LIVIN LA VIDA LOCA

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-07-27T20:33:00.001-05:00

Daddy's birthday celebration was spent on the water again this year. Every year David and Annita Watson treat Chris and our family to a day on the lake. This was the best year yet!

Chris, Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn, Chantelle
We wake-surfed...who knows if I am saying that right!

Did some gentle and EXTREME tubing....Blake, Chris, Katie, Lauren & Brooklyn,& Caleb

Relaxed in the boat...Caleb and (toothless) Brooklyn

Relaxed/Explored in the water...Caleb and Lauren with the log they found.

Jumped off cliffs...Chris and Brooklyn jumped off a 30'+ cliff together. Then the girls did it by themselves on a shorter jump. (Brooklyn above)

There goes Katie

And of course Brooklyn did some wake surfing again this year with her Dad.

The girls had such a great time and are scared of nothing! I love that about their personalities, but it makes me nervous some times too.

Happy Birthday to Chris who is the funnest, kindest most caring Daddy we know!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-06T01:14:00.004-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

We just love this holiday and all it represents. It has felt even more special as we have celebrated it in Vale, Oregon, with my family for the past 5 years!

Lauren, Brooklyn, Katie
Red,White & Blue layered cupcakes (thank you Carla Parker for your great idea/recipe)

Waiting for the parade......

Lauren, Ella & Brooklyn waving to everyone!

Cute cousin Ella

Resting in the shade.

Katie and Ali

Most of the Hiatt gang :)

This is "My First Rodeo!"

2011-07-06T00:50:00.005-05:00

One of the things I love about going home to Oregon in the summer time is the 4th of July. Vale has a 4 day rodeo and the whole town comes alive with cowboys and Oregon Trail Day events. Each July 2nd, there is the Vale Suicide Race where contestants enter to race their horse down this mountain (you can see the trail at the top right) across the river (the people at the bottom of the picture are standing at the river bank) and into the rodeo arena. It is started with dynamite and is super exciting. This year there was a record number of people attending that night. 16,000! That might not sound like a lot, but the town only has a population of 1,600. :)

Very Exciting! Katie and I went on July 2nd and then I took the little girls for their first time on the night of the 4th.

Lauren enjoyed the cotton candy

Brooklyn enjoyed the popcorn, soda and ice at the bottom of her drink!
(notice the ice ring on her finger)

Katie snacked on everything and loved the glow sticks when it got dark. She also LOOOVED seeing the bull riding.

Katie reeeeeeaaallly wanted the bulls to knock over the clowns pink barrel. The girls all giggled at the silly clown. :)

Just For Daddy

2011-06-19T14:11:00.003-05:00

We are sending this to our Daddy from Oregon. He is home in Tennessee working hard so that we can play! What a great Daddy! We miss you!!!

Fun with scissors

2011-03-06T15:57:00.001-06:00

The odds were against me...3 heads of long hair, obsession with scissors....a "personal haircut" was bound to happen. However, to be really honest, I was shocked and never saw it coming!

The first week of March, Lauren and Brooklyn were in the playroom coloring and cutting (like usual.) All of a sudden Katie comes running to me telling me that Lauren was cutting her hair.

This picture doesn't really do it justice and when her hair is down it is super noticeable. The right front of hair was cut about 3 inches long. :)

Busted!!!
Most of the hair. I did find another pile about a week later. LOL....I didn't even clean it up. Chris had to do it when he got home. I was so upset that she did that. Over it now, thank goodness, but discouraged at the time. :) Good thing I thought to take the pictures!
Making memories...

Flowers from Daddy

2011-02-14T20:58:00.000-06:00

The girls got a special surprise this valentines Day when Daddy got them all flowers. Some of us big girls might argue that flowers, though VERY thoughtful, are a waste of money. However, these little girls felt so special!!! We combined all their flowers into one vase and they took great care of them. :)

Grumpy face Brooklyn wanted to hold the flowers by herself!
Katie

Lauren

Brooklyn.......now she's happy!

Tiny Dancers

2011-01-30T20:15:00.001-06:00

September 2010-May 2011 - Katie took dance lessons with Miss Debra. Her cute little class had 5 girls who are all good friends and all had preschool together as well. They did 30 minutes of tap and 30 minutes of ballet.

All the girls improved a lot by the end of the year and all learned a lot. The cutest part for our family was watching Brooklyn, watch the big girls. She had a chair outside the dance floor that she would sit on and watch all of their dance moves. Lauren would watch a little bit but Brooklyn was intent on doing what they did. She would come home and put on her church shoes because they were the closest thing to tap shoes she could find and they would make a nice little sound on our floors. I later found Brooklyn andLauren some tap shoes at a consignment sale for $4!!! She wears them daily and calls them her "tap tap's!"

Another cute Brooklyn dance story: In April Miss Debra was doing ballet with the girls. She put her feet and body in a position and asked the girls what it was called. Suddenly from the corner chair Brooklyn yelled "releve!" It totally shocked Miss Debra. She praised Brookie for knowing what it was. Then she did another position and asked her class what that was called and again from the corner of the room she hears "plie!"

She now puts her dance shoes on pretends to be Miss Debra and tell her class (Lauren) what to do! Too cute!

Pajama Day at Preschool

2011-01-27T21:34:00.001-06:00

Pajama Day at preschool was exciting. We woke up and put on a clean pair of princess jammies (which REALLY confused the kids), put on our rain boots since it was pouring rain outside, and headed to preschool.

Katie's favorite princess is Jasmine, but a close second is Belle

Lauren's in her Tiana pj's

Brooklyn in her Cinderella pj's. Brookie likes Cinderella and that is it!

A Fairytale Party

2011-01-27T03:00:00.000-06:00

Lauren and Brooklyn celebrated their 3rd birthday "princess style" with a princess party at a fun spot in Franklin called Peek-a-boo Play Town, with friends and our family.

Katie came as Sleeping beauty, Lauren as her favorite...Tiana (from Princess & the Frog) and Brooklyn as Cinderella
The best part of the party was when Cinderella came! They were SO cute and SO excited that a princess came. I had told them that I wrote a letter to the castle and invited the princesses to come, but I was unsure if they were able to make it with their busy schedules and all. :)

All the kids were mesmerized!

Lauren, Cinderella, Brooklyn

Soon some bubbles got the attention of all the kiddos and we were ready to cut the cake.

Aren't these cakes SO great! Danielle Haines made them for us. A large castle for the guests, Tiana for Lauren and a Cinderella cake for Brooklyn.

We sang to Lauren first and she blew out her candles.

Brookie's turn! She loved that everyone sang the song again just for her.

Katie climbing

Lauren playing kitchen

2 Cinderella's

Lauren in the ball pit

Katie and Cinderella

Evy Wells

The Thompson family!!! Kevin must have been excited for Cinderella too!

I just love this picture! This was as close as Luke would get to the beautiful princess and he would barely look at me for a photo. :)

Sarah Jane even came to our party! The girls just love SJ and she is SO good to them. Thanks for stopping by Sarah Jane!

Lori & Aleigha, 2 special people in the twins lives.
Most of the gang.

Lauren & Brooklyn: We are so happy to have you in our family! We love you both so much and are so thankful that you were sent to us. Daddy and I can't believe that you are 3 already. Time sure flies when you are having fun.

Lauren & Brooklyn Turn 3!!!

2011-01-25T23:50:00.001-06:00

Our little "twin"kies that started out SO little are SO big now. They officially turned 3 on January 25th. It happened to be a preschool day and they LOVE preschool so it worked out perfect.

"Sissers"

Lauren and her purple sparkle cupcake.

Brooklyn enjoying her pink sparkly cupcake.

The girls LOOOOVE their teacher Miss Maya. I loooove Miss Maya! She bought them special presents.

The entire class loves Miss Maya!

That evening we took them to one of their favorite places, Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and playtime.

Brooklyn, Katie & Lauren

Uncle Mike came too!

The girls adore Uncle Mike. Maybe because they think they can boss him around? :)

A Winter Wonderland

2011-01-25T02:22:00.000-06:00

On January 25th, Lauren & Brooklyn's 3rd birthday, we had a winter storm come to TN. It is always exciting when it snows here. I do not love the cold, but I do miss scenes like this.

The girls wanted to "sled" down the slide. :O

Caleb's Ice Skating Birthday Party

2011-01-10T22:33:00.000-06:00

Our little friend Caleb turned 3 a couple weeks before the twins. He loves hockey and had an ice skating birthday party. That was pretty exciting for our family as it was the first time the girls had ever been skating!

They may look bored, but in our defense, it takes a long time to get 3 extra pairs of skates on,

and coats, gloves, mittens and hats! I was exhausted before we ever even started skating. :)

Brooklyn, Katie, Lauren
Katie bug kinda liked it by the time we were ready to leave.

Brooklyn is always up for an adventure!

Lauren and Mommy. We stuck together most of the time.

A White and Warm Christmas

2011-01-10T13:04:00.000-06:00

Christmas was GREAT this year! For starters, Santa was at the airport when we were leaving Nashville. That got the girls SO excited. We were off to Oregon for a white Christmas and most importantly Kara & Pres' wedding.

Katie, Brooklyn, Lauren

Brooklyn on the plane.

Lauren - She was smiling so it was still early in our travels. :)

Katie & Pinky

Within 12 hours of landing in Oregon, the girls were out in the snow.

(Katie, Brooklyn, Lauren)

Cutie Katie

Making a trail

They convinced us all to go out. :)

Baby cousin JJ and Katie.

Katie wanted JJ to be hers! She is such a good big sister and wants to be a little Mommy to EVERY baby she sees. And JJ is just adorable!

Christmas Eve. Our family had to fly out on Christmas afternoon so we exchanged family gifts on Christmas Eve. The girls also opened their Christmas p.j.'s

Santa was good to the girls. :)

Kara and Pres stayed up late to help wrap presents.

But......bright and early the girls were jumping on their bed and ready to see what Santa brought!

Pres & Lauren digging in their stockings.

Christmas afternoon we flew to Arizona. We arrived that evening and went straight to Aunt Terry & Uncle Evan's house.

They have a beautiful home and had a beautiful tree! The girls knew the routine and ran straight for the presents. :) :) :)

Lauren & her Purplicious book. She LOVES this book and would let me read it to her every night!

Brooklyn trying to open her very "fancy" present.

Katie with her Christmas dress. So CUTE!

Brooklyn in her new ballerina costume. This was the most perfect present Brooklyn could have received. This girl LOVES to dance!!! She dances every day, all day and wears a tu-tu wherever she can.

