Gardiners

2010-09-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures as promised. We lost our camera about 3 months ago (which had ALL of the pictures on it. I am really stressed over this. So any pictures I have are pretty recent. Here goes.

These first ones are of a little hike we did near Mission Ridge ski resort. The hike we wanted to do was closed because of a fire in the area so we found this little trail. We also learned that there is a tubing hill open through the winter on the weekends. Sounds like we know where to go tubing now.

I have all my ducks in a row!!

This is the "walking stick" they decided to carry around for some of the hike. They have a way of making things more difficult than they need to be.

Kaitlynn

Aubrey

Logan

Next up we have Logan's 2nd birthday. I botched the cake really bad so we had a trifle instead. It was a hit. What could be better than cake, pudding and Cool Whip? I tried letting logan lick the candles and he chomped down and wouldn't let go.

I made this bag to hold all of his new cars that had got for his birthday. He got a couple of sets fromt he movie "Cars". He is obsessive of that movie right now so when we took him to the store to get his gift he lattched on to them a wouldn't be swayed. He also got a remote control Mater and a Thomas the Train set with the money that grandmas sent. Thanks Grandmas and Grandpas!

We went camping in August in an area called Icicle Creek. It is up by a town called Leavenworth (which is a neat town in it's own rights-a Swiss alp themed village). Anyway, we had a nice long weekend and we spent the time hiking and enjoying the outdoors. It was so relaxing that we had a nice family nap. That was a nice treat. We will be going back to Icicle Creek again next year for sure.

That is all for now. I need to go start getting ready for church. I am subbing in Nursery today. YAY FOR ME!!

It's about time

2010-09-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

It's been almost a year and I am going to get on it. I just know that I am ready for fall. I love the crisp air, the cool nights, the fall colors, school. I have so much to be grateful for. Just so you all know we are doing great and I will post some pictures of our lives as soon as my camera battery finishes charging...or whenever I get around to it. Love you all!!

Birthday Bash

2009-12-02T11:23:00.001-08:00

I can't believe another year has gone by. A five year old, a three year old and a one year old. WOW. The girls have birthdays close together (Nov 20 & 29) so they shared a party. They had fun with bingo, music, balloons, cake and ice cream, and most of all...a pinata.

I made this cake myself. I had fun doing it. It is no prize winner, but the girls were happy so I was too.

We went pretty minimal this year. I think I will always go minimal from now on. The girls opened their two gifts each (both things that they needed) on their birthdays. Kaitlynn got clothes and she was dying for a battery toothbrush and her own toothpaste...she was extatic!

Aubrey got a comforter for her bed, some tights, and the toothbrush/toothpaste combo. She was so excited that her bedspread had Ariel I thought she might pass out. The had really great birthdays.

Fall

2009-10-17T10:16:00.001-07:00

I want to start out by saying I LOVE FALL!! It is by far my favorite time of year as far as weather and scenery are concerned. I love the feel of the air, the colors in the trees, the smell of fires in the fireplace, the anticipation for the holidays, the pumpkin patch visits, Halloween. It is all so wonderful.

Well, I haven't posted for a very long time. Instead of trying to do individual posts of what we have been up to I am just going to say we have been having a lot of fun. We went camping a rafting down the Teiton River with one of Wyatt's brothers for a weekend (can I just say I love that family), we had Wyatt's grandma Sweeney for a couple of days(such a fun lady), Kaitlynn started preschool (she is growing so fast), Logan is Walking(crazy kid thinks he is so big), We are making a TON of progress in the yard and a LITTLE progress in the house, we went to two fun pumpkin pathes and painted some great pumpkins, and just a a lot of fun and craziness!!

I seem to lose things VERY quickly these days. My wedding ring is currently MIA, I am so heartbroken about it too. I don't even remember taking it off. ANd I just tried to find the cord to hook the computer to the camera and I can't find it either. SO I will put up a bunch of pictures as soon as it is located.

The boy is a year old!!

2009-08-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

So Sunday was Logan's first birthday. We didn't have a big shindig. Jaron (older brother) and his family came to our house for dinner and cake. The boy (as we call him) got his own HUGE piece of cake. He was a bit timid at first, but after a few minutes he was all for it. He is so dang cute and we sure do love him.

