Washington is full of burglars

Instead of going to Washington for Christmas this year, we decided to go at the beginning of December so that we could be there at the same time as Kristen and Rick. It was such a fun little vacation! Luckily Stori fell in love with her cousins and played hide and seek the whole time. (Dan isn't sure that she understands that the twins, Nick and Joseph, are actually 2 different kids). The twins were so cute with her and always asked her to play with them. They even let her play with all their cars and trains! She's a sucker for toy cars!

We were definitely excited to go to Costco! This was Sylvie's first trip, so of course I had to document it! :) Stori enjoyed riding in SJ's carseat, so we let her lay there while we shopped. Then she decided to hold Sylvie. They both loved it.

We had lunch at Bruchi's... Sylvie fell asleep in Marisa's arms right after this photo! She's a perfect aunt!

We also went and visited Santa and his reindeer. Unfortunately, Santa charges $7 just to see him and $20 if you want to take a picture. So we just waved and that was that. 

We also enjoyed many delicious meals and several rounds of Mafia. It's always great to be with family.

We were suppose to head home early Monday morning but we decided to stay one more day. Why oh why did we stay?  Don't get me wrong, Monday night was one of our favorite nights there. We went to Vern and Nicoles for dinner and FHE. We had popcorn and watched "A Christmas Carol." Then we went for a drive to the Temple and to look at Christmas lights. Super fun right? Well we got home late and started the 'loading the car' process. I thought about that idea and asked Dan to wait until morning.

Then Tuesday morning happened.

We got up bright and early to make the 9 hour drive back to Rexburg. Dan walked out to start loading the car and noticed that the back hatch was open and the dome light was on. He tried to unlock the door with our remote but it wasn't working so he had to unlock it with the key. 

THEN the car wouldn't start. Battery was dead. So he went to Walmart with his Dad to buy jumper cables. They got it started and continued to load the car when he noticed his camera bag was missing. We looked for about an hour and even called his sister to see if we left it there. Then we noticed our iPod and his Moms phone were also missing. 

We had been robbed.

We called the police and found out that we were the 12th car theft of the morning. Awesome. 

After we made our statement and gave them the pen the robber had dropped, we managed to get in the car and start our journey. It was a very depressing ride. We felt violated and just plain sad! $4,000 worth of camera equipment was now gone. We only have liability on our car, so our car insurance wouldn't cover it. We don't have renters insurance, so that won't cover it either. Our only hope lies with his parents home owner insurance.

 I sure hope those filthy animals felt good about having to crawl over 2 car seats to take our stuff. 

Any pictures we had taken on our trip are now lost and gone forever. 

all of us were sad^^^

 We have to wait for the police report to submit the claim to the insurance company. Let's hope it get's covered!! Dan had a positive outlook on it though. He's very glad they didn't take the guns---if they took them and committed a crime, they would trace the guns back to Dan. We are also very glad that they were 'good at thieving.' If they would have broken the glass to get in we would have had to pay for that out of pocket and drive home in the cold. So that's good I guess! :)

These last 2 pictures were in Idaho. We took Stori to see Santa and I got this picture before the elf said I wasn't allowed to take pictures. So that's lucky! :)

And I just love this picture of Stori. She has a rough life. 

Kickin back eating her 'white' ice cream cone after an afternoon of playing on the toys at Arctic Circle! :)

 

Hopefully the next time I post, we will have good news to report: both about Sylvie and the camera.

4 months is her age

Well, I don't have any great pictures of Sylvie June Bug on here because of Dan's camera situation---that will take a whole post alone, so for now, my iphone photos will have to suffice.

