4th of July

This summer Uncle Trev came to visit us and stayed for the 4th of July!  We had such a great time with him and all the Stevens Family as well over the holiday.  We spent alot of time at the parks, went to the DuPont festival, and watched the fireworks being shot off over the Puget Sound from Chris and Linda's backyard.

All the cousin babies had on their adorable 4th of July gear so of course we had to get a group shot! The  Fantastic Four all together! :)

Car Museum

This was a random trip to the car museum.  It was a great time for Dave.  It was an opportunity to take pictures for me.  It was semi boring for the girls. lol.  The other day we were headed to the Children's Museum and Lizzie asked me, "Are we going to the museum with all the cars?"  Me: "No, not this time!"  Lizzie: "Good. That place is boring!"  

Easter

The older girls were so excited for Easter this year and just reveled in the excitement of egg hunts, coloring eggs, finding hidden baskets, and of course lots and lots of candy!!  Penny slept through the egg hunt part and was mostly unaware of the day's events, but she sure did look cute!  Wish she hadn't napped through the pictures part!  It was fun having our friends join us for the festivities!  

 One of my favorite aspects of this year's Easter celebration was celebrating for a whole week!  It's a tradition started a couple years ago and we discuss the life of Christ and the events that occurred during the week of Easter. The picture above was a lesson and dinner centered around learning about the Passover.  Hopefully the true meaning of Easter sticks with these girls!

Catch up for 2014

I am so behind in my blogging and it's time to catch up!  The year 2014 has been too amazing to let it slip by without note!  And THAT is precisely the trouble.  It has been completely FILLED to the brim with activities, family time, vacations, and church work that there is absolutely no time left to blog!!  One of the fun family vacays was DISNEYLAND!!  The girls were pumped about it for months beforehand....we really had the greatest time there. We did 4 days in the Disney Resort. The BEST part though was visiting family there!  Liz and Julie still talk all the time about visiting Dane and Grant and how much fun they had.  We always love seeing Steph and Blake!

Grandmas are the Best

Grandma = Celebrity in our home.  It is just the GREATEST when we get to see her.  Her visits are always much anticipated and she never lets us down.  We had the best time.  It's really too bad that we can't see Grandma every day so when she comes we savor every moment!!  

 We got special permission for Grandma to go to preschool with Lizzie and spend the day on her special day.

 Julie, Penny, and I got to join in on some of the fun too!  The circle time at preschool is so cute.  Each person takes a turn saying something they like about Lizzie and she gets to bring something for show and tell.  She gets to really bask in alot of attention on her special day!

 I LOVE doing sewing projects with my Mom when she comes to visit!  We get to sit and talk plus pump out amazingly cute gifts for friends and family.  She is the most giving woman i know. It was so fun and nice of my mom to sit and sew SO many bibs with me.  We were really on a roll.

Penny's Baby Blessing

The day of Penny's baby blessing was a joyful one.  You can see the joy in Penny's eyes.  She's excited about it. Haha.  It actually took alot of doing to get her to smile for the picture because she was worn out at this point-no nap!  She was actually very happy throughout the blessing which was nice. Dave blessed her and gave her a beautiful blessing.  I wished I had written down all of it because I am forgetting already but I do remember him mentioning that she would be a peacemaker and a good missionary.  

She wore the traditional dress that my Mom made and had me blessed in!  We are getting alot of use out of that dress!

It was an extra special day because my Dad flew into town from UT to be there with us.  He came all the way out despite the fact he just opened a fledgling business that needs constant care and time. I love my Daddy! :)  It was so nice to get to spend time with him and the girls felt the same way!  They played and played with Grandpa til he was all worn out.  He taught them this UBER fun game that they beg to play all the time now- The Seat Game.  

