Rayna and Brady

Fall Pictures

2009-11-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures of the kids at the park a few weeks ago. I think they turned out so cute! I love Fall pictures!!

Halloween

2009-11-09T16:37:00.001-08:00

This year for Halloween, Rayna chose to be Snow White and Brady was a knight. They were very cute! We went to the school carnival on Friday and then to our church's fall family festival on Saturday. We ended the evening with a little trick or treating around our block.

Rayna's 1st Field Trip

2009-11-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

Rayna got to go on her first field trip with her class to the pumpkin patch. She was so excited to ride on the school bus (so was Brady!)!! She had a great time with her classmates and we had fun tagging along.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

This year we went to the pumpkin patch with Jeff, Mandee, Rayden, and Parker. The kids all had a great time together!

Trip to Portland

2009-11-09T16:26:00.001-08:00

In the beginning of October, we headed up to Portland to visit Grandpa Larry and Grandma Becky. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed a day at the zoo which is always fun! We also took the kids to Chuck E Cheese for the first time (my first time too). That was a huge hit! They can't wait to go back!

First Day of School

2009-11-09T16:23:00.001-08:00

Rayna started preschool this year and is loving it! She is in the Kangaroo class and her teacher is Mrs. Mary. Here she is on the first day of school!

New Floor

2009-11-09T16:22:00.000-08:00

We put in new wood flooring in our kitchen and dining room. Here's the before and after.

August

2009-11-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

More camping, swimming, and dressing up.

Way Behind!!

2009-11-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

Wow! Didn't realize how far behind I was on the blog. Sorry about that. I will try to do better and update more frequently. Now to catch up....

Camping at the Beach

2009-06-30T19:36:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we went on our first camping trip of the summer. We drove up to Newport and found a beautiful campground about 30 minutes south called Cape Perpetua. We had an amazing time camping and enjoying all the fun beach activities. We spent one day in Newport and went to the aquarium which was a huge hit! We also did some hiking and spent plenty of time down at the beach! The kids were so good and had so much fun! They even slept great! It was a wonderful trip and we are excited to do some more camping in the weeks to come!

Tidepools

2009-06-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

While we were watching the sunset, we found a perfect spot for tidepooling. So we got up the next morning and went and explored. We had so much fun and found so many things! The kids were so excited about all the sea life, especially the starfish! We also found a sea urchin and millions of sea anemones. There were also some sea lions and seals that were hanging out on the rocks right by us. That morning was one of the highlights of our trip!

Beach #1

2009-06-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

Rayna could not wait to get down to the beach to play!! She and Brady both had so much fun and it was so much fun watching them! Brady discovered it was really neat to throw a shovel full of sand up in the air (thanks to Daddy showing him how!) and Rayna had fun making castles and drawing pictures in the sand. They both loved destroying our castles as well! It was a wonderful afternoon!

Beach Day #2

2009-06-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

We spent another afternoon playing at the beach. The kids loved digging in the sand and making sand castles. Rayna got buried by Daddy and thought that was pretty fun. It was really windy that afternoon but we still had fun!

Sunset

2009-06-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

We stayed up late one night and watched the sunset. Rayna thought that was pretty neat. She of course wanted to do it again the next night, but they were too tired to stay up that late again!

Oregon Coast Aquarium

2009-06-30T08:46:00.001-07:00

The kids at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. We enjoyed the aquarium one day while we were on our camping trip. The kids loved it and we saw some really neat things!

They had a really cool "Odd Animal" exhibit that we all enjoyed very much. The sea life was all very interesting to look at!

The shark tube was a huge hit with the kids! They loved watching the sharks swim all around us! It was very cool!

We had fun watching the sea lions, seals, and otters. They were so cute!

Touching Pools - They had two areas at the aquarium where we could touch several sea creatures including starfish, anemones, sharks, and rays. Rayna was a little nervous at first but then got into it and thought it was pretty cool. Brady loved it!

The kids had fun playing in the kids play area.

Father's Day Outing

2009-06-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day, Bryan wanted to go to the Applegate Trail Museum in Sunny Valley. We enjoyed learning more about the history of our area and the Applegate Trail. The museum was small but enjoyable. The man running it was a little odd, but was very excited about his job. The kids had fun climbing in the covered wagon and stagecoach.

