Thanksgiving in Las Vegas!!!

For Thanksgiving this year my whole family decided to go to Las Vegas where my two older sisters live. Also my nephew Josh was turning 12 and recieving the priesthood. So it was a great time to go. The only one who didn't make it was Kristy and her family. We missed them. So of course the weekend before we are about to drive 11 hours to get there both of the girls get sick. Ellie gets the whooping cough and Adalyn go bronchitis again! So we were taking them to the doctor the morning before we left but we finally made it out the door and got to Las Vegas the monday before thanksgiving. It was so fun to see everyone. It was the first time I had seen my new nephews Colby, and Cashel. The kids played so well together. Even though the girls didn't feel well they still were able to do everything they wanted to. Unfortunately I got really sick with a horrible cough and soar throat. Thanks to Ellie! So I had to go to urgent care to get medecine. Then Adam had to fly out on Wed. for work and he flew back Friday afternoon. We stayed until monday. We wished he wouldn't have had to leave but he had to go back for work but at least we didn't spend the whole week without him. Anyways it was fun seeing everyone and all the kids. They loved to jump on the trampolines, go hot tubbing, and have my nieces Haylee and Alexa give them all make-overs. For me I loved going to see Twilights New Moon with all my sisters and mom and going Black Friday shopping. We were up at 3 am to go and we got the best deals! Adam got to go with all the boys and go 4-wheeling and Sandrailing at the dunes! All in all it was a wonderful family trip!

Adalyn holding Cashel, he is 6 months old!

Adalyn holding Colby who was 3 months old!


We came home from Twilight to find the boys were letting the kids get into the cold pool with all there clothes on! They had fun but were freezing!

Yeah Pizza Night!

Playing dress-up

Another day where Haylee and Alexa did all the little girls hair the same way. It looked so cute. Ellie, Adalyn and Ava played so well together.

The girls with Grandma Jones and Colby.

My mom, and her Mom Grandma Woolsey. It was good to see her.


Haylee helping Adalyn with her hair.

Alexa painting Ellie's nails. All the girls got there hair done and nails painted! They loved it, thanks to Haylee and Alexa.

Ellie after her "make-over" She looks beautiful


Some of the cousins.

Hannah, Ellie and Braden had so much fun playing together.

Fire Fighters!

In early October Adalyn's class got to first have the fire department come to her school parking lot and they brought a fire truck and a trailer that simulates what it would be like to be in a house with smoke and what you should do. So Adalyn suprisingly went into the trailer and crawled on the floor and then out the window. Then a week later they went on a field trip where they walked to the fire station and took a tour of it. They also got to get into the firetruck, and spray the fire hose. All the kids loved it.




Adalyn sitting in the trailer learning what to do in case of a fire.

Adalyn climbing out of the trailer filled with steam.

Pre-School halloween party 2009!

She got to decorate and eat a pumpkin shaped sugar cookie.

Adalyn painting a little pumpkin.

It was so funny to watch the kids hold there hands behind there backs and eat 3 doughnuts. She did a really good job.

The kids singing there songs outside.

October 29,2009
So right after Adalyn was in the hospital her preschool had a halloween party. Thankfully she felt good enough to go. I went and helped which was fun for me. The teachers had set up different stations the kids rotated through and then at the end all the kids went outside and sang songs for the parents. It was really cute.

YES WE ARE STILL HERE!!! We have had a lot going on the past couple of months so I am going to try and start getting caught up! Sorry I have been such a slacker!

Ward Halloween Party!

This year primary was in charge of the Halloween party and since I am in the primary presidency that means I got to help. Since our ward is tiny we new we wouldn't have enough people to do trunk-or-treat. So we decided to do a candy land themed carnival and chille dinner. It was a lot of work but a really fun night. We set up the gym to look like the candy land game board and at each stop kids played a carnival game and got a candy to go along with it. At the end we had 4 pinjatas and divided the kids into 4 groups. We filled the pinatas with good candy and that is how they got the bulk of there candy. It was a really fun night and the girls loved dressing up. They were cowgirls this year(pink and purple of course!)


Some of there friends Lindsay and Shyanne.

Adalyn loved being a "purple" cowgirl!

Ellie as a cute cowgirl!


The chocolate swamp where you fish for fudge!



They loved Princess Frostine where they frosted sugar cookies.


This is Gramma Nut you throw bean bags through the windows.




This is the girls on Halloween day. They were so excited to carve pumpkins and get dressed up again. As you can see Adalyn kept posing and Ellie copied her. It was so funny to watch them.

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm 2009!

I know I already showed that I went with Adalyn and her class to the pumpkin farm but we wanted to go as a family so we all went together one day. It was great weather and the girls had so much fun going. We went and did everything they had to do, hayrides, slides, animal petting area, and the thing they loved the most is that this year they had real pony rides. The girls have never done that before and I really thought they would chicken out but they didn't! They had so much fun and were so cute. With our girls getting bigger it has become a lot easier and a lot of fun to go and do things. They are getting so big, and it's been nice to be able to experience new things with our girls.

Fun Family Night!

On October 10, 2009 we decided to take the girls out to have some fun. They love to bowl so we went to the base's bowling alley were they also have a very small miniature golf course. The girls had so much fun bowling they both would carry there heavy balls to the ramp and push it down. Ellie was really funny to watch carry a heavy ball grunting the whole time. As you can see while playing miniature golf they didn't quite figure out how the game was supposed to go but it kept them busy for like an hour and it was hilarious to watch! I love my family and loves days like these!

First Field Trip!

October 6, 2009
So Adalyn's pre-school took all the classes to Bishop's Pumpkin farm this year and I went as a parent volunteer! All the kids were so excited about it and it was Adalyn's first field trip and first time on a school bus! She loved feeling like such a big kid! So we drove just 10 minutes from base to the farm and first went on a hay ride and we each got to pick out a pumpkin then we went to some slides and other fun playing areas. We also saw a pig race, and went on a train ride. At the end we got to have the best sugar cookies and apple cider I have ever had! It was such a fun day for her!









Adalyn and Shyanne Hofman on the train.


Adalyn at the pig races!


Adalyn's class and her teacher's Ms. Rosie and Ms. Terri

Sick kids!

You can see in her eyes how scared she was.

The paramedic gave her a bear to help her not be so scared.




As you can see by the end of the night she was tired and miserable!