A bit late, but Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day Weekend Brian and Melinda (Bro and Sis-in-law)and their family came over from Spokane to visit. We had a great and busy weekend. We drove all over Western Washington and Northwest Oregon seeing the sites. Little did I know that the weekend was going to be full of "Twilight" stuff. Bekah is it to the book and movie series and so is Melinda and Brianna (niece). I will hold most of my sarcasm in for this post, but I do not see what is cool about the whole thing. Bekah I am sorry I just had to get that in there. The movie was filmed right around home. So below you should easily be able to see that recurring theme in the pictures. We had a great weekend and are very glad the the some of our family come for a quick visit.

On the first day we just had to make a trip to see Forks, WA. The 8 hour drive seemed like a quick leisurely drive to get this picture. It took a while, but driving the Olympia Peninsula was cool. It is really a pretty area.

Okay fine, we didn't drive 8 hours to just get the picture of Forks. We went to the Sequim (skwim) Animal Preserve (aka zoo). This was by far the best zoo I have been too. You sit on your can in the car and the animals come to you. We had a few close encounters while there. The drivers side door of the truck still has Yak slobber all over it, and Logan about got eaten by a full size Buffalo. Other than the bears, tigers, lions and a few other animals there was nothing between you and the animals. As you can see in the photo below the bears will do all sorts of tricks to get food. I will say the Sequim is an awesome town. Absolutely beautiful. It also gets about half the rain the the rest of the Pacific Northwest gets because of where it is situated on the Olympic Peninsula. Nice town, highly recommend it.

On our way from the Zoo to Forks. We drove through Port Angeles. A portion of the Twilight movie/book is based there.

All of the school scenes from the movie were filmed at Kalama High School. This is about 20 minutes from our house. I believe the picture below is one of the same shots as in the movie. Just think girls the dreamy Edward Cullen walked up those steps and so did I. OH MY GOSH THAT IS SO COOL.

We also went to the beach. It was too cold to play in the ocean, but that didn't stop Kaitlynn and Aubrey. The entire walk/run from the car to the water Aubrey yelled "BEACH". She was really happy to see the water. She wasn't as happy when she was cold, wet and had sand in her diaper. Serious discomfort!
So we went to an indoor Aquatics Center in Astoria, OR and had a great time there. On the way Kaitlynn took the skirt to her swimsuit and put it on her head. Trying to look like Mother Teresa. She needs a bit of work to act like her though. one day she will get there.

Last, but certainly not least we went to Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. It apparently was also in the movie. It is an awesome waterfall. If you are up to it and not rollie, pollie, ollie like me you can hike to the top. I passed on that.

We had a fun time. We also went to the Ape Caves which are lava flow tubes underground from when Mt. St. Helen's erupted. You can go down inside and walk through them. Aubrey liked it for the most part, Kaitlynn cried and Logan slept. Sorry no pictures of that adventure though.
So when any of you are up for a good time we have all sorts of cool things to do around here.

Good Times, Good Times!!

2009-05-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Okay so Bek and the kids left me for a few weeks, so I am flying' solo for a while. Out of pretty much pure boredom I thought I would put up a new post because it has been a while. Pathetic, they have been gone for two days and I am already this bored. This is really going to SUCK! I can't believe I miss the chaos that is life. Anyway here are a few pictures of fun things that have happened over the last month.

So Logan is a big boy and is taking his bath in the big kid tub. YES, that is really the color of our tub. AWESOME.

For some reason over the last little while Aubrey has been sneaking out of her bed after Kaitlynn falls asleep and crawling into bed with her. Then sometime during the night she wakes up and goes back to her bed. We are pretty sure she sleep walks. She has scared the crap out of me a couple of time by coming right up to the side of our bed as we are sleeping and standing there. I fly out of bed because I sense there is something there or Bekah is beating me because she can hear something, and Aubrey will just be standing there. Yeah, it is a bit creepy, but I love her.

Kaitlynn just finished her school year at preschool. This picture is her with Teacher Tammy. She thinks Teacher Tammy walks on water. She was so bummed that school had to stop for a few months for summer. Tammy is a great teacher and we are lucky that she will be Kaitlynn's teacher for another year.

