Christmas Tree 2010

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas tree. The older the girls get, the better the holidays get. It was fun to see Molly and Elley get excited about the ornaments and put them on the tree. Over the weeks that our tree was up, the ornaments were rearranged quite a few times. Too bad we never celebrated Christmas with this tree. More to come on our Christmas away from home.

Thanksgiving 2010

I am so far behind in blogging it's not even funny. Happy Thanksgiving, even though it was a month ago.

We were so lucky to have Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dan come to our house for Thanksgiving. We love all the yummy treats we get to make with Grandma! The girls and Grandma worked really hard to make the perfect pumpkin pies.

Stories with Grandpa and Grandma

Here we go, making the crust for our pumpkin pies.

We have so much to be thankful for. We're glad there is a holiday that lets us celebrate it!

And a big THANK YOU to Grandpa and Grandma for making the long drive to be with us!

This Month is Such a Special One

I am such a slacker. Molly has been 2 for a few weeks now and I'm just getting around to posting pictures. I talked to my dad today, who's on a mission in South Africa, and he reminded me that I haven't put new pictures on my blog for awhile. So, this post is mainly for Molly, and mostly for my dad!

I feel sometimes, that I have a love/hate relationship with my camera. Sometimes I can produce pictures like.......

this.......

and this.......




and this.



But sometimes, I get in a hurry and forget to check my settings. Or, I get lazy and put it on auto. And that's when I get the following. Not bad, just not what I wanted.

Oh well, at least she had a great birthday complete with Red Robin and a little mini party. She loved all of her gifts and was excited to have all of the attention. Elley did pretty well herself. It's tough having a little sister who has a birthday. She got Play Doh, Silly Bands, a doll, toy animals, a stuffed animal kitty, Toy Story 3, a new dress, and on and on. What a lucky girl.

And now, I just need to brag for a minute......because I am her mom, and I can!

Molly is the smartest, cutest little girl I know. I've read that the second child can be a little slow to talk because of the fact of having an older sibling, but not Molly. Molly is talking so well, even better than her sister did at this age. Her sentences go on and on. It shocks me sometimes. We call her our little parrot often saying, "Molly want a cracker?"

She had her 2 year old check up, and her doctor said she felt like she was doing a 3 year old check, not a 2 year old.

Today, she was sitting at the table eating a snack and she said, "mom, I went potty at Brittney's house."

And that's another thing about this girl. She's potty trained!!!! About 4 months ago she started to show interest in the toilet. Fine whatever, you're not even 2, I'm not going to potty train you. Well, she had a different plan. She did it all herself. She now wears diapers only at night. Don't get me wrong, we still have our accidents....but come on, she just turned 2.

She is the cutest little girl! I just want to hug her and kiss her all day long. And, she's lucky she's cute because she gets into everything. She loves to get into my makeup, and LOVES to color on the walls. It's hard to keep tract of every pencil and pen in this house because she has a sister at that age where art, drawing, and coloring are a big part of her life. Thank goodness for washable markers and crayons.

I'm thankful everyday for my little Molly. ( who's really not that little anymore )
I love you Molly, Happy Birthday!

Desperate for Make-up

Halloween

Holidays are so much fun with little kids around. Here are pictures of Halloween and all the fun things we got to do.

Ward Trunk or Treat

Halloween night with our friends from the neighborhood

Pumpkins with Jay, Leah, and kids!

All Shapes and Sizes

A few days ago, play group was at our house. Elley, Molly, and I attend a play group held once a week with about 3-4 other moms. We are always looking for new moms to come. More kids, more moms, more fun. One of the play group moms met someone at church a few weeks ago, invited her to come and she came. Our new mom friend is pretty thin....as in skinny. We all had fun and were glad we had a new member of our play group.

After everyone left Elley asked me what the name of the new boy was. I told her and she asked, "Does he have a daddy?"

"Yes Elley, he has a daddy, he was probably at work."

"Does he have a mommy?"

"Elley, who do you think that lady was that came with him?"

"Well, she didn't have any boobies."

Pumpkin Patch Field Trips

We have been so lucky this year. We've been able to go to the pumpkin patch 3 times. The first time was for Elley's preschool, it was pouring down rain that morning. We all met at the entrance of the farm and when Elley's teacher got there she gave all the parents the option of rescheduling because of the rain.....WHAT? Do you even know where I'm from? You never reschedule for rain in Washington. So, while all the preschool parents and kids left, Elley, Molly and I went in. After all, I promised Elley a pumpkin! It was wet, it was muddy, and it was fun. The preschool feild trip was rescheduled for the next day....so yes, we went 2 days in a row!

picking out the perfect pumpkin

We loved the animals

the corn box and cow rides. Molly loved the cow ride until it actually started moving, and then she screamed.....lucky mommy got to ride with her!

The 3rd time we went was with our preschool co-op group from church. I love the fall and everything that goes along with it.

We also brought along our friend Ella. Ella use to come to our house everyday and I think Elley is going through withdrawls!

Instead of a pumpkin, Molly found this beauty and wouldn't put it down. This little gourd stayed in her arms until we got to the car. It was cute seeing her carry that thing around.

The corn box.

Tired Monkey

Molly has a sock monkey Nana Judy made for her last Christmas. It became Molly's best friend, her comfort, her love. Monkey comes almost every where with us. We try to leave it in the car for church, but usually 10 or so minutes into our meeting someone has to go out to the car.

Last week I made a Costco trip with the girls. I was really pushing nap time with Molly. She was really getting grumpy. We were waiting in line to pay when I could see a melt down coming our way. I was trying to distract Molly with questions but she wasn't having that, so I started talking about monkey, which always makes her perk up. Monkey was on her lap under her blankie so I asked,

"where's Monkey?"

She looked at me with a little frown and said,

"No Mommy, Monkey tired."

The Wedding

Our second half of the trip was to visit with Adam's side of the family, but more important, to be a part of Maggie and Fernando's special day. We enjoyed this beautiful but busy, busy day. This day would not have been possible if it hadn't been for each and every member of the family.

Thank you Maggie and Fernando for letting us be a part of your perfect day!

I love this picture even though it's missing an important person. Thank you Uncle Andrew for serving and protecting our country!

The decor was so beautiful and elegant.

Little Sophie thought no one was watching!!!

Jay and his mom. I thought this was a really great picture of both of them.

The proud and very happy parents!

Come on Molly, a white sweater....who in their right mind put you in that? And what is that all over your face? Did you play in the dirt? For one day.....not even a whole day....just a few short hours, can you stay clean?

**Maggie and Fernando were very brave in letting me do pictures at their wedding. Here are a few of my favorites!

Washington

I know it's been a few weeks....okay a month, since we've come back from our vacation. Here are some pictures of our fun, much needed trip home!

We got to spend a few days with my side of the family, which was a blast! I miss this part of my family! We had a great time playing Quelf.....that game really brings out the best in everyone!

We also spent some time down at the beach. This was very important to me. I wanted the girls to know what it felt like to have waves splash on their feet, to feel sand and rocks in their toes, to smell the ocean, to feel the breeze.

My beautiful niece Ashley with the girls!

Molly just had to taste!

We also took a ferry ride. This was another important thing for me, to take my girls on a ferry ride. Some of my best childhood memories were of ferry rides with my family.

Beautiful Mt. Rainer! You will never understand the true beauty of this mountain until you see it for yourself. This picture was taken at the cemetery where my mom is buried. What a view she has!

Next stop, the other side of the mountains, where we celebrated the wedding of Adam's little sister......more pictures to come!