Anyways at about 9 pm the doctor came in and said they would give her one more breathing treatment which would mean in half a day she would have had 6! And that if her pulse oxygen could stay at 94% we could go home. Finally at about 10 pm all the results were back she didn't have RSV, or pneumonia, or the influenza. The doctor said there was a chance she could have the swine flu but that they didn't have a way to test for it at the hospital and since asthmatic people were having serious complications like death from the swine flu that they would treat her with Tami flu as a preventative measure and give her oral steroids, along with antibiotics, singulair, and pulmicort and albuterol in her nebulizer. So a lot of medicine but it seems to be helping she is slowing wanting to eat and drink more and she is breathing easier. Ultimately they said this was all due to her asthma and bronchitis. They have finally decided to send us to a pediatric pulminologist in Sacramento to see why she keeps getting bronchitis.
Something funny she did say in the beginning is that she heard us talking about her heart rate and looking at the monitors and the lines going up and down showing her heart rate and she looked up at me and asked "Mom is my heart cracking?" It made me so sad and want to laugh because she thought the lines on the monitor were showing her heart cracking and she was worried!
So I have a bunch of new posting to do but I haven't gotten to them yet. But I thought I would write about what just happened to Adalyn. Well I just posted something about her asthma and bronchitis episodes and how she has had it every 6 weeks well here we are 6 weeks later and she is sick again!! It started Saturday night after our wards Halloween party I noticed she had a slight cough. So we gave her usual breathing treatment before bed. Sunday she woke up feeling okay but did still have a cough. We went to church and she was okay and we went on with our day but I started giving her breathing treatments every 4 hours to try and stop her cough from getting worse. Well Sunday night she was up coughing all night and started to get really sick. She had a fever and was just miserable. First thing Monday morning called and got her a doctor's appointment because she was wheezing and really struggling to breath. Also that morning she threw up in the van. So by the time we got to the doctor's office I had already given her 2 breathing treatments. Her pulse oxygen was 92% and she threw up all over the doctor's office. They immediately put us in a room it was 4 pm and I called Adam at work to come get Ellie because I new Adalyn was really sick. The doctor listened to her and she was wheezing, her heart rate was too high and she was working really hard to breath. They immediately gave her a breathing treatment which got her pulse oxygen to 93%. They gave her another breathing treatment. It didn’t help. After being in the doctor's office for an hour they came and told me that she was not getting better and that they would need to ambulance her to the emergency room. I could not believe this was happening again. So she was really scared but I stayed with her they strapped her onto the gurney and we drove 25 minutes to the hospital. Immediately we had 2 nurses and a respiratory therapist and a physician’s assistant working on her. They started asking me a ton of questions while getting her changed into a gown and putting things onto her chest and finger to monitor her heart and pulse oxygen level. They gave her oral steroids, another breathing treatment and oxygen. Nothing was helping her oxygen level kept going to 88% and 90%. They told me we would probably have to stay the night. They gave her chest x-ray, started an IV line and drew blood. They also shoved 2 small things up each nostril to check for influenza and then to test for RSV they had to shoot saline up each nostril and shove a tube 3 in. long up each side and suck out her mucus to be able to test her. She was screaming and fighting with us to get everything done. By the time they finished all the tests it had been a couple of hours and she was exhausted from all the crying. She fell asleep on me in the bed and slept for an hour. I felt horrible for everything she was being put through and was hoping we could go home, that's all she wanted to do was go home.

Pampered Chef!

I just hosted my first pampered chef party and had a great time. My party actually closes on Monday morning(10/26) so you can still buy items online and I get the rewards! If you would like something for yourself or a nice christmas gift go to http://www.pamperedchef.biz/juliehaak and click on shop online. Then type in my name as the host and buy what you would like. Thank you for your support.

So you think YOU can dance? Not like my girl!

Ellie is a wonderful ball of energy who is constantly doing things that make us all laugh. She loves to dance and sing and just do funny and random things. In this video I caught her dancing to Dragon Tale's the cartoon. The song was saying to wiggle you arms or jump or do different things she was copying. I love that girl. She also while Adam was home for lunch walked over with Adam's boots and hat on. His boots are so big on her. Of course Adalyn wanted to do it to and I thought it was so cute so here are the pics.

Another trip to the doctor!

So ever since Adalyn had RSV and pneumonia and was hospitalized for 6 days when she was 2 she has had respiratory problems. She has literally had bronchitis every 4-6 weeks for about the past year. So her doctor finally diagnosed her with asthma and told me to start giving her a breathing treatment of pulmicort everyday to prevent her from getting a flare up. So we have been doing that for about 3 months. But as soon as I forget to give it to her even 1 day she starts coughing. So Sept. 9th I ran out of pulmicort and was supposed to go pick up more medecine. I forgot that thursday and friday and felt horrible because by Sat. she was not stop coughing and had a fever. By sunday she was miserable and I could hear her wheezing really bad and she just had a really bad cough. So on Monday I new she had bronchitis again which she had just had 4 weeks earlier. So we went to the doctors and her temperature was over 102 and her pulse oxygen level was 92% So they made us stay and do some breathing treatments to get her pulse oxygen level up. It did go up to 95% so we got to leave and it took about a week for her to get back to normal but she is doing a lot better. I felt horrible for not getting her medecine and causing her to get sick. I know now she has to have it everyday! Poor girl.

If I kiss the frog will it turn into a prince?

Every night we go outside with the girls and water our flowers and the girls color with chalk. They also love to go for walks. Well the other night while we were watering the flowers a baby frog started jumping around. The girls were so excited and wanted Adam to catch it. As you can see Ellie wanted to kiss the frog. She got pretty close but there was no way I would let her acutually do that. We also have 2 baby lizards that have lived in our flowers all summer. I tell you we live in the middle of no where!

Big girl in Pre-school!

Megan and Adalyn.


Adam and Adalyn. Adalyn's 2nd day of school.


Adalyn saying goodbye to Ellie!


The first thing they have to do is wash there hands. I love these little sinks!


It's a big classroom with a lot of seperate areas to play in.


She is the tallest and biggest person in her class! So her cubby is up top!

So I've been a littel lazy in keeping up with my blog so here is what's been going on with us. On August 24th Adalyn now 4 1/2 years old started pre-school. Now I had mixed feeling about this. It is a free pre-school on our base which is really good, it's mon-fri from 12:30 to 3:30. I couldn't imagine everyday Adalyn not being with me. Plus she was still taking a nap everyday.(she loves to sleep) and I am a very protective mom and didn't like the idea of not knowing what was going on, could she get hurt, what if somebody was mean to her, a million thoughts went through my head. Also the fact that she would be going to the bathroom with no help worried me a little bit. But we decided it would be good for her and help her break out of her shell. In her class there is about 20 kids and 3 teachers. Ms. Rosie is her teacher and Ms. Nicole and Ms. Terri are the helpers. It is a really good set up that they have. We know Ms. Nicole from some friends in our ward and have hung out with them before she also has a daughter Adalyn's age. Anyways on the first day only half the class comes at one time for only an hour and the parents stay to help the kids. Of course I got really sick and couldn't even get out of bed so Adam took her.I was really sad to miss her first day. She wouldn't leave Adam's side and cried when he tried to. The next two days were also only and hour and while all the other kids were happy to say bye to there parents Adalyn insisted that I stay with her. Thankfully she already new Nicole and would only go with her in her group. By Thursday it was her first full day with all the kids and I had convinced her that she could stay with Ms. Nicole and I would be back to get her. For the next 2 weeks she was glued to Nicole and would even go with her if she needed to leave the classroom. Now it has been a month and Adalyn begs me to go to pre-school. She loves it and all her new friends. She learned to write her name all by herself, and a ton of other numbers and letters. She comes home with fun new things everyday and has lots of stories to tell us. She is learning so much and I am so happy that she's in school.