We also got to spend some time with Grandma & Grandpa Jones. We had such a great visit with them. The girls loved going on walks with Grandma on the paths around the golf course.

(Grandma & Brooklyn)

Brooklyn, Lauren & Katie (& baby Elizabeth)

Grandpa & Grandma Jones

Brooklyn, Katie, Lauren

Aunt Terry & Uncle Evan took us to a beautiful resort in Tucson for a few days. It was such a nice break and SO beautiful.

Brookie & Uncle Evan

Lauren & Aunt Terry

We enjoyed some swim-time in December.

And then the twins got sick! The started vomiting around 10:00 at night and didn't stop for 3 days. It is no fun having 2 sick 2 year olds at home, but 2 sick babies on vacation was really tricky.

Luckily the resort had a kid camp that Katie could enjoy. :) She was totally doted on all day......her kind of camp!

Here are the sweet babies. It was so sad to see them so sick!

Luckily, kids recover! Katie made her sisters sun glasses at her camp and they loved them. After 3 sick days in Tucson, it was time to leave the resort! :(

On New Years Eve we went out for pizza with Terry & Evan. Brooklyn got tired and fell asleep right on top of her chair. This girl is bursting with energy so she must have been completely exhausted to fall asleep like this.

Our Silly Gang

Chris

Terry, Evan

Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn

The last night we were there we took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo Lights. We all loved it. This Giraffe talked to the kids and was controlled by a hidden worker. The kids were all so amazed and the parents thought it was comical. He played game after game of hide-and-seek with all the kids that came by.

Lauren & Brooklyn hid behind the same tree each time! LOL

Daddy & his girls

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday spent with family. We feel really blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives and were grateful to share some lasting memories with them.

Kara & Pres start their "Happily Ever After"

2010-12-20T21:36:00.000-06:00

Aren't they soo cute???

Kara and Pres were married on December 17th. It was such a wonderful, COLD day. Everything went smoothly and the bride was BeAuTiFuL! :)

This should be a magazine cover! So cute!

Kara and her nieces!!!

Brooklyn, Katie, Lauren & Covi

Sooo, I didn't realize that I had a hidden talent in modeling??? Look at my natural pose and serious look! LOL

Grandma & Grandpa Hiatt

Can you believe they made..............

ALL this? I love this fun, big family.

To all my TN friends: this is why we leave for weeks/months at a time.

(And this isn't even all of us!)

New York City

2010-12-06T20:21:00.000-06:00

This year for our Anniversary we went to New York to see the city and our dear friends, Gary & Myriam Olsen. Funny enough, we (meaning aggressive Chris) set these 2 love birds up a couple years ago. Now we love our visits with them, wherever they may be.

This was Chris' first official visit to the BIG Apple, which made it way more fun. We did everything your average tourist would do in a week, but we did it in less than 48 hours! I was completely exhausted by the end! It was a wonderful trip.

Gary, Myriam, Chantelle, Chris

Times Square
A view of the city from the Atlantic Ocean

The Statue of Liberty

The famous Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center

Chris, making friends with EVERYONE......even the cops!

This was so funny! Chris is extremely outgoing and friendly and people in New York are, well...usually NOT as much. He was trying to help mothers carry stollers up subway stairs, make small talk to movie directors....you name it. Some people welcomed it and some "mothers" thought he was stealing strollers. :) Definitely different from Tennessee.

Trump Tower

Chris was also way tooo excited to see if he could really go "potty" Mr. Trumps gold toilet? Definitely a NO-GO.

(ok, now which one of you friends tried to convince him that was even true, OR a good idea???)

Wall Street

More lights and another big tree. I made Chris pose by every lit tree in the city. LOL I can't help it....I just LOVE Christmas!!!

The end of the trip. Everything was funny by this point!

At this point some wives might post something mushy regarding their spouse. To Chris' sadness, I tend not to do that too publicly.

However, I will tell you that even though 7 years has been no "skip in the park," it has been a great journey that I hope to continue for eternity. I feel really blessed to have him as my husband and to enjoy 3 darling little girls together. Chris is a wonderful provider and an incredibly loving "Daddy."

Oh, and most importantly, he definitely makes our like FUN!

Katie turns 5!!!

2010-11-25T00:49:00.001-06:00

Katie turned 5 on November 22nd. She was sooo excited to have a glow-in-the-dark party at Pump It Up! Katie is such a sweet girl and a GREAT big sister. She loves her friends and any chance to do anything social. Preschool is her favorite times of the week and when she is not there, she likes to pretend to be at preschool, doing art projects, writing her name and making grocery lists for me.

Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn

There was even wall climbing!

Ava (Katie's first preschool friend from age 2!)

Uncle Mike, who Katie announced she was going to marry!

Lauren, Chantelle, Sharon, Sienna & Amber

Cute Kaylie and Caleb.

Bam Bam -cheeeeeeese

Adyson & Savannah waiting patiently while Kelsi helps me gather all the "goods!"

Even the big boys had fun!

Kevin, Blake, Mike & Chris

The birthday cake for our Monkey-themed birthday party! What an adorable cake!!!! Danielle made this especially for Katie. Even the palm tree chocolate suckers on top were hand made!

And here is Katie's personal cake! Just adorable!

Getting ready to eat

All the gang

The birthday girl on her thrown

Katie on her new pillow pet with all her presents. She was so happy on her special day!!

We just love having her in our family. I feel certain the she was meant to come first and has a great talent in caring for her 2 little sisters. She has a huge imagination and a really big heart. Next comes kindergarten.......if her Mom will let her go!

Stockings for Santa

2010-11-20T23:48:00.004-06:00

For the past 4 years, I have been involved with a project which we named "Stockings for Santa." Each year the Salvation Army tries to have 4,000 stockings filled for children in the middle TN area. That may sound like a lot, but the need is actually 8,000!

A few years ago my wonderful friend, Holly Fisher, invited me to be a part of this. It since has grown immensely and this year we had our church Ward, her Methodist Sunday School Class, and a local organization called "Ordinary Hero" all involved. We filled 700 stockings, a personal best for our group as well as the largest single donation for this cause. :)

The afternoon of the event we met at the church with all our pre-counted and sorted items to form stocking filling lines and get everything organized.
When volunteers started arriving we were given instructions.

Then we began filling!

Christie and Mike were two of the several "end of the line" people who collected the filled stockings and staples the Santa topper in place.

Here is Holly! I am so grateful that she invited me to be a part of all this and to see what it has grown to be. In the background on the wall is a picture of Mary Owen Herbert. She passed away at an early age of 17 months and her family (who is a part of Holly's Sunday School Class) wanted a way to remember her by. What an amazing way to do that!

Art tables for the kiddos

Jenna & Mark Bell

Amanda & Andy Rigby

2 of my favorite boys......Tyler & Matt Hissong

Cute little Katie LOVED filling the stockings. Lauren & Brooklyn were convinced that they were filling a stocking for themselves! :)

After all the work was done we had a huge potluck dinner with socializing and a live band. It was a great experience....a lot of work.....and I hope to continue in the years to come and help make some great serviceable memories for my kids, and all the families involved.

IRONMAN 2010

2010-11-09T22:41:00.000-06:00

The girls were so excited when we went to the airport to get Papa!

Can you tell they love him?
Papa came all the way from Oregon to help watch the girls for the weekend while I went to watch Chris compete in Ironman Florida, in Panama City.

Ironman weekend, November 6, 2010

6 weeks prior to this Chris decided to do the Ironman for the 3rd time, in the spot of a friend who was unable to compete. If you are like me.....and normal....you are probably thinking "WHY?"

I don't really know the "why" other than Chris has a mental toughness, competitive drive and natural ability like I have never seen. Oh, and the social aspect helps. If friends are doing it, then you might as well hang out with them while doing 100 mile bike rides, right? :) I was being a bit sarcastic, but in reality I could never imagine training for something like this without a group of friends!

This year I decided to watch from our hotel balcony. I had wanted to see the view from up high as all those wet suits got in the freezing cold water.

The gun goes off! The swimmers have to swim a 1.2 mile square twice. In the middle they come out of the water, through the timer to get their split and then back out to do it again for a total of 2.4 miles.

After the initial start, we got coats on and went down to the beach to see it all up close.

Here he is. 1 hour 6 minutes.

Swim down....there he goes!

He made it! 112 miles just under 6 hours.

Somewhere around mile 55 they are given their lunch bags that they made prior to the start of the race. This can be filled with whatever food or energy they need. When Chris got to this point, they could not find his bag and he had to go on without it. LUCKILY our dear friend David Watson had come down to the race with his Harley in tow, and took it out on the bike route. When he found Chris he had just hit the wall and was starving. David sped off to Subway and got him lunch. Chris says it totally saved him!

Here he comes! After I saw him come in on the bike I ran past the transition point to where the marathon run starts. I got his attention and he stopped and chatted for a second. I was by myself as all us wives (spectators) were at different points waiting to see our boys. After he left ALL the people around me were in shock and said "that was the happiest person I have ever seen come off a bike!" HaHa I told them it was because he was a pretty good runner and he was relieved to only have to run 26 miles!

Halfway through the marathon the athletes get another one of their pre-packed "special needs" bags. Chris always puts in an extra pair of socks and changes them at this point.

Halfway through the marathon.

Chris Duncan.....(aka Greg Maples) you are an IRON MAN!

I cannot imagine completing such an amazing feat, but coming in as a close second is being a spectator! Being just as (or in my case MORE) nervous than your competitor, watching hundreds of faces in the hopes that you will pick them out of the crowd for a split second, sprinting through transition points with a camera in hand for the next split second when you have a photo opp, waiting for hours while they ride a bike and then cheering into the darkness as you wait for everyone you know....and don't know.....to finish the race before the 17 hour cut-off time.

And.....here we are! Look at all that energy! Kim and her green "CLAPPER" helped many.....many athletes get across that finish line! Christine and I were just her helpers. In this picture I was privileged to hold the clapper, but only for a moment. :)

And here we are........at midnight. Tired, sore throats, leaving all the cheering we could out there at the finish line for the athletes.

NOTE***a nice lady in the elevator took this picture for us as we tried to capture the energy-less moment. Clearly Kim had a hard time following instructions.

Is this picture just amazing? Kim took this while playing around with the camera! I love this picture! It completely represents Ironman weekend.....lots of great things happening by chance.

I was SO thankful for this weekend. I had more fun and laughed harder than I have in a long time. My sweet Dad was such a trooper to hang with the girls, and I was so at ease knowing that he was there with them and I could just relax. I don't get to have my family around as much as I would like and I really appreciated it!

