PERKES FAMILY

First Day of School

2011-09-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

It was nice and warm so shorts it was for the first day of school. Jackson had his same teacher for 2nd grade that he had for 1st. Abagayle got a new teacher, she was very excited! Jackson was still rockin his summer Mohawk!

James Graduation

2011-06-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

James graduated! My mom watched the kids while we went to the graduation. I made him a fabulous candy necklace! Then we picked up the kids and met everyone down at Olive garden to celebrate! We are so proud of our little James.

Quilt!!!

2011-05-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted a quilt made from a mother, grandmother or some family member. I love the look of them and the idea that it can be passed down through generations. My grandma Terry took me shopping while we lived in Portland to pick out fabric and a pattern from he huge pattern book. She made me a King size quilt, which at the time we only had a queen but finally got a King bed. It looks so beautiful. She had it stitched with the flower pattern that is so light and gorgeous.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day morning I had my mom and grandma over for breakfast. They kids and I fixed a yummy breakfast. Then the kids served the three of us. We got dressed for church and got a cute picture. Brandon worked that morning. That night the Perkes came over to celebrate with dinner and a yummy desserts, cheesecake was my pick. I didn't get any pictures of that evening.

Bubbletastic

2011-05-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

We got a bubble machine for the first time ever. The kids loved it! Typical Washington weather, it was raining but they didn't care. So many bubbles to jump through they we giggly and soapy when they finished.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter egg hunt in our yard with the Perkes, my mom, my brother and his wife. It was a little wet, okay it rained off and on but the kids loved it. They got to take turns hiding for their aunts and uncles. The kids had yummy chocolate filled baskets as well, well not chocolate for Jackson just lots of jelly beans and starbursts. We had a great dinner together that evening.

Brandon's Bday to Portland

2011-03-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

For Brandon's birthday I got him 2 tickets to see his favorite team, the Spurs, play the trailblazers. He went to the game with his friend Nick, they worked at Portland Costco together, they went out to dinner before. Sadly his beloved trailblazers lost, he was a slightly irritated. I sure Nick had fun giving him crap all night. My mom got a hotel room for all of us and hung out with the kids and I Friday night. Saturday we all went to VooDoo donuts, my mom still hadn't been there. We also went the waffle window, such a delicious find. Then we swan and hung out in the hotel before heading home on Sunday.

Science Fair

2011-03-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

This year both Jackson and Abagayle participated in their science fair. Abagayle grew crystals with and with out food coloring. Jackson did his on blue heron, he recording his field finding. They both won first place for their category and got a metal. They were so happy as were the proud parents.

Jackson turns 7 Yikes

2011-01-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

My sweet little boy turned 7. I cannot believe it. He is so grown up and such a good helper. He is a great big brother to Abagayle and Lorelei. He is so polite and considerate. His teachers always so how sweet he his. He does have his boy side, getting dirty in the mud, wrestling with dad or uncles and shooting BB guns. I can't beleive how big he is now. We are so blessed to have you in our family!

We had a superhero party, played games, made ice cream sundaes and of course had a pinata.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas morning with grandma, uncle brandon aunt kelly and letitia. grandma scored with pillow pets fore everyone. they love them. Aunt kelly got Jackson a paper jamz guitar, hooray, so noisy :) He loves it.

Letitia was so tired too early for her

Before the riot started :)

Brandon's Job

2010-12-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

For the past few months Brandon has been interviewin places and nothing had been the right fit either for the doctor or for us. Then we found Rebound and Dr Blackburn. After a month or so of talking and meeting Brandon signed a contract. He is a working doctor. I am so proud of him. the practice is great place for him to be. Dr Blackburn is just as vested in helping Brandon grow a patient base as we are. We couldn't ask for anything else.

Brandon is still working at Costco PT in the early morning stocking, hopefully in a year he can quit :)

Kids Winter Program

2010-12-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Jackson and Abagayle dressed up as snow men for a little school show. they sang 3 fantastic songs!

Jackson is on the left 2nd or 3rd in from the left

Abagayle is 4th in from the left

November Snow!

2010-11-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

We got a dump of snow just before Thanksgiving it was crazy! The kids loved it of course. The snow stuck around for a few days, the Perkes got to come over and play in it with us.

Disney on Ice

2010-11-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

Grandma got tickets for Jackson, Abagayle, her and I to go see Disney on Ice in Kent. We had so much fun. Sometimes i think I liked it more then the kids did :) We loved it!

It is Ariel, my favorite!

Halloween Party at Church and Trick or treating

2010-10-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

We went to our ward party with grandma banana and did some trunk or treating after dinner and games. then on Sunday they went to a couple houses in my mom's neighborhood. Thanks to Sonnet for the awesome monkey and Snow White costumes. Lorelei loved her monkey outfit and wore it for at least a week straight.

The evil witch tempting snow white.

Indiana Jones, a monkey and Snow White

Pumpkin Patch and carving

2010-10-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

we went to Orting for pumpkin fun. they had animals, duck racing, horse rides, pumpkin sling shots, face painting and of course tons of pumpkins. It was a day of fun with all the Perkes, Uncle Brandon and Kelly and of course grandma banana.

What is pumpkin carving without pumpkin roll, Halloween punch and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Yes that is Grandma banana above and James below sticking through a pumpkin :)

Lorelei's Birthday and a Party for her Brett and Zeke

2010-09-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

For Lorelei actual birthday we went to Cold Stone, she got her free birthday ice cream and I got cupcake for everyone else there. It was fun to do a little something on her actual bday. Then we had a party to celebrate Zeke (9/20) Lorelei (9/21) and Brett (9/22) later that weekend.

Brett wanted this gas mask from the army navy surplus store, so I got it for him. Handsome huh, he is single ladies.

Not sure how well you can see there is binder in James lap. Karen filled it with crayons, markers, scissors and other awesome art stuff. Plus, wait for it.............. Dora and Diego coloring books. She was screaming Dora, I think it was a hit.

Yummy cold stone

Reno Stop

2010-09-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

We got to Reno and spent a couple days with grandma stevenson. Karen was already visiting, the last leg of her summer vacation :) We got see some of the extended family at a dinner while we were there too. She is one of the funniest ladies I have ever met, seriously.

Lorelei loved to pose for the picture, can you tell.

Joe's Birthday

2010-09-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Our last day in St George was Joe's birthday. We got party it up with them before we headed out. of course we got him awesome Perkes style gifts.Justin Beiber poster spider sucker and other cool items that we know he loved. We love you Joe and Katie!

Just Cause it is cute

2010-09-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

These are just a few cute pictures I liked.

Brandon and I went out with Joe and Katie for dinner and movie. Jessica said this is how Lorelei would go to bed, if Abagayle was holding her.

