HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY

I simply cannot believe our baby is two! Holly had a wonderful birthday party with a ladybug theme! I feel a little guilty because these chocolate cupcakes were so easy to make. And Ted made ladybug wrapping paper by buying white paper and ladybug stickers. He's so creative.

Anyway, she got a lot of summer clothes, which she really needed, and a story book from Mom and Dad (Thumper story book, of course!), a bathing suit and accesories from Grandma and Grandpa McPherson, and a baby doll from Grandma and Grandpa Frank.

It is spring time, here, finally, and Holly is enjoying a whole new world of bugs, flowers, and sunshine. She's such a sweet little thing, always cuddly, always ready to show love. She's saying some pretty cute things, too, like "Thank you, much, Mommy" which she says when I change her diaper, or get her lunch. Or, "Aw, dude, get outta da way!!!" when Ben blocks her on the stairs.

Our four kids sure make our lives LOUD, and CRAZY. But I would not change it for anything!

Our Camera Broke

I am sorry to update with no pictures! Our Kodak easy share camera was dropped one too many times, I guess.

But here's the "haps": Jake won his school spelling bee which enters him into the statewide bee to see who gets to go to the National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C. in May. He is totally jazzed and studies every night. He is determined to win. It is kind of nice to see him excited about something like this!

Angelice is enjoying 3rd grade, getting wonderful grades, making lots of friends. She is such a big help with her baby sister, and around the house. We have implemented chores around the house, because Momma is not a maid, and she is the only one that has not complained. She asks for more to do sometimes.

Ben is 5. Oh my goodness, he is 5! He is so looking forward to going to school like the big kids. And he is one of several boys in the neighborhood, so he also has lots of friends. He enjoys riding power wheels with Dax, Legos with Jett, and make believe play with Drew. And yes, he still has a huge sweet tooth, and doesn't think his day is complete without having a cookie.

Holly, Holly, Holly. She is almost two. And it shows. But we all adore her. She has real live teeth now, and is able to crunch and chew. Since she got her first molars a month or so ago, she's gained about a pound and a half. Which is amazing for Holly. She talks, and runs, and sasses me. It is funny to hear, but honestly, the children can't stop laughing, and that makes her think it is okay to mouth off. Yes, my almost two year old tells me to "go 'way!" And if I won't give her what she wants, she starts counting "One! Two! Free! NOOOOWWWWW!"

*sigh*. What are you gonna do?

Wow. I Am a Dork.

I just realized I already posted pictures of our trip to CA. There's some repeats in here. Oh well, I think my kids are so cute, everyone needs to see em twice.

Sorry bout that.

I am done catching up on summer, next posts are what is happening currently, promise!

More hiking

So pretty. We went from hilly grassland to deep dark Black Forest complete with granite canyon walls, and huge rocks in the middle of the path. I seriously felt like we were going to run into a little rock cottage built against the canyon wall with a witch and cauldron or something. It was a good day.

Family Hike and More CA trip.

We took a family hike this summer. You could really tell that our kids had not done anything outdoorsy before. It was pathetic. They were so whiny, and not confident. And the complaining, oy! At first.

But as the trip went on, they were literally singing. Ben was bounding over rocks, and laughing with abandon. Jake was doing his best Man vs. Wild impression, complete with British accent. And Angelice was considerate, concerned for others, and cracking hilarious jokes the whole way. More of the hike in the next post.

Here's a couple more of Lake Almanor:

By the end of the summer, I was trying to think of everything we had done, and I didn't feel like we had enough fun. But, I have enough pictures of the stuff we've done for at least three more posts. We really had a blast this summer, and I am so glad that we live in such a geographically diverse state. It's been such a blast!

Camping and Swimming In CA.

More fun adventures from this summer. This is our nephew Cole and his cute doggie. We went camping at Lake Almanor while out in CA visiting Ted's family.

Ben, Angel, and Katelyn had fun playing around the campground together.

Swimming in Aunt Shauna's pool. Jake perfected the cannonball.

I am actually quite impressed we got Ben into the pool. He has previously been very nervous about the water, ever since he almost floated away in Grimes creek. I think there's a post about that in the archives.

Holly getting her little feet wet. She actually loves the water, and when the big kids were done playing, Daddy took her into the pool for a little while.

To be continued.

Hoover Dam: It's Dam Fun

So we went to Hoover Dam while visiting Andy and Callie, here are the long awaited pictures of that trip.