Girls Pics

While we were in St. George last week I wanted to try and take some cute pictures of my girls together in their Easter dresses. That turned out to be impossible. I cannot get them to sit together and smile for anything. Sydney was too tired when we went and wouldn't do a thing I wanted her to do.

I think Aubree looks beautiful. Her skin is so nice and smooth.

This really is as good as it got for Sydney. If you look at her lips, I just put a little lip gloss on and she thought her lips were beautiful. She walked around the entire time with her lips like this.

I didn't get one of them together but they're still pretty cute little girls.

A Proud Moment

There are a few moments when I accomplish something pretty amazing. I feel like this is one of those moments.

Last fall I decided we needed something for the girls to play with/on in the backyard. They love to be outside but we have nothing kid friendly in the backyard. They can ride bikes in the front but then I have to be right there with them or I start getting nervous.

At first I thought I wanted a trampoline but decided (with Scott's help) that maybe that would be better in a couple of years. So I went on the search for a swing set. They are incredibly expensive unless you get one of the small metal ones. I didn't think my girls would play too much with one of the small metal ones.

I loved my neighbor Emily's swing set. So I talked with her about it and was sold. It's definitely not one of the expensive models but it will do for our needs. I had a hard time thinking about paying "a grand" for a swing set, so I didn't.

I was so excited to go and buy this at Walmart until I got there and they were out of them. I made several calls to find one store had one left. Yea!!! After getting home and opening the box I started to understand why all the reviews I read said to plan on about 10 hours to put it together.

Scott and I were a little overwhelmed as we opened these 2 skinny boxes only to find about a thousand different pieces. We thought we just wasted our $400. We doubted we could ever get this thing together.

On Saturday when we started we ended with phase 5 and there were 23 phases in all. We had already spent about 5 hours on the thing. On Monday I was so excited to get going that Ann, my sister, came and helped me for another 5 hours or so. Her and I made quite a team. We were doing some serious work....with our hammers, drills, ratchets, wrenches and all the other tools we used. We knew our Dad would be proud.

Scott helped more on Monday but we still didn't finish. I did as much as I could on Tuesday. It's kinda hard when I was asking Sydney to hold boards for me. Luckily Brooke, my neighbor, came over and helped a bit.

Scott didn't get home until 8:00 pm on Tuesday so we didn't have much light but we got enough done that I thought I could finish alone on Wednesday and that's exactly what I did. It is finally done after 15-20 hours of assembly. The girls are already loving it and so am I.....until it comes time to mow the lawn and we'll figure out what to do then.

Anyway, here are the boxes that the entire swing set came in along with the finished product. I am proud of myself.

Inspired by Alice

My friend Alice took some beautiful pictures of flowers from her flower beds. They were gorgeous so I decided to take a few myself. I don't have that many pretty flowers out right now but my grape hyacinths (sp???) look pretty amazing. They add some much needed color in my backyard. Thanks Alice!

Through the Fence

Last night we got home from dance, Lowes and cleaning the car at about 5:45. As we were walking in the door Sydney had been telling me her tummy hurt. I thought she was hungry. Needless to say she barfed walking in the house. That took some time to clean up and I was just getting dinner started at 6:20.

Meanwhile Aubree headed outside and saw that Eliza, our backyard neighbor, was outside on the other side of the fence. Aubree ran in to ask is Eliza could come over and play? I said not tonight.

A few minutes later Aub came back in and said, "Why can't Eliza come over?"

I said, "Sydney is sick, it's almost time for dinner and I don't have much patience tonight."

The next thing I heard was Aubree saying, "Because Syd is sick and my mom doesn't have any patience."

I was a little embarrassed but oh well. Then Aubree and Eliza played for the next half our together but a fence apart. It's amazing how many games they played. The best was hide and seek. One would turn around and count while the other hid in her respective yard. Then the counter would peek through the fence slats and try to find the other one.

It was comical. I just love that the kids can outside and play. It is so nice. I'll post a picture of my big project this week. I am rather proud of myself.

Better Late Than Never

I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about our trip to Florida. Both girls are taking naps today so now that my Primary stuff is done I can get to this.

When Scott's parents were called on their mission they told us all that our Birthdays and Christmas's for the next 3 years would be a trip out to see them in Orlando. They paid for flights, took care of Disney, Gatorland, Food, Housing...the works!

A year ago during the month of February we had soooo much cabin fever we decided that we would be going to Florida the next February and that's exactly what we did. We were able to coordinate with Marcus and Brittanie so we could be there at the same time which was great because it had been about 18 months since we'd seen them too.

We flew in on Monday, February 23rd. The girls did really well on the flights even though we had no movie/tv options. The planes we were on didn't even have in-house movies and our portable dvd player doesn't have a battery just a car adapter. We arrived around 10:30 pm EST. It was a great reunion seeing Mom and Dad as well as Marcus and Brittanie.

Our first order of business on Tuesday was the beach. Even though it was a bit chilly, like 65 degrees, we couldn't help but enjoy it. It was windy but just to be at the beach and ocean in February felt wonderful.

Aubree loved the ocean. She ran and played despite the chilly temperatures. We were all in our swimsuits while the native Floridians were mostly jogging with long pants, jackets and hats on. At least we had Cocoa Beach all to ourselves.