Lorelei loves Sierra

Brandon's work how we got to Seattle again

2010-09-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

While we have been living in St George, since March, Brandon has been working so hard on trying to find a place to practice. Thankfully Costco transferred him. He met with a physical therapy company about sharing space in their office the two days it was closed, he met with VP who was on board. Then the top dog said no, he didn't want a chiropractor working there. Over the next 6 months Brandon met with or talked to every chiropractor in St George at least once. Only one guy as even willing to share space, he seemed to have shady business practices, so we passed. The chiropractic world was very weird among the chiropractors down there, very territorial maybe cause there is not much territory. Anyways in July I saw a guy in Seattle was hiring, I typed up an email and met to save it as a draft but accidentally sent it. Long story short he called the end of August and wanted to know how quickly we could be in Seattle. After talking and praying we decided we had exhausted all of our efforts in UT and needed to start working as a chiropractor. We actually felt very peaceful about our choice, not sure why were supposed to move to UT but I know that was the right choice also. We decided we were going to move even if this guy didn't end up hiring Brandon there was more opportunities up here. So we packed up and left 5 days later. We were all sad, I am crying now typing this. The kids were excited to be by family but sad to leave their friends and Joe and Katie. I will always be grateful for our time there and the generosity and love all the Guisingers gave us while we were there. But we had to move on. the timing actually worked out well because Brett was moving home that weekend and Jessica was driving with him, so we had help packing and driving. We drove up to Reno and stayed a few days then finished onto Kent. Thankfully my mom said we could move into the basement until Brandon got a contract here. 1. we couldn't afford to move into a new place right away and 2. i was worried about him working in Seattle and we live Kent or someplace else with a long commute. Off to WA we go

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

2010-08-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

While most of Brandon's family was down we decided to take the 3 hour drive to the N Rim of the Grand Canyon. It took a little longer then 3 hours but worth it. Of course the canyon was so cool and amazing. They have a small resort style place right on the canyon. there were picture in the main lodge from when it first open and throughout the years. It was so neat. There were cabins right on the canyon you could stay in, there was little hikes and grass areas to play in. Here are a few shots from the day.

Lorelei and John they are 5 days(?) apart

It was so amazing to sit in the chairs down there and just look out over the canyons.

cabin time

2010-08-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Tim and Corinna drove down St George and mom and James took a shuttle down from SLC for mini reunion. While they were down there, the Guisingers kindly offered up their cabin for a few days. It was so fun of course, the only missing was Joe and Katie :) The kids, uncles, aunts and even grandma rode 4 wheelers, played games and stayed up way too late. While we were up there we of course had to ride the hourses. Jackson and Abagayle went out for a 10 - 15 min led ride in the woods. They were in heaven.

Lorelei loved to ride with James!

James and Jessica getting ready for some muddy fun.

Jackson and dad pullin out the fun

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, we had such a good time.

First day of School

2010-08-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Jackson started 1st grade on 08/11 and kindergarten started on the 8/18 a week later. Here are their cute pictures, keep in mind I just told them to stand by the door

These two pictures are actually Abagayle's second day of school. She wanted pictures of her hair out of the french braids. That was yellow day in her class.

This was her actual first day of school, kindergarten. She is too big. their first week was color week. Monday was a red day, so she borrowed Jackson's t shirt.

Jackson's first day was the week before, all day and 1st grade. It was too much for me. He loved his new backpack and lunch box. Can you tell he looks a little excited.

Zion National Park

2010-08-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting the Gunters they told us that Zion Park was free the next day. We weren't planning on going then that morning deceided to go. Once you park inside there is a tram that you can ride that takes you all over the park, you can hop on and hop off where you want to. Guess who we saw there, the Gunters! We thought they would have been long gone by then, we rode the tram a bit and walked around with them. It was truely beautiful there. The canyon was shaded so it wasn't too hot, which was nice.

I just thought this last one was so cute!

Gunter Visit

2010-08-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

Another great thing about living in St Goerge was Cameron had to go down for work sometimes so Sonnet and the kids came along! How fun huh! They came down one weekend and it was the fair. So we took the kids to ride rides and look at animals, they had a great time.

Dallin and Jackson on the rollercoaster

Jessica and Abagayle on the ferris wheel

Jackson and Lorelei on the boats

Dad and Lorelei

Abagayle on a rollercoaster

Dallin and Jackson takin a ride

Road Trip Home

2010-08-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Brandon flew home on the 2nd of Aug and I got to stay another week. Then when we drove home we took James, Mom and Jessica with us. We stopped in SLC and dropped mom and James off at uncle craigs and aunt leann's house, then jessica and I pushed on through to the

other side. we got into st george at 2 am, Seattle to St George in one day!

all in all not too bad, the kids fell alseep outside of SLC so it wasn't too bad. Jessica and I had some sister chat time.

Aliment reunion

2010-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

My dad's side of the family had their reunion the day after the wedding, perfect timing. We got to go for the day and see my family. It was great to see my grandpa bill and joyce before the moved to AZ. It was great seeing my dad's side of the family while we were up.

Jackson was upset we were leaving and he had to leave his Uncle TJ, he is the coolest to Jackson.

Lorelei loves Meghan

My brother Scott and his wife Lori

My dad and his wife Colleen

Such a fun day!

Brandon and Kelly's Wedding

2010-07-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

This was so great. I didn't think we were going to be able to afford to come back up for the wedding when we moved, then we were. I was so happy! They had a beautiful wedding, I got to help set up the morning of that was so great. Jackson was a ring bearer and Abagayle a flower girl. It was great because the dresses the two flower girls wore were the same dresses Emily and Amanda wore in my wedding, they fit perfect. My brother looked so handsome and thrilled that day. Kelly was beautiful of course. My mom and I spent almost a whole day looking for a dress for Lorelei to wear that day that would match in the pictures. Hard to find black, white and red in July. Thank you Gymboree :) The kids loved being a part of the day. They made a great couple, they are perfect for each other.

Abagayle got her first manicure. One of many I am sure

My Posse's on Broadway

2010-07-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

So judge if you will, we listen to my posse's on broadway (the kids and I). They love it, I love it. While listening one day Jackson said what is Dick's. Excuse me oh no, this can't happen, you may not live in WA anymore but you were born there we must fix this. So while at home we went to get some Dick's burgers and shakes, on broadway of course. Brandon's family came and Letitia met us there, then showed us a cool park around the corner to play at while we finished our fabulous food.

Perkes Dinner

2010-07-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Of course when we got back to town we had a dinner with Brandon's family. Food, water fights and too much fun.

Fell a sleep watching a movie Water fight fun

Jackson and Cora

They had so much fun!

That is my son filling up a bowl!

Abagayle was soaked in her dress

Road Trip Time

2010-07-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

So of course on the way up to Seattle we had to have a contest at the rest stops to see who could stuff the most grapes in their mouth. If you don't do it you are missing out. So fun! The kids love it!

Hogle Zoo

2010-07-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

The end of July we made a trek home for my brothers wedding the end of the month. We started the trip starting in SLC going to the zoo and picking up Jessica at Tim and Corinna's. We had a great day. It was hot and humid but so fun! Thanks to the Gunters again for letting us crash at your pad and head out so early the next morning for the next leg. We love you, hurry and get back to Seattle. Sorry for the sidebar. Back to the business at hand..the zoo.

How big are you yard apes? Sierra is so adorable all I wanted to do was hold her but it was so hot and muggy John chillin in the shade.

Taking a ride on the animals Brandon took this for James, thought I would post it cause it's funny. There were others too but I will spare us all.