Megan's Surgery

So for some of you this might not be something you want to know about but I am writing it down so that I can always remember my experience. On September 3rd I had Dr. Walker fix my deviated septum. When I was 5 years old I was twirling around on a Sunday afternoon with my brothers from couch to couch and got dizzy and fell. Of course my nose hit right on the end of the couch and my nose broke. The doctor never corrected the brake and just let it heal which made the middle bone and cartilage of my nose crooked. I have been unable for 20 years to breathe out of one side of my nose. So now that we're in the Air Force and they would fix it for free I figured why not? I have never had surgery before or been knocked out so I was a little nervous but everything went really well. The surgery took about 2 hours and then an hour in recovery and I came home. I must say thank you to my friend Aimee for watching the girls! It was a huge help not worrying about them. They removed the crooked bones and moved some of the cartilage and then put splints in each nostral to stabalize it all with some stiches. As you can see in the picture the splints were big and uncomfortable but I had them taken out on Tuesday so I could finally breathe out of my nose. I had to wear the gauze dripp pad until tuesday as well from constant blood and mucus drainage(sorry probably TMI) Today is Wednesday and I am finally feeling mostly back to normal. My nose is still very tender and I still have stiches in my nose but other than that it just feels like I have a sinus infection. The worst part about all of this was I had an allergic reaction to the medicine they gave me and the first night I was up itching everywhere and then the next day was throwing up and felt nauseous for the next 4 days. I couldn't keep anything down so that was not fun! Anways it was definately worth it all. My actual nose does not look any different.



This is when I am 5 years old and had broken my nose.

Before surgery I was feeling pretty good.


After surgery not feeling so great. I was really groggy.


Such a stylish thing isn't it? Yeah this is was I looked like for the next 5 days!


The girls were very worried about me and especially Adalyn didn't want to leave my side because she was "taking care of me"


Not a pretty picture but if you look you can see my splints in my nose.


3 days after surgery. My nose was swolen and I looked HORRIBLE!!!


That was one of the splints in my nose. Yikes!

Kiddie Kandid Pictures!

Well I am a little late in getting our family pictures done and Ellie's 2 year pictures and Adalyn's 4 year pictures but we finally got it done. So here are the pictures before they were cropped down in size. The girls are getting so big I can't believe it!

6 years going strong!

So on August 16th Adam and I had our 6 year anniversary. Unfortunately he was in Florida for 10 days and I was at Beale. It the first time we have not spent our anniversary together. That was not very fun but Adam thought ahead a planned a fun night for us. He wouldn't tell me what we were doing but he got a babysitter for the girls and we ended up going to Roseville to the Olive Garden (my favorite) to eat and then we went and played miniature golf. Out of the almost 7 years we have known eachother we have never done that. It was definately a fun night and even better we didn't have the kids with us plus I whipped him at golf!!! So then we went and got ice cream before heading back home. I can't believe it's been 6 years but what a great 6 years! I love you honey!

A long drive to Oregon!

So July 28th was the day me and the girls drove to Oregon all by ourselves. I was really nervous about getting there safely and about the 2 girls not screaming the whole way but we did it. It took 10 hours but we made it to Woodburn.I must say though about 2 hours into the drive I got my very first ticket!(not a fun way to start a vacation!!) Adalyn did not make a sound the entire trip there or back, Ellie on the other hand had a few rough moments. But I was prepared with the DVD players and candy and activity books to keep them happy. I just stopped everytime Ellie needed me to and gave her a break and she was fine. We made it to Oregon just in time for Chelsea(sister in-laws) baby shower. I really wanted to go to oregon because all of my siblings would be there except for Paula and her family so it was a lot of fun. Plus I got to see Cashel my nephew for the first time and man is he cute and so cuddly to hold. Of course while we were there Oregon was having record highs and it was over a hundred for about a week which was not fun but as you can see by the pictures the kids were naked or in swim suits a lot and we ate a lot of popsicles. We went to the beach one day to get away from the heat which was a lot of fun and one day we went to Enchanted Forest. It's a park in a forest for kids with fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and other things for the kids to go through and play on. It was really fun to take the kids somewhere we went as kids. It was a lot of fun to get away for a little bit and let the kids play with all there cousins. I loved being with my parents and all my brothers and sisters and there spouses hanging out. We were sad to leave but very happy to come home to daddy. Of course the last couple of days we were there it got cold and the we had to find jackets and pants to wear. Thanks Mom and Dad for having us all home!

unexpected news!

So after the skate party I brought the girls home to get them to bed, and there was a message from President Johnson who is in our stake presidency asking if he could meet with us the next morning. So knowing that the 2nd councelor was AF and moving to Germany we kind of knew what was coming. So we went the next morning and sure enough Adam was asked to be the 2nd councelor to Bishop Arlie Capps. Which would also mean he would be ordained a high priest. Adam and I were both taken back a littel but felt very good about serving the Lord and know that our family will be blessed for it. So when we got home Adam called his parents and they said they would be here for his Dad to ordain him. It was so nice of them to come all the way from Kansas. The girls were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa McKee. They flew in Sunday morning and left Tuesday morning. It was a quick but fun trip. We took them to Bridgeport and had a picnic and played in the water on Monday. Thank you for coming Grandma and Granpa McKee.

Skate Night!

On July 24th we went to a skate party here on base that Adam helped ogranize. (he was asked by a captain to help) Anyways they had pizza and nachos and drinks, and they had skates you could use. The girls have never skated before but were excited to try. It was more like Adam and I holding them up while we pushed them around but they had a lot of fun. It was a fun family night out.

Adam's Birthday!!

So this year Adam turned 28! For his birthday me and the girls surprised him at work and brought him lunch. We also made for him a poster candy graham with a bunch of candy on it. Then for dinner I made him one of his favorite dinners Lasagna with garlic bread, salad and lemonade. Then the girls helped him open his presents and we had cake. It was just a fun night together as a family.