This last month was kind of a doozy for SJ.
-She stopped sleeping 11 hrs at night and went to waking up every 3-4 hours. I think it has something to do with traveling to Utah, Washington, and Lewisville. Plus she was sick the first part of the month and on antibiotics for 10 days. She has had this swollen 'lymph node' since she was about 1 month old, and it hasn't gone away...so the dr. put her on the medicine to see if it would help. Sadly, no change at all. We go back to the Dr. on Wednesday so hopefully we can find out what it is. He said it could be a cyst, and we will have to have a biopsy of it to make sure it's not a malignancy...Gosh I really hope it's just a really odd swollen lymph node... I'm really anxious to find out.
-Besides that, she is still just the sweetest little girl. She laughs all the time, smiles if you even look at her, a little chatter box, naps like a champ, eats lots, growing like a weed, almost rolling from her back to her front, loves her sister more than anyone, loves little baby toys that rattle, can hold onto her little chains on her carseat, falls asleep if we rock her facing out, and get's squished a billion times a day.
She is our punkin pie, punkin-unkin, punkin-unkin-munkin-chunkin-punkin-chunkin, and june bug.

This 'photo shoot' is a lot less glamorous than her 3 month one, but she's so cute and cozy that these will work just fine! :)

 She loves to suck on her little fingers when she doesn't have her binky. I think it's so cute and dainty! :) She also started doing this ridiculously funny face. I tried to capture it in the above photo. She fills her cheeks with air and pushes out her lips. She will do this face to Stori all the time and we just laugh.

Stori actually took this picture. She was so proud of herself so I had to post it. :)

Stori loves to be "best friend twins" with Sylvie. I try to get them to match any chance I can.

We are so blessed to have these 2 cute little girls in our lives. Dan always says, "What did I do to get the most beautiful gals ever?!"  I agree, we must have done something right! Love my family.

Some things don't change

like this for instance

Thanks of '13

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in the great land of Clarkston, UT. We just love all things to do with that little town.
//I love it for it's beauty, its size, the people there, great running trails, and the fact that it's nestled up to the mountains.
\\Dan loves it because there is a gas station close by with soda, he can literally mountain bike/hike right out the front door, he can drive 1 mile and be able to shoot his guns, and his un-official BFF lives there! ;)
//Stori loves it because of cousins, pianos and toys.
\\Sylvie loves it because she never get's put down and get's invited on the "no kids allowed" shopping trips.
It is also great because it's just 20 minutes from Logan, which happens to have Hobby Lobby!

So we knew before we went for Thanksgiving that we were going to have a blast.

We got there Wednesday night---Stopped at Aleisas house for pizza and visiting.
Stayed at Meg's house.

Got up Thursday morning for a run/jog/walk/run away from dogs adventure. Meg and Amanda were kind enough to go slow for me. I was so sore from running up and down the hills, and I definitely realized how out of shape I am. Those 3 miles felt like 12!! Didn't I just run the 1st Dam Run 5K while pushing Sylvie? And didn't I just run 4.5 miles with Alicia? sheesh, I think my body was already in post-dinner-coma-mode.

Anyway, we spent the rest of the morning sharing the oven while making sides and pies for dinner. It was sad that there were 2 houses to make dinner at because we weren't able to bake and talk and snack together. Lot's of Christmas music though.

Then over to Aleisas house for the feast. It's weird, but on Thanksgiving I never actually eat that much. I think it's because I spend the whole morning snacking. It was all very tasty though, of course.

For Black Friday we only had 3 places to go, and ZERO of those places required us to get up early and  fight with strangers. The one thing that I did want, however, was a pair of leggings from this little boutique. Long story short, Dan came shopping with us and made me miss them. The very last pair went to the lady in line right in front of me. Literally. I was so sad.

Went to a few more stores and then headed back home after lunch at Sam's Club. Classy.

Dan went shooting and Mt. Biking with Joel. The girls crafted. The kids played (and occasionally had screaming contests. I think Stori won).

Saturday all the girls went shopping again and almost finished Christmas shopping.
Later that day some of us ate at Cafe Sabor and then saw Frozen. It was so much better than I was imagining! We loved it! And I love that it was a musical like Tangled. Stori loved it but kept asking for popcorn. :) Sadly we lost Sylvie's bow in the theatre... 2 day old bow that I made. Ah well, at least we didn't lose Sylvie!

