Busy Busy Busy

Well- we have been so busy, and the busy times are still not over... It is has been lots of fun though. We have been in Oregon for a long 2 and a half weeks, came home to do a surprise party for Brett's Dad. All of his children and their families came into town to surprise him (it was his 60th birthday). We had a dinner party, and the next day we all went to the lake. We rented boats and a skidoo. It was a perfect day at the lake. For the next few weeks we will have Brett and I anniversary, Dr's appointments for both girls, Olivia's B-day, and another family reunion with Brett's extended family. It is just crazy busy lately! I have been bad about daily schedules and working out with all the comotion. Not good!

There was lots of "getting to know you" time for Claire. By the end of the trip she was okay with her Grandparents. She is just so shy though (and at a very crabby age! At least I am hoping it is her age and just a stage!!)


Livie had a great time. When I ask her what her favorite part of Oregon was she will quickly respond "playing with Grandma!"

This is 2 of my sis-in-laws. There are 5 boys in the family- so there are lots of sis-in-laws! They are all great, and we love to chat! It was fun to see them all! (Val- we missed you ;( )


This is the latest from our garden (Amy- you've got to start coming to gather your little tomatoes!) Our garden is doing pretty well. We are still waiting to the larger tomatoes to get red, but we have had zucchini, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and we are watching 4 watermelons grow really fast! Sadly we had an infestation of squash bugs on the zucchini plants. It was SOOO distgusting. I had to hand pick each large beetle bug off the plant and drown it in water. I kept screaming and getting chills every time I picked one up. There was about 50 of them. AAAH! They were just so nasty. The plants seem to have survived though and are doing well despite the bugs. Phew!

Playing with Aggie

Olivia loves my parents dog, Aggie. This is saying a lot since in general she is usually scared of dogs. Aggie is very gentle and doesn't jump or lick you though. Liv had fun throwing the ball for her for about an hour!

Fun in Springfield

all the kids together... I think they love it!

Hannah (Kim's baby)Liv and Connor

Connor (Lindsay's son)

We are in Springfield (where I grew up) and we are out visiting friends! My two best friends Kim and Lindsay have little ones of their own and it is so fun to have everyone together. They have CUTE kids that are very sweet and Claire and Liv had lots of fun with them. Livie especially loved Conner (maybe someday they will marry!!)

Beach House 2010

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We got to rent a beach house and be with my family for a long weekend. We had fun hanging out, talking, eating, and playing in water! It was a good time. I wish we could see our family more! It is quite the drive though (about 14 hours)

Miss Claire-Bear

Little miss Claire. She is growing up so fast. We still call her baby- even though she is now 18 months old. Time is flying by. She is still very quiet. She does not use words. She will say a few here and there, but for the most part she only babbles. She loves a good snuggle. She is our sleeping beauty. She sleeps a LOT. She would probably still take 2 naps if I let her. She sleeps an average of 14 hours at night. Her latest trouble is biting. She just discovered the effects of it. She really has GOT to start using words instead of biting!! Liv bit for awhile too. I have hope she won't do it long- she gets in big trouble. She is terrified of other people. I mean if ANY one gets within touching distance of her she starts to freak. This includes Grandparents, friends, just about ANY one that isn't mom, Dad, or Liv. She is rather shy. She loves to be like her big sister. She copies most things. She is good dancer, and loves music. She LOVES to eat. She follows after her sister and will eat just about anything. She eats more then Livie most of the time! She is a sweet heart. We love you Claire!

Happy 4th of July

wathed fireworks with Em and Gisco, ate some good food, played with a light up sword, had special 4th of July hair... It was a fun time!

Photo Shoots

I've done a few photo shoots in the past few weeks. These are some of my favorites! I just think it is delightfully fun to take pictures. I wish they all turned out the way I envision. Remember- if you ever want me to take some photos- please ask!! I know I'm no pro, but I love doing it, and with time I'm getting better.

Next Door

Liv pushing Claire on the swing

There is a play structure next door. It is just on the side of our drive way and the neighbors said the girls were welcome to play on it. The girls love it. They would play on it all day if I let them!
Oh- and I have to mention- the grass is so much greener in the neighbors yard then ours... haha and look at that blue sky and beautiful clouds! Love the sky in Utah- it is always SO blue!

Family Photos

Today we took family photos. My brother in law Francisco took ours. He has never done it before, but he did great! Thanks Francisco. These are the best ones. Which one do you think we should blow-up put above our fireplace?