You got to go up top and see the giraffes up close. Can you see Lorelei and Jessica

Lorelei and John taking sweet ride

So hot and tired, must have a strawberry break

posing for mom of course, I think they are adorable

You would never know they were sisters

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

Abagayle and Lorelei, I think they love their binkies Lorelei is about 2 months older then Abagayle was in her picture

Silly Nights

2010-07-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great family fun night with Joe and Katie, we played glow mini golf, video games and bumper cars. They got prizes from something there and this is how the night went.

We have the best friends ever, seriously!

4th of July 2010

2010-07-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

okay so this post is 9 months late, however the date on the blog is correct :) I was getting misty eyed posting these pictures, guess that is why I should blog regularly. I miss our friends, the weather, the kids schools..on and on. anyways, we had a great time, since the 4th was on a sunday we had two days of fun! Sat we had treats and fireworks at the house then went downtown and watched a show with Joe and Katie. Then Sunday night we did fireworks with the neighbors across the street. So fun!

Abagayle loved to lite them Lorelei and pop its :) She liked to stomp on them.

The girls and Joe watching dad do some fireworks.

Yum!

And more Yum!

Fishes

2010-07-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

My little fish! The kids have been living in the pool! It has been so nice having a pool so close and free :) Jackson can almost swim, he does such a great job! Lorelei always has to wear googles cause Jackson does.
Sidenote, so Lorelei calls Jackson JaJun and Abagayle Yahyale. so cute!

Abagayle turns 5

2010-06-16T13:41:00.001-07:00

Abagayle turned 5 last Sunday I can't believe it. I wasn't emotional at all until I started to upload pics for the post. She is so big now. She is amazing! She is so smart and sassy and stubborn which I remind myself will be a good thing one day:) She will be in kindergarten this next year! She is such a good helper at almost everything, when she is in the mood. Aren't we all like that. She really wanted a Rainbow Brite for her birthday and she hasn't let go of it since, exceptto shrae with Lorelei. Here are some of my favorite Abagayle shots!

This was at the bounce house for her party earlier in the week.

The group of girls at the party!

This was like a year or a year andhalf ago, she was being "fabulous" Sharpay from HSM2.

Rock Star day at preschool, with dad concert shirts on

Tulip festival in Woodbridge.

Passed out at the ocean hotel I believe :)

My princess

I love this picture of her!

This was our first Christmas in Portland :)

We were making some pumpkin roll. I think she was about 17 months here

The pumpkin patch

So tired at the family reunion.

This was at Tahoe. She was crying so hard cause she couldn't see over the edge of the bowl that she still have food left. Third helping that night.

This is the all time classic/favorite Abagayle shot! She loved her binki's soooo much. One day she shoved two in:)

We love you so much Abagayle!

Kindergarten Grad!

2010-06-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Jackson graduated from Kindergarten a few ago! This is his teacher Mrs Clayton. I really believe she was the best thing that happened to Jackson throughout his two kindergarten's this past year. She was really loving and sweet which is what he needed most!

This is the kids performing their little program so adorable!

What a cheezy kid! I love you dude!

Fun times around the house

2010-06-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

The kids really wanted to camping a few weeks ago. So we went camping in the house. Brandon set the tent upinthe kids room and Jackson and Abagayle slept in the tent all night. After a full night of giggles and shadow puppets:)

Crazy girl!

She loved to be in the tent, she played till she was ready for bed. Then came out to mom and dad and passed out :)

We set the pool up in the backyard sometimes. Lorelei went out one morning, yucky day before pool water, and took off her pj's and diaper. Naked crazy baby! The water was really warm.

This is our lizard friend the kids have names Zippy. He hangs out on the front rail and sometimes runs along theback fence. The kids love him, from inside :)

The Gunters

2010-05-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

We went up to Salt Lake area last month. While we there the Gunter's were gracious enough to let our crazy crew stay with them. We got to celebrate Sydney's first birthday with them. She is such little cutie! She loved us, some of the time. It was fun to watch her and Lorelei, they are only 7 months apart! Lifelong best friends I am sure of it, like their moms :)

Sonnet made up some cute goody bags with awesome glasses!
Sydney with her awesome new present from her parents, she (and Lorelei) loved it!

Everyone was so "helpful" when Sydney was opening her gifts.

Averie, I love this girl. She is such good helper to her mom. I can't believe how grown up she is. I remember her being so little. She has grown into quite the young lady, already. We love the Gunter family and are so happy we live much closer, only 4 -5 hours away, or if you drive like Brandon 3 hours and 45 min. :)

Poor Poor Lorelei

2010-05-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

On Sat the 8th Lorelei reached up on the counter and grabbed an open can of peaches. Brett left the can right on the edge :) She then stuck her finger in and got it stuck between the can and the jagged lid. When she yanked it out it was bleeding everywhere. I have never had to take a kid to get stitches yet, but I knew she needed them. Three stitches in her pointer finger. Then Sunday morning she takes a nose/penguin dive into the soaking tub, smashing her nose on a pitcher we use to rinse their hair. We took her to the urget care however they said it wasn't cut so the they couldn't sew it, she just crushed it so bad it made a gash, nice.

We had to keep the wrap on over the stitches for 10 days. She tore it off probably three times a day on a good day :)

During Saturday's joy Jackson started puking and then Abagayle started that night. Lovely. Jackson is puking in a bowl at the urgent care while Lorelei is screaming from stitches. Later that night I have to leave the monitor on because Abagayle is so tired she is sleeping through puking. As soon as we hear here cough we run in sit her up, while sleeping, she pukes with clean her up, change the sheets if we didn't get there in time, and lay her back down.

I got sick the day....Mothers Day. It was a great weekend :)

Science Fair

2010-05-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

Jackson wanted to compete in the science fair at school. We finally settled on a project, sugar crystal growth. He wanted to see if the crystals grew more or less with food coloring added. The idea was for the kids to do most of the project. The above pictures are of him doing the project at home.

The picture just below is the district fair. That is right he won first place at his school for kindergarten, so he got to go to districts at Dixie State College. He thought that was so awesome.

These pictures are from the school fair. He did a lot of work. He had to stand next to his project for 2 hours for Jackson that is a lot and answer questions from 5 judges. Yikes. He did great. We didn't place at districts but that was fine. He had a great time.

How to Train Your Dragon

2010-04-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Uncle Brett working at a movie theater has its perks. He took Jackson and Abagayle to see How to train your dragon. They loved it. Later we got Happy meals at McDonalds. You can turn you box into a viking helmet. They had so much fun with a box.

A Conversation on Dying Easter Eggs

2010-04-03T16:25:00.001-07:00

I had told Abagayle that later on that day she would dye Easter eggs with Dad. As we are walking through the grocery store...
Abagayle says " Mom how are we going to kill the Easter eggs to split them open"
Long pause while I try to think through what she said. Then laughing I say " We are not going to die the Easter eggs like kill them, we are going to dye them and change their color." A few moments later I explain that we only split open the plastic eggs to put the candy inside.

I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Die eggs or Dye Eggs....which are you doing this weekend.