We left Sunday morning and spent the day decorating Christmas Tree's at my mom's house.
All in all, a FABULOUS weekend!
The very worst part...not a single picture was taken on our real camera and only 6 pictures on my phone. Talk about lame!

1. cuddles with meg. say wha??? 2. her shirt=duh, the bow=lost. 3. "I love to see the Temple" stori style 4. three of us share a twin bed. 5. the shortest mark on the wall (hair had to be pushed down for accuracy). and 6. naked oatmeal eating.
and bonus info---it snowed about 5 inches today. Just in time to drive to Washington on Thursday.

quickupdateonlife

Well, I haven't sat on my couch in almost 2 weeks. 

The day of the spider.
(And also, my lips are the size of China in this pic).

Stori is 100%  potty-trained with ZERO accidents.

While my mom was in Oregon with Bridget, we went to her house and put up 3 Christmas trees for her as a surprise. This was Dan's 5th year putting them up and he's getting pretty good at it! :)

We made cookies last night for FHE even though none of us really like cookies all that much

And my girls are still just as cute as ever.

The End.

a little bit of June bug and Rosie girl

2 things really amazed me today; how fast I forget what it's like to be pregnant, and how fast 3 months goes by with a newborn. :(
 I forget that cool feeling of the baby kicking and squirming. I forget the excitement of each Dr. apt where they listen to the heart beat. I forget the uncomfortable sleeping-situation/clothes-wearing/work-out stage with a giant belly. I forget the labor pains. And I forget what it's like to have just one tiny human.
But I suppose it's all for the best to forget most of those so that we will want to have more children in the future.
As if having these beauties isn't motivation enough!

  

 

Here are a few achievements of our little June Bug!
+ ran her first 5k in Logan, UT
+ went to her first movie at the cheap theatre for FHE. She stayed awake the whole time watching Despicable Me 2.
+ smiles all the live long day! She has always been this way. It is very rare that she won't smile at you while you talk to her. She is also very ticklish and giggles lots!
+ eats every 3 hrs during the day and has a very set schedule with naps. she's very predictable.
+ goes to bed at 7:30 or 8 and sleeps through the night (except for this last week-she was sick and I was exhausted).
+ still sleeps in the bassinet next to our bed
+ still loves to be a burrito and loves her binkers
+ hasn't lost any of her hair yet (knock on wood) in fact it's getting longer.
+ wears size 1 diapers and is fitting into 0-3 month clothes
+ she rarely cries, but when she does, Astoria is there to rescue her before I get the chance to. She will give her her binkers, rock her, and whisper sweet words to her. The other day this happened...

She went and got her bunny book from her room and was reading it to her. She said, "Ohhh poor punkin, let's read book together......" 

     "....It's spring and the bunnies jump in puddles. What flowers you see? Orange flowers? blue flowers?" 
Her little voice is so cute! I say this every time, but she is such a good big sister. (and only partially nude part of the time :) ).

 Having Sylvie June in our life just makes sense! Don't know what we ever did without her or her sister. Sure we went on a lot more dates--but the dates we have at home watching a movie with popcorn or ice cream, is kind of hard to beat if you have two beautiful little red heads sleeping in the next room!

and if all those pictures weren't enough, here are ever so many more!

1st Dam Run in Logan UT--- I think this was my 10th year doing this race!

Daddy is a lucky, lucky guy! 

Watching Despicable Me 2 with the Foresters (and popcorn). All the kids did awesome for the whole movie!

the "spooooky spider"

2 things.
1. I will never sit on my couch again, and
2. We might have to move!


