Monday, December 1, 2008

Beans anyone?

My big girl is eating big girl food now! She loves it! So far she has gobbled down everything I've offered to her. It's so fun to see her expression when she tries something new.




Shane had a residency interview in Utah in November so he had a chance to spend some time with the fam. Only 4 more months until we find out where we'll be for the next 3-5 years! We are so ready to move on to the next phase in our lives.







Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Family Photos November 2008

There is an absolutely beautiful forest right outside our back door so we thought it would be fun to take some pictures of our family while the leaves were in full color. Thank you for being our photographer Kassie!



Hey hey we're the Monkeys!!
But you have to admit the
background is amazing.




Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Picnik.com...fun stuff

My friend Kassie recently introduced me to a website called picnik.com where you can touch up your pictures and make them look a bit more professional, so I thought I'd try it out! Thanks Kassie! Here are a few of the pictures I played around with.... I love this one of Eliza reading to Hailey and Ava.
Can you get more precious than that?
Here are the girls in the forest just outside our apartment. Michigan is so beautiful in the Fall.
Here's our sweet little Ava. As her personality has developed a few nic names have emerged...Little Bunny, Jeebs, Abees, Sinky Sue, Goose...Oh we love her so much!

Ta da! Hope you've enjoyed viewing my masterpieces.




Friday, October 17, 2008

Weekend Getaway! Destination:Ludington, MI


We've been wanting to get away as a family for a while now. It's been a long few years and frankly we're burnt out! So as soon as Shane completed his residency application we decided to pack up and take a weekend to just be together and relax. We kind of randomly chose Ludington Michigan which is a cute little town about three and a half hours west of here. When we pulled up to our hotel and saw the view (above).... we knew it was going to be a great weekend!




Some of our favorite quotes while on our retreat....
Hailey (right as our journey began and I passed the snacks back): "Mmmm we LOVE junk food!"

Eliza (about 30 minutes into the trip): "Dad, are we still in Michigan?"

Shane (after we left the dollar store in Ludington-we had to get beach toys!): "I can't believe we drove 3 1/2 hours to go to the dollar store. Hey! I have an idea...let's go to the information desk and find out where all the other dollar stores are in town!" -smart alec

Hailey (while in our hotel room): "Do we have to go to school in our new home?"

Eliza (while running away from waves on the beach): "This is our best vacation ever!"


We had so much fun playing on the beach, running up and down sand dunes, walking to a lighthouse, eating out, watching episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants and Man vs. Wild (that guy is crazy) on tv, and just being together without any other obligations in the way. It was the perfect weekend.

Here are some more pictures of our weekend....













Monday, September 29, 2008

4 Months Old!

I thought I'd better post some updated pictures of Ava. She is such a sweetheart. It doesn't take much to get her to smile. Unfortunately whenever I get the camera out to capture that cute smile she just stares at the camera. Occasionally she'll give me a little courtesy smile. The girls still find it amusing to dress up Ava. Poor baby. She doesn't find it quite as amusing.
Here's that courtesy smile I was talking about. Isn't she just the cutest! I love my baby.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

First day of school!

I can't believe my baby is in second grade! Eliza is really into being 'twinners'. She's past the whole barbies and princesses phase, but being twinners is still on her 'cool list'. In this case, she and her friend Jordan decided they wanted to arrive in style together on the first day of school. So, Jordan's mom took them out shopping for twinner outfits.
Eliza likes second grade so far. She wants to be involved in EVERYTHING. She ran for student council representative (and won!) and she also talked me into letting her do Brownies girl scouts. Cookies anyone? And I can't believe my other baby is in Preschool! Seriously, where has time gone? Hailey got a new back back which she filled with all of the necessities for preschool: lip gloss, notebook and pen, a Hannah Montana folder, and a stuffed animal. Here we've got the twinner thing going on again. Aren't they so cute?!
Hailey and mommy at the Preschool. Hailey was so excited to start school!

Hailey had a great first day! I was a little worried that she'd freak out when it was time for me to leave, but she was totally fine. After we got home she said, "Mom, that was the best school I ever had!" She's loved school ever since (minus the day when they read the story 'The Three Billygoats Gruff'-it made her cry! She also cried in Sunbeams when her teacher told the story of the good Samaritan. She's my little sensitive girl:) Yesterday we brought home a book that has pictures of her classmates in it and she knew the names of every single kid. So anyway, schools great! The girls are loving it!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Shane and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on August 18th! We went out to eat and then ordered dessert to go (we had Ava with us and she was done being good). We came home and ate our dessert while we watched the Olympics. It was such a fun night. I'm so grateful to be married to Shane. He is seriously the best husband and the cutest dad ever. The girls and I just can't get enough of him. Being married is the best!

Friday, August 15, 2008

The 3rd child

Ava is coming to find out what being the 3rd child is all about. She is at the mercy of her two older sisters. Here she lies defenceless on the floor with a shirt on her head.
The girls also think it's hilarious to put objects in Ava's hands because she can't figure out how to let go of them. (Note: the Polly Pocket in her right hand-a common object found in a house full of girls). The other day Eliza put a sock in her hand and tried to convince me that Ava had pulled it off by herself. I only believed it for a second.
Yes, being the 3rd child has it's ups and downs. But, our little girl just keeps smiling through it all.....and crying. We love you baby Ava!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

You gotta love SISTERS!

Eliza, Hailey, and Ava

Sweet girls


Big sister number one!


Big sister number two!



Coming home from the pool!


We love our families! Visits during June 2008

Monday, August 11, 2008

It's a girl!

Our sweet little Ava was born on May 23, 2008. What an amazing experience it was. She was our smallest baby weighing 7 lbs 7 oz and 19 1/2 in. long.
It has been so much fun having a baby in our home again. The girls love having a little sister and they are such a big help. Although the last couple of months have been challenging, we absolutely adore our new baby girl- I mean how could you not love a face like that?!

Welcome to the 2000's!

Hello friends and family! Well, I'm officially welcoming myself to the "2000's". I recently aquired a cell phone and now I'm entering the world of blog. This is very exciting! I thought it might be fun to keep in touch with everyone this way and it also seems like a great way to keep a family diary. I'll keep it simple considering my four year old probably knows more about computers than I do! Should be fun. Hope you all enjoy checking in on us every once in a while. Here we go!!