Logan is a speed demon these days. He motors all over the place on those poor bruised knees of his. It is funny to watch him follow the girls around the house. They leave the play room and a couple of seconds later here he comes behind them. Just as he makes it across the hard wood floor they pass him going the other direction. He doesn't miss a beat and turns around and heads on back. He is pulling himself up on everything and a couple of times we have caught him standing with no support. It won't take him long and he will be walking. OH CRAP!!

I will save a few other pictures for another post. Memorial Day weekend will be the next one.

An evening in the park

2009-05-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a few beautiful days here in Longview. We took advantage of one sunny evening and had my dear friend Pam take pictures of our family. The pictures were taken at Lake Sacajawea. It is a man made lake in the middle of town and the whole town is built around it. One of the areas is a Japanese garden island. That is where we went on this beautiful evening. Pam did a great job and there were a lot of great pictures so bear with me here.

Another update

2009-04-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just a little update...Logan had two eye doctor appointments at Casey eye intitute on Tuesday. This is what they said:

Dr. Stout, his vision doctor (a Pediatric Ophthalmologist) said that his vision doesn't seem to have deteriorated since she last checked him (about 1.5 months ago). Unfortunately his left eye is substancially worse than his right and seems to be getting more lazy. So, we now have to patch his right eye for an hour a day. I know that doesn't seem like too long, but he doesn't like it one bit and fights me for the whole time. I happened to coax a smile out of him for a picutre...what a good little boy. I just LOVE him. He usually ends up falling asleep then I have to leave it on longer or put it on again because it doesn't do anything to strengthen his left eye if he is sleeping and not using it. She also said that she wants to check his vision when he is under anesthesia because she can get a more accurate read on the actual vision. She will be out of town for the one on the 27th, but she will be here for the following one. At that time she will find a prescription for glasses...depending on the numbers she gets Logan may or may not be getting glasses within the next few months.

Dr. Edumnds, his glaucoma doctor (a Pediatric Glaucoma Specialist) said that he LOOKS okay (the looks of his eyes has fooled us before though). She doesn't even try to use the tono-pen (the instrument used to "tap" on his eye to test the pressure) anymore because he will have to see her the rest of his life and she doesn't want hime to associate her with pain and struggles. I agree, I hope that he will see her as a friend who will help him, not someone who tortures him. Anyway, she felt his eyes and got a tactile feeling that his left eye still has high pressures. She didn't say much at all about the right eye so lets hope it is still okay.

SO, we take him back in on the 27th for his next EUA (exam under anesthesia) and needling. We are postponing tubes for now and are hoping to avoid it all together. What a sweetie pie he is though...just a little trooper. I sure love him even though he has caused me lots of migranes the last six months.

The girls are doing great. Kaitlynn is at preschool right now and Aubrey is playing with the Little People farm and castle without having to fight for the best toys. It is a win-win...Kaitlynn loves being at school and Aubrey loves Kaitlynn being at school. Of course by the end of the three hours they miss eachother and can't wait to see eachother. It is really fun to have them so close (in age and to eachother). They really are best friends.

Wyatt's birthday is on Sunday and had a GREAT plan for the weekend, but it isn't going to go exactly how I had imagined. I will have to come up with some other brilliant ideas quickly!!

Anyway, that's all for now. Take care!!

SUN!!!

2009-04-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was beautiful!! The sun was shining, it was warm, my mom was here, everything was GREAT!! I think I really was needing the sun. Don't get me wrong, so far I haven't been minding the rain, but I think maybe somewhere deep down I was needing some sun and some time outside. We had a VERY productive weekend. We decided to make our garden bigger. So Wyatt tore out a few more Rhododendrons and added about 8 feet to the garden area. After pulling out about a couple hundred rocks and countless roots, we dug the furrows, then planted our broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, carrots, and lettuce. I am really hoping I am not too early on some of them. I will have to watch the weather and make sure I get them covered if it frosts over.

We also got the trampoline up...finally. The girls had a blast and I have never seen so much static in two heads of hair in my life. WOW. It was like afro's of strait hair.