Another SUPER JOB by Daddy Chris!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T00:59:00.000-05:00

This Halloween was really fun. The girls loved their Halloween outfits. Except the babies didn't like their pants.....they said they didn't fit. Funny.......I made the pants. I was SO proud of them and thought they were so cute! I bribed them and they wore them. :)
Lauren & Brooklyn were Genies this year and Katie was princess Jasmine. Towards the end of Halloween season the little girls would say "I not a Genie, I'm princess Jasmine too!" Close enough.

Mickey even came to our trunk-or-treat! I wished I had a camera that night. Katie came running up to Chris and I and with the most excited look on her face and with 2 hands in the air screams "Its MICKEYYYYYY!"
Lauren & Brooklyn wanted nothing to do with him and started shaking when we got close to him. Later that night Katie whispered in my ear "Mickey is really Caleb's Grandpa today but don't tell sissy's!

I just had to add this picture. How cute is she? She was soooo happy to pretend to be her favorite princess. At this age, everything is so fun!

October Visiters

2010-10-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

October was a great month! Grandpa Fitzgerald came to visit for a week from Colorado and Aunt Jennifer came all the way from California! The girls always love Grandpa's visits.

Grandpa, Katie, Brooklyn & Lauren.

Bedtime with curlers. :)

Aunt Jennifer took the kids to the toys store and let them pick out whatever they wanted! They thought that was the best treate EVER! Lauren and Brooklyn both picked out a princess make-up set. I was so glad they got the same things, so as to avoid any probelms, but I was kind of surprised. They tend to like their independence from each other and purposefully chose "different" things each day so they are not alike.

Katie was extremely picky and looked down many isles before deciding. Then of course, she chose the most expensive thing in the store! :) A barbie horse with all the accessories.

Brooklyn, Aunt Jennifer, Lauren & Katie

Soccer Season

2010-09-30T10:46:00.004-05:00

Fall is here in TN and Katie is loving soccer season! We are SO PROUD of her and her improvements and hard work. As parents.......competitive parents that is.....Chris and I find ourselves having all these expectations for her. Then we remember that she is 4! :) She has always tried hard and followed the ball and "crowd" of girls after the ball, but until this last game she hasn't been very aggressive.

Then Aunt Kara came to town and has been working with her in the yard and really explaining things to her. With a little practice, she has figured out that she loves to kick the ball and score goals!

This past week we played a team that was pretty good. There are always a few girls that are way ahead of the group and those are usually the kids that have older siblings and have been around lots of soccer fields.

We are so happy with our coach this year, Coach Tim. He has a daughter on the team, Lindy (Lou they call her) who is very good. Her mom video taped parts of the game and made this YouTube video below. Lou and Katie played together this past week so there is a lot of Katie in the video too.

The last few seconds shows Katie's goal!

2010-09-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

Football Season

2010-09-22T10:02:00.011-05:00

Last weekend we went to Columbia, Kentucky to watch Pres (Kara's fiance') and his SVU football team play. On Thursday we found out that where they were playing was less than 2 hours from us. Honorary Aunt Lori took Katie to her soccer game and birthday party while the rest of us made the trek!

Chantelle, Brooklyn, Kara, Lauren, Pres & Chris

Pres #99 in his football stance.

So we are happily watching the game........

and this came! I mean in less than 3 mintes we saw it and it was here! The second there was lightning, the stands were evacuated. Within minutes it was raining cats and dogs! We all had to run to shelter and it was madness. :) The game kept going for the last 2 minutes before half time.

Then literally, halftime was over and the rain stopped!

"Track team" in training!

When the babies weren't eating or running to the potty, they were at the front yelling for Pres.

Then they would go back to eating! (Lauren)

Brooklyn

They finally got his attentioin!

Great job Pres and SVU!

Who Loves Preschool?

2010-09-09T21:26:00.003-05:00

Well, Mommy REALLY loves preschool days! Lauren & Brooklyn love it too. :) Day 1 was a little hard for Brooklyn though. The girls are so unpredictable that I never know what each experience is going to bring. Recently though if 1 is happy, 1 is not. They must just want to make life more interesting.

Lauren walked right in, sat down for circle time and yelled "BYE MOM" over all the singing. Brooklyn saw that Lauren was happy and clung to my leg until Miss Shauna held her. When I picked them up all Lauren could tell me about was how "she was happy and sissy was sad ALL day!" Then she would pretend to cry just like Brooklyn did (supposedly) and remind me that she DID NOT cry, she was happy!

Lauren, Brooklyn
Lauren hugging Brooklyn

Brooklyn's turn to hug Lauren

Big girls with their backpacks and lunchboxes!

UPDATE: Day 2 was wonderful. No tears and lots of excitement!

Surfin USA

2010-09-06T22:09:00.002-05:00

Make no mistake......this is Chris and Brooklyn. My 2 year old went to the lake with her dad today and a couple hours later I received this picture of them wake surfing behind a boat. What a little thrill seeker. :)

HAPPY LABOR DAY

A SUPER CUTE ballerina preschooler

2010-09-05T17:12:00.005-05:00

Katie has officially started her last year of preschool and she loves it!

Ready on her first day!

Katie and Miss Kelly

She has also started tap and ballet. At first she was so excited to be a ballerina. But now that she has experienced the tap shoes, those are her favorite! It will be nice when those loud taps get some rhythm. :)

Done with the first day of class!

Katie, Savannah, Hailey, Chloe & Adyson

San Francisco

2010-08-26T16:28:00.011-05:00

Child-free vacation, Summer 2010

For memorable purposes, I wanted to post about our trip to San Francisco this summer. My parents in Oregon were able to keep the girls for a week while Chris and I jetted off. The kids and I had already been there for a month so they were very used to all of our Oregon family and were in a great routine.

After a fun 4th of July weekend in Vale and 2 1/2 hours of sleep, Chris and I drove to the Boise, ID airport at 2:30 in the morning to make our flight. I think that was were my first mistake was.....lack of sleep! Chris will tell you.....I was beyond crabby when we arrived. :) This started day 1 of being sick. By the end of the week I was super sick with 2 ear infections. Another week after that it was determined (after 3 doctors and multiple medicines) that I would need to have my ears surgically drained and tubes put in.

The happy part is all the pictures you see below. We had a wonderful trip and were able to really explore this great city and it's surroundings. Every Mom, Dad, couple......everyone with kiddos needs a chance to break free from that routine and just relax. Thanks to my family we were able to do just that.

A fun boat ride in the bay.

Ghirardelli square was very close to where we stayed at the wharf and we were here multiple times!

The Golden Gate Bridge was amazing.

Muir woods was neat. It was made of HUGE trees and beautiful forest.

Chris took this picture and was so proud of himself. We laughed forever!

Chris is 6'4".......if that puts this picture in perspective!

Alcatraz

Union Square

1 of MANY monstrous hills that make up the city

Chinatown

The "painted ladies" where Full-House was filmed

Yosemite Nation Park

SOOOOO glad we took the 4 hour drive to get to Yosemite. It was breathtaking!

Next we went North to Wine Country and the Napa Valley

All the vineyards were beautiful

Here we are at the Castello di Amorosa, the castle of love. A man traveled all over the world hand selecting different materials to construct his castle. Ever seen The Bachelor??? (LOVE IT!) This is where Jake, Vienna and Gia all ate and stayed the night at. :)

My most favorite part of the trip was WICKED! I LOVED IT! Ironically, my cousins, who live in Sacramento went to the exact same show and we were able to have a fun afternoon and dinner with them!

I am so grateful for such great experiences and especially for a husband who makes sure we are able to do these fun things together and spend some time alone.

HOWEVER, be sure to take a jacket! We did no research and had no idea that San Fran was a giant Air Conditioner. :)

Our Exciting NEWS!!!!

2010-08-20T21:06:00.003-05:00

From the title of this post I am sure you can guess what has happened in our house......YES, Katie has lost her first tooth! I was shocked that she even had a loose tooth, and Chris was panicked! LOL

It wiggled around for 10 days and then 2 days ago she "pulled" it out as it hung by a thread. She was soooo excited for the tooth fairy to come.

She was actually playing at a friends house when it happened so she brought it home in a ziploc. She immediately asked me for a glue stick and some glitter to make her tooth "shiny" for the Tooth Fairy. That night it was her turn to say family prayer and she said a lengthy prayer concerning her tooth and the Tooth Fairy. It was so sincere and cute! The one right next to it is already loose too!
Our other ENORMOUSLY great news is that Aunt Kara is ENGAGED! Pres surprised her on her birthday, August 15th, and popped the question. We are SOOOO excited for them and this new phase of their lives. "Kara Crawford," Isn't that cute!

And of course the bling!

Family Family Family Fun!

2010-07-28T23:31:00.005-05:00

June was a great month! The girls and I went to Oregon to spend time with my (Hiatt) family. There is a lot I miss about farm life.....and a few things I don't. ;) However, I am so grateful that my girls get to experience it, even if it is only for a short time, coupled with being COMPLETELY spoiled by their Nana & Papa!

The "Vroom Vroom" (as my nephew Canon says") was a HUGE hit from the beginning. The first morning in Vale the girls were at the door waiting for Papa to take them for a ride. Brooklyn wasn't as sure, and opted for the safer/more "in control" option.
That lasted only a short while when it was too hard to keep up! Soon enough she was fighting for the front of the 4-wheeler. Later that day, Lauren claimed ownership on the 4-wheeler and got very upset every time Papa took "her 4-wheeler!"

Later, the girls and I helped my Dad move some pipe in the fields. We parked the 4-wheeler at one end and worked back the other way. About half way up the road, Kara noticed Lauren drop something out of her pocket. It was the 4-wheeler key and apparently she took it out and no-one noticed! Thank goodness Kara saw. From that point on, we had to take the key in the house and hang it on the hook far out of Lauren's reach.

Brooklyn got very brave with the cat and really wanted him to come in and play.

Workin Girls!

While everyone else was weeding the families "community garden," Lu & Boo ate chocolate cookies atop the wood pile. Partly because they were spoiled and partly because they kept stepping on the corn!

Katie completed this 100 pc. Princess Tiana puzzle in 2 days. She was so excited and we were very proud of her.

Here is Brooklyn enjoying Grandma Hiatt's house. The first morning after we returned to Tennessee, the little girls woke me up asking to go to "Gama's" house. This was a favorite place of theirs where all the parties and fun events are held.

Playing with the cousins was a huge highlight for the girls.

Lauren, Brooklyn, canon, Ian & Ella

Nana's house has lots of strawberry patches and the kids would have eaten every strawberry if we would have let them. They thought this concept was amazing. Just go outside, pick it and EAT.

Lauren.....looking for the biggest ones!

