The Shirleys

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-24T08:47:00.018-06:00

We got together with our good friends the Mabeys and the Bacons to carve pumpkins. The girls had a great time helping with the pumpkins and we all had a great time spending time with our friends.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-13T22:58:00.026-06:00

Tim had the day off so we thought it would be fun to take the girls to our favorite pumpkin patch to pick out a few more pumpkins. Addison and Drew were really excited with this idea.

Addison loved the little pumpkins, she thought they were so cute.

Addison's First Field Trip

2010-10-07T22:57:00.004-06:00

We went on Addison's first Preschool field trip to this darling Pumpkin Patch in Orem. Drew was pretty excited to be able to go too.

Before we headed home my friend, Laura, and I let the kids each pick out a pumpkin to take home. Here is Addison and her friend Boston.

Drew's 2 yr pics

2010-09-07T22:59:00.003-06:00

Tim and I really enjoy taking pics of the girls. Since Drew just turned two we thought it was the perfect excuse to go and take some new pics of the girls.

First Day of Preschool

2010-08-31T22:57:00.003-06:00

I can't believe Addison is old enough to be going to Preschool. We had been taking about Preschool and her teacher Miss Dawn for a while to get her ready for her first day. All day she was so excited telling Drew how she was going to school. Addison picked out her outfit and we took her picture and were ready to go. As we walked into the classroom Addison got really nervous and then didn't want me to leave. I had to stay with her for the first 5 or so minutes. She finally warmed up and Drew and I headed out the door. When I picked her up she told me she had a lot of fun. When Tim asked her about her first day she told him she was a little nervous. I know Addison is going to have so much fun with her class and wonderful teacher Miss Dawn. Here are Addison's pics documenting her first day of Preschool.

Drew's Birthday

2010-08-31T22:55:00.004-06:00

My mom's and Drew's birthday are three days apart so we decided to have a joint party for them. Happy Birthday Mom and Drew!

Bear Lake, Last Post I Promise!

2010-08-28T16:05:00.013-06:00

The next morning we headed back to the Lake, it was super windy so we didn't last very long down at the beach. I was actually surprised we lasted as long as we did. It was when Drew's chair fell over, with her in it, that we decided we better take the kids to the pool. Again, here are some more pics of the kids. Tim and I decided that we need to do a better job at taking other pictures than just the kids.

It was Drew's Birthday while we were up there, so we decided to celebrate with our friends. Drew absolutely loved having everyone sing to her.

Make a wish! Happy Birthday Drew!

Our last summer trip to Bear Lake

2010-08-27T15:39:00.016-06:00

After the fair we headed up to Bear Lake for our last trip of the summer. This trip we were able to go up with our good friends the Mabeys and the Konolds. Friday morning we headed down to the Lake with the Mabeys to let the kids play at the beach. The Konolds were coming later that night. Here's some more pictures of the girls playing at the beach, just in case you've missed every other post we did this summer.

Madi and Kayla's Lambs

2010-08-26T22:56:00.006-06:00

This year, while we were in Tremonton for the fair, we decided to stay and watch Maddison and McKayla show their lambs. I knew that they did this, but I didn't really know what was involved. With their own money they buy a lamb at an auction. Then they take care of it all summer. Then at the time of the Fair, their lamb gets auctioned off. The girls get to keep the money that their lamb gets auctioned off for. Madison and McKayla worked really hard with their lambs all summer. I think it is such a good way to teach kids about responsibility and hard work. It was all a pretty cool and interesting to watch.

Box Elder Fair

2010-08-26T15:39:00.024-06:00

We had so much fun at the fair, it was a blast! The girls loved going on all the rides with their cousins. Addison's favorite part was going on the big Ferris Wheel with her dad. Drew loved going on the "horsey" aka the carousel. We stayed pretty late. As you can see from the last picture, Drew couldn't stay awake any longer.

Box Elder Parade

2010-08-25T22:56:00.013-06:00

This was the girls and my first time going to the good old Box Elder Parade. Last year we went to the Fair for one night and the girls had so much fun. We thought it would be fun to go up for the parade and the fair before we headed to Bear Lake for the weekend. All I can say is that there might not be a lot of floats (a total of three) but they sure is a lot of candy, cereal, popsicles, and tractors. I can not believe the amount of stuff they hand out at the parade.

Drews Trip to Build a Bear

2010-08-21T14:51:00.021-06:00

Right before Drew's birthday, we met Tim's parents, Keri Beth, Kayla, Madi, Mason, Marlie, Mary, Hudson and Kennady at The Gateway to do a little shopping and then to go to Build A Bear. Tim's parents took Addison there for her last birthday and thought that Drew would enjoy it too. Addison was really excited for Drew to get her own stuffed animal. Addison, of course, had to bring in her Hello Kitty that she made on her birthday. Drew knew exactly what she was going to make, she wanted a Hello Kitty just like her older sister. She loved picking out a heart, washing her kitty, picking out an outfit, and giving her kitty a name.

Here is Drew's kitty all dressed and ready to take home. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shirley for the fun trip to Build A Bear.

Bear Lake...again

2010-08-14T09:50:00.018-06:00

I know, another trip to Bear Lake for us, and this won't be our last trip this summer. Tim's parents called and told us that we could invite some friends and use the cabin this weekend, since the rest of the family wasn't going to be using it. Tim called up his roommates from college to come up. It was a lot of fun getting together with them and their cute kiddos. Here are some pictures of the kids playing at the lake. It's too bad we didn't take any pictures of all the adults.

Turning 30

2010-08-08T09:50:00.004-06:00

I had a wonderful 30th birthday! Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes!

Bubbles

2010-08-04T09:50:00.012-06:00

What kid doesn't LOVE bubbles!?! Drew asks daily if we can play with bubbles.

The rest of the trip

2010-07-31T15:24:00.017-06:00

It's a lot of work to go to the lake because we have to pack so much stuff, but it is worth it. We love just relaxing, playing bocce, hanging out at the lake, and letting the girls play. Addison and Drew could just play in the sand for hours.

We rented a boat this time and Addison loved being on the boat. The second time we went out we decided to take Drew, and she was a little nervous at first, but eventually found it relaxing enough to fall asleep.

We had a great time at Bear Lake. Tim's parents planned a lot of games and fun things to do while we were up there this trip.

Shirley Family Vacation

2010-07-30T09:50:00.020-06:00

This year for our annual Shirley family vacation, we stayed close to home and went up to Bear Lake to stay at Tim's Family's cabin. Honestly, it doesn't matter where we go as long as everyone can be there. We always have such a good time when everyone is together.

The kids all love going to the park too. Drew loves swinging and Addison loves going down all the slides.

Bike Parade

2010-07-10T12:25:00.021-06:00

The Primary Presidency in our ward always puts on such a fun red, white, and blue bike parade for the kids. Now that Addison is a sunbeam this was her first year participating in it. She thought it was the coolest thing to be able to decorate her trike with balloons and streamers. Addison did a pretty good job riding all the way to the park.