18 Months Lorelei

2010-03-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Lorelei turned 18months old. I have her check up later next month but I think she is about 31 or 33 pounds. She is a tank! This passed 18 months have gone by so quickly, it is hard to think back to then. She was scheduled to come out on Mon the 22nd. However in true Lorelei fashion she did it on her own time and way. She came on the 21st with an emergency C section, since I was in labor. She was so tiny and sweet.
She has such a personality, she stands up for what she wants when she wants it. My mother in law reminds me that one day I will appreciate that trait. Let's hope Lorelei and I make it to that day. She is so independent, which great most of the time. She is a such a daddy's girl. Rarely do the words mom or mama come out of her mouth. I think it is really cute. I need to remember to cherish the sweet times with her. I found her in her room the other playing with babies. She had them in the highchair and stroller and was feeding them with her kitchen food, so sweet! I am so grateful she came to our family. Her older brother and sister adore her.

Happy 18 months Lorelei!

Pioneer Park

2010-03-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

We went to a super awesome park on Sunday. We spent two hours hiking and walking around. So much fun! The kids loved it! I was scared a few times, cause we were so high up:) Enjoy the ton of pics.

This was one of the high spots. No fear in my kids running up and down it.

My little spider monkey, she loved climbing the walls.

Oh no! Don't fall Brett!

There was tons of little caves.

This was the really high bridge, I stayed down. The kids were a little scared but had fun once they were up there.

Chillin'

Hi Mom!

Don't get eaten by the basilisk!!

She spent about % of her time in here.

As soon as we got there they took off, no fear.

Welcome to the Jungle..and some others

2010-03-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

They were dressing up and they were super heros and super villians.

Welcome to the Jungle! The kids love the yard and plants and places to hide.

Jackson is in the secret clubhouse.

I curled Abagayle's hair for like the first time ever with hot rollers. She loved it! All day she kept saying"is my hair still curly?"

What a cute bunch!

We found her relaxing with a snack, in a basket. :)

St.George

2010-03-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

I typed the intro then loaded pics, so you get intro at the end:)

It is so nice to have a neighborhood to take walks in.

Abagayle loves to play mom and push Lorelei.

Jackson got this razor from Joe and Katie like 3years ago. He usually just road it in the backyard. He had such a blast going around the block.

This is literally the view from our front door. It is not the NW but it is beautiful!

Taking a swim in the tub:)

I am not sure if our kids love us or Joe and Katie more. I think it is a toss up:)

Lorelei and John playing. Tim and Corinna are in Orem now. They came down for a couple days to play. Lorelei and john are 5 days apart. So fun to watch them play.

"Your Powers Are Weak old Man"

She gets them on then "let's" you eat them off.

For those who don't know we moved to Utah. We are about two hours north of Vegas for those whose don't know where St George is. It was hard choice for us to make we had always planned on Seattle. We came down to interview here and both knew this is where we needed to raise our kids. Since we were scared or nervous or whatever we were still choosing between Seattle and here. Here are some pics from our new place. We are very blessed to be able to rent here.

So long NW

2010-03-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

These are some pics from last two weeks in the NW, including a trip home. They are in random order.

Her first full ponytail :)

Bookclub, don't get me started or I will cry! I miss it so much.

This is what Lorelei misses the most. She loves to sit in the drawer. Naughty baby:)

Brandon Aunt Clara and Uncle Terry. So sweet!

So tired after a day of playing at grandma bananas

Abagayle and Cora playing. Abagayle is such a multi-tasker. Eating and talking on the phone.

This is the first one of our kids that really likes grandpa as a baby.

Who doesn't love uncle James, we sure do.

I had a chance to go out to the cheesecake factory with two a great friend, Jennifer and Kristyn. We had a fun time catching up.

Brandon so happy on the drive.

While were home we got to spend the day with our friends Ryan and Jilene, we had such a fun day playing and going to the children's museum. We also got to go to my dad's for a bit and visit. I miss the NW and the family and friends we have there. I am ready to get started with the next phase in our life:)

After Party

2010-03-07T08:34:00.001-08:00

After graduation we got to go to the spagetti factory for dinner and before that a stop at VooDoo doughnuts. Here some pics from the day. As you can tell the day a little wild, a topless Lorelei, what can I say we know how to party.

So attractive

Graduation

2010-03-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Back in December Brandon graduated from Chiropractic school. Helloooooo Dr Perkes!

Our friends Joe and Katie flew all the way up to spend the weekend celebrating us. It meant so much to both of us to share that with them.

Tim, Corinna and John made the long drive down from Bellingham to celebrate this day with Brandon. I know it meant a lot to Brandon to have is his family there.

Brandon's Mom and Dad. Thank you for your support through 8 years of school.

Brandon's two youngest brothers. He has one brother in the military right now and a brother and sister on mission. It was sad they were not able to be there with us. We are going to photoshop a picture with everyone in it.

TROUBLE. This was three of four that stuck together thoughout school. They "studied" together and have some great memories I am sure. We will miss you Eric and Ryan.

Dr Perkes and Dr Bowers. The kids and I were treated by Dr Bowers for the last three quarters of school. He and his family are so kind.

My mom. I don't know how to thank he enough for helping us whenever and however she could. You are amazing I know we, especially me could not have done it without you.

Brandon received from very generous gifts for graduation. He purchased perfection made by Glock. :) He was so happy, like a kid at Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who supported us in this long journey. We really appreciate it from the bottom of our heart

The kids stayed home from graduation. Here are some pictures from before:)

I know it is blurry but it was the best we had.

So handsome, my men!

Song for us

2009-12-08T08:15:00.000-08:00

On Sept. 8th Brandon and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. Brandon worked, when he got home I had a yummy dinner ready and he had brought home a small cake and flowers so sweet.
About 10 or 11 years ago when we were engaged I said it was sad that we didn't have a song. ( I am one of the those sappy girls ). I left it at that. Just a passing thought. He told me a few days later, he thought the Johnny Cash song "I Walk the Line" would be a good song. I thought, Johnny Cash that is someone that my Papa listened to. I thought you liked Classic Rock?? This was long before the movie, so I really had no idea who he was, sad I know.
I went and listened to it, how sweet. Over the years I have listened to more Johnny Cash and actually like most of it. Today when I was driving Jackson to school I heard that song. I started think how much I love my husband. How much he must have thought about choosing a song.
I love my husband so much. I know there is no one else for me. He handles all my crazy, especially when I am pregnant. He works so hard for us. Brandon is the best father I know. I love to watch him play with kids. How he holds them when they are so little for hours, just enjoying holding them. There are a lot of people who think he is mean or cold or quiet they just know him. He really is sweet and thoughtful, not just to me. He is the guy who get the bugs out, who double checks locks at 1 am when I wake up scared, who always asks me if I want a nap and hardly ever takes one for himself, who washs just about all our laundry, who can ALWAYS tell when something is wrong with me, who just loves me.

I wanted to write a post about him, especially after hearing that song. When I print these out I want my kids to read this and I know how much we care for each other.