Swimmy Lessons

2010-07-17T19:27:00.005-05:00

June was the month for swimming lessons. Katie was thrilled. Lauren and Brooklyn thought they should be excited too. :)

(Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn)
(Brooklyn, Lauren)

Katie hopped right in. She did most everything her teacher asked of her, minus go down the slide...she was a little scared of that. She loved her teacher Miss Cassie and really looked forward to lessons each day.

Brooklyn's teacher was Miss Chelsea. She was quite the little "fishy" in the water. Earlier this spring (our first experience at a pool this year) she walked right over to the pool and jumped in without our approval. I have heard of kids doing that, but it really scared me when it happened. A lot of swimming this summer helped her to learn her limits.

Lauren's teacher was Miss Hannah. Poor Hanna.......Lauren cried/screamed the entire 30 minutes for the first 3 days. On Thursday she screamed only half the time and by Friday, she walked right in, flip-flops off and in the pool she went, all by herself! Good thing we had a few more weeks to enjoy "happy" swim lessons.

The babies could talk their teachers into playing with all the cool toys.

Happy Lauren & Hannah

Katie, swimming with her face in the water!

Brooklyn, cheesing for the camera.

Proffessional Flower Girls

2010-06-06T12:24:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to my cousin Megan and her new hubby Jerry Anderson!

It was such a treat to be able to attend their wedding. We flew into Oregon late on June 3, helped bake, make and decorate a wedding on the 4th, and they were married on the 5th. The bride was beautiful and the food was so delicious. The cake was my favorite. It was a "cup"cake wedding cake and was so cute!

Chloe, Brooklyn, Alissa & Katie

Chloe & Katie

Brooklyn, Nana Papa, Lauren

Katie

Katie & Mommy

Nana & Kara

So cute! Katie & Ian (on there own) started dancing in the gazebo where the marriage ceremony was held. Guests started getting our attention to show us. It was a miracle they did so that I could get this picture. :)
Great FORM!

Once the dancing started, Lauren was here for the rest of the night.

Brooklyn and her cupcake

How can 2 of the cutest little things be so naughty sometimes???

Brooklyn, Lauren

Atlanta with the Olsen's

2010-05-31T16:16:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day weekend was spent with Myriam & Gary. We love these friends and hope to have many more fun outings with them. The last time they made the "Duncan blog" was in November at their wedding. They now reside in NYC and we miss seeing them as much as we used to.

We decided to tour Atlanta, which is only a little over 4 hours away from us. However, after delayed flights from overseas and NY, we finally got everyone back to the hotel around 2 a.m.! Earlier that day Chris and I dropped the girls off with some family in Suwanee. (THANK YOU Joel & Linda!...It would not have been pretty keeping them up that late. :)

We started with the Coca Cola Factory and a stroll in Centennial Olympic Park.

The tour of the Coca-Cola Factory was different from what I expected but very neat. This bear was by far our favorite part of the day. The polar bear was so life like.....and funny! It was even fun standing in line and watching him while waiting to get a picture taken.

(Gary, Myriam, Chantelle, Chris)

The ceiling and room were filled with marketing items from different time periods and from different parts of the world.

Centennial Park is a remaining legacy of the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia. Chris was in heaven! Four years later he would compete in the trials for the 2000 Olympics!

Next we went to a Brave's game! The atmosphere was so fun, it was perfect weather with lots of cotton candy of course!

Gary, Myriam, Chantelle, Chris

At Turner Field

After the game we went and picked up the girls. The girls had a fun movie night at the hotel.

The next day we headed to the Georgia Aquarium. It is the largest aquarium in the world with over 8 million gallons of aquatic life and lots more.

Daddy & Brooklyn

Katie, Brooklyn & Mommy after we enjoyed a front row seat at the aquatic show.

Katie and one of her cute poses
Aunt "Minnie" and Lauren. Lauren OUT OF THIS WORLD loves Myriam. If Myriam is in sight, Lauren is attached at her hip! Great for me! :)

Very very sad for Lauren every time Myriam leaves. :(
Katie and Uncle Gary

Thanks Gary & Myriam for such a great weekend!

Chattanooga

2010-05-24T15:43:00.000-05:00

On May 22, Chris ran a marathon in Chattanooga, TN. It was in the mountains and the entire race was on a trail. (crazy!) We had never been to Chattanooga and have always heard great things about that city so we decided to drive and meet him there after his race.

The day before, Chris had just gotten stitches taken out of his knee where he had gashed it open. I can't believe he was even up for an afternoon of walking around. :) We all had such a fun time and started with lunch and the Creative Discovery Museum.

Brooklyn thought this "floating ball" was so cool!

Lauren, making a design out of rubber bands.

Katie & Lauren, inside the tunnel.

Lauren, Chris, Brooklyn & Katie, making music!

Brooklyn (pink), Katie and Lauren all playing in the kitchen. We were here for a LONG time! The girls all loved this part.

Lauren at the sink.

Katie in the tree.

Brooklyn really LOVED this car! She played in it most the time and had a hard time sharing it with the other kids until we showed her the kitchen. :)

Next we took them to Coolage park. It is a park downtown, next to the river that has fun water spouts and an old fashioned carousel. Katie jumped right in. She is so sweet and makes lots of friends wherever she goes. It took a little convincing for Lauren & Brooklyn, but once they got in, they had fun.

Fun in the water!

Brooklyn and her very cute "cheesy" smile.

Katie sitting on the Lion statue.

Daddy & Lauren (before she was brave enough to go in)

We also took the girls on a carriage ride. Our horsey, Snowman, took us around the block. The girls loved the co-pilot, a dalmation named Clarabell.

Katie, Brooklyn, Lauren

We finished the night with a movie, Shrek Forever After! This was Lauren & Brooklyn's first movie! They spent the first 45 minutes quiet with a tub of popcorn. They got a little restless in the middle, but we brought in blankies and the both fell asleep before it was over. Katie, Chris and I really liked the movie!

The next day, after sleeping in and a big breakfast, we went the the Aquarium.

Lauren & Brooklyn, amazed by the alligator.

This is the alligator the girls were staring at. It swam back and forth right in front of them a few times and then sat up with its head above water, just like we usually see from regular land. It was really neat to be able to see what he looked like underwater too.

Of course we had our bad moments too!

(Brooklyn, mad she is not being held)

Katie and the fishy's.

Playing outside the auarium. Good jump Katie!

Next we went to Rock City. I had seen the pictures and advertisements on the side of the interstate many times as we have traveled to Florida and back, but never really knew what it was. This was, by far, Chris' and my favorite part of our trip. It is on top of Lookout Mountain with massive ancient rock formations and gardens. You follow a beautiful path to the lookout point where you can see 7 states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennesse & Virginia.

Mom & the girls

Walking along the path

Brooklyn, Chantelle, Lauren & Katie

Lauren & Daddy

The girls patiently waiting for ice cream. :)

We made it to the top! We had such a great time with the girls and Chris and I are really looking forward to more trips with them. This was the first trip we have been able to take with no port-a-cribs, no bottles and no diapers! It was a success.

Preschool Programs

2010-05-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

Katie, Lauren and Brooklyn all enjoyed preschool this year! Lauren & Brooklyn grew so much during the school year. Brooklyn LOVED the art projects while Lauren would rather not get messy. :) Lauren's favorite part of the day was music. Lauren loves to sing. They got really good at climbing on the playground, counting, coloring and playing with friends.

For their end of season program they sang "How much is that doggie in the window." It was so cute! It stressed them out a little though. :O Katie LOVED Miss Cynthia and especially loves her friends! She would go every day if I let her. Katie is very creative and made several art projects each day. She is starting to read and practices writing words daily. Katie is such a sweet girl and loves trying new things.

Kara's Graduation!

2010-05-16T00:44:00.005-05:00

On May 1st, Kara graduated from SVU, Southern Virginia University!

Our family drove from Tennessee to Virginia on Friday night and got into Lexington where we were staying, at around 1:15 a.m. By the time we met Kara and let the girls cuddle with her for a few minutes, it was 2:00! Saturday Pres met us for breakfast and then we all went to the school for the graduation program. The weather was great and it was held outside, which is really nice for a family with 3 rowdy girls. Of course we sat towards the back, but Lauren and Brooklyn went to the potty 17 times, Chris was all over taking pictures and Katie made new friends to play with, so we never really sat in our seats. :)

Chantelle, Brooklyn, Chris, Lauren, Kara, Pres, Katie

Lauren & Pres

Katie & Pres

Brooklyn escaping again, yet looking very cute!

The graduate! Kara earned a degree in Business Management and Leadership. The next day she left for Spain and will be there this whole month. The girls ask for Aunt Kara every day and love to talk to her on the computer!

Kara and her roommate Ashley......soon to be Ashley HIATT! (My maiden name, for those of you who might not know) Ashley is marrying a distant cousin and Kara and Ashely will bee related....somehow. :)

SISTERS!

Another typical picture. One very happy and one very grumpy!

Lauren, Kara & Brooklyn

We are SOOOO proud of Kara and were very glad to share this special day with her. CONGRATULATIONS KARA!
Chris, Katie, Lauren, Kara, Brooklyn & Chantelle

Hoppy Easter

2010-04-05T22:44:00.013-05:00

Easter was wonderful this year at our house! We had a lot of fun with friends and family....(KARA!) There were lots of fun events leading up to Easter that we were able to enjoy.

We took the girls to the Belmont Mansion which is at Belmont University in Nashville, for an Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny was even there!

The kids loved petting the baby chicks!

Brooklyn wasn't too sure about the chick, especially when it wiggled.

Lauren could hardly wait her turn and was SO happy to hold it!

The babies (I am told I cannot call them that anymore but it feels like they are!)

checked everything out while Katie waited in line to get her face painted and make a flower craft.

After the egg hunt and some lunch, Daddy drove us to the top of Percy Warner Park. There is a bench there, and a great view, where the kids like to play. They cheer for all the runners and bikers that come by and tell them "good job!" Now wouldn't those little faces make it totally worth climbing to the top of that mountain?
We also had a great Easter eggs hunt at the Adams-Albert's. This was actually the first hunt of the season and great practice for the girls. Lauren and Brooklyn needed a little help, but Katie was a pro. She found 2 eggs and came and put one in each of her sisters baskets before she was off to find her loot. She is a super sweet big sister!

Katie and one of her many eggs.

Chris

Katie, Brooklyn & Lauren

The Easter Bunny was really good to us this year! Lauren & Brooklyn got outdoor cars which they have been glued to ever since.