Other than that I got a wall painted and we got the big TV hung, we watched conference, we fed the missionaries, Wyatt got the lawn furniture put together, the girls played in the dirt and climbed trees. WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND. I am feeling much better about life now. I am sure that it is partially because of the sun, partially the productivity, and partially from watching conference.

I love spring. Everything feels new and uplifting. I was really needing that.

Conflictions

2009-03-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to say how I am feeling right now. Is it possible to be inspired and depressed at the same time? I want to laugh and cry, sleep and play, smile and scowl all at once. I am conflicted to say the least.I know that my trials are small compared to many, but at times I feel overwhelmed, like at any moment I might crack and lose the ounce of control I am holding on to. I really do want to keep my ounce.

I can pinpoint at least part of the reason I am so emotional. I am feeling sleep deprived from taking care of an 8 month old who has NEVER slept through the night. Not only has he not slept through the night, it is not uncommon for him to be up 3-4 times a night. Probably 13 out of 14 nights he is up at least twice.

Kaitlynn and Aubrey are typical 4 and 2 year olds...fighting, getting hurt, yelling, crying, making messes. At least they do them all together and keep each other entertained. Aubrey is almost 2 and a half and has NO interest in keeping a diaper on, but also NO interest in using the toilet.

What I must say is that I am grateful to be a mom. At times that is the exact thing that is making me crazy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I LOVE MY KIDS. It is so great to see them growing and becoming little grown-ups. It is interesting to see them making connections in the world on their own, without having to explaine every little detail. It makes me feel so happy to feel thier love when my girls ask for "one more kiss" before bed or when Logan cries out when I leave a room because he misses me. I just know my life wouldn't be whole without all of them. I am so blessed.

Also, I am SO in love with my husband. I never thought I would be blessed enough to have a loving, devoted husband. I love that he supports us without complaint...not only does he not complain about having to go to work, he takes pride in providing our family with the things we need. He looks forward to coming home to be with us at the end of the day and he loves spending time with us. I love that he loves me...that is something I hope I will never take for granted.

I know that this post is so drastically different from our others. Thanks for being patient with me while I try to work through some of the emotions that are bubbling to the surface. I have decided to try harder to be a great wife, a loving mother, a trustworthy friend, a true disciple of Christ, an organized RS Secretary, a diligent preparedness group coordinator, a friendlier neighbor, a busier person in general. Most of all, the wife, mother and disciple roles are the ones I WILL IMPROVE. The time has come for me to stop being a fence sitter and be more of an active member of my family and our Heavenly Father's family. I love you all.

Earrings

2009-03-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have a great friend named Pamela. She is so talented. One of her MANY talents is that she hand makes jewlery. She recently gave me a gift and I have to show them off. She gave me this pair of REALLY cute earrings. I absolutely love them. They are called falling rain.

She has a shop on Etsy.com. The link to her shop is:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5311389

She also has a blog where she posts craft ideas, recipes, and fun activities to do with kids. The link is:
http://pamelasusan.typepad.com/pamela_susanup_close_pers/

You really should check out her sites.

Thanks for the earrings Pam. I love them.

2009-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

So over the last few weeks Bekah and the girls have been getting started on a garden. If you look in our kitchen it looks like we are growin weed because we have these makeshift seedling lights setup with plant trays underneath. If the government is reading this I promise there is nothing illegal being grown in our home, unless Bek is making an attempt to pay of some medical bills. So here are a few pictures of them planting.

Have to thank Pam for taking the pics.

This is our weed garden.SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

Kaitlynn loved getting in and getting her hands dirty. She will be great help with the garden (until it comes time to work).

Burz doesn't really have the patience to sit and plant. She is a cazy woman.

This is the boy just chillin!

Boring!!

2009-03-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no pictures, I just wanted to get on here and give a little update. Everyone is doing well. No new stitches for Aubrey. I hope we are over that phase for a long time. We have all had colds though for about two weeks now. It is getting old. I am ready to be done with them. The girls got it first and are pretty much over it so hopefully we can see the end coming.