Blankets

2009-12-08T08:02:00.001-08:00

This blanket I made for a friend I went to HS with. We played softball together, tons of fun memories. We have stayed friends over 11 years since HS. She had a little girl Alexis Sue. My mom helped me with star on back. I didn't show much of the front. There are 6 different fabrics that I used.

My friend Sonnet had a baby the end of April. I didn't get the blanket to her a bit aftwards. Sydney Virginia. She is such a doll! Sonnet and I have been friends since 8th grade. Too many fun times to even count. One of those people that you click with and know you will always be friends with. I think we talk on the phone probably at least twice a day on avg. :) I love her. She would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.

I did these fabrics, kinda 70's like, but I LOVED them!

A little more Halloween

2009-11-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

A few more pics courtesy of Emali, thanks! This was at the church party. Can you tell she ate spaghetti?

Girls

2009-11-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

Abagayle October of 2006Lorelei October of 2009
They look so much more alike the older they get

Halloween!

2009-11-11T20:27:00.001-08:00

Abagayle and Gracie got to dress up for preschool. Abagayle was supergirl, gracie tinkerbell! Aren't they so cute!
So the pic is super blurry cause our camera is not working so well lately but to go trick or treating Lorelei was in a warm chicken costume.

Jackson and Abagayle went to the church party and trick or treating as a GI Joe ninja and Barbie mariposa. Lorelei was a cow, not as warm or a costume for the church party.

The kids had a great time they really got into it this year. They went to a church party and played games, ate and went into spook alley. Which Jackson was carried out of by one of the missionaries :) They loved it, nice job Penny! They got awesome costumes, thanks mom! Then we went trick or treating. First to Dyannes house then through a neighborhood. They said several times that their bucket was too heavy and wanted us to carry it. When we said that was enough then, they said they could carry it. I didn't get a pic of Lorelei who slept in the stroller the neighborhood so cute, thank em for letting us borrow her costumes.

Soccer

2009-11-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

This is what Lorelei did every game, had some pretzels.
This is what Abagayle every game that Cassidy was there, she was such a good sport with Abagayle

He has the red sweatshirt under his uniform.

Showing me his muscles!

Warm ups!

We have had a long and great season, I forgot the camera almost every game :) So I did get a few shots of him in action. He had so much fun! We had the perfect coach. I really enjoyed being the team mom. It was a lot sometime with the other two kids, but we had fun!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Oh Sauve Island Pumpkin Patch! We love you so. We spent four fantastic Octobers there, making some fun memories :) It will be sad to not go next year.

Lorelei on her mini hay pyrimid.
Big kids on the big hay pyrimid

Lorelei did enjoy the tunnel on the big one.

Cow Train ride, a classic!

Ahhh!

Helping Lorelei through the field

On the hay ride.

So happy and so darn cute!

I love it!

Disney On Ice

2009-10-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

We went to disney on ice with email and gracie. We had such a fun date night. The girls loved it! I think em and i had just as much fun! I teared up a couple of times. Just to see how much she was enjoying it was great for me. The pics are in reverse order. Thanks em for taking them i think I only got a couple on mine. So I stole yours :)
The girls were wiped. We left about 600 and the show started at 730 and then we got home at 1000! They had so much fun!

2009-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

I hadn't updated pics in a bit. Here are some recent ones.

Daddy and his girls, ahhh.

Lorelei's first ponytail. So cute! She left it in for quite a while actually

I love her cheesy smile!
Jackson and Abagayle made a breakfast for Dad, 100% by themselves. Yogurt, devil juice "aka mt dew", candy and a peeled but not cooked potatoe. When I came downstairs they asked me to cook the potatoe for dad.
Yes they do peel potatoes for me, they are quite good at it actually.

They got temp tatoos when I had to go to the dr a couple weeks ago, Jackson got a superman one like his uncle brandon.

We went to the zoo a couple weeks ago, the camera died after this picture. Lorelei loves to ride the sit and stand like this. She did so good, just standing there as we pushed her around. She didn't try to get off until we stopped...most of the time.

Jackson was in a time out. Lorelei wanted to join him. She stood there the whole time, 6 min. She would lean over and talk to him or poke at him. She LOVES Jackson, more then me I think sometimes :)

Brandon found a praying mantis in the backyard. The kids loved to look at it. Abagayle like to have it on her. Jackson would have no part of the touhing though. We had Ezra over, he held it too, I missed it with the camera and didn't really want to hold it again. sorry jess.
Lorelei loves to read or be read too. Tell her to go and get a book, she runs to the book cupboard and brings one to you then turns around and waits for you to pick her up. while saying "uppahhh"
This is her favorite meal. I hate to feed it to her.....can you guess why :)
Sorry it is blurry she kept trying to grab the camera :)

Monster Mash

2009-10-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

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Doctors ...well kid Doctors...RANT!

2009-10-02T08:08:00.001-07:00

We went in for Lorelei's shots on Wed. a few of my doctor pet peeves were hit BIG time. The first being a total lack of respect for my time. If I was 15 min late for an appt I would have to reschedule and probably pay a fee for canceling in less then 24 hrs notice. However if I spend 20 min in the waiting room and then go to ask about why I am still waiting for my appt that was 20 min ago, I am inconveniencing them. Then I totally love to spend another 40 plus min in the actual patient room. For a about 5 min with the doctor and 5 min with the nurse. RUDE!

This discussion usually come up all time with the doctors, I really have not had to go there yet with this doctor. "Let you baby/kid cry it out till they go to sleep" (Let me preface this by saying this is what works for us and what WE believe, no judgement or offense to anyone else and what you do with your kid)
We DO NOT let our children cry it out in bed. When you tell a doctor that, you would think that I was abusing my child. For us it is not what we feel, and have prayed about, is the right choice. We help them go to sleep until about 18 months or so then I read stories them till they fall asleep and within a month or so I could 2 books and tell them goodnight and they go to sleep and stay in bed. before that we just hold them or lie next to them.
Your child cries to let you know something in wrong or they are angry or .... If respond to that request from them it builds up a trust with them. When you need mom/dad I am here. My child cannot communicate well as a baby or early toddler. How do I know why they are crying. Are they hungry still, did they just poop, is their tummy upset or are they just over tired. Until they can tell me what is going on with them, I am not leaving them in a crib to just cry.
Now when I tell you this, doctor, please be respectful of my position. I understand kids needs sleep, I am not stupid. Maybe if my kids were lagging in growth and mental development, then I might listen BUT they are not!

Also I know you are supposed to give your kid whole milk at one, we don't. I understand the reasoning behind their request. But when I say, pretty firmly, that we give the 2% milk because that is our choice. That should be the end of it! Clearly my other two healthy and intelligent children did just find. Lorelei is not lacking in height or weight (over 95 percentile for both, no surprise) nor is she lacking in intelligence or behind on milestones. In fact she just finished telling me how she is ahead of her age for quite a few things like walking really well/almost running, starting to self feed with a fork/spoon and saying a more then two words.

I usually just nod my head and tell them what they want to hear and then do what we think is best and has worked thus far. So rarely do I disagree with them, that they know of. Clearly my children are doing good, they are healthy so give me a little credit please.

Weird thing though a week and half ago Lorelei was 26 pounds and now she is over 28 pounds :) I knew she felt heavier to me. Sorry for the rant, don't like it...don't read it :)

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

2009-09-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

One year old!