The Easter Bunny told me that he had a REALLY hard time deciding whether to bring them 1 pink car and 1 red car, or 2 pinks. He debated and thought WAY too much about. But, he brought 1 of each. Funny enough, they both want the RED! That option was never even thought of! :)

Katie was a sleepy head that morning, but she was just as loved. Apparently the Easter Bunny heard from Santa that she got a doll house for Christmas and she got 2 more dollhouse sets.

We had some great friends over for lunch on Easter Sunday. Sam and Jonah are so adorable and will be 1 next month. Every time I see twins I think they are just adorable and amazing. Then a split-second later I remember I have some too. Seriously!

Kara came for the weekend and we LOVE it when Kara is here! Our adopted Uncle Michael came too! (Katie has a serious crush on Mike!)

We decorated cupcakes. (Brooklyn)

Jocelyn & Claire

And of course had another egg hunt!

By now, the babies were pros! They knew EXACTLY what was in those eggs!

Katie....on the run!

And one of the cutest parts of Easter.....the dresses! The girls were so adorable in their dresses this year.

(Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn)

Katie pretending to not want her picture taken for the first time ever.

Brooklyn, a little unhappy at the moment.

Lauren and her sweet cheesy smile!

The girls are just so cute. SUPER BUSY and very exhausting but Chris and I are really enjoying these ages and I know someday we will miss it. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

(Lauren, Katie, Brooklyn)

Super Saturday

2010-03-28T22:00:00.005-05:00

We had a very busy weekend! Saturday morning Chris woke up at the crack of dawn (does the sun even get up at 5:30?) to do an early morning run and then drove across town to run in a road race. He got home just in time to shower and jump in the car for all of us to head to the annual Albert-Adams Easter Egg Hunt. The girls had a great time!

Lauren and Brooklyn were ALL ABOUT the candy!

Katie was such a good "hunter" and her first 2 eggs she found she came and put in her sissy's baskets! So sweet.

Happily going through the loot!

Daddy, Katie, Brooklyn & Lauren

After an enjoyable hour, we jumped in the car and headed back across town to Katie's soccer game. We happened to be playing the Ladybugs and her old preschool friend Lauren was on that team when made it extra fun.

Katie improves each game. This is her second season and she really enjoys it and waves at us multiple times during the game! :) As with all of her teammates, her favorite part is the parent tunnel they run through at the end followed by snacks! Makes it all worth it!

Katie's "snowy days!"

2010-01-30T23:20:00.007-06:00

Katie got her wish and this weekend brought "snowy days" to Nashville! Tennessee tends to get very little snow and when we do, very rarely does it stick to the ground.

Our neighborhood took full advantage of the day and had an all day sledding party, bonfire and hot chocolate included. The best part is that it was the street down from our house and a short walk away. The top of the street made the perfect hill!

Look at this cute little face! (Lauren - "lavender")

Brooklyn loved walking up the hill and refused to hold someones hand while doing so.

Daddy was the best rope tow! The kids would all slide down and then Chris would pull them back up.....all except for Brooklyn. (She is in the front screaming and rolls out about 3 seconds later!)

Our little man Caleb (2 weeks older than the twins) loved sledding! Sadly on his 30th (maybe more?) trip down the hill he hit a bump and broke both his legs! Good thing it only snows like this once every 5 years. We are so sad for Caleb and will have to work on some fun treats for him this week. :(

What a fun, cold day!

The babies went home kicking and screaming! They were turning blue and were so frozen but did not want to stop sledding. Luckily a dog was walking a few feet in front of us and they could chase him for a while until they realized we were leaving.

(Chris, Lauren, Kathy, Selby Ann, Evy & Katie)

Brooklyn wanted to hold Lauren's hand so bad and Lauren would have no part of it! They were so stinkin cute today. :)

Lu & Boo turn 2!!!

2010-01-29T23:15:00.009-06:00

Happy Birthday Lauren and Brooklyn!

I cannot believe that our babies are 2! They have been such a wonderful addition to our family. 2 years ago we were shocked to find out we would be having 2 babies but now we can't imagine life without them. They have perfected being naughty and seem to enjoy ganging up on the rest of us, but they really love each other and are best friends. We often hear an hours worth of laughing on the baby monitor after we lay them down for a nap or at bedtime.

Lauren loves to mimic almost anything she hears, carry purses around, stroll her babies and likes to buckle her seat belt then raise her hands and yell "I did it!"

Brooklyn has quite the stubborn streak and is a girl that knows what she wants. She has a pair of Mom's high heels ready to wear at a moments notice and can giggle for hours while her Dad chases her around the house.

Lauren getting ready for her cupcake!

Brooklyn went to the doctor earlier that day on Sunday and had 2 ear infections. She didn't care much for her cupcake and just wanted to be held all day....poor little thing!

Katie, the best big sister, helped her blow out her candles.....and take care of her cupcake.

Our great friend Myriam was in town from New York and was able to celebrate with us! She got the girls the cutest dresses (which I LOVED) and sacks full of smarties (which they LOVED!)

Mike and Stacey's anniversary is the same day as the twin's birthday! We wanted them to feel special too, so we had a cake for them and a beautiful anniversary song. :)

KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS

They got the girls twin baby dolls!

On their actual birthday, Monday the 25th, we took them to Chuck E. Cheese to run wild.

(Brooklyn, Lauren)

The Simpson's came to play with us!

(Savannah, Adyson)

The merry-go-round is always a hit!

(Lauren)

(Brooklyn)

Lauren loved giving baby Jonah a ride.....maybe too much!

Yay! Brooklyn was so patient to wait her turn. :)

Katie was so excited for the babies birthday! She REALLY wanted presents too and has convinced them to share all of their new toys.

And home for baths and 1 last present. We had to run and find the camera after we heard them in the other room helping themselves to the goodies.

On to another year. I really love this age and all the "newness" it brings. As much as I enjoy their independence it has started to make me just a bit sad that I might not be able to call them babies much longer. (smile/tear)

Merry Christmas

2010-01-29T21:31:00.003-06:00

He may bring the presents but we better not get too close! Lauren and Brooklyn would have nothing to do with Santa this year. Katie didn't want to sit on his lap but desperately wanted to tell him what she wanted, and get a bag of candy too. :)

Christmas morning started bright and early at 8:30. LOL We all had to set our alarm to make sure we got up in time to have presents opened and be ready for Tye to call. He is serving an LDS mission in Texas and only gets to call 2 times a year. We get to write and email each week but really look forward to these calls.

Lauren and Brooklyn were such a cute age for Christmas this year. They loved everything they opened as soon as they opened it, and then forgot about it after the next gift. Santa brought shopping carts, aprons and baby dolls.

Brooklyn found lots of ways to use her cart. :) She later would push it around the house and use it for a step stool to get things she wanted.

3 little girls that have been very nice (and a little bit naughty) but cute enough to make up for it.

Hiatt family tradition brings all of us together on Christmas night for the reading of Christ's birth and creating a nativity scene. We also had a family trivia game, singing and a little talent show followed by tons of food and basketball until midnight.

We were so grateful to spend the holidays in Oregon with family that live far away and we don't get to see very often, especially this time of year. We feel very blessed and are so grateful for the many wonderful blessings 2009 brought to our family.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-29T20:22:00.006-06:00

Christmas Eve was at Calvin (my brother) and Jessica's house this year with a yummy spaghetti dinner, cheesecake and presents!

Ho Ho Ho

Kara & Pres

Chantelle and Jessica

A hungry crowd

Exchanging gifts!

Brookie so happy to have on glasses.....Canon in the background just realizing that Brooklyn found his coveted glasses!

Lauren's turn!

Baby Jeremy taking a nap before desert.

Canon.....tickle tickle!!!

Now home for Christmas Eve Jammies!

A White Christmas in Oregon

2010-01-27T23:50:00.007-06:00

Christmas this year was spent in Vale, Oregon, where I was raised and where Nana, Papa and pretty much ALL of my family lives. It was such a treat this year to be able to stay for an entire month! Chris was able to stay for 2 weeks and my Dad flew back to TN with us, thank goodness! I could never have flown by myself.....literally we could not even sit in the same row together because there are not enough drop down air bags. :)

The girls really enjoyed the snow, especially Katie! She had been wishing for "snowy days" long before we got there.

Chris, Lauren, Brooklyn and Katie

Brooklyn, a little bit cold and not wanting to wear her hat, but not wanting to go in either. :)

Kara came home from Buena Vista, Virginia, where she is a Senior in college. She also brought her boyfriend Pres! We have been able to see him several times since they are just an 8 hour drive from us and as usual the girls were bossing him around within minutes. Pres and Chris helped the girls build their first snowman and then Papa hopped in to claim the glory and be in the picture. :)

Katie in true Christmas spirit

Lauren sitting so nice and still (long enough for this picture) at the airport.

Brooklyn in all her cuteness!

We did a little indoor snowboarding.

Lauren and her "eye protection" from the indoor weather.

We had a family cookie party filled with lots of Christmas sweets and treats and fun!

Grandpa had us try his games we used to play when I was growing up. Chris is 3 of his feet length back from the wall and then bent at a 90 degree angle. The object is to lift the chair completely up and then stand up straight. Most women can do it easily and most men can't. I went first....total cinch. Chris went next and totally proved Grandpa wrong. :) Chris could do it no problem. However, most the other guys could not. I guess all his iron man training really paid off!

This is THE BEST picture!

All the newbies to the family get to play the "gorilla" game. If you would like details I can get you the rules, but basically in this picture we are all pretending to be the most ferocious gorilla. The only one who is actually yelling and sounding like the most ferocious gorilla .... is Pres!!!

Nana couldn't even bare to watch it.....but she is still laughing! :)

Brookie sneaking one more cookie!

3 of my wonderful Aunts! Janeille, Kristen & Julie

Katie learned to be a great truck driver and help Papa feed the cows.

Pres, Kara, Nana, Jeremy, Papa, Katie, Lauren, Chris, Brooklyn & Chantelle.

No we did not have another baby. :) Even though baby JJ looks like he could fit right in! He is one of my 2 adorable nephews.

Katie turns 4!

2009-12-01T23:20:00.008-06:00

What...4? I know, I can't believe it either! Katie turned 4 on November 22nd. She is the sweetest little 4 year old I know. She has changed a lot this past year and really matured. She LOVES to do any art project, drink chocolate milk, be a Mommy to her babies and would have play dates with her friend every day if I would let her. She is a great big sister to Lauren and Brooklyn and loves preschool and learning.

We started off her birthday with a party for her preschool class. She helped me make pink cupcakes with sprinkles!

(Also, if you have your speakers on you can her the song "Fireflies" which is her favorite song and she requests it every time we get in the car.)