Me and my newest baby girl!  This tiny little person makes me incredibly happy.  There are great things in store for this little girl.  One of the enchanting characteristics of babies for me is that they are so full of potential.  She is just starting this amazing journey we call LIFE. <3 get="" her="" i="" me="" nbsp="" p="" show="" that="" the="" to="" ucky="" way.="">

 

After the blessing we had dinner with family at Chris and Linda's house.  This is definitely the favorite place to be on a Sunday afternoon.  Not just because there is a gorgeous view of the ocean beyond the meticulously cared for garden in the backyard (although it is definitely a bonus), but because it means we are together with the large extended family here in WA.  It's always a good time and Linda is one amazing hostess.

The cousins (and Aunts) love holding this little baby!  It's very cute to see the cousins playing together.  

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!  Our Valentine's Day celebration started about mid January.  We had a family home evening about showing love to others.  Afterwards, we decorated little mailboxes and explained that they were for giving little notes, gifts, and surprises to each other. The girls were SO excited about this that they probably gave Dave and I about 50 surprises within the week. (their toys, drawings, crafts)  Dave and I slipped little pieces of candy and Valentines in theirs about once a day. Later, we made a "14 Acts of Love Jar".  Each day the girls picked out a heart that had some kind of service written on it like, "Set the table today."  This pinterest idea was definitely a success- they got so excited about doing these little acts of love.  

Dave and I celebrated Valentine's Day early by getting out of town and heading to Seattle for some sweet Brazilian food- Rodizio style!  After Ipanema we head over to the Columbia Tower to gaze out over the city of Seattle.  And what did we see?  ALOT of blue and green!  You could tell the Seahawks just won the super bowl by all the green and blue lights everywhere!  It was a great night out..even with our little third wheel-Penny.  

Penny is Two Months Old!

Penny is 2 months old!  She is bright eyed and smiling all of the time these days.  She has started making those cute little baby noises and cooing, too. 

Penny is loving the new quilt that Grammy made for her.  It has the cutest colors and little birds on it.  

Penny is already lifting up her little head!  She is pretty good natured about tummy time and gets her daily exercise in!

"Kisses for Mommy!"  Love my baby kisses!

Penny is so good natured.  It's probably because she is a well rested child! She is still a great sleeper going 8-10 hours straight each night.  She loves being held and sung to, especially when it's Daddy singing.  Bath time is another favorite.  She is batting at toys and loves laying on her little play mat.  It's so funny to watch her swinging her hands and feet wildly at the hanging toys.  

The Littlest Sister

The littlest sister of three!  How is she surviving in her new world with two older sisters ages 3 and 5?  Well, that is a good question.  You'd think life as the baby would be pretty hazardous...rough and tumble living at best.  Lizzie and Julie have a lot of energy, but they save it for each other!  When it comes to baby Penny they are so gentle and tender with her!  It's all kisses, light hugs, and smiles for this little sister.  

They love it when they get the chance to hold little Penny.

Lizzie, in particular, gets very excited to hold Penny.  When Penny sees her big sister close she is all smiles.

When my Mom came to visit she predicted that the girls would treat Penny like another one of their stuffed animals.  That may or may not be true.  Check out the pictures below.  You decide.  

Mimi and Penny are the same size.  Who knew that Build-A-Bear clothes could be worn by newborns, too?   You can imagine the kind of laughter this little scene drew from the girls. Lol!   

To be loved by so many people...you are one LUCKY PENNY!!  :)

Baby's First Christmas

Three weeks old and Penny already has a Christmas holiday under her belt.  It's hard to believe and frankly a bit depressing to think that Christmas is already over!  2013 is over already and we are ready to take on whatever 2014 brings!  One of the most exciting parts of the year will be to see how this little one changes and grows.  The changes that happen in the first year of life are stunning.  One of the biggest differences in the way I feel with the third child is that I catch myself savoring the sweet newborn moments a lot. I KNOW how it all goes by so fast.  It doesn't seem that long ago that my first baby, Lizzie, was scooting around in diapers, and here I have my third girl now. Babies are challenging, yes.  However, it's a stage that comes and goes so quickly you have to relish the precious moments.  

I wish I had captured her smile because she is already smiling a lot!  She smiled for the first time at Grandma when she was one week old.  Then, she continued to smile more and more after that.  I know babies "don't" smile this early but she really did I swear!  She is a big time smiler these days.