Playing at the Lake

2010-07-07T12:24:00.001-06:00

We decided to go and play in the water on last time before we headed home later that afternoon. As you can see the girls loved playing in the sand.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-06T12:23:00.000-06:00

We headed up to Bear Lake to spend the fourth with Tim's family. The girls loved going to the Lake. We weren't sure what Drew was going to think of the water and the sand. She surprised us and loved being in the water. She would have gone all the way out if we would have let her.

We also spend a lot of time at the pool.

The girls loved doing bubbles with grandma.

And last but not least we celebrated Tim's Birthday.

Hot Air Balloon Festival

2010-07-02T12:23:00.016-06:00

I was really excited to go to the Hot Air Ballon Festival this year, but it was pretty disappointing that is was too windy for the hot air balloons to launch. They still had about half of the hot air ballons filled, which was still fun to see. Hopefully next year we can see them all being launched. The girls had fun. Addison's favorite was the chimpmunk, aka Smokey the Bear.

Tim's Birthday

2010-07-01T08:27:00.002-06:00

It seems like we have started a little tradition for Tim's Birthday. The last two years we have gone to Tucanos for dinner followed by a movie with the girls. This year Toy Story 3 came out and Tim thought it would be fun to take the girls to that movie after dinner. The girls loved having popcorn and watching the movie. We were a little embarrassed when every time the big baby was shown Drew would yell out loud, "Baby!, mom Baby!". Other than that Drew did great to last through the whole movie.

Lehi Parade

2010-06-26T12:25:00.002-06:00

We always look forward to Lehi Days. The girls especially loved going to all the parades this year. We went to the horse parade, the mini float parade, and the Lehi Parade. The girls loved waving to the city royalty, looking at all the floats and especially loved all the candy.

This was Tim's favorite float, the UP float. It was pretty cute.

I didn't realize that we didn't take too many pictures. Here are just a few pictures.

Swim Lessons

2010-06-24T12:25:00.008-06:00

I wasn't sure if I should put Addison into swim lessons this year because I didn't know how she would do. I was expecting the worst the first day, which would be her crying and not wanting to get in the pool without me. She was a little nervous at first but she warmed up and sat on the steps in the pool and was ready for her first swim lesson. She loved going and looked forward to it every week. Here is a picture with Addison's swim teacher, Candi.

Addison with her friend Hudson.

Here is Drew. I usually just kept her in her stroller and gave her snacks to keep her distracted from the fact that she couldn't get in the pool. The last day of swim lessons I decided that it was fine for Drew just to sit by me. One little boy that was watching his brother looked over at Drew and said to his mom, " I didn't know that little girl could walk." It made me laugh thinking how much I baby Drew.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T08:20:00.017-06:00

Happy Father's Day, Tim! I know everyone thinks their husband is the best father, and they should! Tim is a wonderful dad to Addison and Drew. He is always playing with them and doing fun things with the girls. The girls have a lot of things they love doing with their dad, but their favorite thing to do is go on a bike ride and play at the park with Tim.

BBQ brownies

2010-06-19T13:16:00.001-06:00

Addison and I love making treats, and will find any reason to make some yummy desserts. One of Addison's favorite things to do is make the treat of the month in the back of the Family Fun magazine. I thought the BBQ brownie cupcakes were so adorable and knew Addison and I had to make these.

I love this picture above. The minute Drew saw me put the camera up to take a picture of Addison in action, she quickly cheesed it for the camera.

Bow Ties

2010-06-18T11:40:00.001-06:00

We had the Mabey girls over and I thought it would be fun to do a Father's Day Craft with them. I saw these bows ties on Good Things Utah and thought it would be fun to make them. I decided it would be cute to put a little note on the inside of the bow ties. Since Abby is old enough to write her own message, I thought it would be perfect for her to write the messages for all her sisters.

Here are all the girls with the bow ties that they made.

Lip Gloss

2010-06-18T08:20:00.001-06:00

Addison loves putting on make up and especially putting on lip gloss, or as Addison calls it lip stuff. I noticed that she grabbed my lip gloss out of my purse and ran into the bathroom. This is what I caught her doing. It's funny she didn't even pay any attention that I was taking pictures of her.

Addison wanted to get a picture with Drew. As you can see Drew didn't mind.

Haircuts

2010-06-12T14:41:00.012-06:00

The pictures above were taken about a year ago when Addison recieved her first haircut. As you can tell a lot has changed in a year. Below she is getting her second offical haircut from Tim's sister. We were glad that she enjoyed it this time, rather than being sad and scared.

Drew also wanted to join in on all the fun. Here Drew is getting her first haircut.

Spring Picture Time

2010-05-27T14:43:00.000-06:00

Here are a few new pictures of the girls that we took in their Spring dresses.

Princess Crowns

2010-05-20T14:41:00.007-06:00

We had Addison's friend, Savannah, over one day for a little play date. The girls had a lot of fun making these princess crowns.

Kerry's Birthday

2010-05-16T15:09:00.003-06:00

We headed up to Tremonton to celebrate Tim's dad's Birthday. The girls always have so much fun playing with Grandma, Papa and all of their cousins. Tim's Aunt Cheryl was also up visiting from California so it was nice to be able to spend some time visiting with her as well.

Happy Birthday Papa! We love you!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:35:00.001-06:00

I had such a great Mother's Day! I feel so blessed to be the mother of these two beautiful girls.

Madison's Softball Tournament

2010-05-08T15:24:00.010-06:00

This is Tim's cute niece, Madison. She had a softball tournament down in Orem and we were excited to be able to go and watch her play. The girls had a lot of fun and thought it was pretty cool watching their cousin play.

A trip to the gardens

2010-05-08T14:39:00.018-06:00

After Madison's softball game we meet up with Tim's parents and headed over to The Gardens. Tim and I really enjoy walking around Thanksgiving Point Gardens. Our girls also love running around and looking at all the beautiful flowers.

The Aquarium

2010-04-12T14:42:00.011-06:00

We got a season pass the the aquarium and thought it would be fun to go with our good friends the Mabey's. The kids loved it, Addison's and Drew's favorite part was looking at the penguins. On a funny note, we went back a few weeks later, and when I got the kids in the car I asked Addison what her favorite part was. She then answered, "Eating at that place." We did eat lunch there, so she must have been pretty hungry, because that was the last thing that I would have remembered!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-04T16:19:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. It started out Saturday evening with dinner and an Easter Egg hunt at my parent's house. The kids loved looking for eggs.

Then on Sunday the kids found their Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny left for them.

Then we headed up to Tremonton to Tim's parents house for dinner and some more egg hunts. I don't know what we enjoy more, the grown up egg hunt or watching our kids look for eggs. The weather wasn't that nice so this year we did the hunt downstairs.

It was a fun and busy weekend, but we loved it. Also I had found these glasses at my parent's and thought they were hilarious. Here is Drew sporting the bunny glasses. Happy Easter Everyone!!

Easter Eggs

2010-04-03T16:00:00.004-06:00

This was Addison's first year decorating Easter eggs. I finally felt like Addison was old enough to be able to decorate the eggs all by herself. I found the above stamp kits and thought they would be perfect. I really wanted Addison to be able to do it all by herself and dying can be a little messy. She was so excited and couldn't wait to start decorating. She was even more excited to have her little friends, Madelyn and Audrey come over. I felt a little bad not letting Drew decorate some so I let Drew attempt to decorate the eggs. That was over quite quickly due to the fact that she would stamp it and them try to crack them on the table.