That weekend Katie had her party at My Gym. She had asked for weeks to have her party at My Gym like her best buddy Ben. Who can say no to this face?

My Gym is heaven to children with all the fun activities and fun they do there. Birthday parties are no exception. Katie was happily the center of attention. (Does she get that from her Dad?)

Here comes Princess Katie!

This is the part she has been talking about for weeks, when she gets to ride the bike! The birthday girl has a crown, feathers and glasses while riding a toy Harley with a few "southern bell" add-on's!

What's a party without bubbles?

Then it was home to open presents! Her friends Adyson and Savannah came to help her!

Katie was VERY pleased with all of her gifts and has done a very good job so far sharing with her little sisters who want to get into all of her stuff. :O

Sunday the 22nd was her actually birthday and it happens to be Matt Hissongs as well! He is knowm as "Map" around our house. When we first moved to Brentwood Katie was newly into Dora the Explorer (who has a Map to help her find her way) and she has always called him that.

Is it a Drum set like Aunt Stacey said it was? hmmmmm

Dora skates!

Katie is now skating around the house. Lauren and Brooklyn attempt it too!

What a GREAT birthday! We are so happy to have Katie in our family! She has always been easy-going and extremely social. She did tell me on the way to school last week that on her next birthday she was going to drive. I sure hope she doesn't grow up that fast!

And just when she thought "her" day was over, Bishop Watson comes in to save the day! Katie LOVES him and was so happy he came just for her!

Happily Ever After

2009-11-28T22:27:00.007-06:00

Myriam and Gary did it! They got married!
At the beginning of this year we had some friends that we set up on a dinner date here at our house. Who knew it would be love at first sight? :) Now they are married and livin it up in the "Big Apple!" We have enjoyed many fun times with Myriam and Gary.

Memphis, Florida, and lots of Tennessee dance parties with these guys. Myriam stayed the last 2 months with us while Gary started his job in New York and the girls really miss her! (Of course they would miss anyone who bought them presents and let them play freely with their iPhone!)

Katie, Myriam, Lauren and Brooklyn....cheeeeese!

One of the many great engagement pictures.

They were married in the Orlando LDS temple and then had a ring ceremony and reception near Jacksonville, FL where Myriam is from. It was a beautiful night for an outdoor reception and the couple looked gorgeous!

And so did the flower girls!

Lauren and Brooklyn tested the cake quite a few times. It was OK. :)

Gary and Myriam.....we wish you guys the best and hope to visit NY soon!

Ironman - Round 2!

2009-11-12T00:11:00.007-06:00

WE DID IT! The girls and I survived another year of Chris training and training and training some more to compete in the Ironman. Oh, and he did pretty good too! :)

Here is what the starting line looked like (from our balcony)20 minutes prior to the race starting. The racers start up in the boxy looking part and swim 2.4 miles in the ocean. Last year Chris did 1 hour 12 minutes and this year was 1 hour 6 minutes! The pro's come out in the 50's so to be 10 or less minutes behind them is amazing!

Chris thinks that was the "easy" part. What?

Next they transition to the bike where they ride 112 miles! Chris ROCKED it and did 40 minutes better on the bike than last year at 5 hours 22 minutes. He is the 4th guy pictured here. (This whole process, as a spectator, is a guessing game so I just took it the second I saw him round the corner)

The race is finished with a marathon, 26.2 mile run.

Amazing right? I call it "crazy in the head" but truthfully, one has to be so mentally tough to ever accomplish something like this, let a lone push your body to get a time of 10:42:44. This is an entire HOUR better than last year! The event itself is so inspiring and energizing. I am so proud of Chris and his capabilities, grateful it is over, and happy that he is happy and home.

Halloween FUN and festivities

2009-11-11T22:56:00.005-06:00

Halloween was so much fun this year! Last year we were at Ironman Florida and it was the day before the race....so count Daddy out for trick-or-treating. The babies were also 9 months old so they were fast asleep by the time we got around to it.

This year we were all ready for CANDY! We started off this Halloween season with a Fall Fest at the BUMC which my friend Holly is so gracious to invite us to every year. We have no pictures of the girls on the ponies....because they WOULD NOT even consider sitting on one! This farm girl has raised girls that are scared to death of animals. :)

Katie chose to be a butterfly fairy.

Brooklyn was a bumble bee,

and Lauren was a lady bug. All these pictures were taken while waiting 45 minutes in the "balloon line!" We may not ride ponies for 30 seconds but we have stamina because they were not going to let us pass the balloon-tying-man and we seriously did wait 45 minutes. Lauren and Brooklyn just kept going back to the cake walk and stealing cookies out of the bowl. You can get away with so much when you are little and cute!

The following weekend we went to the Ghouls at Grassmere, which is a fun event where the Nashville zoo gets transformed for halloween.

Here is our group on the haunted hayride! We go with our friends, the Simpsons, each year and look forward to it.

Who is this you ask? hee hee Yes, it is Kassidy and Derek. :)

This was our only means of containing Lauren and Brooklyn! Buckles and suckers. It was so much nicer when they rode in the wagon.

And here are Katie's good friends, Little Red Riding Hood and Little Bo Peep! (Adyson and Savannah Simpson)

Savannah was sooo cute on the hayride. Apparently she had seen a few things prior to this night that she thought were scary, and she wasn't going to chance seeing anything like that again!

Lauren and Brooklyn have switched personalities again and now Lauren is our socialite. She happily sat on Kassidy's lap during the ride and cuddled.

I might get in trouble for posting this picture but I think it is WONDERFUL of Steve and Kelsi!...and Little Bo Peeps cane!

On Halloween night we went to a ward Fall Festival and then to the Hissongs neighborhood to hit the streets.....in a golf cart. Mike took the picture for us, but where is Stacey?

The girls were all so excited once they saw candy coming their way. At every house we had to convince Lauren to ONLY take one. She would just stand there and keep dipping her hand back in. Brooklyn would only take one but then she would drop her bucket and want to eat that one RIGHT THEN!

Our wonderful chauffeurs, Matt and Tyler!

Grandpa Fitgerald Comes to Visit

2009-10-15T23:24:00.005-05:00

We recently enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Fitzgerald who came to see us from Colorado. We always enjoy his visits! We started out with some great mexican food. We have not taken the babies out to eat in quite some time and I realized how much they've grown as it was a great dinner and they were "fairly" cooperative! They LOVED the chips and salsa.

Get a chip......

and dip!

The girls were so anxious for Grandpa to get here. We had a few minutes to wait so I convinced them to take ANOTHER picture for me while we waited for the boys.

(Brooklyn, Katie, Lauren)

Saturday morning, bright and early, Katie had a soccer game. The girls all did really well considering how chilly it was and Katie scored her first goal! (Funny story, the coach's daughter, who could dictate the whole game, kicked the ball all the way down to the goal and at the last second Katie got her foot in the mix to kick it in. ) Her coach gave her the biggest hug and made a big to do which was so sweet and made Katie feel proud.

Here is the tunnel that all the parents make which the kids get to run through at the end. No matter how many tears or injuries there are during the game, everyone is "healed" and happy once it's tunnel time.

Then we were off to the church for cleaning duty.

Which somehow turned into driving lessons and cookies in the parking lot?

Sunday was church and home to grill. Lauren and Brooklyn have a long hard day on Sundays. We don't have church until 1:00 p.m. and don't get home until about 4:30. That makes for no nap and 2 crabby's! They both fell dead asleep in their high chairs at 5:00 while eating dinner. We actually caught them drifitng off and I was able to get some "head bobbing" on video.

Our tired Lu

Look at that sweet little Brookie!

Ha Ha! This is one of my favorite pictures of Lauren. She makes so many funny facial expressions. Her teachers at preschool commented on it right away. You can always tell exactly how Lauren is feeling.

But someone came along to push her and now she is happy!

Brooklyn has such a cute smile but every time she sees a camera or I try to get her attention she does the "cheese."

Monday afternoon Grandpa and I took the girls to the park at the front of our neighborhood. They would sleep at the park if I would let them. :)

Thanks for coming and for the great visit Grandpa Fitz!

And lastly, today was ORANGE day at school which meant another opportunity to wear our Halloween clothes!

Soccer! :) and ..... Stealing! :(

2009-10-03T21:18:00.007-05:00

Today was a CRAZY hectic day between our families many busy activities! We started off the day with Katie's soccer game. It took her a few minutes to warm up but after we got some big tears out of the way, we started having big smiles! The competitive athlete in me was inwardly angry with her. But after 5 of the other 10 teammates also had meltdowns, I remembered that she was 3 and "just learning".....and everyone is a winner at this age, right?

Daddy is totally proud to have a little GREEN GATOR. Do you think it was pure luck that we got on this team?

Go Katie Bug!

So here are the guilty criminals!

Apparently as I was pushing the cart through the check-out line and pausing to put the groceries on the conveyor belt Brooklyn grabbed a candy bar, and politely handed her sister one too. I had no idea until we were outside loading the groceries in the car. I helped Katie out and then bent down to get Lauren and Brooklyn out of their "car" seats and to my surprise they were happily loving their chocolate candy bars!

Brooklyn saying "no no!"

The Evidence!

School School School

2009-09-26T14:59:00.003-05:00

Katie, Lauren, Brooklyn and I all started school this month. Katie is in preschool, Lauren and Brooklyn are in a MDO (Mother's Day Out) program and I am taking Biology.

Katie LOVES school! She loves her teacher, her friends.....everything about it. She has learned so much this past year and can write her name on all her papers by herself, which she is so proud of. :)

Lauren was so uncooperative while taking pictures the morning before school. She wanted to wear her backpack, BADLY, but it was so heavy. She was totally frustrated but refused to let me help her.

Brooklyn and Lauren both carry their lunch boxes to school themselves. From the moment they see them the have to carry them like a purse. I have to wake up before them, finish making their lunches and hide them before breakfast or they go crazy and won't eat. After breakfast I give them to them but when we get to the car it is a battle to get them to switch hands back and forth while I buckle them up! Just last week they finally agreed to placing them in the "lunch" bin when we arrive at school. Too cute!

Cloudy with a chance of meat balls

2009-09-26T14:03:00.003-05:00

This is a postcard Katie and I made for her. It is FREE and can be done at: http://www.snapily.com/l/get-free-card/ A fun (2 second) afternoon project. :)

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

We spent our Easter Sunday this year by relaxing and enjoying what the Easter Bunny brought us, an afternoon at church, and a great dinner and Easter Egg Hunt at the Hissongs!

Lauren, happy to be home with her snack cup!