2nd set of Swim Lessons

The first and second week in July Adalyn did another swim class. We also decided to put Ellie in a swim class. It's a mommy and me class. So I had to get in the water with her which I didn't love that, but I like that Ellie loved being in the water. The class was a lot of singing while teaching the kids things like, floating on there backs, blowing bubbles, going under the water, jumping into the water and kicking. The last day of class both Adalyn and Ellie went down the slide by themselves. I was so excited for them! Adalyn has really gotten over her fears and I am so proud of her. Ellie loves the water and once even jumped in when I wasn't looking! She's Crazy!



Adam came one day and swam with us.



This was taken right after she went all the way under water.

They let the kids wear these suits going down the slide to make them feel more comfortable.

Ellie opening her gifts!

So on her actual birthday since we went to Santa Cruz we didn't bring any of her gifts and we didn't do a cake. I was planning on doing it Saturday but since it was the 4th it was to busy. So she got a birthday weekend and we did it on Sunday. She was so excited to have a Dora cake and open her presents. Although as you can see it was Adalyn who opened most of them and then convinced Ellie to let her have them. Ellie loved all her presents.

4th July 2009

For the 4th this year our base was having a free pool party with a free bbq. So we decided to go and do that since it was so hot and the kids could swim. Then we came home and the kids took a nap. After that we went to some friends house in Wheatland that are in our ward the Zarges family. It was so nice to go to friends house and let the kids play. There youngest Karlie is a little bit older then Ellie but they love to play together. Almost every sunday Karlie comes and sits with us and in nursery they are always playing. Ellie came out of nursery about a month ago saying "Karlie my best friend" It was so cute. Anyways so we had a bbq and the kids played and then when it got dark all there neighbors came outside and we all set off fireworks together. It was a really nice night.

At our bases pool.






This is the first time Ellie did sparklers. She loved it!


Adalyn loved driving there power wheels.




We changed Ellie into her pajamas before we left, she is so cute!

Happy Birthday Ellie!!

I can't believe Ellie is 2 years old! Time flies by. She was very excited for her birthday and instead of having a birthday party we decided to take her somewhere fun. We have never been to Santa Cruz but thought it would be a lot of fun. Adam had Friday and Monday off for 4th of July so Thursday night we drove to Travis AFB which is in the middle of our drive to Santa Cruz. It is such a nice base I am so jealous of it. Anyways the girls loved staying somewhere new. On Friday we got up on Ellie's B-day and drove the rest of the way. There is a huge board walk there with tons of rides and yummy food. It's also right on the beach. The sand was so soft. The girls loved seeing everything and were so excited. We kept telling Ellie it was her birthday she was so excited. Both girls went on rides for the very first time. I was very suprised about that! After eating and walking up and down the board walk for a couple of hours we went to the beach where Ellie got right in the water and rolled around in the sand. By the end of the day we had worn out the birthday girl and she fell asleep in my arms while Adam and Adalyn made a sand castle. It was a great day and we had fun celebrating Ellie's b-day. A little bit about my sweet girl. She makes my heart melt with her big eyes and cute smile! She is very independent and loves to say, "I do it my self" She is also a lot more adventerous than Adalyn. I call her my jumping bean because she jumps on everything, the floor, couch, all our beds, she loves to jump everywhere. We love her so much and are so happy we are blessed to have her in our family.

I am finally getting caught up, I posted 9 new entries so scroll down a ways to see them all.

Slip-N-Slide

On June 27th it was really, really hot so I decided it would be a great day to get out our new slip-n-slide and little pool. I didn't know what the girls would think about it but they loved it! We had a really nice family night. The movie with Ellie is so funny, She wanted to do it,"all myself" so she army crawled down the slide. It was hard work!

A camping adventure!

So Adam and I have never been camping together. Which means we have never taken the kids camping. This year Adam talked with his cousin Bam who decided to bring his wife and two kids to Lake Tahoe to camp so Adam said we would join them. Of course I was a little nervous about camping with the kids but they were VERY excited! So we left Friday afternoon and met them and set up camp, us wifes started the fire, the boys were very impressed. It was just a fun weekend. We biked with the kids and went to the beach, the kids played and climbed on rocks and loved being dirty. At night it was really cold but we piled on the blankets and were okay. We loved spending time with family and the kids played great together. Ellie still asks about Kohen and baby Kate.
June 19, 2009

First Swim Lessons

I decided since Adalyn is so afaid to get in the big pool that this summer would be a good opportunity to put her in swim lessons. I thought for sure she wouldn't get in but her friend Shyanne was there with her and I told her is she did what her teacher said she could have fun dip! So she got right in and did everything her teacher asked. It was a 2 weeks class and she learned how to get in the water, kick, blow bubbles, back float and learned how to climb out of the pool using the ladder. She loved it! I am so proud of her for being willing to try something new. She has really started to grow up and isn't as afraid to do things any more. I love it!

Las Vegas!!

We decided to take a family trip to Las Vegas. Adam hasn't been back with us since we left Utah May 2006. We decided to drive, it took about 11 hours to get there. The girls did really well watching movies and hanging but man what a horrible drive. You are in the middle of the desert for hours with nowhere to stop! That was no fun, but we arived in Las Vegas on June 3rd. We stayed with my sister Jackie because she has kids my kids age and she had an extra guest room. My sister Paula lives about 5 minutes away. The girls loved going to her house to see there dog, jump on there trampoline and swing on there swing set. We went to Vegas mainly to see family but also because my neice Kayla was graduating from High School. Although I realized I didn't get any pictures of her. Dang it! Anyways my parents were there and my uncle marvin who Ellie kept calling grandpa which was so cute and he loved. She also called my dad grandpa though(she thinks every old man is Grandpa) Also my brothers wife chelsea and there little girl Hannah came. It was so fun we went shopping, swimming everyday in Jackie and Mike's awesome pool, and just let the kids play and have fun. Adam went one day sandrailing and 4 wheeling with Mike and another day they took his boat out. Of course Adam loved that. Adam had to fly back to go back tgo work on Monday but we stayed until Thursday and my mom was nice enough to drive back with me, thankgoodness i couldn't have done it without her. It was a really good trip, I love being around my family and leting the girls get to know everyone better. Thank you Paula and Jackie for letting us come and stay!!

Fairytale Town!

On May 26th I took the girls with a friend from church Kerrie Corbridge and her daughter Ellie to a place called Fairytale Town. It's in Sacramento and it a fun park that the kids can play and climb on and interact with a lot of fairytale's and nursery rhymes. It was the perfect day to go, not to busy and not to hot. It's a lot like Enchanted Forrest in Oregon.

Random!!

I had some random and funny pictures of the kids. One is of Ellie when she was so tired she fell asleep on the couch(that never happens!) And she was sleeping with her eyes a little open. I thougt it was funny. Also The girls helped us make cookies and they are obsessed with eating cookie dough, cake batter or brownie batter. I wonder where they got that from?? Of course Adam is always yelling at us girls to stop eating that stuff because we'll get salmonilla but I'm 25 and have never gotten sick from eating it! The other pictures are when I thought I would try something new with Ellie's hair but it didn't really work out, poor girl her hair just isn't that thick!