Addison's decorated eggs.

Story Time

2010-04-03T15:57:00.002-06:00

Addison loves to haul all her babies and dollies around. She calls them "her girls" which I think is pretty cute. I noticed her the other day sitting on her bed with her dolls all lined up reading to them. Her favorite stuffed animal is her Hello Kitty that she got from her Grandma and Grandpa Shirley.

Nest Treats

2010-04-02T15:49:00.000-06:00

One of Tim's favorite treats are cornflake treats. I hadn't even had a cornflake treat until I met Tim. Now we like to make them as a family. The last time we made them I thought they would be perfect to make into little bird nests. Addison is my little helper, and you might be wondering where Drew is. Well Addison and I tend to do our treat making while Drew is napping. Here is my little helper in action.

April Fools

2010-04-02T15:17:00.001-06:00

We had some friends over for dinner and I wanted to do something fun for the kids since it was April Fools Day. We told them that since they didn't eat all their dinner that we made them something else to eat. The kids were a little confused at first but once they tried it they were surprised and happy to know it was candy, ice cream and a donut hole.

Drew loves to color

2010-03-20T15:34:00.004-06:00

This little girl loves to color, well at least attempt to color. She will flip through and scribble on each page one by one.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T22:58:00.000-06:00

We had a really fun St. Patrick's Day this year. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of the cup cakes that we made, as Tim accidently deleted all the pictures I took. Addison's favorite color is green so I thought she was going to be so excited to wear green, but I was wrong. She wanted nothing to do with wearing her green shirt. I finally found a striped shirt with green as one of the stripes and she was happy to wear that. Then of course she had to have Drew wear a polka dot shirt that had the same colors that matched her shirt. We had the Mabey girls over to decorate some cupcakes and then later that night the girls and Tim went over to the Mabey's for a yummy St. Patrick's Day dinner. Tim said Addison was a little hesitant to eat the green fettuccine but Drew on the other hand couldn't get enough.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2010-02-14T13:08:00.004-07:00

Addison's Valentines

2010-02-11T16:39:00.006-07:00

PLUS

EQUALS, Addison's Valentines

Addison was really excited this year to give out Valentines to all her little friends. She picked her valentines and then saw the heart plastic straws and thought that would be perfect to give to her friends. I made the labels for the water bottles, but everything else was Addie's idea, and she had such a fun time putting them together and delivering them to her friends.

Valentine's Craft

2010-02-10T13:04:00.003-07:00

For Valentines Day I thought it would be cute for the girls to make a valentine for their Grandmas and Grandpas. I found this idea to make a heart using their hands and then writing a message around their hands.

Sugar Cookies

2010-02-08T16:44:00.005-07:00

Addison and I love making yummy treats, especially sugar cookies. Addison was so excited to help me make the cookies.

Addison loves sprinkles, I swear she would use all the sprinkles on one cookie if I would let her.

Here she is ready to go and take some treats to her friends. She loves taking treats to her friends and to her Primary teachers.

Drew's Laptop

2010-01-28T13:55:00.013-07:00

This little laptop is actually Addison's. Drew is always watching Addison play with it, and well what can I say, she loves being like her big sister.

Play Time

2010-01-25T13:21:00.004-07:00

Addison got this cute snow white apron and headband set for her birthday from our good friends the Bacons. She loves putting it on and will strut her stuff all around the house.

Most of the time Addison and Drew play pretty well together. I looked in the kitchen to see what the girls were up to and this is what I saw. Awe, I love it when they play together.

Finally Walking

2010-01-15T11:43:00.001-07:00

We always joke that Drew is a lazy baby because she had no interest in walking. Whenever we would even try and have her put some support on her legs she would just bend them up so she didn't have to stand. She finally took her first steps in December and now she is finally walking all over, and we couldn't be happier.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to head up to Tremonton to spend New Year's Eve with Tim's family. Mary was visiting from Florida and we wanted to be able to spend sometime with her. Our kids fell asleep in the car on the way up so they were ready to party all night with us. Here are a few pictures of Addison ringing in the new year!

Christmas

2009-12-27T13:57:00.001-07:00

Christmas morning we headed to my parents house for breakfast and to spend the rest of the day with my family. Here are a few pics of the kids opening up their presents from my family.

We had a wonderful Christmas and were so happy to be able to spend it with both of our families.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

On Christmas Eve, we went to Tim's parents' house to spend some time with his family. We had a good time frosting cookies, having a Christmas program, putting on our new pj's, playing games, and just spending time with them. It was a little different this year with both Marlon and Mary being absent, and we missed not having them there. Here are some pictures from the night:

Then on Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents with Tim's family before we headed back to Salt Lake to be with my family.

Here are a few other random shots of the Christmas Tree lights.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get this Christmas Card out in the mail to everyone, but I ran out of time. I know it's funny that I make Christmas Cards, and you would think I would be the first to have mine done but that wasn't the case this year. We hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas. Also I know that I have slacked on my blog big time. I have a lot to catch up on and hope to get caught up in the next few weeks.

Santa Pictures

2009-12-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things that we have liked to do over the years is compare Santa pictures from years past to see how the girls grow, and to look at their similarities and differences at similar ages. One thing that really struck us this year was seeing how much Addison in 2007 looked like Drew does now.

Addison's Santa Pictures

2006

2007

2008

2009

Drew's Santa Pictures

2008

2009

Addison and Drew

2009-12-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

We took the girls out one afternoon since I decided I wanted to give a few updated pictures of the girls to my parents and Tim's parents for Christmas. Here are few of our favorites.

Here are a few of my favorites of Tim and Addison

Christmas Dresses

2009-12-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try and get a quick shot of our girls in there Christmas dresses after church. Addison loves her brown dress. She always wants to wear it, according to her it is so nice and comfy.

We wanted to try and get a picture with both girls, but Drew wasn't really up for it. As you can see from the picture below.

The Nogger

2009-12-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

There are many things to look forward to during Christmas, and the Nogger is one of those things for Tim and me. It's a gathering of friends that we don't get to see too often, wearing their most beautiful Christmas sweaters, having dinner, enjoying one anothers company, and drinking egg nog. Every year it seems to get a little crazier, with the outfits becoming more creative. This year, the attire was pretty tame compared to years past:

With one exception

As you can see it wasn't to hard to announce a winner for the famous Santa trophy, even though I did love Tricia's denim jumper.

Gingerbread Trains

2009-12-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Before Christmas, we got together with some of our friends and thought it would be fun for the kids to decorate some gingerbread trains. This was the first year that I felt like Addison was old enough to really enjoy doing this. She had a great time and loved decorating the train.