Brooklyn and Lauren racing up the stairs! This is all I could manage to get as I begged them to stop and take a picture.

Brookie and Aunt Pacey (Stacey.) Brooklyn sat on Aunt Stacey's lap and ate an ENTIRE piece of ham!

Uncle Mike and Katie, getting their baskets ready for "the hunt!"

Lauren found one!

And Brooklyn found 2!

Then she was done.....ready to get inside those eggs!

Next we did some "bubble time."
Moppity MAP and Katie making some serious bubbles!

And ending the night with another cute picture. (Tyler and Katie Bug)

Easter and "the BUNNY"

2009-04-11T23:12:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the annual POTATO (Parents of Twins and Triplets Organization) Easter event, which this year happened to be at the park behind our neighborhood! It was so fun to see the girls at the Easter egg hunt. Katie was ALL about getting her very fair share of candy! The babies were happy finding one egg and just sitting down to see how this whole thing worked.

Brooklyn REALLY wanted to get the goodies out of her egg!

Lauren and Brooklyn racing to catch all the eggs!

Katie and her friends (Evy and Forest) all waited so patiently for the race to start.

Katie and Evy with the Easter Bunny who hopped in to say hi to the kids!

We also enjoyed the playground before we left. (Brooklyn, Katie, Lauren)

Those perfect family photos are just not in the cards for us for the next few years. :)

If they only knew who filled the eggs!

(Katie, Chris, Lauren, Easter Bunny, Brooklyn, Chantelle)

Lauren and Brooklyn with their good pals Aidan and Owen. The boys are 2 months older and live just a few houses down from us. Its perfect!

We LOVE "Pawa!"

2009-04-07T23:39:00.003-05:00

Katie just loves her Aunt Kara! She is working on her "L"s, so at the moment she is more commonly known as "Pawa." Someone who didn't know it is a nickname asked me about my sister "Paula"....I just had to laugh. :)
I was at a church meeting when Kara got here and within minutes she had Katie on a little "outing." Katie came back super hyper with traces of chocolate and ice cream all over her clothes. Hmmmmmm

We can't wait for Kara to visit us again. She should be here in just a few short weeks!

Exciting times at our house

2009-04-07T23:13:00.002-05:00

PAPA came to visit!!! All the girls in the house were spoiled this past week when Papa came to visit. Katie, Lauren and Brooklyn knew that meant they could get and DO about anything and for me that meant a little "time off" :)
They played games!

And Papa helped to give baths!!! We miss you Papa and hope that you come and visit again soon!!!!!

Spring is my favorite!!!

2009-03-20T10:04:00.007-05:00

I just love Spring! As a child it was due to the fact that my birthday was always on Spring Break and that after the break we were finally allowed to wear shorts....even though in Oregon it was normally still too chilly.

BROOKIE

& LU LOVE TO SWING!!!

We have had some of the best weather lately and have hit the park. In fact we might even do it again today. :)

We have had some rainy weather too. Katie loves her new rain coat and boots. She LOVES when it rains now...the babies and I still don't. :)

Katie also LOVES to play "mommy!" Yesterday I walked into the playroom and she had put diapers on them. I have no clue how they held still for her....they NEVER hold still for me!

A Remarkable Year's Celebration!

2009-02-11T23:48:00.007-06:00

We made it one year! Lauren and Brooklyn turned 1 on January 25th. Clearly I am late in posting this, but after planning and completing this party, I was wiped out! Most mom's of multiples I talk to give the advice to "just make through the first year." I think I would have to agree. Since the beginning of this new year I have felt a new sense of "relief" I guess. With the babies becoming more independent their busy-ness has changed directions and even though it is not necessarily easier, I would definitely say that the change is welcomed!

Lu, our sweet, cuddly, walking cutie is just so cute and sensitive. She might have to start defending herself and her binky one of these days from the wrath of Brookie!
Brooklyn is remarkably independent and easy going. She owns the house and just goes as she pleases. She LOVES to tease her sisters! Especially Katie because she screams the loudest. :)

So fitting, right?
Here is the party invitation, designed and created by none other than the remarkable Holly. Isn't it just adorable? THANK YOU HOLLY!

And the theme?........CUPCAKES!

We enjoyed plenty of food and I ended up running out of time to make everything I had planned on. I always think lots of food equals lots of fun.

The cupcakes were a hit! Not only were they so pretty and perfect but they were completely yummy. A HUGE THANK YOU to our good friend Kathy!

Here are the party hats and the cake-taster chairs. The hats were hysterically cute! Our fabulous friend Christine supplied these. Just looking at the hats in the bag made me hyperventilate! So cute! Of course, a BIG THANK YOU to Christine! (Man it pays to have great friends!)

Lauren is not quite sure about this thing she has to wear.

Brooklyn is going to wait til we aren't looking and then take it off!
READY!

OK, YOU TOOK TOO LONG!

MAYBE WE WILL TRY IT ANYWAY...just for a pictures sake.

FINE....I kind of liked it!

Even older sister loves cupcakes!

This plate was signed by each of the guests. Nana and Papa got this for them and we are so excited to have the finished product back soon after it goes through the kiln. I have gotten a lot of hype though about how I am going to split this for them when they are older!

The girls really enjoyed all the tissue paper wrapped presents. Peek-a-boo Lauren!

And now sister joined in too!

This was made for their pink/brown room. How perfect!

We are just so grateful that we were given these 2 healthy and happy little cupcakes. Thank you to everyone who helped make this birthday such a fun and special one!

Happy Birthday Lauren & Brooklyn

The Petal Princess Ball

2009-02-02T22:31:00.004-06:00

Katie and her Daddy were invited to the Petal Princess Ball and boy was she EXCITED! Daddy took her to eat, to the dance, to his basketball game and to the toy store! What a date!
She sat very still so that I could do her hair like a princess!

And here is her pretty pink princess dress!!!

Birthday Minute Kisses

2009-01-25T17:18:00.008-06:00

For anyone who has ever seen "Everybody Loves Raymond" you can appreciate a birthday minute kiss. And we were lucky to have 2 of them! 11:09 and 11:10 on this day of last year we added 2 of the cutest and sweetest little girls to our family.

Lauren, the older sister, is just so cuddly and sweet. She would sleep until noon if Brooklyn didn't wake her, and the entire rest of the house up. She LOVES her binky and cannot sleep without it. She is a mama's girl for sure and is starting to be a great little walker!

Brooklyn, the baby of the family, is extremely easy going and independent. She is very good at playing by herself and getting whatever toy it is she wants.....mostly those that her sisters have. She is such a good smiler and lays right down in her crib for bedtime and naps without making a sound.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN & BROOKLYN

(Lauren is on the left and Brooklyn on the right for all of these pics)

Little Princess'

2009-01-09T22:16:00.004-06:00

This picture is classic Brooklyn. She is always so happy and easy going. Katie helped her empty out the toy box and then she got one of her favorite toys and climbed in. :)Brooklyn also LOVES to wear princess crowns. I have to think that Katie helped her with this, but she said she didn't. Hmmmmmm........
Lauren is just my sweet cuddly (needy) one. I love that she loves to snuggle! She also always sits like this. :)

And.....she has started walking! Truth be told, she took her first steps on December 19th when she was still 10 months, but her progress has only leaped to 7 steps. She will stand in one place all day long and be happy enough.

Notice how all of Lauren's pictures have this pink cell phone? Well, she loves it. However, sister (Brooklyn) LOVES to take any and every toy that Lauren ever touches. She ALWAYS gets it and then Lauren sits and cries.

A Fun Filled December

2009-01-09T21:18:00.004-06:00

We started December by having breakfast with Santa! What a treat for our family. Isn't it funny that all children just LOVE Santa? (by default....and of course he brings the presents) Then when they meet him it is somehow so traumatizing? Well Katie is no exception and DID NOT want to sit on his lap. But after about 30 minutes of watching the other kids do it, she asked to go back so she could tell him what she wanted. :)
Our friends treated us to a nice surprise this year with some fun presents and some great Christmas movies! Thank you Steve and Kelsi! Katie just loves her friends Adyson and Savanah and then got her a doodle pro. Trying to get 5 to smile and look at the camera.....near bedtime...was impossible!
Uncle Tye came to see us for a few days before going back to Oregon. He just graduated from Southern Virginia University and also finished his Senior year as a wide receiver on the football team. He finished in the top 5 in the country for NAIA football and also received numerous awards and state honors. We are so proud of him and all he has accomplished. He is headed next to Houston, TX to serve a 2-year full time mission. We are going to miss him DEARLY but can't wait to have him visit again.
The girls stayed out of the presents WAY better than expected. For 2 weeks they hardly knew the tree was there. Then one day....this happened. Lauren loved taking all the bows off and Brooklyn liked to sit on the presents.
The girls Christmas dresses were just darling this year. Everyone looked so cute. Church for us is at 1 p.m. A very hard time to entertain two 11 month olds! We always rush to make it there on time and were lucky to get this picture.

Christmas with the Bennetts!!!

2009-01-09T21:12:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas! On a whim this year we packed up our car on the afternoon of the 23rd and headed for Orlando. The girls all took naps, then we stopped for dinner, stretching, jammy changings and we were off again. We drove all through the night so that the kids could sleep and that part was fabulous. However, it made for 2 tired parents the whole time we were there. VERY worth it though!!!
The kids were so much fun. Santa brought Lauren and Brooklyn a little house which they love! Brooklyn loves to play peek-a-boo.
Lauren loves to ring the door bell and open and shut the door.

Katie is at the fabulous age of 3. EVERY toy in the world I feel is made for 3 and up. Therefore, she got royally spoiled by everyone! Santa brought her a new princess bike and helmet! And a much wanted "bideo watcher." (A Leapster 2) She was so cute this year with all her excitement.

"Noah must have been so good this year" he told us as his Dad brought out Sparky (the hamster) that Santa brought! We laughed forever about that one!
We had such a wonderful time with Ric, Janeille and the boys this Christmas. We were also able to spend some great time with Grandpa Mike and Aunt Ana.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Katie is 3!!!!

2008-12-21T23:25:00.003-06:00

Katie is 3! Last month to be exact. I was pressured to post by the fact that in a few short days it will be Christmas and I am sure there will be lots to write about that.

Katie has had such a great year! She has done a lot of growing and Chris and I just can't believe how smart and big she is. She is so happy all of the time and very outgoing and social. She LOVES preschool and playing with all of her friends. Her imagination has completely bloomed and she has all of us being different Disney or Princess characters all day long. We love Katie so much and can't hardly imagine life before she was here with us.

Below are pictures of Katie this past year.