Playgroup at the Park

2009-06-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

We went to Morrison Park this last week for our Friday playgroup. The kids had so much fun and it was such a beautiful day! They played lots on the playgrounds, ate some lunch, and even played in the water feature they have there. It is one of our favorite parks to go to!

Playing in the Water

2009-06-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

They have a really cool water feature at the park that the kids played in. They had so much fun and burned off lots of energy! We went back again this week and had another great day! Anytime we can go where they have water, I've got happy kids!

Swimming

2009-06-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

The weather finally got nice again so we filled up both swimming pools. Rayna and Brady had so much fun and played in the water for hours! They love the water!!!

Dress Up

2009-06-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

More pictures of the kids dressing up. We moved Rayna's bed into Brady's room and turned her room into a playroom. That meant going through all the toys and dress up stuff. Both kids found lots of fun outfits to try on.

More Pictures of the Kids

2009-06-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

Here are the other professional pictures I got of the kids. Brady had just turned 2 and Rayna was 4.

New Pictures of the Kids

2009-06-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

I took the kids into Penny's a couple of weeks ago to get their pictures taken. It had been quite awhile since I've had the two of them together. I think they turned out sooo cute! We also got some of them alone for their 4 year old and 2 year old pictures. I did take Brady in before but don't think I posted those yet. I also took Rayna in to get some of her in her ballet outfit and they should be back next week.

Wild Cats of the World Park

2009-05-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went out to Cave Junction to visit the Wild Cats of the World Park. It was really neat! We enjoyed seeing all the beautiful cats up close and hearing more about them. So glad we finally made it out there!

More Pictures of the Cats

2009-05-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Dressing Up

2009-05-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

Dress up continues to be a daily activity in our house! Brady has started getting into it more and it is so cute! One of their favorites is to dress up like firemen. They run around the house putting out fires. Very cute!! They also like wearing their Mickey/Minnie ears everywhere! Even to the store!!

Water Fun

2009-05-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

We have been loving the warmer weather lately and have been outside as much as possible! The kids have been dying to get out the little pool, so we did last week. They've been in it every day! I think we'll be doing that a lot this summer!!

Moon Sand

2009-05-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

Rayna has been having so much fun playing with her moon sand she got for her birthday! She loves that she can shape things and especially likes that the molds are all princess and castle things!

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day is the one day of the year I know I will get some family pictures taken. So here we are this year. We even got a nice picture of just Bryan and me. The kids have gotten too big and are growing up so fast! They got me some flowers to plant in my new planter out front and not only helped me plant them, but they help me water them everyday. My birthday fell on Mother's Day this year, so it was an extra special day. We had a wonderful family day, going to brunch, going on a bike ride, and having movie night. I love my family!

Gardening

2009-05-12T06:54:00.001-07:00

Rayna got some great gardening stuff from Grandmoo for her birthday and has been anxious to use it. The weather has finally started looking up so over the weekend we worked on clearing out and planting the garden. Rayna was so excited! She had so much fun digging around in the dirt and found many worm friends to play with. It was a lot of fun!

Babysitting

2009-05-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Michelle had to go back to work a couple of weeks ago so I am now babysitting her little guy, Dawson, during the week. The kids and I are loving it! I just love having a baby around again, and he's such a good baby! Rayna and Brady are both great helpers and love playing with him and making him smile and laugh! It is really cute to see how they interact with him. And Dawson thinks they are hilarious! Brady does want to do everything Dawson does, including using the baby swing and bouncy seat. I thought he would be more jealous, but it really hasn't been too bad. It has been such a joy!

Rayna's 4th Birthday

2009-04-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well, our little girl is now 4 years old! It is so hard to believe and it is just amazing how grown up she has become! She had a wonderful birthday party the day before her birthday and then a wonderful birthday day. She had lots of visitors come to celebrate with her and was very happy to see everyone! Here are some pictures of our big 4 year old on her birthday.

Birthday Meals

2009-04-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Rayna got to have several special birthday meals. After her party, we took her and Drew (her cousin who turned 7) out for a Mexican dinner. After dinner they got to wear sombreros and were sung too. Rayna thought that was pretty neat. Then after church, we went to brunch with Grandpa and Grandma at Elmers. After our meal, Rayna was surprised with a birthday crepe and song. Again, she loved it! For dinner that night, she chose to go to McDonalds (big surprise...I don't know what it is about that place and kids!). She was very happy with all her birthday meals!