Look who's in a big girl bed

2009-12-04T23:31:00.000-07:00

It's official, as of December 1st we took down Addison's crib and put up her new big girl bed. Addison loved her crib and wasn't too interested in sleeping in a big girl bed until after she turned three. A couple of weeks before we make the switch she was waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. We wouldn't let her sleep in our bed, but we asked her why she wanted to sleep in our bed and she told us it was because of the covers. So after knowing that we asked her if she wanted to get a new bed and she could have her very own covers. She was thrilled and couldn't wait until she could have a big bed like mommy and daddy and not a baby crib like Drew. She loved sleeping in her bed from day one and if you ask her what her favorite part is, she will tell you the green covers. (her favorite color is green.)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We spent Thanksgiving day with my family and then that evening we meet up with Tim's Brother and Uncle who were in town, as well as Tim's sister's family to go to a Jazz game. Then on Sunday we headed up to Tremonton to spend some time with Tim's family. I didn't realize that we didn't take any other pictures than these quick pictures of us with the girls.

Pictures of the girls

2009-11-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Since Addison turned three I wanted to get a few shots of her and Drew. Addison now really enjoys having her picture taken. Drew on the other hand, still really struggles, especially if anyone else is in the picture with her. I guess she doesn't like to share the spotlight!

Addison's Three

2009-11-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Since Addison's birthday is on Halloween, we usually celebrate it the weekend before or after her birthday. This year I decided the night before at 6:30 that we were going to celebrate her birthday on Halloween. Since Addison was a mermaid and Drew was an octopus for Halloween I thought it would be fun to stay with that theme and have a Under the Sea party. Since I didn't have to much time to throw this party together it was pretty simple, which I know Tim appreciated. Plus all Addison really wanted and cared about was her birthday cake.

I think you could do a lot of really fun things with an Under the Sea party. In a way I guess it was good that I didn't have to much time to plan her party, that way I couldn't go overboard. Which if you ask Tim is really easy for me to do. Here are just some of the things I served in case you wanted any ideas.

Cake from Harmons.

little turkey, cheese and avocado sushi style sandwiches

Star shaped tuna fish sandwiches. After the party I thought it would have been fun to make fish shaped peanut butter and jelly fish sandwiches.

Swedish Fish

and gold fish.

Addison loves blowing out the candles and having Happy Birthday sang to her.

Make a Wish

Addison is such a great big sister and daughter. Everyday she becomes more and more grown up. Tim and I love our conversations with her, and get a kick out of listening to the funny things she says.

Here are some things about Addison:

-Her favorite color is green, but loves anything pink.

-Once it gets dark outside she thinks it is time to put on her pajamas

-If you ask her if she needs help, she will say, "No, I'm fine."

- We told Addison that Grandma and Grandpa Shirley is Tim's mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa Wright was my mom and dad. So when ever we tell her we are going to Grandma and Grandpa's house she will always ask, "Daddy's mommy and daddy or Mommy's mommy and daddy?"

-She loves listening and singing to music.

-She loves to give hugs and kisses to Drew every night before Drew goes to bed.

- Her two favorite movies are Snow White and Bolt.

-Her favorite show is Dinosaur Train.

-She is such a great eater and pretty much eats anything.

-She calls Tim by his name. If you ask her what my name is she will say mommy. She has learned that if Tim doesn't respond to dad then she will call him Tim. It's pretty funny.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T12:34:00.004-06:00

Hope you all have a great Halloween!

Pumpkin Walk

2009-10-24T22:34:00.000-06:00

Alright, here we go. I am going to try and update my blog with a few of the important things that I have missed over the last three months. In October, while we were up in Tremonton visiting Tim's family we ventured over the the pumpkin walk in Deweyville. We haven't ever been to a pumpkin walk before it was quite fun seeing all the themes and different ideas for pumpkin carving/decorating.

Addison and Marlie

Drew chillin like usually

Here are a few shots of all the different pumpkins.

Addison's First Trip to Build a Bear

2009-10-23T22:53:00.000-06:00

For Addison's Birthday Tim's parents wanted to take Addison to Build a Bear. I thought it was such a cute idea. Before Tim left to go and meet his parents we had pulled up the Build a Bear website to show her all the different kids of stuffed animals she could make. It only took a few seconds after seeing this pink teddy bear with pink hearts all over it to know that is the one she wanted. We tried to show her all the other animals in hopes that maybe she would change her mind but all she kept saying was, "I want the pink one with pink hearts." I was anxious to see what she was going to pick out. Once they got to Build a Bear Addison didn't see the pink bear with hearts so she had to pick something else out. Tim said it took her a little while but she finally decided on Hello Kitty. She had a great time picking out her outfit and seemed to really enjoy herself. Here are some pictures that Tim took since I couldn't make it.

Here she is with her new Hello Kitty named, Meow.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shirley!

Happy Birthday Drew!!

2009-09-13T14:17:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that our little Drew Bear is 1. (Drew Bear is the nickname Addison gave Drew.) This year has flown by and we have loved every minute with our little Drew. Drew is the sweetest little baby and I love her easy going personality(she rarely gets upset). We feel so blessed to have her be a part of our family.

Here are some things about Drew at 1.

She army crawls everywhere. Just this week she finally has started to crawl and pull herself up to the furniture. She likes to stand and her favorite place to stand is by the stairs. She gets really excited for breakfast, lunch and dinner, she loves to eat, and will pretty much eat anything we are eating. She likes music and she will start to bounce to the beat. Whenever she thinks she is funny or does something funny she will put her hand over her mouth. She loves giving us hugs. Drew loves to wave. She still is a really good sleeper, she sleeps in until 9:00.

Here is how Drew is measuring up these days.

Height: 29 inches (50%)

Weight: 18.13 (15%)

I was a little surprised to see that she was still under 20 pounds.

Tim says with those checks how could she not weigh more.

Here are just a few pictures we took of Drew.

As you can see she is still not loving the bows.

Now on to her party.

This year since we were at Bear Lake on Drew's actually birthday I decided we would celebrate it with family when we got home that following Monday. Since my mom's birthday was Monday I had asked her if she would mind sharing her birthday with Drew. She was excited and thought it would be fun to share her birthday with her. I had set everything up at my parents for a little dessert for their birthdays.

Happy Birthday Mom and Drew!

One last summer trip to Bear Lake and the Fair...

2009-09-09T21:47:00.000-06:00

I am a little late posting this, but a couple weeks ago we headed up to Bear Lake with some of our friends, the Konolds and the Mabeys. Between our three families, we had 9 girls and no boys! It was fun to see all of the girls play so well together, and we had a really good time. We enjoyed playing games, going to the beach, going to the pool, playing the wii, and just hanging out. We took an unintentional break from taking pictures for most the weekend, but here are the few that we did get of the kiddos at the lake:

While we were at Bear Lake Drew turned 1!! We bought a little cake and that was the first of many celebrations for her first birthday. Drew absolutely loved it when we sang Happy Birthday to her.

Saturday we packed up and headed to Tremonton to go to the Fair. Addison loved going on the carousel, and Tim had to pry her fingers from the bar to get her off. It was fun to walk around with Tim's family and to run into some of our friends. On Sunday Tim's mom made a yummy dinner and made some homemade cream puffs for Drew. Once again you can see she loved having us sing Happy Birthday to her.

Thanks to our family and friends for making this weekend trip so much fun!