2008-12-21T22:54:00.000-06:00

Halloween in December

2008-12-21T22:47:00.004-06:00

This is so typical at our house. One cooperative...and one not so willing. It makes me laugh and makes pictures so cute.

Lauren was a kitty cat and Brooklyn was a pumpkin. However, we were in FL for Chris' iron man this year which was the day after Halloween and the girls didn't even get to wear their costumes. So I put them on after the fact to get a cute picture, remember their first Halloween and act like they loved it to. :)

Some Moments to be Thankful for in 2008

2008-11-25T20:34:00.010-06:00

WHETHER IT WAS SPENDING TIME ON THE BEACH WITH MY LITTLE PRINCESS.....

TAKING KATIE TO SCHOOL.... MAN SHE IS GROWING TO FAST!

GOING TO CALIFORNIA WITH MY AUNT TERRY AND UNCLE EVAN AND SEEING ALL THE FUN SITES LIKE SEA WORLD AND THE BEACH.........

GOING TO HAWAII WITH THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND WATCHING HER FACE LIGHT UP DURRING ALL THE FUN ACTIVITIES...... SNORKELING WAS THE BEST, BUT JUST BEING KIDS AGAIN WAS FUN TOO:)

TAKING MY WIFE OUT TO DINNER AND HAVING THE FEELING THAT YOU MISS YOUR KIDS WAS TO DIE FOR :)

SEEING MY KIDS GROW UP AND WATCH ALL THE FUN THINGS THEY SAY AND DO.... LOOK HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE:)

OF COURSE NOTHING CAN TOP CONDO ON THE BEACH:)

TRAINNING FOR THE IRONMAN WITH MY BUDDY BLAKE AND ALL OUR FRIENDS DW, DARIN, STEVE, KIM, DOUG, GREG, IT WAS CRAZY HOW MANY HOURS WE PUT IN...

HAVING MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO CHEER BLAKE AND I ON DURRING THE MOST ENDURRING RACE OF MY LIFE:)

There is so many more to list... I am just happy to have the best wife and the most beautiful girls in the world. I am also thankful for my friends and thankful for the free country we live in. Not to mention for the gospel, my job and for my new nose which I can now breathe with:) This year has been amazing.... CAN'T WAIT FOR 2009

"It's raining women"

2008-11-25T19:37:00.002-06:00

Mr.hotstuff himself surrounded by all the girls he could handle:) Remember no dating until your 25 years old:)

How does she do it?

2008-11-25T19:32:00.003-06:00

She cooks and she cleans so much that even the girls have caught on:) Man am I spoiled or what?

2008-11-25T19:20:00.003-06:00

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SUCH A HOT GIRL? Man am I a lucky guy or what? I love my wife:) What a hottie! How she can manage all that she does and still have time to take care of these stinkers?

Salvation Army Stocking Stuffer Party

2008-11-23T12:33:00.004-06:00

This past Friday night we had the wonderful experience of filling 400 stockings for the Salvation Army and needy children in Nashville. My friend Holly has done this for the past 3 years and it just keeps growing. She is also my gym "rat" buddy and one day we were talking and decided that I could get my church involved and between the both groups we could definitely get 400 filled....and we did! It was such a great way to get the entire family involved. Her Sunday school and our 2 wards donated many items and we all met to fill each stocking. We ate great food (organized by my other friend Kristi Johnson) and made new friends while doing something great for someone else.

Kristi wrote a long "ODE TO HOLLY" post on her blog at http://www.weloveourlucy.blogspot.com/ and I would just like to mimic EVERYTHING Kristi said. It is all true and then some! Holly is one of my closest friends and does so much personally for me and my family. Plus, it is a good thing because her little boy, Ben, and Katie are crazy about each other so we might be related someday. :)

I also need to add a HUGE thank-you to Stacey and to Christine. They did so much to help with all of this and they had to sweat over getting it all together just as much as I did and I appreciated their help more than I could ever tell them.....so hopefully they will read this, and they will know again that I LOVE them!

What a GREAT start to feeling the holiday spirit!

Christine with Lauren & Brooklyn

A gym full of people and stocking stuffers. :)

Thanks to Kristi......look at all the great food!

Thanks again to EVERYONE that helped donate, stuff stockings and help with such a wonderful cause!

My MAN the IRONMAN!

2008-11-13T21:40:00.004-06:00

This time last year I had no idea what an ironman was. Well, I had a vague idea....but did not really know what it involved. These past few months I quickly learned that it means a lot of things. HARD work, early mornings, late nights, time away from babies (and hot wife,) no relaxing Saturdays and mental toughness.....just to name a few. :)

Then the weekend of Halloween, November 1st, all this hard work paid off when Chris became one at the Panama City, FL Ironman. It was one of the most remarkable events I have ever witnessed and was truly inspiring. It starts off with a 2.4 mile swim (in the ocean,) 112 mile bike and a 26.2 (marathon) run. INSANE! They start at 7:00 in the morning and it goes until midnight. There were so many people there supporting over 2200 athletes. Every spectator quickly became like family and we all cheered for everyone. What made it really fun was that there were 4 other friends from our own church ward who did it too and we had a great support system. Isn't this sign fabulous? This was either Danielle or Annita's doing but either way so clever!!! The girls and I made our signs the day before and had them put out on the course so he could see them.

Here is our group. Steve and Kim Gawrys, Chris, Blake Haines and Darin Long
Annnnnnd there off. Watching all the swimmers run into the water and swim out past buoy's you can barely see....twice...was intense. For most people I think this is the hardest part. They are nervous, it is cold, a bit dangerous and a complete mosh pit in water. As a swimmer I would hate to do 2 laps, but as a spectator it was great. I saw Chris after 1 lap (32 minutes) and coming out of the ocean (1:12.)

They then run up the beach, get their wet suits pulled off and they go to the transition point to change into bike gear. I then got to see him head out on the bike. At that point Chris' Dad, Blakes Dad, Danielle and Dave Watson all rented Mopeds and went out on the course. This was great for me as I knew right where he was and knew when to go back down to the course! He finished in 6 hours 24 seconds!

Clearly he isn't running in this picture. He is changing his socks. Up until this point, every time I saw him he looked GREAT. I couldn't believe it. He was smiling and happy. The marathon is 2 laps as well. This is after the first lap and starting the second. This was where he looked like a normal person who would have been hating life at this point. :)

His marathon time was 4:12. He really hates that time but HELLO! That time after all that he had done before is pretty great if you ask me. He finished in 11:40:31.

CHRIS: Katie, Lauren, Brooklyn and I are so proud of you! What an accomplishment. Soooo glad it's over, but really amazed at what you were able to do. You make us so proud!

A SHOUT to T-Y-E

2008-10-26T21:18:00.004-05:00

If I were to list off Katie's favorite things....Uncle Tye would be in the top 3 for sure. She LOVES him! He has been able to spend a lot of time with her since he goes to school fairly close and spends time with us in the summers.

The song featured on our blog at the moment (for those of you with your speakers on) is our tribute to Tye. This summer there was a new Nike commercial featuring it and apparently it is a great get-pumped-up song and we are so PUMPED to have Tye in our family!

GRUMPYGOOFY
SILLY

HAPPY

A Great weekend

2008-10-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

What a great weekend! Tye, Kara and their friend Pres all came down from Virginia to spend some time with us. Besides the Franklin Fall Festival, Chuck E Cheese and the gym, we took them to one of our local favorites....McDougal's. They have the BEST chicken and homemade sauces known to man!
Pres, Kara & Katie. Katie had Pres wrapped around her finger 10 minutes after he got there. (I think she knows she is cute!)
Tye is trying to teach the babies to say "favorite." So far they just say mama and dada.

A great way to travel!

Growin like weeds! 9 MONTHS OLD

2008-10-26T20:09:00.007-05:00

Have you seen anything cuter? All you moms out there will secretly think ("of course I have! My kids!) But honestly these babies are just so stinkin sweet I could just eat'em up! And of course my Mom and Grandma Jones will completely agree with me. :)Brooklyn is 17 pounds, 9 ounces and 27 inches long. She finally outweighs her sissy. Both girls are only in the 25% which appears crazy if you have seen their cheeks. She LOVES to eat! She yells in between each bite of food she gets and granted there is a longer pause in between each bite because Lauren gets every other one and I switch spoons each time too. Very tricky!

She ALWAYS wakes up first in the morning and at each nap. She just requires a little less sleep than Lu. She is very independent and will play and explore in the play room for long periods of time. From 3-6 months she was the "high maintenance" baby. From 6-9 months she was SOOOOO easy going. But this past week she is proving that she wants to be "the one" again and Lauren has just mellowed out. It is so funny how that works.

Lauren is 17 pounds, 27 inches long. She may not eat as much as Brookie but she sleeps like a teenager! The girls always wakes up last, always sleeps longer, and will sleep anywhere (for the most part.) She has just stolen the "high maintenance" baby title from her sister but is SOOOO cuddly that sometimes I don't mind that she wants to be held more.
Lauren is just so happy! She smiles all the time and babbles non-stop. She is so sweet and not as bossy/dominant (for as dominant as 9 month olds get) as Brooklyn.
Oh and she HAS TO HAVE her binky! This girl cannot live without her binky. In fact most the time she has hers in her mouth and her sisters binky in her hand......so Brooklyn now sucks her thumb.

This past week the girls have discovered this drawer. I remember when Katie did and I thought it was so cute. It still is cute but all of the sudden they are like tornadoes. In to EVERYTHING!

"Raggery Ann"

2008-10-20T20:24:00.009-05:00

This past weekend we went to Ghouls at Grassmere which is a fun Halloween event where our zoo transforms into a fun Halloween extravaganza. Katie is Raggedy Ann this year but if you ask her, she will tell you she is "Raggery Ann"

Our friends Steve and Kelsi invitied us to this wonderful event and their twin girls, Adyson and Savannah went as "Pink Lady's." They were so cute!

There was a big jumpy toy as Katie calls it and you came out by going down the slide. Her Dad has her loving these kind of toys!

The girls had so much fun and were so happy to be filling thier buckets with candy!

I think we wore her out! Raggery Ann slept great that night. :)

Little Dare Devils

2008-10-20T20:14:00.002-05:00

Our little babies are getting so big and their little personalities are so fun. Here is Lauren climbing in to one of our toy boxes. She quickly gets in to things and can't figure out how to get out. So she will cry until she is rescued.

Literally as I was getting Lauren out of the toy box I turn around and Brooklyn was on the dishwasher. Now she is a Dare Devil!!!! She climbs up on everything and just lets go. She thinks she is bigger than she is, and definitely braver than I want her to be!