My little escape artist, if the door (front or back) is open she is gone..no fear :)

Her in the birthday girl shirt

Done with the cake...yummy!
The other two loved her birthday, they sang "You had a birthday Shout Hooray" all day!!

She is one now, I cannot believe it! This first year has gone by the quickest for sure. Lorelei is just over 26lbs and is 32 inches tall, yikes! She wears 18 -24 months now, crazy to me.

She is a busy bee. She walks everywhere all the time. Loves to climb up and down the stairs, unless she is being lazy then she sits at the top and cries until I get her :) So cute, sometimes. She loves to eat or drink whatever you have. She is getting really good at signing "all done". We usually only do one or two signs with the kids, she picked up on it really well. Instead of throwing food on the ground when I give her more, she usually signs all done to me. That says nothing of the food already on her tray which she throws about the house at will :) She babbles along to books as you read or if she is laying on ground reading to herself. She is starting to climb. She loves to climb the kids picnic table in the yard and then stand on it, so unsafe.. She is almost up on the couch. Her bed is right by the light switch in the room. Now when she gets up in the middle of the night she turn the light off and on. Everyone loves it ;) Time to move the crib around.

Jackson and Abagayle are such great helpers. They love to play with her...most of the time. They always try and make her laugh when she cries, if she doesn't stop crying it's "mom will you make her stop, it's too loud" She does have a set of lungs.

Lorelei 1st Birthday Cake!

2009-09-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple 30 sec. videos of Lorelei's 1st birthday. We did a small party at home, in between school and work for Brandon. The kids loved it!

First Day of School - Jackson

2009-09-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

He had his first day of kindergarten today, tear... Dad took him in to the school to his class. Brandon said he was so excited to get to his class. They have to wait in the cafeteria until the teacher comes to get them. He found his little table with his name on it, so cute. Brandon said he was already making friends. I think we will walk him in for the week or so, then move up to the curbside drop off. I don't know if I am ready for that. At preschool it was curbside dropoff but to a person who walked him, so different then get out and find your way :)

Abagayle starts preschool in about a month, she cannot wait to go back. Jackson is in AM and Abagayle will be in PM, a little time with mom each day.

Trips

2009-08-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

We had a couple fun trips this months. I went with my mom and the kids to the ocean for a reunion with her dad and siblings. Then the whole family went to Reno and Tahoe for a week for a Perkes reunion. I will update with pics and stories later. :) So much fun!

Soccer Mom!

2009-08-24T22:01:00.001-07:00

Before we had kids, we decided I would stay home with the kids. One of things I was most excited about was to be a "soccer mom". I wanted to drive the mini van. I know some people think it lame, but I love it. I wanted to have a practices and games to go to for them. I wanted to volunteer in the class room cutting out calendar pieces. To join the PTA or PTSA will be exciting.

Part of that is starting for us.
Jackson had his first soccer practice tonight. This is his first organized team sport. (tear) :) He was soooo nervous, for the last two days. Will the kids like me? Will my coach be nice? He was also so excited, constant "what time is my practice?" for two or three days. He had so much fun!

I am also the team mom now. Not much to it, snack schedule, end of the year party and fundraising. (be ready to buy some cookie dough soon! :) I am actually excited to do it.
I of course forgot the camera. I will not forget next Monday for practice, be ready for picture overload.

In a couple week he will start kindergarten, it is so crazy he is almost 6, in Jan. He is such a little boy, maybe not little.

11 months!

2009-08-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

It is really hard to believe that it was a year ago when I was huge and pregnant with her. Crazy! Time is really flying by, maybe because I have three now.
Our dear sweet Lorelei. She is really learning how to object to things she does not want or like :) She has 7 teeth now and I think two more are about to break through. I had her down to 2 or 3 bottles a day, I like to stop the bottle or nursing at 12 months. She is late teether for me, all she wants lately is bottles, she does not want to chew anything!
Here is her after a sad time. Still so cute

So happy to come and see me!
We have a full on walker now. She mostly walks everywhere. She crawls once and while but she prefers to walk. The Jackson and Abagayle get so excited when she walk to them. They love to hold her hand, if she lets them. She only likes to one hand not two, if at all.

Here is a video of her walking you have to tilt your head though. :)

We started to put a barrette in her hair now. She looks like a little girl now, not a baby :( I wish I would have had the sound on. It the end she is growling at the camera, she growls a lot, so cute!

Something that will have a huge impact.....

2009-07-30T22:46:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of you check the Knuz blog, but I know that some may not check it that often if at all. Sorry if this repetitive but I feel that if a few people see it twice and for a few reading the first time it is worth it.
Here is the link:
http://ekunzfamily.blogspot.com/2009/07/something-bigger-than-us-alla-countdown.html

So help out, pay your $5.00 and take a half hour and go in.

10 Months

2009-07-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is crazy to think that in 2 months she will be 1! Well in the last month she has started so many new things... She stands herself up without holding on to anything. She squats and stands and squats and stands... good exercise. She took her first steps (see previous post). She loves all food :) She wants whatever you are eating, I haven't fed her babyfood in about a week or two now. She loves grandma banana now, she would cry is she saw her. Now I think she likes her more sometimes, which is fine with me. She has warmed up to James and loves Brett.. I like cause he looks like Brandon especially with the glasses.
When she gets up from her naps or in the middle of the night she doesn't really cry anymore. She stands up opens the door and yells Poiahh at us till we come, it is so cute. She definitely knows what she wants and does not want. I don't think we have had one yet that has thrown little fits like she does, we just laugh, it is cute. She has her two bottom teeth this month she cut her top two I teeth. So she has fangs :) They are not all the way down yet but when they are I will get a pic of the fangs. Brandon hisses at her and she finds it sooo funny.
She says Dada of course still and upah for up. She said mom mom mom once but I don't think she meant me.
She shakes her head no at you when she is done with something or doesn't want it, so cute and she thinks it is funny. She loves to splash in the toilet anytime the door gets left open...yuck. Her "punishment" is to wash her off in the sink. So it is a win/win for her, stinker. The stairs are her favorite! If we forget to block them she is up them so fast and down the hall to their bedroom. she did learn this month how to turn around and go down them, so that is good.
She still doesn't sleep through the night, the good nights she is up once or twice...don't ask about the other nights.

All and all I think we will keep her. :)

She is walking!

2009-07-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

So Saturday Lorelei just deceided to walk :) She was standing next to me and deceided to walk to the Elmo..three steps and she was there. Holy Cow!! So fun. She has only done it a hanful of times since then but WOW! Soon there will be no stopping her. We are trying to video it, we had Jackson get some video Sunday not the best, I will try and video it tonight.

Our Break

2009-07-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

This was our trip to Utah. I had never been to Utah before this, so it was an experience :)
The pictures are in totally backwards order, so you get to view our vacation for back to front :)

We got to stay up at our friends parent's cabin in Duck Creek, outside of Cedar City, UT. The kids had a blast. They called to warn us that it might be cooler like 75 or so :)

Joe and Lorelei, she really took a liking to him. She doesn't like boys for the most part.