Tim and Kim Photography

2009-08-20T22:47:00.000-06:00

As we mentioned a few months ago on our blog, Tim and I have finally decided to start our own photography business. Most of you know that we have been taking pictures of our friends and family since we were first married seven years ago, and starting our own business has always been a dream of ours. Although it is a competitive and intimidating field to get into, with so many really great photographers out there, we are excited about jumping in and taking our photography to the next level. We know we still have a ways to go to becoming the photographers we dream of being, but it's been fun to immerse ourselves into learning all we can and taking this adventure together. We'd like to get a website up and running in the near future, but until then, we have started a blog to showcase some of our pictures and to provide our clients a sneak peak of their sessions. Check it out here, and let us know if you are interested. Also, be sure to check back, as we'll keep you posted on our business and let you know of some special events that we will be having. Thanks to all our friends and family that have been so supportive!

Mesa Falls

2009-08-13T21:27:00.000-06:00

If you are sick of reading about our trip, then you will be happy to know this is our last post about our recent vacation. On our way home, we stopped by Mesa Falls. The falls were bigger than I thought, and this is one of my favorite pictures that Tim took.

One thing I forgot to mention about our trip was the fact that Addison loved pushing Drew around in the stroller. Addison was really showing her true colors of being a big sister. She wouldn't even let Tim or me help her. I thought these pictures where cute.

She always had to make sure she was buckled in.

Kisses and...

away we go.

This is just one set of pictures, but this was the scene everywhere we went. Bear World, Yellowstone, Big Springs, and Mesa Falls. Drew was good to put up with her.

We had a lot of fun on this year's Shirley Summer Vacation and we can't wait until next summer!

Yellowstone

2009-08-09T23:37:00.002-06:00

While at Island Park, we took a day to go into Yellowstone. It had been around 20 years since Tim and I had been to Yellowstone with our families growing up, so we were both looking forward to going there again.

We stopped at Old Faithful. Looking through my pictures I had to laugh at this one of Drew. This is classic Drew, chillin with her leg in the air.

Old Faithful

Since we had spent a good couple hours at Old Faithful we thought that the kids were probably done and wouldn't last too much longer. So instead of continuing our loop through Yellowstone, we decided to turn around and head back to West Yellowstone to pick up some souvenirs. But within a few minutes of driving back, we decided to split up and let some of the guys continue on to see more of the park. So Tim went ahead to take some pictures, while I went back and spent the same amount of time finding a few souvenirs. After hearing about how long we were shopping , Tim didn't feel so bad for leaving me with the kids, and I was happy that he was able to go take pictures, since he enjoys that so much. Here are some of his pictures.

Island Park

2009-08-07T22:36:00.000-06:00

Here is the cabin we rented. I have to say that our accommodations were quite nice. The cabin was really nice and had lots of room for the kids to play. Tim and I were especially pleased with our room as we were able to to stay in the big master bedroom. I guess having two kids in pack and plays has it's occasional perks. Honestly Tim and I felt a little weird having this huge room to ourselves, but we all slept great and that makes a big difference. We didn't spend a lot of time at the cabin during the day but when we were there we spent most of our time playing games. We played some board games, but the family favorite was playing Mario Kart against each other on the DS's. One of the funniest moments of the trip came while playing Imaginiff. There was a question about Marlene and which movie would be most representative of her life. Marlene had made the comment that everyone was sure to get this one right. Out of the four choices, everyone picked Love Story except Madison. She had picked the Godfather. We immediately all started laughing thinking about Marlene living a mobster lifestyle. Well Madison is 8 and doesn't know what that movie is about. She just saw the word God in the title and assumed that was the movie Tim's mom was talking about. If you know Tim's mom at all, you know she is a very spiritual person. It was really quite funny!

Friday morning we took a short drive over to Big Springs. We all had a good time there, and the kids especially had a good time feeding the fish.

Here are a few of the pictures that Tim took of the Lake that was right outside the cabin. Madison and Kayla had a blast playing around the water catching crawdads and frogs.

Bear World

2009-08-05T22:19:00.000-06:00

We just got back from a our annual vacation with Tim's family. This summer we went to Island Park. On our way to Island Park we stopped at Bear World.

Here are some of the animals we saw.

After we drove around the animals, we stopped at the petting zoo.

The kids had a lot of fun petting and feeding the animals.

After feeding the animals we headed over the the kiddie rides, which Addison loved.

Afterwards, we were thinking that we could have held Drew on a few of the rides, especially the train, but Drew didn't seem to mind. Like always, she seemed quite content just sitting in her stroller.

Hopefully I will keep up on my blogging and post the rest of our trip soon.

Another Bear Lake Weekend

2009-08-04T08:37:00.002-06:00

Over the 24th we headed to Bear Lake again to spend the weekend with Tim's family up at their cabin. We always have so much fun going to the Lake, playing games, going to the pool, playing at the park, playing bocee ball, throwing the aerobie, eating way to much food, and enjoying one another's company. Mary, Hudson, Marlon and Daniella all came into town so it was fun to have everyone in Tim's family at Bear Lake this time.

The kids, especially Addison, love going to the Park. It was fun to see all the cousins running around and playing together.

No more headbands

2009-07-29T12:09:00.000-06:00

Don't you think Drew looks so cute with her flower headband?
Well. . .Drew seems to think differently now about wearing headbands.

Here is what Drew thinks.

Wait a second...What is this?

I'm taken this thing off

Don't even think about putting that thing back on, cause I'm not wearing it.

I know it isn't the end of the world, but where my girls don't have any hair until after they at least a year in a half, I feel like they need to have a bow or a flower on to help them look a little more girlie. Oh well what do ya do?

Bear Lake

2009-07-23T23:25:00.002-06:00

We always love going to Bear Lake with Tim's family, but we also love it when our friends, Scotty and Jenn, invite us to go up to Bear Lake with them. We always have such a good time and our kids have a blast playing together. Addison loved the Lake, and couldn't get enough of the water. Here are some pictures.

Bad blogger

2009-07-23T22:30:00.000-06:00

Just like the title states, I have been a bad blogger. Not that I think anyone really cares what we have been up to but since I use this as my family journal I think I better try and give a quick update. We have been having a great summer and have been taking a lot of pictures which has kept us pretty busy. We celebrated Father's Day up at Bear Lake with Tim's family. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures. We did however have a great time and a memorable night playing poker. We also went to our first Real game at the new stadium. Tim also had his 30th Birthday, which was a bust because the weekend before Tim's birthday we found out that Drew had an ear infection. Four days later, on Tim's birthday we were back to the doctor's office to find out the antibiotic wasn't working and that she had double ear infections. Friday Drew broke out in a rash, and then on the 4th of July we were back to the doctor's office to find out what the doctor thought she might have Roseola. So our 4th was pretty uneventful. We did enjoy the night having dinner with my parents. My dad had bought some fireworks but since Drew wasn't feeling to great we weren't able to stay for them. Then on the following Monday we were back to the doctor's to find out it was actually a allergic reaction. I am now happy to say that after four doctor visits, four antibiotics, and some sleepless nights Drew is finally feeling better. Well since we didn't take any pictures on Father's day, Tim's birthday, the fourth of July, the Real game will have to do. Because who wants to look at a post without pictures?!