A fun trip with family!

Around the middle of May Adam's sister Chelese and her husband Greg and there little boy Cole came to our area for a couple of weeks and we got to stay with them for a night at the Marriot in Lake Tahoe. It was fun such a nice day at the lake and the kids loved to play in the sand. Then the next weekend they came to our house. We gave them a tour of our base and took them to a place about 25 mintutes called Bridge Port. We had never been there before but it was really cool. It was a covered bridge built in 1862, at 251 feet, it is the longest single span covered bridge in the United States. There is a river that runs under it that you can float down and has sand banks so the kids thought it was a lot of fun. We can't wait to go back and hike and play in the river.

Last day of pre-school!!

So I am really behind in updating my blog, but the end of May we had our last pre-school class for Adalyn. We decided to have a pool party since it was hot and play a bunch of games. The kids popped ballons while sitting on a sprinkler,and did relay races. They had cookies and made homemade ice-cream. They played with water balloons, and we made huge bubbles around the girls. Pre-school with the kids was a lot of fun. Every Friday we would get together at my friends Carrie or Alisa's house and have a lesson. It really helped Adalyn learn how to identify letter's better and numbers. It was a lot of fun.

Adalyn finished Gymnastics!

So for about 9 months Adalyn took gymnastics class here on base, but it ended the end of May. It was not the greatest class but it was a good deal, close and Adalyn loved it! She learned some fun things.

Start Smart T-Ball

Adalyn was excited to participate in Start Smart again. She loved learning all about T-ball. It's a fun 2 week one hour a day little program for kids 3-4 yrs old. They got to learn how to hit the ball correctly, catch with a glove, and throw the ball. They also had to teach the kids which bases were 1st, 2nd and 3rd. That took awhile to figure out and I think Adalyn is still a little confused. It was funny to see the kids running all over the place. And of course Ellie thought she was part of the class as well and ran and hit and did everything she could with all the kids. Adalyn's friend Shyanne was also there which the girls loved!



YEAH!! I can finally pull Ellie's hair into a tiny pony tail!

"Hannah Atana"

I can't believe my 1 year old know's the lyrics to Hannah Montana songs. Now I must say she knows the words because her big sister walks around the house all day singing them and so Ellie has learned the words. Any time they hear Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus Music they both scream "Hannah Atana" Even on the radio they know when it's her. It's makes me laugh hearing them sing so here is a sample of some songs, you'll have to turn up your volume because Ellie sometimes sings very quietly.

Chemical Free Home!

So about a month ago I got my hair cut and was telling the girl who cuts my hair how unhealthy I thought my hair was. She told me to buy a salon product because it really did make a difference. I asked her what's the difference between store and salon products, she said salon products don't use harsh chemicals like alcohol that make your hair brittle and break easily. So I went home thinking I'll do a little research before I buy. A long story short after about a week of constantly on the computer researching chemicals in different products I was determined to find not only hair products but all soaps, toothpastes, sunscreen, lotions, baby soap, anything for your body to not have so many chemicals, but to be natural. Also to find all household cleaning products that would contain no harsh chemicals like bleach, ammonia and other things that can really hurt you and your children. If you look on almost all shampoos, conditioners you will find a long list of chemicals things you can't know what they really are. Actually pretty much any thing you use for your body is that way. There were a few chemicals I saw the most of, one of them being sodium laureth sulfate, and others were alcohol. After researching it is very toxic to your eyes and can cause permanent damage, also it is harmful to your digestive system and toxic to not only to your liver but other organs. I could go on and on about the stuff we put on or use to clean with everyday. The thing that bothers me the most is that I use this stuff with my kids. I was looking for real natural good products.
If any of you have ever been to Rexburg Idaho you have heard of Melaleuca. It's a company that is really big there. Anyways there products use oils like tea tree oil to make tons of products anything you can think of that are all natural. The thing I like most is that yes it is a little bit more expensive but almost all of there products come in concentrated form and you add the water, so it lasts a really long time. I bought laundry detergent it has no chlorine and no phosphates. All of there cleaning products would not harm your child if they got into it. The most it would do is give them diarrhea. Anyways I also got the laundry cleaner and all there household cleaners. They were better then any cleaner I have ever used and I know they are not leaving behind harmful chemicals that get into our food, clothes, and skin.
Now for soaps, lotions, deodorants, and baby products I have found a lot of products online but wanted something more affordable and easier to access. Burt's Bees products are completely natural are ph balanced, sodium lauryl sulfate free, paraban free, and phalate free. A lot of companies out there claim to be all natural but when you read the label it has the same ingredients as all the other products. On Burt's bee's it tells you the ingredients and then what it means for example it will say coco betaine (coconut oil) so you know what it is. I love it, no chemicals. You can buy Burt’s bees at Wal-Mart and target and is only a little bit more expensive and they have a complete men's line. For myself and kids I love knowing there are no chemicals.
This is just the stuff I found and think that it is better than the products I was using before. If you know of any good, chemical free products please let me know, my goal is to have NO harsh chemicals in any thing in our house! We'll see if we ever get there!

Beale Air Show

On April 18th Beale put on an Air Show. It was a really hot day and a lot of people showed up. It's nice because everything is free except for food, so it's a fun, free family activity. Of course Adalyn was terrified of the planes for the first couple of hours. Especially when the jets would fly by really close it was really loud and she would scream and cry. She hates stuff like that but she did like the ice cream and eventually she didn't mind all the planes. The girls even got to sit in some planes and helicopters. We took shade where ever we could which was usually under the wing of a plane. In one of the pictures you can see after a hot and long day of walking Ellie finally fell asleep. She wanted to ride on my back and two seconds later she was asleep. I couldn't believe she could fall asleep like that or so quickly, it was really funny. Thankfully it was towards the end of the air show so we just sat under the plane and let her sleep.

Happy Easter!

No we didn't adopt a baby that's our friends little girl, they were painting eggs with us.



We had such a fun easter. This year Adalyn was really into Easter. Both the girls loved the easter egg hunt that the base put on. You can see in the video that Ellie was at first more interested in watching the other kids and was a little unsure about picking up the eggs. But after a couple of minutes she finally started picking up eggs and was excited she even won a free basket and Adalyn won 2 pez candies. Then we came home a colored eggs. On sunday we have early church so after church they got there baskets and we hid real eggs. It was just a fun weekend for our family.

A Visit from Family!