Logan was supposed to have a surgery on Monday but we had to cancel because of the cold. He got it pretty bad. He lost and his voice and everything. He is now on an antibiotic for an ear infection, motrin for the headaches, two different inhalers (one steroid and one anti-inflamatory), and his eye drops. Poor kid. His pediatrition said he will stay on the steroid inhaler indefinately because he gets intabated so much that his lungs are likely so become irritated and such.

Wyatt has gotten a lot of work done around here. He went to the cannery for us today and did some of our food storage. What a good man he is. He then came home and worked on our wood flooring some. Thanks mom and dad for coming to help us today...we REALLY appreciate you.

Wyatt is a little upset with me though. I figured out where I wanted my garden to go so he went out and removed the bushes and trees and such. Then he went and tilled it and all that jazz. Then as watched the spot over the next few days I decided that I wanted to move the spot to a different place. He was not a happy guy. He is such a great guy that he will move it for me. I am so lucky to have such an understanding husband. He is so handy and talented. I love you honey!!

Anyway, enough of that lovey dovey crap. We are good. Life is good. Logan is scheduled for surgery on the 23rd. We will let you know how it goes. Take care everyone!!

Big Boy

2009-02-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

Logan is growing up so fast. We pulled out the high chair yesterday. He looks so tiny in it. He sure loves it though. Doesn't he just look adorable???

My Seamster

2009-02-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

Wyatt decided to try his hand at sewing. The girl had some dress up dresses that were to long so he fixed them up.

This was the finished product.

Man I, I mean He does good work.

Jungle

2009-02-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very productive day. The weather was beautiful so Wyatt went out to thin out our jungle of a backyard. Jungle is no exageration either. It was CRAZY out there. I don't know if any of you know how out of control Rhododendrons can get when left to themselves in their ideal environment (wet, temperate climate...southwest washington). The first two pictures are of Wyatt in the midst of the the jungle. In the beginning of the day we couldn't even see him from the house.

At this point, progress had been made and we were discussing garden plans.

This is the pile of bushes we ended up with at the end of the day. We probably have that much more to tear out, too.

I am just getting excited for spring so I can plant my garden and do some landscaping...maybe some grass for the kids would be good. That would mean that we need to get rid of the rabid beasts in the backyard though. We had three raccoons living in some trees in the yard. Wyatt bought some traps and he has already caught and removed one of them. We are hoping for another tonight. Wish us luck.

On to the right.

2009-01-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

Thursday was Logan's surgery. We went expecting to have some adjustments made on his left eye, but the doctor said that the pressure in his right eye had skyrocketed (into the high 40's) and that she didn't think we could put off the surgery any longer. The optic nerve was not tolerating the pressure well. The trabeculectomy was done on Thursday afternoon.

We just got back from Logan's eye appointment and he is doing good. The doctor said his eye is "looking good for his 2 day check-up".

Two weeks ago when they did the left eye it didn't do as well and we had to take him in two times for injections. Then it was too high again and he had to have the sutures in the top of the eye loosened. Yes, he was to high, then too low, then too high. After "needling" (or poking holes in the trab site) the left eye twice, it is looking like it is stable in the mid teens. We would prefer it be around 10, but this is better than the 50 that is was at 2 weeks ago. So his right eye seems to be responding better and we are grateful. Thanks for all of the prayers and love.

Oh, another something. Aubrey fell again and had some staples put in the back of her head. She got those out yesterday and is doing fine. The doctor recommended putting her in a padded room because she is a train wreck (those were his words, not mine).

Aubrey's new do

2009-01-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Aubrey got ahold of a pair of Mamma's scissors and decided to give herself a trim. So this is what we ended up with after Amber (the beautician) fixed what she had done. I happen to like it a lot, but a Daddy always thinks his little girls are gorgeous.

Logan's eye update

2009-01-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Okay so this week we had surgery number 4 and 5. On Monday Logan had a trabeculectomy. It is a procedure that cuts a chunk out of the eye to create a drain so that the eye does not have so much pressure. This drain then makes the eye bypass the drains that are there and not working. There are far more risks than with the procedure he had the first three times.