The kids got to go on the first rides on 4 wheelers, they are in love. It was so cute, they both fell asleep during the ride with Dad.

Ready to go and so excited!

James, lookin' super stylish

These are our friends Joe and Katie, we love them soooo much!!

It was so great to them, we had more fun then I think we have had in a long time. Staying up late playing games and laughing and just hanging out.

This is Jackson and Brandon ready for their ride!

Jackson in his super cute helmet. Don't let the jeans and sweatshirt we have on fool you, it was still warm, to us at least.

This was at the pool at the condo we were so blessed to be able to stay at. Lorelei took a little snooze in boat.

Here is part of the pool that was right outside the back door. We can't thank the Guisingers enough for letting us stay there during our vacation.

She loved to be thrown up and then to splash down.

Abagayle thought she was Queen of Nile and just wanted to be pushed around on her lizard all day.

This picture was taken about 1230am. Joe left his XBox at the condo for all to enjoy. James and Brandon decided to stay up late one night and play. Brandon said they were playing Halo and he would notice James's gun point of the screen, he would say something to him James would say

"I am not a asleep" Clearly this was not the case. Brandon said he stopped responding to his questions after a bit. Asleep controller still in hand.

Our sweet baby taking a swimming break at Mike and Bunni's pool. (Joe's parents)

More swim fun at their pool.

This was in SLC across from them temple. I think the only smiling picture we got. It was hot and humid. We were all tired. But I really wanted to see the temple.

Every time there was a patch of flowers, and there are a lot, Abagayle would sit down and say "take my picture here too"

This is the best shot I got of the temple. It was really hard to get a shot without all the skyscrapers around.

We were able to say Brandon's grandma and grandpa on his dad's side. This is Brandon and Grandpa. It was so great to see them. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, about 9 years ago.

While we were there we spent the afternoon and evening one day with Brandon's Uncle Craig and Aunt Leann and 5 amazing kids. This is his dad's brother. The cute little blond in the front is Abagail, she is about 9 months older then our Abagayle. The two older girls loved Lorelei, it was so cute! They carried her around all day. While were at their house, the kids played, we baked cookies, had a great visit, the kids had a water fight and then had a yummy dinner before heading over to his grandparents house. I wish we lived closer to them, they are such and amazing family.

This was at Craig and Leann's house. I guess there are pictures of Brandon's brothers and sisters in these same glasses at their house, just before the go on their mission. James and Brandon wanted to share in the fun.

While we were SLC we stayed with best friend Sonnet for a couple of days. We were having too much fun because I didn't get any pictures of us or the kids playing. Our kids do so great together. They had so much fun playing outside and in her awesome playroom. Plus I got to meet her newest addition Sydney, she was only 2 months and so tiny and sweet. It was so great to see them but then it reminds me of how sad it is to be away. Except, you know we talk on the phone at least once a day :)

When we started our trip James was in the seat next to Lorelei, however when she woke up and saw him she was not happy. So they switched while I was driving. This was Brandon's view all the way to SLC. I got car sick after about 2 hours back there, so I had drive. She did like James after a couple of days though, which was great.

Classic kids passed out picture

Hanging at a reststop outside of Boise.Wrestling in our jammies. This was the first stop we had to make. We left at 5am so the kids slept until 8 or 830 which was awesome!

Happy baby to be outside of her carseat. Our trip was so amazing, we got to see friends and family and be together as a family. We took James with us which was so great for us and for him. He was such a great help with kids and my sanity in the car.

Lorelei at 9 months

2009-07-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

At the 9 month mark we were Utah, so I am blogging a little late. She was still saying Dada and upah. For Dad and up. She walks along the furniture and still crawls everywhere. She started to stand her own about that time. She eats anything and everything. She is starting to dislike baby food, which is nice for the grocery budget :) I haven't taken her to the dr for her 9 month check up yet, probably next week, which will be about her 10 month mark. She is about 25 pounds though. Such a doll. She still doesn't sleep super great, we will get there slowly but surely :)

Abagayle's 4th birthday

2009-07-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Abagayle had her 4th birthday party on 6-12-09, the day before her actually birthday. We had a BBQ and played at the Blue Lake Park. The kids had so much fun! I didn't take any pictures that day. Thanks Emali for taking the pics. Abagayle created her own guest list for the first time. She was sure to invite Devin, I think she has a slight crush. So cute.

We miss you Youngs, more then you know.

Her Ariel cake dad made

The kids loving the pinata

Abagayle and Jayden H, her boy who is a friend from preschool. She talked about Jayden H everyday after school.

The day was pretty much awesome. I think everyone had a great time. Thank you so much to everyone that came.

Fun Stuff!

2009-06-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite memories of each of the kids. Brandon was feeding her chicken and sweet potatoes. I love the half smile in the one below.

This was her first OREO. Dad got to wash her.
Yummy!

So Dirty!

Happy Birthday to Devin. The kids were so excited to bake Devin a cake, their idea. Then they made him cards to. They love Devin.

She discovered the cup drawer, my kitchen floor hasn't been the same since.

She is so proud of herself!

Heather Ward Photo Session

2009-06-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest photo session with Heather Ward. It was rainy that day :( She still got some good shots.

This is totally the tired Abagayle look

Talent Show Night

2009-06-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Her first snow cone
Sad Clown
Funny clowns

My muscle man and funny girl
You will want to mute my music on the side for the vidoes

Back stage he said "Mom I am getting a little stage frightening" So Cute!

We missed the first part which was his talent the "slidin' on the knees" move. He ran in from the side and landed on his blanket on his knees and slid across the stage. Then he stood up and danced with a guitar. He loved it. The crowd was lovin the "Old Time Rock n Roll" too.

Abagayle wanted to do a "ballerina" dance. We put on some Kenny G and she danced. She was a little scared at first but soon warmed up.

Fabulous!

2009-06-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

If you have seen High School Musical the you know Sharpay. Meet our very own Sharpay Evans. She is too fabulous (she can sing the whole "fabulous"song from HSM2).

Heaven help us all.
*I added Fabulos to the playlist, the second is Jackson's favorite, he calls it his mad dance. It is so cute to watch him dance around to the song.*

Garden of Plenty

2009-06-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

These are in reverse order :) Here are some yummy radishes from our garden

Jackson showing off his find

Working hard

Splash Park Fun!

2009-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is so sweet, Reese was reading to Lorelei and then feeding her puffs.
Gracie and Abagayle playing

Lorelei loved to sit and splash

Too much Fun!

This little turkey was getting mouths fulls of water and spitting them at me, I was soaked!

Preschool Graduation

2009-05-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jackson is all done with preschool. My baby is so big now. He will be in Kindergarten next year! He had a little ceremony at school. They sang itsy bitsy spider and Twinkle Twinkle for us. Each kid got an award, he got best attitude award!

His best friend Tanner

Getting his diploma

Getting his best attitude sash, he was embarrassed to go up front.

Let me OUT & soooo tired

2009-05-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

Soooo tired baby
Let me out!

She trys her best to escape

Finally!!!