Brady's New Toy

2009-04-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

Brady got a belated birthday gift from Grandpa Larry and Grandma Becky...a plasma car. It is very cool and everyone had to try it out! Brady calls it his helicopter car and thinks it is very fun. He prefers using his feet to make it go, but I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

Princess Rayna

2009-04-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

For Rayna's 4th birthday, she chose to have a princess party. She has been so excited about it and has literally been planning it for almost a year! She was so excited get all dressed up like a princess and have her friends dress up too! All the kids looked so adorable and everyone seemed to have a great time! Here are a few pictures of our princess on her big day!

The Cake

2009-04-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

I made Rayna a pink castle cake for her princess party. She was very specific about wanting it to be pink! I think it turned out very cute and she loved it!

Party Fun

2009-04-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

The kids had lots of fun during the party. They did crafts, played lots of games, danced at the ball, and ended with a treasure hunt. It was all very cute!

Rayna's New Bike

2009-04-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Rayna's most exciting present was her new princess bike she got from Mommy and Daddy and Grandma Bonnie. We had her close her eyes while Bryan brought it in and when she opened them, she was so surprised! She has been riding it around whenever she gets the chance. Brady had to try it out too!

Opening Presents

2009-04-28T17:01:00.001-07:00

Rayna was so excited about all of the presents she got for her birthday! She has pretty much opened and used everything she got! Thank you so much for all the great gifts!

Silly Kids

2009-04-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of cute pictures of our silly kids. Rayna has really been into making crafts lately so we made a crown for Brady. He loved it! Then Bryan caught them both sitting on the changing table in Rayna's room reading books. So silly!

A Trip To Bend

2009-04-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Bike Riding and Playgrounds

2009-04-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

My mom and I took the kids on a great bike ride down by the river. It was so nice! We ended up at a couple of different parks and went shopping down at the Old Mill. We spent some time at two different playgrounds and the kids had so much fun!

All Dressed Up

2009-04-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids all dressed up for Easter Sunday. They were very excited to wear their new clothes to church and looked so cute. Getting a picture of the two of them was very difficult as usual, but we got a few cute ones. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Easter Baskets

2009-04-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

The kids were very excited about the goodies in their Easter baskets. They each got a movie and new Bible book, along with a little toy and some candy. Brady found the jellybeans right away and kept shoving them into his mouth as fast as he could. Rayna was quick to follow!

Hunting for Eggs

2009-04-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Brady woke up first Easter morning and immediately started finding eggs. He was very excited so he went in and woke Rayna up so they could both hunt for eggs. They did a great job finding all of the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid around the house. Rayna said that next year the Easter Bunny needs to be trickier. :-)

Annual Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we got to go a great Easter Egg Hunt that some friends put on every year. They have tons of goodies to eat and lots of eggs for the kids to find. Here are the kids enjoying themselves and hunting for some eggs. Rayna got to go out in the field with the big kids this year while Brady still got to search around the play area. They both had so much fun and got lots of great treats and treasures!

Decorating Easter Eggs

2009-04-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

The kids were so excited to dye Easter eggs this year! I took Rayna to church where we helped dye over 400 dozen eggs (yes, 400 dozen!). She really wanted to paint some eggs so we used a sponge paint kit which made a HUGE mess! She had fun though and thankfully, most of the dye came off within two days. At home we did the regular dye in cups and both kids had a ball. Brady didn't want to stop and Rayna wanted to do all the eggs at once (I think because we were trying to so many eggs quickly at church, she thought she had to do that at home too). We had a lot of fun!

Brady's Big Boy Bed

2009-03-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

One of our friend's gave us a toddler bed this weekend so we took down Brady's crib and moved him into a big boy bed! He loves it!! He was very tired last night after playing at a friend's house so he went to sleep right away. He woke up at 6:00 and came to our room. I told him it was still night-night time and he had to stay in bed until I got him up. He stayed there for about 20 minutes and then I got him up. Hopefully he'll go down okay at naptime! Our baby boy is growing up!!

Meeting the Characters

2009-03-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our trip for Rayna was getting to meet some of the characters. We had to wait in line for about an hour to meet the princesses, but it was worth it! She was so cute when she got to meet them. She was also very excited about meeting Tinkerbell! Her absolute favorite though was Minnie Mouse! We got to see her a couple of times, along with Mickey. Brady loved to watch them, but did not want to get too close. I was able to get him close to Mickey since that was his favorite! We saw many other characters around, but didn't wait to get pictures with them. The kids were satisfied with just seeing them on the street!

