adams

Cutest Christmas Cards EVER!!

2010-11-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

Darling Christmas Cards...And a GREAT DEAL TOO!!

OK so I just ran onto this awesome deal with Shutterfly and their darling Christmas cards (click here to see)

I am so excited because you can get 50 free Holiday Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards for just blogging about it! Isn't that a great deal! Some of my favorites are the new Chic Stationary Cards! SO DANG CUTE!! They come in 5x7 or in the cutest square 5x5 sizes! My favorite are the square. They also have the traditional folded cards that are great too! My favorites are the Christmas story cards. They give you a space to write in any text you want as well as a place for extra pictures inside. I might just use this one this year because our family is getting so big...I think I might need the extra space to brag a bit about my cute kiddos:)

Shutterfly has some many darling gifts for the holidays too! One of my favorites it the Calendars http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars. They are darling...and I know from experience that grandparents love them!!! Another favorite is their Canvas Wall Art http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-arts. Such a cute idea for family that is far way! That way they can always see the cute faces of people they love:)
Well we are sure excited for Christmas this year and can't wait to get our Christmas Cards in the mail! I sure hope you that you will check out Shutterfly and get some great Christmas shopping done!! BTW they are having a great sale today!!

And were back...almost!

2010-07-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here is our HAPPY little boy. I know it has been forever since I have blogged...and I have had a ton of people tell me to post some pics of Brig, so here you go. Brig is 9 months old and the best baby ever!! We are smitten with him!
Levi finally finished the bar(so I stole his computer today so I could blog) and We will be moving to our new house this next month and I will have MY computer back so there will be more posts to come...so stay tuned:)

Silver Mountain

2010-01-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

We really wanted to get out of the cold and do something fun...and this is what we came up with.

SILVER MOUTAIN RESORT
so so so much fun!!!

It's about an hour from Spokane, and well worth the drive. Levi headed out early with some friends for a day of Snowboarding and we headed to the water park. We all met up at the water park that night and played. We stayed over in a really nice room and then played at the water park the next day. It was such a great break from the cold. The adults loved it as much as the kids. I recomend any Spokaneites to head that way if your tired of the cold...tons of fun and great prices!!

2010-01-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

2010-01-13T14:22:00.001-08:00

Ballet Girls

2010-01-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Abby has been taking Ballet for about a year and a half now. She loves ever minute of it!

Audrey just started this week and she really loves it. I must say I love my girlie's in their little ballet Leo's and tutus.

Abby posing for the camera

Audrey posing for the camera

Audrey trying to reach the bar...on her tip toes

Cute girl!!

4 Week Break

2010-01-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

Levi has had a four week break from school. It has been so nice to have him home. He helps so much with the kids and the house work. I am going to hate it when he heads back to school!

here are some of the fun things we have been up to since Christmas...

Mobius kids Museum, Movie nights, and Shopping!

Audge Podge creating her master piece!

Abby and I making New Years Masks

Diggin with dad

All tuckered out from shopping with mom and dad

Movie Theater Night

We turned our house into a theater...candy, popcorn, soda and all.

Here are the girls enjoying the movie (G Force) and all there yummy treats.

Notice they are in Snuggies (thanks granny)

They love them:)

and a cute pic of Brig...love the hat!

thanks grannie and pa

New Years

2010-01-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

We had our friends Heather and Tyson come over to celebrate New Years with us.
Great food, treats and company. We celebrated it a little early (9:00pm) so the kids could have some fun before bed. Then we played games till the wee hours of the night.

The kids loved the horns and clickers

Our HAPPY NEW YEARS baby

Audrey Happy as ever!
nice she is in Halloween jammies

Heather, Ryder, Brody and Tyson

Ryder is only 3 weeks older then Brig...he is a chunk and Brig is a peanut!!

Our fam

Christmas Day

2010-01-09T13:21:00.001-08:00

Christmas Morning was so magical!! We loved every minute of it!

The Girlies waiting to come down

I don't think Audrey could more excited!!

Just look at that face:)

The LOOT!