We were so lucky to have my Mom and brother Jay and his wife Chelsea and Hannah there 2 year old come visit over general conference weekend. We decided to buy there 2003 toyota highlander and they bought our 2000 honda accord. So they drove down so we could switch cars. Adam is very excited to have a new car and one that has a tow package.(thanks Jay and Chelsea) We had the best weekend, it was really warm the entire time they were here so the kids wanted to be outside all day. My girls love playing with Hannah and they get along so well. It is always so nice to have family around, I wish we lived closer. I didn't want the trip to be over. The girls love being spoiled by Grandma, Adalyn asks me everyday if we are going on an airplane to see her. So here are some pics of our fun time together.

Our new car! We are officially a Toyota Family. We love our Sienna and Highlander.


Grandma Jones and the girls.


One night Chelsea painted all the girls finger and toe nails. They loved it!


This is where they ate while they were here.


This is how Adalyn kept posing for pictures! She is so funny!


the girls found the blow up air mattress and this is how we found them! Sneaky!


Enjoying being outside.


Ellie just kept loving on my mom and wouldn't stop hugging and kissing her. It was so cute.



Adalyn decided to have a picnic outside with Hannah, so they got food and plates and ate outside. They had so much fun.

Adalyn over the past 4 years!

Over the past 4 years we have literaly taken at least a thousand pictures of Adalyn. We have so many but here are just a few of her. Looking at all these pictures makes me remember what it was like having her and what a joy she has been in our lives. Since coming into our family our lives have not been the same. She made me a mom, I have learned so much from her. How to be more patient, loving, caring and how to just have fun. Adalyn has always been a little stubborn and likes to learn and do things at her own pace. I delivered her almost 3 weeks early, she was ready to come. She weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz and was 19 in. long. She of course had so much hair nobody could believe she was really ours. She didn't learn to crawl until 2 days before her 1st birthday and didn't walk until 15 months. She just wasn't interested in moving. At age 1 she had an MRI on her brain because her head from birth was always above the 100%. So with her delays the doctor thought something was wrong. Thankfully the doctor told us she just has a BIG head,(have you ever seen her dad! :) She also had a dairy and peanut allergy which made eating very interesting and hard, she thankfully out grew that after her 2nd birthday. It hasn't always been easy, we've learned a lot and experienced a lot with her but it has all been worth it. Adalyn is very kind, caring, funny, she loves everything princess, girlie, purple, gymnastics and to play with her friends. She loves to help in the kitchen and sometimes she even loves to play with Ellie! She is a little OCD. She is also a pack rat and everyday has to have her "special things" it changes weekly that she carries around with her. We love her so much.

Adalyn's New Bedroom!

Well a couple of months ago our base was selling furniture from hotels and things here on base. It was all priced really cheap like dresser's for $10 and nightstands for $5. So we decided this would be a cheap way to get some new stuff. So we bought a bunch of things, but it drives me crazy having miss-match furniture in all our rooms. So we decided that we should paint Adalyn's furniture to make it all look a little more put together. So once I did that than I thought why not get a bedspread and make it all look good. So after 2 weeks of painting and then a bunch of trips to Michaels and the Dollar Tree to pick up stuff and a lot of painting and trying to be crafty I finally finished! So here is the finished product. Adalyn loves her new room. And thanks to my Mom and Chelsea who came to visit and helped me too.

Adalyn's 4th Birthday!!!

Wow I can't even believe 4 years has gone by since Adalyn came into our family. I really can't remember my life before her! I wanted to first tell about her birthday party and then I put together some pictures of her from the beginning to now.
So first off Adalyn could not wait for it to be her birthday that is why I started the birthday countdown. Whenever she would ask me "is it my birthday yet?" Which she did everyday for a month I would tell her, "go look at your countdown, is there still paper?" It really did help her understand a little bit better about waiting.

Anyway, she told us she wanted a princess party with her friends so I invited over some kids from our ward she likes to play with and they painted, played some games, hit a piñata, had cake and ice-cream and then she opened her presents! She enjoyed having the spotlight on her and kept reminding the kids that it was HER birthday! It was a fun party and she loved all her gifts, she got moon sand, play-doh, a dress, crayola magic markers and paper and her favorite from her friend Ellie was a purple my little pony with a DVD and a book called Purplelicious! It is the cutest book. For those of you who don't know Adalyn is obsessed with purple. Everything has to be purple, she only wants to color with purple have purple shirts and pajamas, EVERYTHING!! It's been going on for almost 2 years now.
We gave her for her birthday a T-ball set which she loves and can hit the ball really far she is definitely athletic (YEAH!!) and a hand held v-tech v-smile pocket and game, and our big gift to her was her Barbie bike! We figured she should be learning how to ride a real bike with the help of training wheels. She was so excited. She got a few other things as well.










Now that she is 4 she is learning so much and can understand so much more it is a really fun time for us and her. She can play games and is learning to write more, she can write the letter "A" and "D" and "i" the number "1" and "2" and draw a balloon, a person which is hilarious and hearts and circles. She started sunbeams in January and every Sunday we listen to the new primary songs they’re learning. It amazed me this past Sunday she could sing every song on the CD. She is so smart and has and incredible memory!
We also had a talk with her about now that she is 4 she needs to be our big girl and be a good big sister. Also that she needs to have some responsibilities which will be pulling up her covers on her bed, learning to buckle herself in the car and learning how to go the bathroom all by herself without my help.(she needs to know that for pre-school) If she does these things than we started with her a "Coin Jar" which is every time she does something nice, plays well with Ellie or just does what is asked without whining than she gets a coin(a nickel) and if she is bad than she gets one taken away. My sister Jackie gave me this idea; it's an instant gratification or punishment which she needs. She knows that every week if she has enough coins then she can take them to the store and buy what she wants. So far it has worked really well. If we tell her we're taking a coin she stops what she is doing. It's awesome.

Sacramento Zoo!

So the day before Adalyn's birthday I decided to take the girls to the zoo. In march it was half price, so it was a good time to go. The weather was in the 70's and it was just a beautiful day. We went with our friends from our ward Carrie and her daughter Ellie. The girls loved seeing all the animals which we were lucky they were all out so we could see them. It was fun to see Ellie experience seeing these wild animals up close. They all loved it. I would say there favorite animal was these little monkeys that swung all over the place and made a really loud sound. We got to ride there very little train as well.

Make-Up

My sister Kristy's little girl Asia had Adalyn's name for christmas this year. She gave Adalyn a make-up kit. It was really cute and Adalyn was so excited to have make-up. I keep it up in her closet so she can only use it when I can supervise her. So Adalyn and especially Ellie is always bugging me to get it down. They love to cake it on there faces. So here are some pictures of them. Also I added a video of Ellie and had her say some words. I love the way she talks!

Reading scriptures as a family!