Day 1

2009-03-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our first day at Disneyland started off with some major rain showers. As soon as we got in the park it started to pour. Thankfully we had ponchos and umbrellas and it didn't last very long! It also made for less people in the park which was really nice. We did a few rides in Disneyland and then went over to California Adventure to watch a wonderful production of Aladdin and spent several hours in Bug Land. We stayed late that night to watch Fantasmic which the kids loved! Rayna did get tired and fell asleep on Cheri's lap before the show. She woke up though just in time to watch it.

Day 2

2009-03-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

We spent most of day 2 in Disneyland and took the kids on almost every kid ride there. We also did several grown up rides too! There are some funny pictures of the kids passing the time while we waited in lines.

Day 3

2009-03-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

We had an early Magic Morning on this day so we got to the park bright and early. We went on Nemo (the new submarine ride) and then got in line to visit Tinkerbell and her friends at Pixie Hollow. After that, we had a great day of going on tons of rides, visiting Toon Town, and enjoying the warm weather (it was in the 80's)!

Day 4

2009-03-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

Day 4: We spent most of day 4 going back to visit some of our favorite rides. Rayna's favorites included: Astroblasters, Soarin' Over California, Dumbo, and Star Tours. Brady's were: The Rockets, Astroblasters, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Nemo. We also saw the Playhouse Disney Live On Stage show which was a huge hit with the kids!

Back From Disneyland

2009-03-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland over Spring Break and had an amazing time! I have a ton of pictures to go through and will try to upload some soon. Here is one of our family out in front of the park. The kids had so much fun and were such good travelers! We drove straight through both ways (12 1/2 hours each time) and they did great! We spent 4 days visiting the two parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) and went on almost every ride and saw almost every show! My mom and sister went with us and we all had a wonderful time! We can't wait to do it again someday!

More Fire Truck Pictures

2009-03-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

We had dinner at the fire station again last night. One of the trucks was outside so we got some great pictures of all the kids. Rayna was having so much fun "driving" the fire truck! Brady just liked running around inside and sticking his head out the window to tell everyone "hello".

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

The kids and I made some green cookies for St. Patrick's Day. They thought that was pretty funny. They each had their own utensil to lick, but also did some sharing. It was very cute.

Random Pictures

2009-03-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures of the kids playing around. Brady is really into climbing right now and climbs into many interesting places. He also loves to take all the chairs out and play "choo-choos." We had some really nice weather last week so we spent lots of time outside. Here are the kids having a snack on their picnic table.

The Circus

2009-03-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to the circus the other night while Bryan was working late. It was so much fun! Rayna was so excited the whole time and Brady sat on my lap and did not move the entire time. They loved it! Unfortunately, most of the pictures did not turn out because it was too dark. The kids especially liked the elephants, the poodles, and the bears. I loved watching the tigers!

Picnic Dinner

2009-03-15T15:50:00.001-07:00

Bryan has been working lots of long and strange hours lately, so the kids and I decided one night that we'd have a picnic dinner and movie night. We made grilled cheese sandwiches and smoothies and watched Tinkerbell. They thought it was so great getting to eat dinner in the living room while watching a movie!

Fire Station

2009-03-15T15:47:00.001-07:00

Our home group has continued to have dinner at the fire station once a month. The kids absolutely love it! This time they got to spend lots of time inside the fire truck and thought that was so cool! They also got to play Duck, Duck, Goose with a couple of the firemen. Rayna had so much fun and wants to play it all the time!

Happy Birthday, Brady!

2009-02-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our baby boy is 2 today! It is so hard to believe. He has grown up so much this past year and has gotten to be such a big boy! Thankfully, he still loves to cuddle with mommy in the morning! He really is a sweetie! He is so funny and makes us smile everyday. He loves to talk and sing all the time! Here are a few pictures to show you just how much he has grown up! Happy Birthday Brady!

Coming home from the hospital.

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Veggie Tales Party

2009-02-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

We had Brady's birthday party this past weekend. We went with a Veggie Tales theme because he loves Veggie Tales!! It was so much fun! I had a blast making a Bob and Larry cake and a Bob pinata. (Although I realized when I was looking at the pictures afterwards that I forgot to put the green stem on top of the pinata. I kept looking at it before thinking something was missing, but I could never figure it out. Oops.) The kids had fun helping me decorate and get the house all ready. We had lots of family and friends come over and help us celebrate. It was a wonderful afternoon!