2009-07-07T21:53:00.004-06:00

I did it!! Those are the words that Addison says after she goes potty. A lot of you know that we attempted to try and potty train Addison right before Drew was born. By the end of that week she surprisingly did really well, until the UTI came. After a month of antibiotics and having to stop the potty training we were back in diapers. Then in December we had a few test done to make sure she didn't have reflux since it runs in Tim's family. So my original plan was to start the potty training the first of this year. Well...the first of the year came and went and the thought of going through the process again provided little motivation. Well months went by and it was now Memorial Day and we needed to head to the store for diapers. While we were there we decided to take Addison to the isle where they sell big girl undies. We told her she could pick three kinds of big girl underwear. She picked Princesses, Tinkerbell, and Minnie Mouse. She was so excited for her big girl underwear. Then came in the reverse psychology. We told her, "Oh wait, we can't get those. You don't go on the big girl potty." She really wanted them and so we asked her, "Are you going to start going potty on the big girl potty?" She told us yes. So when we got home she put on her big girl undies and we haven't looked back since. She has done a wonderful job. I think it had to do with the fact she was finally ready and she loved the potty chart, treats (Swedish fish), and all the excitement and encouragement we gave her. After a week of being potty trained she was waking up dry from her naps and in the mornings. Good job Addie, we are so proud of you!

All about Addison

2009-06-21T22:12:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to do a post about Addison for a while and just haven't gotten around to it. With Addison being 2 1/2 I want to write some things down about her so I won't forget all the things she is doing and loving at this age.

Addison loves the alphabet or what she calls letters. She will sing the ABC's all day long. She knows what each letter sounds like and can recognize each letter too. She loves to count, but will always skip over number 5. She loves going to the park and going down the slides and swinging on the swings. If you ask Addison what she wants to eat she will most likely say, mac and cheese, applesauce, or salad. She loves all fruit, carrots, rice, meat. She loves treats, her favorite treat would be either ice cream or Swedish fish. When ever we ask Addison a question she will put her finger of her mouth and say, "um", it is so cute. She LOVES wearing band-aids. If she scraps her knee she needs to wear a band-aid every day until the scab is gone. Also if she is wearing a band-aid then she has to wear shorts so she can see the band aid. She loves wearing her hair flipped out, 90% of the time she will choose to have her hair flipped out. Addison now likes to give the prayer at dinner time. If Tim or I are giving the prayer she will jump in to tell us what she thinks we are missing in our prayer. She never forgets to say bless Mamas (grandmas) and Papas. Her favorite show is Super Why and she would watch that all day if I would let her. She loves brushing her teeth. She brushes them at least 4 or 5 times a day. She still needs Tim to go to nursery with her. She is however doing a lot better. She loves wearing big girl underwear. Yes, Addison is potty trained, which I will post about that later. She is very independent, she thinks she needs to do everything herself. She now climbs in and out of her crib, I know it's time for a big girl bed. Addison loves giving Drew big hugs and kisses. Which Drew on the other hand doesn't seem to love it as much as Addison loves squeezing her sister and pushing her lips, for a while, on her cheek. It usually results with Drew crying and saying, "mama, mama." Which can be translated to mom get her off of me. Well there you have it just some fun facts about Addison. Here are some recent pictures of Addison that we took.

9 months

2009-06-21T21:47:00.001-06:00

I have been meaning to do a 9 month post on Drew. Now that she is almost 10 months I thought I should hurry and post her stats and some things about her.

*Drew is becoming more mobile, she just rolls all over to get to her destination. She hasn't started to crawl yet, but she has started to scoot backwards with her hands.

*Drew still likes baby food but she now is starting eat whatever we are having.

*She loves to play peek a boo. She has now started to lift up her blanket by herself.

*She got her first two bottom teeth at 8 months.

*Drew now says Mama. It usually comes out like Ma Ma Ma Ma.

*She wants to play with anything Addison is playing with. This usually bugs Addison, but sometimes Addison is good with sharing with her.

*She loves my hair. Whenever I pick her up she will immediately grab the back of my hair with one hand and then with her other hand her thumb will go in her mouth.

*Drew is very easy going and has such a fun and cute personality. It seems like she is always smiling, babbling, and making her scary voice. She also will actually let other people hold her, unlike how her older sister was.

*Drew is 27 1/2 inches (50%) and her weight is 18.1 pounds (45%)

Here are a few recent pictures of Drew

How do you want your hair?

2009-05-21T23:49:00.011-06:00

This is the question I ask Addison everyday. I will give her the choices of:

Flipped Out

Curled Under

My new favorite, Curly

and lastly Piggies.
Addie really likes getting her hair done. I think it has to do with the fact she gets to decide how she wants it done. Tim thinks it's cute that she gets make her own decisions on how she wants it. At the same time he's worried that for a two year old she's becoming a little too high maintenance.

The Mabey's Pictures

2009-05-19T00:10:00.001-06:00

Recently, Tim and I had the opportunity to take these three beautiful girls pictures. We took their pictures last fall so this is actually our second time photographing them. These girls are so cute and have such fun personalities. These are some of Addison's favorite friends and she absolutely LOVES playing with them. We actually had to tell Addison to move a couple of times because she kept wanting to be in the pictures with them. Now every time I ask if Addison wants her picture taken she will say, "Yes, like the Mabey's." There were so many cute pictures, it was hard to pick which ones I wanted to share. Here are some of our favorites:

Ally didn't think it was very cool to have her picture taken at first. I however thought this sad picture of her was oh so cute. I mean, look at that sad face, so cute!!

See aren't these girls so cute?! We had so much fun taking their pictures. Tim and I are going to be taking more pictures, so let us know if you are interested.

Chi Omega Luncheon

2009-05-14T22:44:00.000-06:00

A couple weekends ago I attended my Chi Omega Alumnae Luncheon. I had such a great time in college and I have so many wonderful memories with all my sorority sisters. It was so much fun to see everyone that was able to make it. I love all these girls so much and I am so grateful for their friendships. I hope we can always try and find time to get together no matter where we are. Here are some pictures:

Crossword Puzzles

2009-05-11T11:01:00.000-06:00

My mom loves crossword puzzles and always has a book on the side table. A week or so ago, when we were visiting my parent's house, we weren't paying close attention to Addison, and when we looked over, this is what we saw.

We thought this was really funny because she picked up the book and pencil without us noticing, and was quietly sitting on the couch acting like she knew what to do with them. She would look at the puzzle for a few moments, then she would draw circles and scribble on the paper. Tim then sat down with her. I thought that the last two pictures were so cute.

I don't even think I've ever seen my mom do the crossword puzzles when we are there, but she obviously had seen her doing them before. It's just one more example of how observant kids are, how much they pick up from watching others.

Easter

2009-05-06T22:32:00.001-06:00

We had a great Easter this year. We have early church so we decided to wait until we got home to give the girls their Easter baskets.

Tim and I have realized that it is becoming very difficult to get a picture with both girls. So with that said this was the best picture we could get of both of our girls.