Every night after dinner we read our scriptures and my sister Jackie about a year ago gave me a great idea to let Adalyn read also. So we say a word or two and she repeats it until she has read a verse or two. Well a couple of weeks ago Ellie wanted to start reading, she does really well with most of the words. It just make me laugh to hear her say these big words, she loves to do it and makes sure she gets a turn. Not only that but I have noticed that she says a lot more words and started putting 2 and 3 words together, I think it has helped her speech a lot.(you'll notice when she sees I'm video taping her she stops reading and is messing around!)

So I just figured out how to post video's,(I know it's taken me awhile) Anyways I am going back through some of my blogs and adding pics and will also just post a bunch of random video's from the past 6 months!

Camping in our house?

So I'm a little behind but I'm trying to catch up on my blogging. So the first Friday in February Adam decided that he wanted to camp with the girls. It was a little cold outside so he thought why not camp in the house! So we got pizza and pop, and had a fun dinner eating on the couches why we rented and watched a movie. Then we had dessert and Adam and the girls set up there tent. It's a little two man tent that we had. It was such a fun night and the girls loved setting everything up. Adam didn't want to sleep on our hard wood floors so he blew up an air mattress and put it under the tent. Then they got there sleeping bags and flash lights and had fun getting settled in. Of course 2 minutes after I went upstairs Adam called for me to come get Ellie who wanted to just play and not go to sleep. So she slept with me which she thought was so fun! It was just one of those nights that we were really able to enjoy one another and create a good memory for our kids!

Start Smart Basketball!

Adalyn the beginning of February was able to go to start smart basketball camp. It's a program here on base they also do other sports through out the year, T-ball, golf, soccer and b-ball. You have to be 3 so this was Adalyn's first time doing it. It was 2 weeks long. They got a shirt and a really cool basketball. Basically 3 times a week for an hour we went and she learned how to dribble, shoot the ball, bounce pass and chest pass. They also worked on running correctly and a few other drills and games. It was a lot of fun. She loved learning and but hated me to correct her or try to teach her. She kept telling me "Mom, I can do it myself!" She can be very independent when she wants to be. My favorite sport to play is basketball so I hope that it is something she can enjoy as well. She did really well for her age.

Megan's Birthday/Valentine's Day!

So I just turned 25 which I cannot believe I am actually 25 years old! I still feel like I'm 19(although when I look in the mirror I am reminded that after 2 kids I don't have my 19 yr. old body!) So Adam was so wonderful we got a baby sitter which we never do and we went to the golf course here on base and hit a bucket of balls and pitched and putted. It was so fun especially because I pitch/put better then him. Then he took me out to BJ'S. It was our first time there and we loved it. It was just a fun date. It's always nice to go out just the two of us. Adalyn was so funny she kept asking "is it my birthday?" I had to keep reminding her that her birthday isn't until march. She was so excited to help Adam make my cake and help me blow out the candles!


For Valentine's Day we got a babysitter and went with 2 other couples down to Roseville to a restaurant called Lucille's. It's a bbq place which I hate bbq but I knew Adam would love it. We really enjoyed going out with friends and enjoying a good meal. Even I loved what I got, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and fries. They had the best biscuits with apple butter, and at the end of your meal they give you a warm towel to clean off with. It was a great Valentines Day! We forgot to take any pictures though.

Officially a BIG Girl!!

So when we were in Oregon over Christmas break Ellie got into the bad habbit of only falling asleep with me rocking her or laying with her. She just didn't like sleeping somewhere new and so we dealt with it. Well when we got back home it was the same thing. She wanted me to rock her to sleep or worse lay in our bed with me until she fell asleep. Then it became that she also refused to get into her crib. So she started sleeping with us. Which I said I would NEVER let a child do! Needless to say it has been a challenge. So in mid January I told Adam she obviously doesn't want to be in her crib so lets set up the toddler bed. She loves it and will atleast stay in it. But unfortunately we haven't broken the habbit of me rocking her to sleep. Hopefully we can fix that soon. But for now she thinks she is such a big girl for sleeping in a toddler bed.

Riding Bikes!

As soon as we got back from Oregon it started getting really warm here. It was so weird that is was early January and 65 degrees outside. So the girls really enjoyed riding there bikes and scooters. They are getting so big I can't believe it!

Potty Training!! Yikes!

So on Jan. 7th Ellie kept telling me that she needed to go "pee pee" I didn't want to put her on the potty thinking she would just play around but I put her on anyways not thinking she wouldn't do anything and she totally pooped!! We were so excited. Now everyday she tells me when she wants to go "pee pee" or "poo poo" I can't believe she is trying to potty train herself. She does like to tell me now all the time that she has to go and a lot of time she doesn't really have to. But most days she does really well. We are just letting her have fun right now, not really trying to make her go if she doesn't want to. We'll see maybe she could be out of diapers by her 2nd birthday! That would be wonderful!!

Happy New Year's!!

So for the rest of our vacation my mom took all the kids and mom's to McDonald's for lunch.(thanks Mom!) The kids loved to run around and play and after that we went swimming at Woodburn's Aquatic center. The boys met us there to take the kids in the water. They all loved swimming and it was the first time Adalyn didn't hesitate to get into the water. Ellie is always ready to jump in. We even got Ellie to go down a big slide with Adam and she kept crying to go again and again. Of course after that Adalyn wanted to go. They had so much fun. On New Year's Eve we made lot's of food and yummy treats and played games waiting for midnight. It was a really fun night just hanging out with my whole family. We loved being home and spending time with everyone and the kids loved running around playing with and getting to know there cousins. We left on the 1st to start driving back home. It only took us 8 1/2 hours and the kids slept for most of it! It was a wonderful trip.

Christmas 2008!!