The Birthday Boy

2009-02-18T07:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the birthday boy, all full of smiles. He was so excited about his party and had so much fun!

Birthday Cake

2009-02-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

Brady was so excited to blow out his birthday candles! He has been practicing everytime he hears people sing happy birthday. He starting blowing as soon as we started singing and didn't stop until both candles were out! He was making pretty silly faces while he was blowing and when he was all done, he was very proud of himself! Then he enjoyed eating his cake!!

Playing Games

2009-02-18T07:08:00.000-08:00

We tried playing a few games with the kids at the party. They did "Pin the Nose on Bob", "Hot Potato", danced to some Silly Songs, and did a Bob Pinata. It was very fun watching them!

Opening Presents

2009-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Brady was very excited to open his birthday presents! He knew exactly what to do and was very happy with all his gifts. He wasn't real thrilled with the clothes, but mommy was! Thanks everyone for the great gifts!

Rayna and the Big Snowflakes

2009-02-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

We got a little bit of snow last week and Rayna was so excited! One afternoon, we had humongous flakes coming down so Rayna went out to try to catch them with her tongue. She had so much fun and was soaked when she was done! So much fun!

Making Valentine Cookies

2009-02-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

This morning, the kids and I made Valentine cookies. Rayna wanted to make some to take to the firemen at the fire station. They had so much fun and make a HUGE mess, but it was worth it. Rayna did such a great job at rolling the dough out and cutting out her cookies. Once again Brady just wanted to play with the flour and eat the dough. He was covered in flour when we were done!

Bike Riding and Basketball

2009-02-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

We had some beautiful weather on Saturday and got outside for awhile. The kids had fun riding bikes and playing basketball. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Rayna on her bike. She has finally figured out how to petal and we can actually go on walks now while she rides. It's so much fun!

Finger Painting

2009-02-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

This was Brady's first time fingerpainting. For the most part he enjoyed it. Although, he really doesn't like his hands being dirty so he wanted the paint off pretty quickly! Rayna had fun as always mixing all the colors and making her hands as dirty as possible!

Daddy's Shoes

2009-02-10T13:19:00.001-08:00

I just love these pictures of Brady wearing Daddy's shoes!

Visitors

2009-02-10T13:16:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago (yes, I am way behind!) Grandpa Larry and Grandma Becky came down to visit. We had a wonderful time seeing them and got to have Jeff, Mandee, Rayden, and Parker over too. The kids had so much fun together, as always. They got to open some Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa and were very excited! Everyone had a wonderful time and we are so glad everyone came to visit!

New Towels

2009-01-24T10:16:00.001-08:00

Grammy got the kids new towels for Christmas. Now they can be a froggy and a piggy. They love them! Brady always wants to look in the mirror to see himself as a froggy and of course Rayna wants to do the same.

Rayna's New Tutu

2009-01-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

Rayna loves her new tutu that she got from Granmoo for Christmas! She wears it all the time around the house and couldn't wait for ballet class to start again so she could wear it to ballet. She is very into posing for the camera right now and does many interesting poses. Here are just a few of them.

Brady and Daddy

2009-01-24T10:10:00.001-08:00

Brady LOVES being on Daddy's shoulders! That is often the first thing he asks to do when Bryan gets home.

Mouse Trap

2009-01-24T10:06:00.001-08:00

One of Rayna's favorite games to play is Mouse Trap. (She doesn't actually play the game, but likes to play with the all the pieces.) We usually play it at the table so that Brady can't get the little pieces, but he wants to do everything that Rayna does now. So, he got up to the table too, and they "played" Mouse Trap for the longest time. It was very cute!

Playing Trains

2009-01-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Brady got several new trains for Christmas and we have all been having so much fun playing trains. We set up different tracks everyday and can play trains for hours!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, we headed over to Bend to spend it with my mom and sister. We had the best time while we were there. There was a ton of snow and it was absolutely beautiful! We got almost 8 inches just on Christmas Eve day! We spent some great time with family and also got to relax and hang out. The drive home was a bit tricky. The snow was turning to rain so we had lots of slush and then we had to make a detour through Klamath Falls due to some downed trees around Prospect. So, it took us a couple of extra hours, but we made it home. Now comes the hard part of trying to organize and put everything away! Guess I'd better get busy!