Abby got a pink computer and some fun games from Santa

Audrey got a Dollhouse and a Tar (car) from Santa

Brig with his Loot!

Abby took this pic...not bad hu!

Yummy crapes for breakfast!

Thanks Amy and Brett for the crape maker!

We love it!!

Thanks to our awesome families and all the presents...we were definitely spoiled!!

We love you all!!

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-01-09T12:51:00.001-08:00

This year (due to a new baby) we decided to stay in Spokane and do our own Christmas. We started some great family traditions...Seeing the Gingerbread houses, hot chocolate and Christmas lights, reading the Christmas story etc. Christmas was wonderful, I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful family to share it with.

Here we are at the Davenport Hotel to see the

gingerbread houses

Whooville

Snow White and the 7 dwarfs
(the girls fav by far)

out to see the lights with our yummy hot chocolate

Making Santa's cookies

Our Tree

Cute Brig in his Christmas jammies

The fam

don't you just want to kiss those cheeks!

My darling kiddos

(I love them!!)

Christmas Nativity

2009-12-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

Every year our Church puts together Nativities from around the World. They display over a thousand different Nativities from all over the world, and have musical programs each night from different groups in the community. It is such a great experience and has proven to be an amazing missionary opportunity. They have a children's room with nativities the kids can play with, dress ups and coloring. The girls loved it!! We loved it!! A perfect activity to get us into the Christmas Spirit!

Here are the girls dressed up.

Yes Audrey is a cow, she is holding a doll.

Abby is Mary, she is holding our little Brig.

Happy Birthday to our ABBY!!

2009-12-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Abby Turned 5...can you believe it, I have a 5 year old!! Crazy!! Well we had such a fun time. We took donuts to her preschool class, then went to dinner with dad at Red Robin, then had a party on Saturday with all her friends, and if that wasn't enough...we went to The Princess and the Frog movie!! A busy birthday but so much fun! We love our Abby and are so proud of her. She is becoming such a beautiful young lady!

Dinner with dad

Preschool Party

new outfit from Grannie Frannie

Abby also had her first dance performance. They performed at an assisted living home. She did such a great job and remembered the whole dance! Afterwards they got to see SANTA!

Thanksgiving with Grannie and Pa

2009-12-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Grannie and Pa came up to spend Thanksgiving with us this year. We had so much fun relaxing and playing! Here are a few of the things we did during their visit.

Thanks for sharing your Holiday with us!!

We loved having you guys here.

We went to Spokane Falls...so much water!

Made and ate a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner!
Thanks to Fran for making such yummy food!!

The whole clan

Went to Coeur de Alene for the light parade and fireworks.

So COLD but so FUN!!

Our little bundled Brig

Watching the fireworks

Went on a carriage ride down town.

New pics of our little man

2009-12-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

OK Grandma's here are some new pics for you:) Sorry it took me so long...hope you enjoy!

Our little Man

2009-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Don't you just want to squeeze him!!

Brigham's Blessing

2009-11-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

We decided to Bless Brig while my parents were in town. He was blessed by Levi on November 8th 2009 in the Moran Prairie Ward. It was such a beautiful blessing. I was so glad that my dad could be here to be in the circle. I am so grateful for the priesthood in my life!

Granny and Pa's visit

2009-11-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

My mom and dad made it up to visit for Halloween. Their visit was planned to see Brig born, but he decided he wanted to come early. Well we were still so excited to have Granny and Pa come. We had so much fun with them and enjoyed every minute! Thanks you again for all your help, you are the BEST!!

Baby Brig as small as the pumpkin

Happy Halloween

Trunk or Treat
(gotta love the candy in the mouth)

The best part of Halloween...Granny and Pa

My darling Pirates

Fun with Granny and Pa

snuggles

Making YUMMY donuts

Playing Uno

Happy Birthday Levi

2009-11-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Levi!

Thanks for being the best Hubby ever!

We love you so much:)

Home with the Fam

2009-11-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

Baby Story

2009-11-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

ready to pop!