Addison was very excited to see what the Easter Bunny had left her.

Drew on the other hand just liked her basket and didn't really care what was inside.

After giving the kids their Easter baskets we stopped by my parents so they could give the girls their Easter Baskets and to visit with them since we weren't going to be able to make it to my side of the family's Easter gathering. After that we headed up to Tremonton to spend the rest of the day with Tim's family. Marlon was in town with Daniella and Dalene, and where it was so close to his birthday, we celebrated that as well. As soon as we got there, we had the grown up Easter egg hunt, where Tim and I came away as the big winners. After the hunt we came in and Tim's parents gave all the grandkids their Easter baskets.

Drew seemed to really enjoy the grass.

Then we were headed out for the kids hunt. Addison had a blast finding eggs.

It was nice to see the family that we were able to see, and hope that everyone else had a good day as well. Here are a few more pictures from the day:

What's new with Drew

2009-04-19T22:44:00.001-06:00

From 6 to 7 months Drew has made some big milestones. Here are some fun new things about Drew:

At 6 1/2 months she finally rolled over.

She has been sitting up like a big girl now for about a month.

Drew will copy her sister by making a deep growl. (That is what we call Addison's scary voice.)

Drew loves the Gerber puffs.

She will eat any kind of baby food, even prunes.

When Drew is really happy or really excited she will move her arms up and down.

Drew is really such an easy going baby. She is always up to do whatever we are doing. Here are a few more pictures of Drew.

Addie's Drawings

2009-04-06T21:44:00.000-06:00

Addison has a big magnadoodle that she got this past Christmas, and she has really gotten a lot of use out of it. She used to doodle and scribble, and would always make me draw Tigger and Pooh and all of her other favorite cartoon characters. Addison would always have to help me by drawing the eyes, but lately she has started to draw people all by herself. The other day we asked her to draw each member of the family. Tim and I both laughed at what she came up with.

Drew

Tim

Kim

Addison

I had to laugh at Drew's. When we asked Addie to draw Drew she would keep looking back and forth from Drew to her picture to make sure she was getting it right! She only gave Drew 2 strands of hair, which isn't too far off!

6 months

2009-03-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

That's right,

I'm . . .

6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!

Here are Drew's stats from her 6 month appointment:

Height: 26 inches (55th percentile)

Weight: 15 pounds 14 ounces (50th percentile)

Here are some things about Drew :

She loves sleeping with her right arm up by her head.
Loves being tickled.
She likes to hold my hair to her face when she is tired.
Drew absolutely loves it when Addison plays with her.
She likes to eat.
Drew is finally getting strong enough to sit up.

Cousins

2009-02-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday we met most of Tim's family at the Gateway for lunch. We live just far enough away that we don't get to see them as often as we like. What made it even better is that Mary and Hudson are in town for 3 weeks, so we were really excited to see them. Addison loves seeing her Mama (grandma) and Papa, and she especially loves seeing her cousins. Now that Addison is getting older it is so much fun to watch her play with her cousins and watch them build those special friendships.

Maddison, Addie and Mason

Mason was showing Addison how to color in the lines.

Isn't this just the cutest picture?! I just love it.

Bring on Spring and Summer.

Rice Cereal

2009-02-17T22:59:00.000-07:00

Now that Drew is 5 months I thought it was time to try giving her rice cereal. Other than getting the whole eating with a spoon thing down, she loves it. The first time we gave her rice cereal it seems like I couldn't feed her fast enough. She would make noises as if she was trying to tell me she wanted more.

Our Little Sleeping Beauty

2009-02-05T21:54:00.001-07:00

For Christmas Addison got this darling Sleeping Beauty dress and accessories kit from Tim's parents. At first she loved getting out the shoes and jewelry, but the dress she wasn't to interested in. Well all that has changed. She now loves getting everything out and dressing up.

Another thing Addison loves to do is have tea parties. We have at least one a day. Addison is also very particular about who gets which cup and saucer. Tim's is always the purple, Addison's is always the pink, and mine is always the yellow. I tried to have the purple set one time, Addison was quick to take it away and told me it was Dads. She then quickly handed me the yellow set. She is one funny gal.

Do you want to talk to Daddy?

2009-01-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

This is the question that I ask Addison every morning when I call Tim at work. This is what Addison's reply is every morning. . . NO!!!

Addison used to LOVE to talk on the phone with her dad. For the longest time I would have to call Tim every morning just so Addison could talk to him. Once I made the phone call it wasn't good enough to just talk to him once, but she had to talk to him several times per phone call. Well all of that has changed. Addison now will not talk to her dad on the phone. Once we tried to trick Addison by saying it was Winnie the Pooh and once she heard Tim's voice she immediately threw the phone and said, "No Pooh, it Daddy!" Now the only way Tim can talk to her is if he pretends he is Winnie the Pooh or Handy Manny. (Next time you see Tim you should ask him to do his impressions of them, it is pretty comical.)

So to get a better understanding of how much Addison doesn't want to talk to her dad, here is a typical conversation I have with Addison every morning.

Me: Addison, Daddy is on the phone. Do you want to talk to him?

Addison: No!

Me: Addison, Daddy really wants to talk to you. Can you just say hi?

Addison: NO!!

Me: Addison, please talk to your dad, he really want to talk to you.

Addison: NOOOOOO!! (usually at this point she will run away to the other side of the room)

Me: Addison Pooh Bear is on the phone do you want to talk to him?

Addison: YES! (She immediately runs back to the phone, and grabs it out of my hand)

Addison: Hi Pooh, Hi!

Tim will then talk to her as if he is Winnie the Pooh, and when she gives the phone back she is so excited and will say, "Mom, Pooh, Mom, Pooh!"

Me: How fun, Addie!? Do you want to talk to dad now?

Addie: No!

The funny thing is that Addison really loves her dad, and is always playing with him or cuddling with him, so I can't figure out why she doesn't like to talk to him anymore. The only thing that I can guess, is that maybe she's mad that he leaves everyday for work, and is mad at him until he gets home. That's probably not it, but the other day when I went to get her out of bed in the morning she did say, "Mom, dad work, just us". Whatever the reason is, I hope that she gets over it soon, because I think that it's starting to make Tim feel bad.

4 Months

2009-01-21T08:14:00.001-07:00

Now that our little Miss Drew is almost 5 months, I thought I should probably post her four month stats. Everyone says that your second child will seem to grow up much faster than your first child did, and I have to agree.

Drew is starting to develop her own little personality, and it's been fun to watch her become more responsive. Every time that Addison comes close to her to play, Drew gets a big grin on her face and starts moving her arms and feet in excitement. Addie has been has been a great big sister, and I love watching her try to take care of Drew. It's been fun to see that relationship start to develop.

Drew is such a good baby. She has an easy going and laid back personality, and rarely fusses. She has a cute little giggle and is is ticklish under her neck and under her arms. Drew is also a great sleeper. I'm not sure how I lucked out with two great sleepers! Around 3 months, she started to sleep a good 12 hours a night. She has made it easy for me to transition from talking care of one child to taking care of two.

