imagine how annoyed they all were with me. Then the attendant asked me if I had any photo I.D. on me. Oops, that was in my wallet, wherever that was. So he pulled out a camera, stepped out of his booth and walked around to the back of my car to take a picture of my license plate. How humiliating!! He then wrote up my IOU handed it to me and asked for the $2.50. As I was trying to give it to him as fast as I could, one of the quarters slipped out of my hand and fell under my seat. I think the attendant wanted me out of there as bad as I wanted get out. He smiled at me and said, "I'll donate a quarter to you." I smiled back at him sheepishly and quickly drove away.
Well... today I went to the U to pay my $1.50. I went up to the desk and told the receptionist my name and what I was there for. She looked through all of her IOU stubs and couldn't find mine. She then had me write my name down and she went to the back of the building. She came back with another man who told me the reason they could not find my stub. He said is was because the car behind me asked the attendant what was going on with the black Yukon. The attendant told him and the man offered to pay my $1.50. Huh? So he wasn't incredibly annoyed with me. I was so touched by this strangers kindness. I doubt that the $1.50 meant to much to that stranger, but it meant the world to me. I wish I could tell him that his action helped to remind me of the kind of person I want to be and of life that I want to be leading. Thank-you my anonymous donor.

P.S. my wallet was in my purse at home. what a silly place to keep it, huh?

Front porch sittin'

2009-03-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

We were sitting on the front porch and I held the blanket up to keep the sun off of Amelia. When I looked down, the sun was shining through the pink blanket and it made Amelia's skin glow.

This is a picture Kaylee took of emry when we first got to her house, emry is asking grandma, "Where's grandpa?"

Emmie lovin playing with the playdough

Visit to Grandmas.....Sand, sunshine and playdough!

2009-03-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

emmie sittin on grandmas red chair

Emmie and Sammie playing in grandmas sand (mud) box. I think you can judge how much
fun kids are having by how dirty they get. These girls were definatly having FUN!!

Millie and Cameron getting to know each other.

Pictures of perfect smiles

2009-03-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Amelia has turned into quite the chatterbox. She smiles, talks and blows bubbles, all at the same time.

Amelia's eyelashes have grown 1/2 an inch in the past 2 weeks. They are long, thick and dark. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Proud Moments

2009-03-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

I was reading my friend Tonya's blog the other day. She had written about a few of her embarrassing moments in life. They were so cute, I laughed as I could picture her going through them all. It got me to thinking of a few of the less proud moments of my life and thought I would share just a couple.

1. When I was in junior high I watched the movie "The Stand" with my mom, dad and sister. If you have never seen or heard of it, it is a Stephen King movie about a virus that gets loose from the government and kills about 70-80% of the worlds population. Well after the movie was over I turned to my dad and asked him if the movie was based on a true story. I know the question had to have sounded more intelligent in my head.

2. In college I went on a date with a boy and he had taken me to the park to have a picnic after church. We were flirting and he started to chase me so I grabbed the blanket that we were having the picnic on , wrapped it around my shoulders and started to run. All of a sudden he wasn't playful anymore and he yelled for me to stop. It was then that I realized that my nice long skirt had gotten caught up in the blanket and the back of it was up around my shoulders. I wanted to DIE!

3. When I was in about 5th grade I was in a family theatre play called "hagar the horrible". I had the part of a peasant. When we all had to get up and announce to the group our roles in the play I got so nervous that I told everyone that I was playing to part of a pheasant. I honestly didn't know what a peasant or a pheasant was.

4. Just this last Christmas Michaels family had a party at his sisters house where santa clause came to visit all of the children. Well somebody was video taping everything and set down the camera but did not turn it off. You can imagine my horror when the grandkids were watching the video one evening and I saw that I had stepped in front of the camera for about 10 minutes. It was not a pretty sight seeing my bum cover Matthew and Kaylees huge T.V. screen. It didn't help that I was 8 months pregnant at the time either.

I would love to hear some of your "Proud Moments."

Happy Girl

2009-03-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the girls and I went up to Matthew and Kaylees' to play while Michael worked on homework all day. Poor Michael: ( I planned on only staying there for about an hour, but we were having so much fun with everyone we didn't end up going until about 5 hours later. That is usually what happens: ) Kaylee and everyone at the house watched the girls for me while I went and to get the oil changed in the car. I came back and Kaylee had taken all of these pictures of Amelia. I love them! She doese such a great job. It has been so much fun since amelia has started to smile a couple of weeks ago. She is such a happy, sweet baby.

Amelia's Blessing Day

2009-03-04T19:01:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Avey!!!

2009-03-01T08:19:00.000-08:00

Avey I remember the day you were born. Your mom called me and said you were coming soon, so Michael and I hopped in the car and raced to the Hutchinson. You were such a beautiful baby! It was love at first sight for all of us. Now I can't believe you are already 6 years old! You are such an amazing little girl with a special sparkle in your eyes. Thank-you making me laugh and cheering me up so many times. I love you. Happy Birthday! Love, Aunt Erin

Yeah for Sunshine

2009-02-24T15:04:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to blue skys and the sun shining. I called Aubrey right away and we decided to take the girls out in our courtyard to play. As soon as we got down the stairs they took off and just ran. You could tell that they loved thier freedom from our small apartments. Thier faces expressed pure joy as they played ring around the rosy, pretended to be tigers and as a grand finally we climbed our hill and rolled down it. I loved the warmth. I basked in the sun and thought of all of the fun things that I look forward to this summer; grilled hotdogs, running in sprinklers, walking to the zoo, going to the lake, and just playing playing playing outside.