One of the risks is that the pressure in the eye goes to low. A normal eye has pressure between 8 and 15. Logan's eyes prior to surgery have been in the 50's. After the surgery it can drop to 0 or lower. That is also really bad because then the eye does not have enough pressure to keep it's shape and the eye can collapse. Logan's eye lost too much pressure and then had to go back in on Thursday to inject "gel" back into his eye.

It has been a rough week. Our little guy is such a trooper. We were at the doctor on Wednesday and she was telling us that he had to have surgery again the next day and the entire time she is saying this he is smiling and talking to her. He really is an awesome baby.

This is how we normally see Logan. He is a pretty happy go lucky guy.

Ding! Round three!!

2009-01-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

On December 31, Logan had his third bilateral goniotomy. Poor baby. Heis such a good baby through it all though. We take him back in on Friday to have his pressures checked. If they are too high he will have his next surgery on Monday, If they are low enough then we will wait until Thursday. Yes, you understood correctly. He will be having another surgery... a Trabeculectomy...on either Monday or Thursday of next week. PLEASE keep him in your prayers that this will be the one that controls his eye pressures enough for now. We really hope to at least get a break. If you are interested, you can watch the surgeries he is having done on YouTube. They are called a goniotomy and a trabeculectomy. They are pretty gross, but interesting. Oh, the things on his arms are splints to keep him from rubbing his eyes or pulling at the bandages.

Stitches

2009-01-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

We had a little mishap on Sunday. After watching Barbie and the Diamond Castle, Aubrey and Kaitlynn were doing some vigorous dancing. It was fun to watch. Well, Aubrey got a little dizzy and fell right over and bonked her eyebrow on the rocking chair. We took her to the hospital and she now has 9 stitches over her left eye. Wyatt and I decided that it must be a right of passage for our kids to have some kind of incident with their face by age 2. Aubrey made it the longest of any...2 years 1 1/2 months. Good girl Aubrey.

Christmas at the Gardiner's

2009-01-05T13:36:00.001-08:00

Christmas was magical for us this year. There is something about the time around Thanksgiving and up to the new year that is amazing. Everything seems different...even the air feels different. I am always a little sad after that special feeling is gone. I am already excited for next year though.

Kaitlynn was a little bit shocked that Santa really did come. She was a lot of fun. Kaitlynn opened most of everyone's gifts. Aubrey will have to work on speed for next year.

Aubrey was excited. This was her first "Santa" year. I don't know if she really undrerstood it yet, but it was fun anyway.

Logan had a great first christmas. He was a happy boy.

It is a hard life being a dog. Sam must have been tired from making sure there were no new puppies in the packages. Wyatt obviously took this picture because if I had seen her laying on our new carpet I would have kicked her off.

Are you kidding me?

2008-12-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

Trying to get a picture taken to send out with our christmas cards was a complete disaster. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

This went on for about 1 hour and about fifty pictures. I was getting very cranky by that time. Luckily I had a brilliant idea...bribe them with candy. I got an okay picture then.

I really love my kids. They are a lot of fun, usually. I am glad to be a mommy...There is nothing else I would rather be doing, usually. : )

Gearing up

2008-12-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of un leading up to Christmas. Snow play, visiting Santa (Burz wasn't interested, setting up the nativity, and decorating the tree. We had a lot of fun around here.

Pickin the tree

2008-12-26T14:52:00.000-08:00

Picking out the Christmas tree was loads of fun. Everyone got all bundled up and we went to good old Fred Meyer. Aubrey said hello to the lighted reindeer, Kaitlynn picked out the tree that was just her size and Logan was chillin' on Sam's new doggie bed. We ended up with a tree that was slightly bigger than the one Kaitlynn picked.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

We went to Spokane to be with Wyatt's family for the weekend and had an awesome time. We went shopping, skating, to movies, the men went for a turkey hunt, we just had full and eventful week. We also spent time just lounging and doing nothing...which I LOVED!! Did my kids have fun? I would assume so, I didn't really see them all that much. Thanks grandma and cousins!!

There is no other way to say this than Cassie is rockstar of a cousin (not that the others aren't). Kaitlynn still talks about how they used the dog's food bowl for the hat. Good thinking Cass!!