Drew's 4 month appointment was on December 31st. Here is how she is measuring up:

Height: 25 inches (80 percentile)

Weight: 14 pounds 13 ounces (80 percentile)

Our Christmas

2009-01-07T22:02:00.002-07:00

On Christmas Eve, we drove up to Tremonton to spend the evening and Christmas morning with Tim's family. While we were there Tim was looking through the local newspaper at the letters to Santa. Tim came across this letter to Santa from his niece, Madison.

click on the picture to read her letter.

After we had dinner Keri Beth put together a cute scavenger hunt for the kids to find their new Christmas Pajamas. I tried to get a picture of the girls in their Christmas Pajamas, and well, this is the best that I could get.

After we got the kids in their PJ's, we had our traditional Christmas program followed by one hilarious rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas. After that, we played some games that Tim's mom had prepared. Those games included The Price is Right, which we won a box of goldfish, and Lego fruit sacks. (figures since those are always on our grocery list) We also played Little Einsteins BINGO.

Here are a few more pictures from that night.

We were a little worried how the kids would do sleeping together in the same room, but they both did great with one exception. That night Tim was sick and was snoring in his sleep. This woke Drew up and caused Drew to stir a bit. That caused Addison to stir and say half asleep, "Drew don't, don't Drew!" It was hilarious. I was worried that they might not go back to sleep, but within seconds everyone was sound asleep again.

Christmas morning we woke up bright and early at 7:00. Tim's family did that for us since we had to be to my parents house around 11:00. As you can see from the picture below, Addison wasn't ready to get up.

We always have so much fun watching Tim's nieces and nephew on Christmas morning.

Here are some pictures of the girls Christmas morning at Tim's parents house.

After we finished opening presents, the snow was starting to come down. It was blowing really hard and Tim and I weren't sure if we would be able to make it down to my parent's house, but we decided that we had to try. Tim's mom packed us up some food, blankets and some other things just in case we got stuck. The hardest part of the drive was just getting from Tim's parents house to the freeway, but even the freeway was really bad until we got to Ogden. (that's Tim's account anyway. I wouldn't know since I feel asleep right when we got on the freeway!) Eventually we made it to my parent's house and had a wonderful Christmas breakfast with my family.

Addison loved opening presents and was more than happy to help Drew open hers. We would ask her if she wanted to help Drew open her gifts, and she would immediately start unwrapping. Once she finished opening Drew's present she would show it to Drew and say, "Drew, cute!"

Tim and I thought this picture was so cute of Addison playing with her new kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa Wright.

Although we had a wonderful Christmas we really missed Mary, Cameron and Hudson. We were sad that we couldn't celebrate Christmas with them this year.

Santa Pictures

2008-12-29T18:52:00.003-07:00

Every year on my Grandma's Birthday(December 23rd) Santa comes to pay the kids a visit. Tim and I are always interested to see how Addison is going to react to Santa. When we were at our Ward Christmas Party earlier this month, we tried to take Addison up to see Santa. When we were in line Addison changed her mind and kept telling us, "No Santa!" So after that, knowing that Santa would be at my Grandma's Birthday party, we tried to work with her so she wouldn't be scared of Santa. Every time we saw Santa on TV or anywhere else, we would point out Santa and tried to get her excited about seeing him. We got to the point where she would say, "Addie Santa" Which we thought meant she wanted to see Santa. So that night when we saw Santa, she seemed to be doing ok. She didn't seemed frightened by him when he came in, and she saw a few other people go up and get their present from him, so we thought she would do alright. But as you'll see, that all changed as soon as Santa called her name and we tried to get her to sit with him! The funny thing is that Addison seemed to enjoy seeing Drew and everyone else sit on Santa's lap, and she even waved bye to him as he was leaving.

Here are the photos:

1st year

2nd year

and finally this years picture

Here is Drew's first Picture with Santa. She of course didn't mind Santa at all. It will be interesting to see how she does next year.

The Nogger

2008-12-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went to the Nogger. What first started out as wear your finest Christmas sweater (sarcastically speaking of course) has now turned out to be wear your craziest Christmas outfit. Each year someone wears something crazy, and Tim and I leave thinking how can anyone top that. Then the next year comes and someone once again wears something crazier. This year was no different. There were quite a few sweaters/outfits for the running of the coveted Santa trophy, but nothing could top the "homemade" sweater. Now when I say homemade, it wasn't knitted or crocheted, but it was a snowman made out of chest hair. Yes you read right. Ben had shaved his chest hair in a shape of a snowman. It was hilarious.

Jake had won the year before, he was definitely a good candidate for the best outfit. His skirt is a tree skirt. And we can't leave Nick out, last year he wore a women's Christmas nightgown, this year he dressed up as Saint Nick. We had a yummy fondue spread and after we played the wonderful white elephant exchange. Drew was sitting on my lap and next thing I know she was fast asleep, I guess from all that partying.

Tim ended up with Twinkies and canned salmon, Nick ended up with Ding Dongs and some maxi pad slippers. So after the game Nick and Tim thought it they would swap out some of their Twinkies and Ding Dongs.

Here is Jake trying on the awesome ladies one piece snow suit. Here is Nick in his Blazer from DI, in the inside pocket there was an obituary from a guy who passed away in 1986. Creepy huh.

All the guys...

...and all the girls and babies.

Funny how much can change in a year. Last year there were only four kids. This year there was ten kids, with all six couples having babies this year. We are thinking we need to get babysitters for the years to come.

We had such a wonderful time, Thanks Luke and Amy! You guys are wonderful hosts.

We want to wish everyone a . . .

2008-12-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

After church I wanted to get a few pictures of the girls in their Christmas dresses. Addison was thrilled with the idea of holding her little sister and getting her picture taken with Drew. She however didn't seem to like the idea of anyone else holding Drew for a picture. I wanted to get a picture of Tim and the girls, but Addison got very upset when Tim was sitting in her spot holding Drew. As you can see Addison didn't want to be in the picture with them. I however managed to get a picture with Addie.

Look what we found...

2008-12-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Classic isn't it!?! This picture is seriously so funny. I feel a little bad that I am laughing at this picture of my husband crying, but I really can't help it! I don't know what's funnier:

* The look on little Timmy's face.

* The look on Keri Beth's face, almost like she is getting pleasure from watching Tim cry!

* Tim's Gremlins pajamas.

* The fact that Tim's dad took this picture, and then blew it up to an 8 x 10.

We don't know much about the story behind the picture, or why Tim is crying. Tim's sure Keri Beth has something to do with it. If anyone of Tim's family can shed any light on this we would love to hear it.

Look who found their thumb...

2008-12-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

That's right, just like her big sister, Drew has started sucking her thumb. While Drew was taking a nap, I went in to check on her and this is what I found. Drew has been sucking her thumb now for about two weeks. I don't really mind her sucking her thumb, the only problem we have is that we have tried to tell Addie that she is a big girl now and that she doesn't need to suck her thumb. So now when Addie sees Drew sucking her thumb she will go over and pull Drew's thumb out of her mouth. I guess Addie thinks if she shouldn't suck her thumb, Drew shouldn't either.