2009-05-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while we were eating dinner, Brandon found Lorelei's first tooth!! A little sharp dagger on the bottom. After 4 months of teething something finally happened. She has been so miserable lately. Yesterday she just wanted me to hold her and she would lay her head down on my shoulder, very uncommon. Now I know why. Once it comes in more I will post some pics.

Too Soon Abagayle

2009-05-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet daughter, Abagayle, has been asking for about the last two months "When is my baby brother Andrew coming to live with us?" What the heck!!! We had told the kids with with the last pregnancy that the baby would be named Andrew if it was a boy and Lorelei if it was a girl. She now seems to think that the boy will be along any day. I thought she would lose interest after me telling her, several times, that it is going to be a while before we have another one, if at all. Not my dear sweet daughter, she just keeps on asking, about once a week.

Eight Months Already

2009-05-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe she is 8 months now! It is going by so fast with her. She is everywhere, she learned how to conquers steps/stairs now. My kitchen is no longer safe from her. We found her up one of the stairs the other day, yikes! Our friends let us borrow a gate, thanks Bethany, so hopefully I remember to put it up :) She loves food and WATER! I think she would drink it all day if she could. She likes to spit lots and shake her no, she thinks it is soooo funny...me not so much. She says dada all the time, sometimes in babble and sometimes really for him. This kid goes crazy when dad gets home! She is such a daddy's girl. She like to try and play with Jackson and Abagayle, sometimes they don't mind :) She is about 22 pounds now, wearing 12 -18 month or 18 month clothes, what a tank. What else can we say we LOVE her, I think we will keep her.

Rock N Roll

2009-05-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

The kids had dress like a rock star day at school. We sprayed their hair blue and pink. Abagayle saw the girl on the pink can had lots of pony tails so that is what she wanted. They wore Dad's tour tshirts (Metallica and Kiss). They had a great day!

Mothers Day Breakfast

2009-05-14T20:24:00.001-07:00

Jackson and Abagayle made breakfast for me all by themselves. Water, English Muffins and yogurt. So sweet. I love their morning look.

LOL!

2009-05-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

I think we took about 10 30 sec videos that night, she could not stop laughing at/with Dad.

She is mobile

2009-05-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

So she crawls just about everywhere now, well for the last week or so.

Lorelei also pulls herself on anything she can. I am sure she will be taking off soon.

Other important events, she shared an ice cream with dad and her first taste of meat. She loved both! Still no teeth!! Teething like crazy still, good thing we love her

Brandon sprained his ankle, it is pretty bad. He has been getting treated at the clinic for it. He is also out of work until at June 5th. It is nice to have him home, however he is can't really do much ;)

Ankles

2009-05-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

At the basketball game tonight Brandon stepped on someone guys foot and rolled his ankle. Super sucks! On the way home I stopped to by some ice, when we got home and I made Brandon a bucket of ice and cold water to soak his foot in. All of the sudden we have two little kids whose ankles hurt and are limping around. :( Poor little things, they needed to put their foot in the bucket too. As soon as their foot hit the water..... it was a mircle they were cured, their ankle felt all better and they didn't need to soak it anymore. Abagayle's wrist did hurt, she tried a couple tests with her hand to see if was less cold on your hand. Nope ... and her wrist felt better too.
Thanks Eric for coming over and wrapping it up, we appricate it!!

So excited!!

2009-05-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

I cannot tell you how excited I am that Heather Ward is back! We have our pics at the we took family pics a year and a half ago, but it was Nov then and now it is spring so it should be really pretty. However Mon. is a 60% of rain., CRAP!!! Hopefully there will be no rain!

The Treasures That Await You at the OPC

2009-04-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

I know that many of you are thinking "Man I would love to go to the OPC and be treated" Never fear now you have a friend there. Brandon is in the OPC at WSCC Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 730am-100pm and Thursdays from 100pm - 615pm.

Call 503-255-6771 for appointment

He is even equipped with a treasure box to help distract your little ones while you are being adjusted or to help entice them to hop up on the table and let Brandon look for the popcorn in their back.

We would really appreciate any support that you could give him during these last few quarters.

Sleeping Beauties

2009-04-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

I got up from my Sunday nap and saw this. How cute. They slept like that for an hour and a half.

Random Kid Pics

2009-04-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

Happy baby!

This is a Halloween bucket that came open and Jackson thought it was so funny to use it as a mask

Of course Abagayle followed

Yummy toes!

Randon kid pics... with some comments

2009-04-27T16:46:00.001-07:00

Brandon was fixing something in the bathroom and found a spot for her

I was organizing clothes bins, thanks Marykaye and Mandy love ya! This is where I put her out of the mess

Abagayle had been skateboarding in the backyard and came in and laid down but did not want to take her helmet off, we even tried while she was sleeping.. she said no and grabbed at the helment

Here is our crazy girl pulling herself up on the printer box, thanks Sonnet and Cameron for hooking us up!

Abagayle has a side self next to her bed, under the shelf is blankets, the lower shelf has stuffed animals and the top shelf has books. She got rid of the middle shelf and was sleeping in her "hole", as we call it, on her blankets and stuffed animals.

Easter

2009-04-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

We actually hung out at home this year which was really nice. Jackson and Abagayle woke up to a new church tie for Jackson and a beaded CTR bracelet for Abagayle. The got to sing a song in the sacrament program. Although I think my two just stood there and smiled :) Then we came home had dinner, easter egg hunt, easter egg dying and easter baskets. Fun times. I also got them indiv. cake to have for desseret. I kept the toppers to recreate the cake later. Here are some fun pics from the day :)

Pinning Ceremony

2009-04-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

Brandon is officially in the OPC this quarter. He is an intern and treating the general public. I am so proud of him. In our rush I forgot our camera, dang it! It was nice ceremony. Brandon attending DC pinned him, Dr Schram. This is the doctor that Brandon really wanted, we prayed quite a bit for it and are so thankful for getting him. What a blessing to us. The class representative speaker was hilarious. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. It was really nice to watch all of the students get recognized and to see all their families there supporting them.

Penny was super sweet and took a couple pics of Brandon for me. He had another classmates husband takes some pics too, when I get those I will add them.

Hooray!

2009-04-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Congrats Brandon on passing part II and III boards!!! He did such a great job! I know this time around he had a lot on his plate, three kids and me :) Not that I am ever a handfull for him to handle or anything ;) I am so proud of him and the hard work he does for our family.
One more set of boards to go!!!

Movin Around

2009-04-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

So Lorelei is pretty darn close to crawling around. She does backwards like crazy all over the living room, then screams when she backs herself into a corner :) She is now moving forward, slowly but surely, look out.
Another bonus, I went into their bedroom to get her out of her crib the other day and she had pulled herself up on the crib rail. Mind you the crib is still on the top setting, dangerous. So Brandon gets to lower the crib this weekend. :0 ) She has been grabbing anything and trying to pull herself up, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much.

We had a great day today weather wise, so we went swimming in the pool, for the first time this season. The kids had a blast, Lorelei watched from the grass. Most of the neighborhood kids were out playing too, fun! I didn't get any pics, I will have to see if my neighbor got some and post them later. I will post some random pics later too.
Right now I am off to pick up my baby :)