So it is now the end of January and I am just now getting to updating my blog! I have thought about doing it everynight but I have been lazy! Sorry this is going to be long! A lot happened over christmas vacation and I wanted to write everything down so that we don't forget this wonderful Christmas! This year was by far one my most favorite Christmases! Adalyn is getting older and new all about Santa and that he would bring her a present if she had been a good girl (which was nice because I could threaten her that she better be nice to get her presents!! :)) For about a month she had been telling us that she wanted Santa to bring her a barbie guitar. So at our ward christmas party that is what she told him she wanted!(she got it too, Santa couldn't say no to her!) The girls loved getting out all the lights and tree and hanging ornaments. Everything about Christmas this year was so exciting for them and for Adam and I to be able to teach our girls all the fun traditions but also teach them the real reason we celebrate Christmas.
So on Dec. 17 Adalyn, Ellie, and Megan flew into Portland to spend a couple extra days with family. We're lucky we were able to fly in it snowed so hard for a couple of days! It's not like woodburn to get a lot of snow so it was fun but a little crazy. This was the first time Adalyn wasn't affraid to touch the snow and Ellie isn't affraid of very much so they loved it. My brother Ross and Lindsay and there boy Braden flew in the same night. Jay and Chelsea and Hannah live down the street from my parents, and Kristy and Will and there 5 girls live in Vancouver Washington about 45 min. away. It was the firt time I had seen Roxelle and she is Beautiful and such a good baby. My girls absolutely loved playing with all there cousins but they really loved baby Roxelle and thought they were the only ones that could hold her. Adalyn asked me a series of question like "do you have a baby roxelle in your tummy?" I said "No" Adalyn asked "Can we go to the hospital and get one?" And we have had a converstation like that almost everyday since. She is so funny. Anyway we did lots of shopping and played and then Adam drove in on the 23rd. The girls and mommy had missed him! We made lots of food and played games everynight, watched lots of movies and just let the kids play all day. It was wonderful! On Christmas morning it was just Jay, Ross there families and our family with my parents and later in the day Kristy and Will came down. It was such a fun Christmas morning. The girls loved everything they got and so did Adam and I. We got lots of good stuff. Late christmas night Jackie and her family flew in. A couple of days later Paula and 2 of her kids Haylee and Alexa came. There whole family was going to come but because of the snow there flights kept getting cancelled and so last minute the 3 of them decided to still come. It was so fun having us all at home. There were a lot of people. 13 adults(2 of them pregnant) and 13 grandaughters and 2 grandsons. It was a full house. We love being able to spend the holidays or anytime with family.

My "Stylin" Girls

So Adalyn keeps telling me "I'm stylin mom!" I say yes you are Adalyn. I don't know where she heard to say that phrase but now she is always aking me if she's "stylin." It makes me laugh so I thought I would post some recent pictures of the girls looking "stylin"

Thanksgiving in Kansas!!

This Thanksgiving we felt very blessed to go and visit Adam's family in Kansas. It was a wonderful trip. We got to stay with Bryan and Holly a couple of days(adam's brother and sister-in-law) and there 3 kids Cody, Cammy and Grace. Our kids played so well together, it was fun seeing the girls get to know all there cousins. Then we stayed a couple of days with Adam's parents. We are so grateful to have such wonderful family and to be able to spend time with one another. We were also able to be at the blessing of Cam and Christy's new baby girl, Olivia. Both of the girls were so excited to travel and see family (especially grandma and grandpa) and it snowed!

Grace, Cammy and Cody had Adalyn and Ellie for Christmas and they gave the girls a doctor kit amd the little people Nativity. They were so excited to get presents and they LOVED playing with Cammy and Grace. Thanks Byan and Holly for letting us stay with you and for our awesome presents!

Some of the cousins, Grace, Jordynn, Keira, Ellie, and Cammy. The girls loved playing with there cousins!

Grandpa and Grandma McKee with Adalyn and Ellie 11/28/08

Great Grandma McKee, Uncle Paul and Aunt Sharon and Aunt Tinker with the McKee Family.

James and Rebecca VonGunten with there 2 kids Kaitlyn and Dillon. They are great friends from college and just moved to Kansas City. It was so fun seeing them.

Grandma!!!!

We love when we have family come visit but we especially love when it's Grandma Jones!!! I know I have the best Mom! We had such a great time and the girls were so excited to see her. Even Ellie warmed right up to her right away. Of course she had presents for the girls and Addy was so excited she got the new barbie movie "A Christmas Carol" She came on Nov. 11th and Adam had the day off so we did some shopping and then the next day we just hung out went around base and my mom got to go to Adalyn's gymnastics class which of course Addy was so happy about. The girls just were so happy to have somebody else to play with besides me. It was a nice break. It happened to be very warm while she was here and so the girls always wanted to be outside and Grandma never said no. She would pull them around the block in our wagon or let Adalyn ride her bike. She also taught Adalyn how to climb our two little jungle gyms and Adalyn was very proud of herself. And of course Grandma couldn't leave until we all had boots, so we went to Target and the girls got to pick out boots which they now want to wear every where we go. I love mine too! It was just a wonderful 5 days. Thanks Mom for coming and spending time with us. We love you!!

Energetic Ellie!!

So here are some pictures our cute little Ellie the night before her accident. She loves to sit in the cupboards and say "hide" She closes the cupboard to hide and waits for one of us to find her! She is so full of energy and just fun! Then the next day around 4:30 p.m. we were waiting for Adam to get off work a little early it was Friday Nov. 7 and I was upstairs playing with the girls in Adalyn's room. Ellie loves to climb on Adalyn's bed and play even though we are always telling her to get down because she runs and jumps on the bed and there is a wood head and foot board she could hit. Anyways I was helping her get down and holding one of her hands while she was jumping and being crazy. All of a sudden she tripped on Adalyn's blankets and like in slow motion I could see her falling toward the end of the bed and would hit the edge of the wood but I couldn't move fast enough to stop it from happening. So when she hit and looked up at me literally her mouth was filled with blood and she was screaming. I had never seen so much blood come from one of my kids. I cupped my hand under her mouth as blood poured out all over the floor and ran and grabbed a towel and called Adam asking him to quickly come home. Thankfully he did and the bleeeding stop but she completely bit threw her bottom lip and it was huge and swollen for about a week. Poor girl!

Halloween!!!

We had a great Halloween this year. We went to our wards trunk or treat on Saturday the 25th. Adalyn decided she wanted to be Barbie as the Island Princess and Ellie was a beautiful butterfly. I loved both of there costumes. Both of the girls loved dressing up and seeing everyone elses costumes and getting candy. On Halloween day we went to a little parade here on base where kids and parents walked to different building trick or treating and that was a lot of fun and then that night Adam and I took them around our neighoborhood. It was not to cold out as you can see in the pictures Adam is wearing shorts it was 80 degrees which was nice. Also there is a picture of Adam wearing a mask, during the week of Halloween the base was doing what they call an "excercises." Where basically they simulate different emergencies and attacks. This time they acted as though they were in a deployed environment out at the flightline. They practiced chemical attacks and so he would have to put on these special clothes and mask and get under the table. It made me laugh to think of him hiding under the table but everyone had to do it. Anyways the girls thought it was funny that he had the mask on.
Oh yeah also the orange shirts the girls are wearing with the pumpkin face is something we did at her pre-school. I thougth it was such a clever idea. We took white shirts and tie-died them orange but made an orange circle in the middle to paint a pumpkin. The girls loved making them.

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm!

So the last couple of years we have gone to Wheatland the closest town to us about 10minutes away and gone to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. It is a huge farm that has a ton of things to do. A petting zoo, a train, slides, pig racing, trains to play on and tons of really yummy food! We always have a good time when we go and at the end of it we get to go on a tractor pulled hay ride and go to the pumpkin patch and pick our pumpkins. Both of the girls loved it all and it was a great family day. We went on Columbus day, Monday October 13th. The military gets that day off which is really nice.