I was using up my precious 'Stori nap time' to cuddle with little miss Sylvie June Bug. Just laying on the couch with her laying on my chest. Best thing ever. Then it happened. In my peripheral vision I spotted a "fly" walking across our blanket. Then it continued to walk up the couch. WALK--- Fly's don't walk people, they FLY! So I hopped up faster than you can say Cotten Eye Joe and took sweet Sylvie and hopped up on the table. Sadly I woke up Stori and she was so scared of the spooky spider crawling on the couch. Let me tell you this---it looked like a crab mixed with a scorpion! With hairy legs! ughlllggg!!!! Well I called dan and he said he wouldn't come home from work to kill it, so I had to improvise. I looked out the window for a stranger to come up and kill it for me. Nothing. Then I looked for my neighbors. All gone for the day. So I called Alicia who helped me find someone that was home. Brian Garcia is the name of the hero. He came over, confirmed my description of the scorpion-crab-spider, killed it with Dan's shoe, and threw it away. After he left, I loaded up my kids and went to Walmart until Dan came home (2 hours later)! It's safe to say I have a pretty big fear of spiders. Especially ones that crawl on me and my little baby! Who knows how long it had been hanging out with us!
P.S. Netflix and Hulu are horrible and awful, and I love them!
Parenthood, New Girl, Psych, Castle, Blacklist, Modern Family, and probably a lot more that I'm forgetting!

Picture taken back before the spider ruined my life. Those were simpler times. 

10.31.13

Halloween 2013
-We usually start planning our halloween costumes about 4 months in advance, and then finish the costumes, the night before. Well, this year is no different.
In August, after much thought for the spooky holiday, we finally decided we would be the cast of 'Tangled.' The one problem we had--Astoria wanted to be Flynn Ryder.

Astoria+Flynn=True Love

We thought it might be a little weird for our 2 year old to dress like a boy, so the brainwashing began. By September we had her sold. Stori would be 'Princess Punzel', Dan would be Flynn, Sylvie as Pascal, and myself as Mother Gothel. 

(Don't think about the creepiness of Stori hooking up with her Dad, cause that would totally ruin everything. So just don't think.) 

All I had to make for Stori's costume was the hair. I just braided golden yarn and hot glued flowers in. (Thanks Ambs for holding Sylvie while I created!) I had already purchased the Punzel dress as a 'dress-up' toy/potty training reward. (oh ya, Stori is potty trained whoop whoop)!!!!

For Pascal, I had to create it all. I used felt for the tail and the eyes. Just put the eyes on a headband and it worked great so that we could still see Sylvie's beautiful hair! :) (Thanks to meg for the green body)!

Mother Gothel's costume was all borrowed from my Mom's stash of old and previous Halloween costumes and Amanda's vampire dress.

Flynn took the most work. My favorite part was that we used my Grandma Lila's wig! haha! I made his boots out of DI brown sweater sleeves, his vest from an old DI henley, the toggles on his vest from the rest of the brown sweater, the brown pants were from DI, the satchel---yep, you guessed it, also from DI, and the crown from the Dollar Store. Dan grew out his facial hair for the role, and put on his best 'smolder' face.

We won "Best Family Costume" at our ward Halloween Party. We LOVE our ward, and Stori especially loves our Bishop!

Bishop with most of the kids

+on actual Halloween, we headed out to Lewisville to Trick or Treat a few houses, and then on to my Mom's house to enjoy pizza dinner with Mom and Josh's fam!

before the carnival

We love almost everything about Halloween: dressing up, the decorations, the candy, the pumpkins/punkins, and the weather. the thing we (mostly me) HATE=all things scary! So no haunted houses or scary movies for us! Can't believe this is our last Halloween in Rexburg! :(

family pictures galore.

I am so obsessed with my family it's ridiculous. 

I love them more than Tillamook ice cream and sweet pork salads. 

Here are about 20 pictures of this family of mine.

 

haha Sylvie! 

reently became a daddy's girl 

A special thanks to Megan, Mom, Amanda, and a red sucker for making these pictures possible. 

photos taken in Menan