This is in the car on the way to the beach. The girls were so excited they could hardly stand it. Syd enjoyed the sand more than the water. This picture cracks me up. Scott was pulling Aubree around on the boogie board and Aubree had her nose plugged fearing she would be "landin' in the drink". She didn't realize she was not far enough in the water and was "beached" on the sand.Scott and Marcus decided to try and be "Surfer Dudes" by renting boogie boards. They had a hard time catching waves but they sure tried hard.On Wednesday we went to Disney World. The girls really enjoyed it despite Scott's attitude. It was fun and magical. They loved seeing the Princesses. Aubree and Reagan had a great time getting to know each other and loved being together at Disney World. The teacups are always a favorite. Scott actually took the girls on them twice while Marcus and I ran around getting fast passes. Aubree was a pretty good little driver in these little cars while Sydney experimented with the "no hands" technique. The cars still go, you just get jerked around every time it hits the middle thing that keeps the cars from going off course.

Thursday we went to Zone Conference with Mom and Dad. Mom got a babysitter for the girls so we could actually listen to the meeting. I don't think the missionaries would have appreciated the noise that 4 little girls could have caused.

It was fun to be in a Zone Conference again. You could see Mom and Dad in their element as they gave instruction to their missionaries. Scott said this was his favorite day. It was a little more relaxing and great to be able to spend some time with Mom and Dad as missionaries.

Friday Scott and Marcus visited the Kennedy Space Center while Brittanie and stayed home and took the girls to the park. Since all 3 days of Zone Conferences were over Mom was able to relax and enjoy the day too. We have no pics of the Space Center because I wasn't there to take them.

We do have a few of the park though. Aubree and Sydney don't get to see Reagan and Ainsley very often so it was valuable time to spend getting to know them. We also had to say good-bye to Marcus and Brittanie because they left early Saturday morning. We were soooo glad we came at the same time. It was great hanging out with them. I just wish they lived a little closer.

Saturday we spent the majority of the day at Gatorland. It's this fun park that is all about alligators. It's amazing how close you get to them. This picture almost looks fake but they are real 'gators.

We had to take numerous shots of all of us at Gatorland and I just couldn't decide which to choose so here goes. Aubree and Sydney would have been happy to play outside the gate. I love this picture of Sydney with her Grandma Darrington, whom I think she still remembers...6 weeks later. Syd was only about 6 months old when they left so she didn't really know who her Grandpa and Grandma Darrington were. She always prayed for them but didn't really know them.

We all had to have our picture taken with this little alligator cut-out. As I looked at it, it was a little gross. Dad had to take a couple of pictures with me coaxing me to put my chin down on the cut-out like 50 million other people had done. This was as close as I got.

This is the view out Mom and Dad's backyard. I still can't believe it was February. It was so hard to pack shorts when it was snowing outside. I just knew I was going to freeze...but we didn't.

Here's Aub and Syd helping Grandma make Strawberry Shortcake. Grandma is so good about finding jobs for them to help out with.

We wanted to try and get a picture of the girls with their Grandpa and Grandma since they probably won't see them again for another year and a half but by the time we got around to pictures the girls were about done. They were both being stinkers. They progressively acted worse throughout the week. I don't know what the deal was, but I guess they were vacationed out. Anyway, this is the best we got.

It was a great trip. We had a wonderful time and are so thankful to mom and dad for making it possible. They are a great example to our family and serving their mission has blessed our lives.

Jesus, Thank-You!

A couple of nights ago we knew Scott wouldn't be home for dinner so I didn't really want to make anything so.....off the Wendy's we went. I got the usual chicken nugget kid meal for the girls to share and of course, like always, it comes with a toy. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed to see a CD of some cat game. That meant if, Aubree saw it she would want to play it on the computer and yadda yadda, yadda. It just seemed like a pain to me.

A little later in the evening down she came carrying the cd and asking me how it worked. She told me she wanted to play it on the computer (I was currently on the computer) so I told her after her pj's were on we'd talk. Lately she doesn't want to wear pj's. They bug her. Half the time, I go in to check on her before going to bed myself and her pj's are on the floor in a heap and she's sleeping in her underwear.

She actually made record time in getting ready for bed so I loaded the virtual cat cd thing on the computer. She was excited to choose a cat, a collar and a name. She named her cat Aubree. As she was learning how to "play" with her cat it came to me......I asked Aubree what she had been praying for, for over a year now. She responded with "A Pet and A New Baby". I then went on to talk about how Heavenly Father answered one of those prayers tonight. Aubree now had her own pet. As she thought about this she was "Pumped". She told me that she really wanted a dog but she was happy Jesus had given her this cat.

She continued to play with her new cat. She gave it food,water and a bath. She felt so big to be able to have her own pet. Finally I made her leave the pet so we could have scriptures and prayers before going to bed. Just as we were finishing up Scott got home. Aubree just "had" to show Scott her new pet. After showing him all the things she could do it was time for her personal prayers. I reminded her that she should thank Heavenly Father for her new pet.

Usually Aubree's prayers aren't as sincere as they could be. She kinda likes to hurry through them but tonight was a little different. She began like her usual but then you could just see the wheels turning as she was trying to articulate her thanks for her new pet.

Finally, with the most sincerity I've ever heard from her, she said, "Jesus, thank-you for my new pet!" She then ended her prayer. It was all I could do not to laugh out loud but it was so sweet and she was truly thankful. It was one of those moments that you cherish as a parent and think how cute your kid is.

Now instead of saying, "Bless that we can have a pet" she says, "Bless that we can't have a pet." She's just a funny girl. I think I'm just as grateful for this kind of pet as she is and I'm glad Aubree prayers were answered.