Snow

2008-12-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

There was a ton of snow when we got to my mom and sister's house. So, we got the kids all dressed up in their snowsuits and let them go out back and play. They had so much fun! Rayna immediately started making snow angels and so Brady wanted to try it too. He thought it was fun until he couldn't get back up. They played and played until their little hands were frozen.

Sledding

2008-12-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

Bryan worked to make a great little sledding run in the front yard. It was perfect for the kids and we had fun on it too! Brady fell off the first time he went down and wasn't very happy, but he did go again and liked it. Rayna kept going down over and over and over! We had a blast!

More Snow

2008-12-30T13:25:00.000-08:00

And more snow pictures. Rayna couldn't get enough of playing in and eating the snow. We had to force her to come in so she could get warm. Here is a picture of our van on Christmas morning(yes, it's a new van....Merry Christmas to us...not what we were planning on getting, but the old one was dying). We had snow the whole time we were in Bend. It was wonderful! The day we left, it started to rain and now my mom said it's pretty much all gone. I'm so glad we were there when we were!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Eve, we all get dressed up and went to an early candlelight service at church. It was very nice and Rayna enjoyed singing and getting to listen to a kids version of the Christmas story. It was a blizzard outside so everytime we looked out it looked like we were in a snowglobe. It was beautiful. After church, we headed over to Aunt Terry's for our annual Christmas Eve Mexican potluck. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and eating lots of yummy food! I got some pictures of the kids in front of the tree before we left. Rayna is in a silly phase where she likes to pose, and Brady still likes making his cheesy face. They looked very cute though. And we got a pretty good picture of all four of us.

Santa Came!

2008-12-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

Santa came to visit our Christmas Eve party at my Aunt Terry's house. Rayna was so excited and was not shy at all! In fact, she was the first one to go up to him and sat on his lap talking to him for the longest time! She just kept talking and talking until we finally convinced her it was someone elses turn. It was so cute! Once again, Brady screamed. But he did go get a candy cane and his present from Santa. As soon as he grabbed them though, he turned and ran. Maybe next year he'll like Santa a little bit more.

New Christmas Pajamas

2008-12-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

We have continued the tradition of the kids getting a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve. This year they had matching snowman, santa, and reindeer jammies. Rayna thought it was really cool that they were exactly the same, only different colors. Brady seemed pretty happy with them too!

Opening Stockings

2008-12-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

The first thing the kids got to do when they got up was open their stockings. It was so cute watching them discover all the neat treasures that Santa brought for them. Brady's favorites were his Thomas bubble bath and new fire truck. Rayna was pretty excited about her new hair brush and Lip Smackers chapstick!

Christmas Morning

2008-12-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

We actually got to sleep in until a little after 7:00 on Christmas morning. The kids were tired from staying out late at my aunts house. They were very excited when they got up and saw all the presents under the tree. We had a wonderful morning of reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, and eating yummy cinnnamon rolls. It was so much fun spending Christmas with Grammy and Auntie Cheri!

Rayna Opening Her Presents

2008-12-30T13:06:00.001-08:00

Rayna was so excited everytime she opened a present! She was thrilled that Santa brought her Tinkerbell bubble bath and a doctors set! She was also very excited about the Rose Petal Cottage and Belle Barbie and horse that she got from mommy and daddy! She even got excited over all of Brady's presents! It was very fun watching her!

Brady Opening His Presents

2008-12-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

Brady got the hang of opening up presents really fast this year! In fact, he kept trying to open everyone's presents! And he got really mad at us if we told him he had to wait his turn or that a present wasn't his. It was very cute how excited he got with all his toys. As soon as he opened his stick horse from Rayna, he got on it and started riding around.

Playing With New Toys

2008-12-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

The kids have been having so much fun playing with all their new toys! And they've been really good about sharing them with each other!

Rayna's Christmas Program

2008-12-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

The little kids got to perform their Christmas songs for us at church on Saturday. Rayna did great! She practiced all week and was so excited to get up and sing for us. They sang two songs and were absolutely adorable!

A Visit From Santa

2008-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Santa came to our mom's group on Friday! The kids were so excited! Well, except for Brady. He was excited while they were waiting for him, but as soon as Santa peeked through the door, he started to scream and turned around and ran to me. Once again, he was brave enough to go back and get his candy cane, but there was no way he was going to sit on his lap! Rayna couldn't wait though and once again told Santa she wants a doctor set and some Tinkerbell bubble bath for Christmas. We tried getting a group picture with all the kids and Santa. Not an easy thing to do with that many kids, but it turned out pretty cute!