The women and children went rollerskating and had a great time. Aubrey had perma grin and Kaitlynn had a sore bottom, knees, and well everything. The fun ended when I (Mom) was skating with her and she fell behind me and pulled me down on her. She didn't think we were having fun after that. SORRY!!

Brianna's baptism was truly beautiful. What a special occasion we were able to witness. After the "bathtism" as Kaitlynn was calling it, Kaitlynn wanted to be "bathtised". It was a lot of fun for my girls to be able to see Brianna make that step in her life (and it was a great photo op.).

The end of the week happened to be November 29th so we had a combined birthday for Aubrey and her cousin Danica. We had cake and ice cream (actually an ice cream cake), and had a good time.

Thanks to the Gardiner family for a great vacation. I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving. We sure love and miss all of you.

Birthday Fun

2008-12-13T20:14:00.001-08:00

Better late than never? Please forgive me, I can't seem to keep up with anything at all. Since Kaitlynn and Aubrey's birthdays and so close we can celebrat them together. We didn't have cake and ice cream though, I was too much of a slacker. We used what I had on hand and had donuts and cool whip. I am glad that Nana and Papa were able to be here because it probably would have been a huge downer without them.

Nana and Papa know my children so well and know that they LOVE dress up stuff. The wedding dresses were perfect. Thank you so much!!

watch us groove!!

2008-12-13T10:41:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Logan's issues

2008-11-25T22:10:00.000-08:00

So we found out about 3 weeks ago that Logan has congenital glaucoma (it is an eye disease). We thought that glaucoma only happened to old people, but we were obviously wrong. Logan had his first surgery on Nov 6th. That surgery didn't work (sucess rate of this type of surgery is only 50%) the way the doctor hoped it would so he had surgery again on Friday 21st. Since we didn't get picture the first time around we made sure we got it this time. He is a bit cranky about the whole thing, but the doctor says he seems to be doing fine. He will have to have very regular checkups and maybe more surgery to make sure he keeps his eyesight. We are blessed to have caught it early. If we would have been a bit later there is a good chance he could have gone blind.

Halloween

2008-11-14T15:17:00.001-08:00

Aubrey as Tigger.

The kids with daddy. He was a cow (diary none the less) earlier in the day. For some reason he took it off for the night out.

Kaitlynn as a pirate.

Tillamook Time

2008-10-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

I know that all of these pictures and ads are out of order but we have done a lt of fun stuff lately and I wanted to Share them. Unfortunately, I am new at this and I don't know what I am doing. So I will tell you what I tell Kaitlynn..."You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

So these are some pictures are of some time we spent with Nana and Papa in Tillamook.

Our "new" house

2008-10-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

We have done it again. Even though we were a little gun-shy after our last house experience, we bought another house. It is very dated but with a lot of potential. It is in the nicer area of town with a lot of fairly new houses. Wyatt can hardly wait to get going on it. These pictures are of it as we bought it. Unfortunately these pictures fail to capture the best part...the bright green carpet!! Yeah, that is already gone, it was the first to go. We will keep updating as we finish different areas.

Baby Blessing

2008-10-30T14:29:00.001-07:00

We had Logan blessed in church on Sunday and it was a beautiful thing. He was such a good boy...Wide awake and quiet the whole time. We were able to have family here with us and we were so grateful to those who came to support us. What a blessing it is to have the priesthood in my home I am grateful to my father in heaven for all the blessings he has given me.

Preschool

2008-10-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Kaitlynn started preschool again and was so excited. It is so strange to think that she will be four next month. My baby is growing up. She still acts so little sometimes and at other times I am surprised by how grown up she is. It is so fun to be a mom. Poor Aubrey misses Kaitlynn while she is at school. All I hear for the 3 hours that she is gone is "ere Kainan?", "Kainan a schoo?" (these are miss typed on purpose because that is how Aubrey says it). Any way, she loves school and Burz misses Kaitlynn.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-30T14:12:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun at the pumpkin patch this year. The girls each chose a little pumpkin that are now sitting on my porch. I LOVE FALL.

Here we go

2008-10-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

We have decided to follow the crowd and start doing a blog. I am hoping that it will help us stay connected with some friends and family better. We'll have to see how it goes.