2009-02-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

Kaylee bought Michael and I tickets to go to the play "Thoroughly Modern Millie" while she watched the girls. What a wonderful gift!! It was playing at the Rogers memorial theatre, which is this adorable little theatre in Centerville. One of my favorite things to do is going to see shows there. This play was about a young girl from Salina, Kansas (michael and I had to laugh about that) that moved to New York so she could become a more "modern woman". Don't let that give you the wrong idea about Kansas. Kansas is AWSOME: ). While in New York she decides that she is going to make her fortune by finding a job and marrying her boss. The show was full of Jazz, fun tap dancing, and people with amazing voices. I had so much fun sitting holding Michaels hand and eating a kit-kat while watching the fabulous talent on stage. Thank-you Kaylee!!

past 6 weeks

2009-02-18T16:12:00.001-08:00

2009-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

2009-02-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

Pictures Pictures Pictures

2009-02-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe how fast these past 6 weeks have flown by. It has been snowing here like crazy, so the girls and I have been cooped up in our little apartment. The sun came out today though, yea spring is on it's way! So if anyone knows me,they know how technically challanged I am. (I don't know how I managed to marry a mechanical engineer :). This year for christmas I got a spiffy new camera and all this time I could not figure out how to down load pictures onto the computer. I was used to just sticking the memory stick in, and tada the pictures would show up. Well today I decided to look at the manual and there was a diagram that showed me what to do. So EASY!! I feel pretty silly that I didn't figure it out before today. Oh well, now I know. Anyway I have tons of pictures now that I would like to post of Emry and Amelia. They are getting so big. Last Sunday at church couldn't believe how chunky Amelia is. She is sooo cute!! She has started to giggle in her sleep, and every now and then a smile will creep it's way across her face. I am so in love with that girl!! Emry can't get enough of Amelia, she loves to push her in her baby swing and climb all over her to give her kisses. I am such a lucky mom. Here are a few pictures from the past 6 weeks.

Amelia Jovani Coil's Birthday

2009-01-11T15:58:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Amelia's birthday

2009-01-11T15:28:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

2008-12-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

We have had a great 2008!! One of the highlights has definitely been Michael and I both getting to see our little sisters have their fairy tail weddings. Katie and Lauren Congratulations!! You were both such beautiful brides, thank-you for letting us be a part of your big day. Have a fabulous first Christmas with your sweeties. It has been a blast this year watching Emry discover walking, talking and pee peeing in the potty. She gives us a reason to smile every day! We are so grateful for that little peanut! We are excited for what 2009 will bring, especially Amelia and Graduation! Thank you though to all of our family and friends that have made this year wonderful for us! We love you.

2008 memories

2008-12-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

Looking back at 2007

2008-12-17T18:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Mike!!!

2008-12-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

Every night since I have known Michael he has slept with the same quilt that his mom made him in high school. I think it's pretty cute. Well, that quilt is a bit worn out to say the least. So Kaylee came up with this way cute design for a quilt for his birthday. We started on it about three weeks ago and finally finished it (for the most part) last Saturday. He was so adorable when he saw it, I knew he was truelly grateful. I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate him. He is an amazing father and husband!!! Love you Michael!! Happy Birthday!!!

Amelia

2008-11-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a belly shot we took last week. I can't believe that we only have 9 more weeks to go! I am so excited to meet our little Amelia. The next picture is from an ultrasound we had a couple of weeks ago(can you see her nose and lips?). The doctor was concerned that, because of where Amelia's umbilical cord was, that she wouldn't get all the nutrients that she needed to grow. At the ultra sound they did all sorts of measurements and said this is DEFINATLY a healthy baby. She already weighed 3 pounds! That put her in the 63 percentile on her size already! We were so relieved and happy. D and I were doing the math this weekend and if Amelia continues to grow at this rate I could have a 9 or 10 pound baby. Holy Cow! I think chunky babies are so adorable though. Emry is being so cute with my belly. She will rub it and give it kisses and whenever I ask her to say "amelia" all that comes out is "mia". I feel so blessed to be a mom. I know that there is no way that I could deserve these children, but I am so thankful to my heavenly father for sending them to me.

2008-11-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

On our way home from Jake and D's house the other night Emry kept saying the word socks and acting frustrated. It wasn't until we got home that I realized she was trying to take her"socks" off and stretched her tights way out. It was so funny to watch her walk around the apartment with her new long feet!

Having fun at Temple Square

2008-10-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

The other week Aubrey and I dressed up Emry and Kirra and took them to temple Square to take pictures. We had a blast, the girls were so adorable!! And we almost took the girls all the way to Sandy on the tracks, oops: ) It was a beautiful day to spend with our daughters.