No Pictures

Here is a post to make sure I'm 'keep'n' it real'! Yesterday I was painting our walls a lovely blue. The girls were playing in the yard, getting sandy and probably causing trouble. Liv ran inside crying. She fell and scraped her leg. I went to tend to her- bandaging, snuggling, you know the drill. All the while little Claire came inside... to the paint. She took the roller and decided to paint the floor. I am seriously grateful that we have wood floors. She didn't get too far before I caught her. I thought about taking a picture... but wait... there is another story about that!
Liv likes to play in water. She always seems to manage to get something wet that shouldn't be wet. Like her sissys head, or electronics. One of the things she decided to "wash" for me was my camera battery charger. We can no longer charge the battery. I had to order a new one. It should be here soon. I can't wait to start taking pictures again!
So- that is the latest trouble these two are getting into. I could list so many more mischevious doings, but I don't want to ruin their sweet reputation ;)

Livs favorite commercial

Thoughts

Well-I don't usually just blab about random thoughts, but sometimes I do- and since the last video was a little on the boring side I'll give you some things to think about!
First of all- I have a lot of nightmares. My friend told me that they did a study on it and that people that sleep on their backs have more nightmares then people that don't. Over the past year or so I've been testing the theory. I concur. If I sleep on my back I always have creepy dreams. Like last night. I had dreams that people were trying to turn me into a zombie by injecting me with something and making me drink a special juice. Don't worry- I got away. ;) Anyway- I try my best to sleep on my side or belly but I LOVE to sleep on my back. So it stinks. If anyone else has bad dreams regularly- you should test the theory!
Yesterday we went back to our old neighborhood to visit our old friends/neighbors. Our old house has actually been sold AGAIN! Crazy! Anyway- we miss our neighbors SOOO much. I am glad Livie was 2 when we left because she would have been depressed for weeks if she really understood what we were moving away from. We had the best friends/neighbors any one could ask for. Liv absolutely loves the girls that used to be next door. There are 3 all about her age. They are all so much like Livie with active imaginations and sweet as can be. She gets along very well and they have a blast when they play together. Plus- Liv has two baby friends just born months of her. It is just sad. It makes me want to cry. Not to mention- I loved the mothers of the neighborhood and the ward. The mothers were the best of the best. Loving, patient, always thinking of others. They were perfect examples to me and so christ-like. I very much miss it! I do not miss the house so much. I also do not miss driving forever just to go anywhere (although it did save me a little more money!) So- mostly we just miss our friends. I guess it's not so bad. We are only 45 minutes away. Oh- I almost forgot to mention. Liv cried for a good 10 minutes when we left. She says they are her BEST friends!
On to other business.... I'm not sure I have much else to say. I got teeth impressions for a new night gaurd. I grind my teeth like crazy at night (probably from the night mares!) I've noticed both Liv and Claire grind their teeth too! Interesting. It makes my teeth really sensitive. We have no dental insurance so it was $250 to get it. Spendy. We are thinking of getting rid of ALL our health insurance. Our premiums went up over $100. It just seems like a waste of money for how much of it we use. We could build up our own health emergency fund quite easily with how much we pay. It's ridiculous. Any thoughts? (we pay $700 a month for health insurance- doesn't include eyes, dental, maternity or any other specialists)

Life

yogart from Sarisker on Vimeo.

A day in the life of me. Lots of messy faces, and ridiculous outfits. trying to convince her to wear other things and trying to convince Claire to let me feed her- it's just not worth it!

I will add it is so cute to see them learning and growing. They want to be so independent!

Bed Head

Some pictures of the girls

Reading

Out in the Yard

We have been busy busy planing and gardening around this house! We have 4 new trees. 2 shade trees by the house, and 2 ever green that will hopefully block our view of the road behind us.
I just put the garden in. I don't mind gardening, but I hate tilling the dirt every year. It is so much work. I have to do it with a shovel. I ran into a LOT of worms, potatoe bugs, and spiders.
Amy P- that is your tomatoe bush! Still tiny ;) Can you believe that the zucchini bush starts out so tiny? They grow like a weed- and they grow to be huge!

I have planted a few flowers. Not too many. I have decided I will have to get used to both Claire and Livie helping EVERY time we go out to water. They get all wet, dirty, and sandy from that darned sand box! I have to strip them down outside because their clothes get so wet and dirty.

Pre-School Graduation

Olivia graduated from Pre-School! Okay- just for this year. She will go next year too. This year we had 4 mothers who taught pre-school once a week. We had our turn every month. we also went on field-trips together. I think next year Liv will go to a more formal pre-school.


Here is the story for the last 2 pictures. For Graduation we went to the park. The park has a stream going through it (see picture above). Liv and her friend Anna were sitting by the stream for awhile chatting. Claire decided to head aver to see what they were up to. I was just about to get up to get her away (it is kind of steep and you could easily fall in) when Claire fell in. She was soaked from head to toe. The poor girl. I sprinted over hoping the current wasn't pulling her under. She was fine, just really cold. She stripped down and we headed home. Liv held her hand in the car to make her happy ;) They are always holding hands in the car and they both love it. Claire giggles every time.

Livies Hair Cut

Above is her "Before" picture- Below are her "afters"

Liv got her hair cut a few week back. Her A-line was getting to be a bit too dramatic. You see- only the sides and top really grow. Her bangs and nape of her neck just won't grow. I finally evened it out and cut the sides. She lost about 1.5 inches. She loves getting her hair cut! It is too bad she doesn't have much to cut!

Visit from Luke

We got to baby sit Luke while Emma and Francisco went to the temple today. Luke is quite possibly a perfect baby! He was quiet, he hardly fussed, he doesn't spit up on you, and I put him in the crib for a nap (fully awake) and he just went to sleep! What a good baby! I will take him any day! The girls liked him very much and wouldn't leave him alone. It was cute ;)