Making Cookies

2008-12-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Rayna had some friends over the other day to make Christmas cookies. It was so much fun! Of course Brady wanted to join in too. He mostly played with the flour and ate the cookie dough! The kids made three different kinds of cookies and they all turned out great!

Gingerbread House

2008-12-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

Rayna and I put together a couple of gingerbread houses the other day. She had so much fun decorating her little graham cracker one and she did a great job! She also helped me decorate the big one and the trees. I can't keep the kids away from them though and quite a bit of the candy has disappeared! :-)

Downtown Grants Pass

2008-12-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

We went downtown on Friday night for First Friday. We walked around a bunch and got to see all the singing Christmas cards and nutcrackers that are down there. The kids thought that was really neat. They love the big nutcrackers so we had to get some pictures with them. It was pretty cold out, but they were bundled up and stayed nice and warm.

Santa #1

2008-12-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

The kids and I went to the mall to do some shopping the other day and so we stopped by to see Santa. They were both so excited and couldn't wait to see him. Once we were there, Rayna got a little nervous, but warmed up pretty quickly. She told Santa she wants a Dr. Set and some Tinkerbell Bubble Bath for Christmas. When it was Brady's turn, I started to take him out of the stroller and he immediately started screaming. I made him sit on Santa's lap long enough to get a picture. As soon as I took him off, he smiled and waved at Santa. As we walked away he kept stopping and waving and saying "bye, bye Santa." It was pretty funny.

Santa #2

2008-12-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

We ran into Santa when we were walking around town and he told us to come visit him at his can castle. Rayna was very excited and told Santa again what she wants for Christmas. We asked Brady if he wanted to go sit on Santa's lap and he immediately started crying. He did get brave enough to take the candy cane Santa gave him. That made him a happy boy!

Decorating the Tree

2008-12-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Rayna had so much fun helping us decorate the tree this year. She couldn't wait to get it home and get started!

Christmas Tree Hunt

2008-12-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

On our way home from Klamath Falls, we stopped and searched in the woods for the perfect Christmas tree. We actually found it rather quickly. We hiked up the hill a ways to cut it down and then the kids had fun playing while Daddy wrapped it up in the tarp and tied it on top of the van.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we went over to Klamath Falls. We had such a wonderful time with everyone. Jeff, Mandee, Rayden, and Parker were there also. So were Corey and Jason. And of course Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Chuck, and Grandmoo (Kathy). The kids all had so much fun together and we even got to have some adult time and play some games! It was great! So glad we got to spend the holiday with you all!

Our Family on Thanksgiving:

The Kids:Here are a few pictures of the kids on Thanksgiving day. They are so cute, but getting a good picture of them all is very hard!!

Playing:The kids all had so much fun playing together! They all played really well and kept each other occupied and out of trouble (for the most part).

Tea Party: Cousin Corey and Grandma Bonnie got the girls all set up with a real tea party. They thought that was so cool! They ended up having another one the next day. It was very cute!

Playing Outside:We got the kids outside for awhile and they had so much fun. They were digging in the rocks looking for dinosaurs and went on a hike through the hundred acre woods. It was very cute.

Feeding the Birds: Grandma Bonnie took the big kids outside to feed the birds. They had so much fun spreading the birdseed around and were so excited when the birds and rabbits came later to eat it. We even saw some deer eating it the next morning (ten of them!).

Dinner at the Fire Station

2008-12-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Our home group has gotten involved in a ministry where we got to adopt a fire station. We got to adopt one of the crews at the new station right down the street from us. We are available to help them out with whatever community service things they might need help with. We are also taking a meal to share with them once a month. We had our first meal the other night and it was so much fun! We got to tour the station and eat dinner and then the best part was the kids got to check out the fire truck up close. They all got to go inside and climb all over it. We are so excited about this opportunity.

Rayna and the Scissors

2008-12-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well, Rayna got ahold of her scissors at rest time yesterday and decided to give herself a haircut. I could not believe it. She took a big chunk out of her bangs and cut off the ends of both of her braids. She also tried to cut through one of her braids. I ended up having to cut off about 3 inches of her hair and her bangs are extremely short. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it before I tried to fix it. I was too mad! At least today I can laugh about it and I realize that it could've been much worse! Thank goodness her hair was in braids! We had a long talk and hopefully she will never do that again!