Introducing Claire!

For those of you who have not met her yet, this is Claire. She was 6 weeks old yesterday and such a sweet baby. She's started smiling and I caught this video with my new flip camera (thank you, Mom). So now I can include videos of the kids....now if only I had more time to keep up with my posts :).

It's Been Awhile...

Where do I even begin? The last 2 months have been crazy busy! I'm not even sure I can sum it up so I'll just skip to our trip to OK in November. We had a wonderful time with my family and did so many fun things with the kids while we were there. My mom took the time to make a gingerbread house for Nicky to decorate, we went to Rhema for Christmas lights, we went up to Dry Gulch for the Christmas Train (which was awesome), Catelyn got to meet Aunt Michelle, Uncle Jon, & Aunt Jessica, Nicky got to take a ride in Uncle Jon's police car, I got to see my longtime friend, Jordan and meet her kids, and we spent a lot of time with our good friends, the Sees. We even had family pictures taken at Woodward Park. Here are some of the highlights...

Rhema Lights

Pa & Catelyn decorating the Christmas tree

Nicky's Gingerbread House

Riding the carousel at the Christmas Train

With Uncle Jon & his police car

Baking Christmas cookies with Nannie

The whole family at Woodward Park

We are glad to be home but miss it there in OK. We are looking forward to Christmas and taking a few days to just be with family. Nicky has asked Santa for a scooter, a motorcycle, and a bear hat like Papa Bear wears on the Berenstain Bears. If anyone has any thoughts on where in the world I can get a bear hat like that, please let me know. I'm on the lookout but that's a tough one! Catelyn has cut her front two bottom teeth. She's doing wonderful and is growing so fast. She's a climber and an explorer. We did get her some toys for Christmas but I have a feeling she'll enjoy whatever Nicky gets more :).

Nap Time

We've had a problem lately of getting Nicky to take his naps. The other day after I had put the kids down for a nap, I looked in my monitor to see him and Catelyn in her crib playing while they were supposed to be sleeping. He had gone into her room, woken her up, and climbed in her crib to play. Super cute but not ideal. So today we put the kids down for a nap and Grant and I laid down for a nap too. After about 40 minutes we heard Nicky singing so Grant got up to find him singing to Catelyn in her crib. He put Nicky back down and went downstairs with Catelyn while I continued to nap. When Nicky got up from his nap (he actually did finally go to sleep), this is what we saw...

Yes, if you can see closely enough, that is green marker all over his legs. Grant cleaned off his arms before I could get the camera and yes, he even colored on the sheets. What a stinker! I'll have to keep a much closer eye on him during nap time or finally conclude that he's grown out of his naptime (but I'm not ready to do that yet :) ).

Grant's Jet Flight

On Friday, Grant and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary (Yeah!!!). As part of my gift to him, I scheduled a jet flight that his parents had gotten him several years ago but that he had never done. So on Saturday, we packed up the family and went up to March Air Reserve Base and met Captain Doug Gilliss for Grant's flight. He was such a nice man and allowed us to take lots of pictures on his plane. I bribed Nicky with a cookie to climb into the pilot's seat for pictures and as soon as we got him in there, he yelled out, "What's that smell? That smells aweful!" I was so embarrassed but once I climbed in there myself, I realized it truly did smell aweful. Not sure what that was all about, but I couldn't help but laugh at his honesty. So, Grant went on his flight and had a great time. He got to hit 4 Gs and got to spin the plane a couple of times by himself. Here are some pics...

Big Bear, CA

Last weekend we packed up the kids and headed up to Big Bear for the day. Grant and I got to eat at our favorite greasy spoons and we took a day hike as a family. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun together! And if you're wondering...yes, we did see a bear. Unfortunately, it was dead on the side of the road :).

Nicky & Catelyn

Long Overdue Update...

Wow, I had no idea its been so long since I posted. So let's see... Nicky had his final gym class at the end of August. He's been doing it since he was 1 and it's time to move on to something a little more challenging. He'll start a sports class at the end of this month and he can't wait to get started. Here's a couple of pics from his last class.





Also at the end of August, we took a trip up to Mission Viejo to visit Grant's Auntie Ann & Uncle Gene. They so kindly took us to a beautiful beach up their way and we had a great time with them and an exciting first trip to the beach with Nicky & Catelyn. The waves were really rough so Nicky didn't get in much but it was still a ton of fun!




We've taken a couple of trips to Seaworld since my last update. Always a lot of fun and Nicky learns so much when he goes. His new favorite are the sharks. He says it's because, "they're so cute".




Catelyn is growing like crazy and has been able to get up on her hands and knees for a week or two now. She's doing the rock too so she'll be crawling soon.


We are staying busy and looking forward to fall. It'll still be hot around here for awhile but at least we'll be baking pies, cookies, and all the yummy fall treats!