OK so I finally have a computer (my desk top is is finally back from getting fixed) for more than 5 mins. It was a terrible time to have it break! So now I am going to try and catch the blogging world up on our life and our new little bundle of joy!

So the story starts with me and the fam heading to my doctors appointment on Friday Oct. 23rd at 3:20pm. The plan was to go to the apt and then head out and get a few things that we still needed for the little bambino before his big arrival. Well the plan was vetoed by my Doc...I was dilated to a 6 and she immediately sent me to the hospital. This was not good...I had nothing ready to go. No hospital bag for me or the baby, no babysitter and no time to organize things myself. So we drove the 5seconds it took to get to the hospital (which is across the street) and I said goodbye to the two cutest girlies, who were both crying their eyes out and not sure what was happening. I think that was the hardest part. Then Levi took over and became Mr. MOM! He got our kiddos home and had our our friends Paige and Bryce (you guys are the BEST!) come over to stay with the girls. He packed my bag with everything I could possibly need and then some and headed back to the Hospital to be with me. By this time it was around 5:30 and I had been checked in and had my IV put in. When Levi arrived they came in and gave me my epidural (HEAVEN), then broke my water and we were on our way!! By 8:00 I was only to a 7 1/2 so my doctor decided to give me a little petosin...and that did the trick. I was to a 10 by 8:30, but then my epidural started to wear off on the right side. My nurse call the anaesthesiologist in to give me more meds. About 15 mins later I was again in heaven and feeling nothing:) don't you love modern medicine!! Well they called in the NICU nurses as a precaution, because the baby was 3 1/2 weeks early...all in all there were about 8 nurses and doctors in the room. It was a party!! or could have been with that many people! I pushed for about 5 mins...about 4 pushes and our little Brigham arrived! He was so calm and happy to be out I'm sure!! He didn't cry at all just a few grunts here and there. He was breathing well so I got to hold him on my chest for a half hour before they took him to weigh him and clean him up. I never got to do that with my girls...it was such a bonding moment for me...I loved every minute of it! Our little guy weighed in at 7 lbs (my biggest baby this far by almost a pound) and 20 inches and had a little bit of dark hair.

Levi got to feed him his first bottle (sugar water) to keep his sugar levels up so he wouldn't have to go to the NICU. Brig did great and ate like a champ. He never ended up in the NICU...which was a huge blessing for us!

I stayed two nights and one day, which was too long to be away from my girlies. They couldn't even visit because of new rules at the Hospital due to H1N1. So the girls met their little bro for the first time through the window of the hospital. I have to say it was a precious moment...so glad we got pics of it!

So that is it, our Baby Brigham Story. We are so happy that he is here and we are loving every minute of cuddling him. The girls especially love holding him and giving him kisses and hugs! I am so grateful that everything went well with the delivery and that he was so strong and healthy for being so early! We love our little Brig:)

Brand new:)

first bottle

getting cleaned up
Brig with mom and dad

meeting the big sisters

On our way home

Welcome Baby Brig

2009-11-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

Brigham Levi Adams

Born October 23rd

8:52 pm

7 lbs

20 in

He was born 3 weeks and 3 days early...healthy and strong!!

More pictures and the story to come...our computer broke two days before he was born!

But here are some cute pics of him in the hospital.

Abby's First Day of School

2009-10-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Abby is not a big fan of being left somewhere without me (not sure why because i am definitely not mother of the year!)?? So last years task of dropping her off at preschool was daunting to say the least...every day I would have to pry her little fingers off of my leg and run before she could catch me. Not sure why I kept taking her...but I did. Just to let you know she was fine after just a few minutes and loved telling me how much fun she had when I picked her up. So this year I was really nervous, not even sure if I was going to sign her up...but I did.

After a lot of prayers and hope...

She loves it! She carpools with another little boy in the morning and then

I pick them up. She has a great teacher and a lot of good friends.

So glad this wasn't the disaster it could have been!

PIG OUT!!

2009-10-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

This year PIG OUT IN THE PARK was almost rained out. We would have been very sad if that would have happen...it would have meant no BRICK OF FRIES, no FRIED SNICKERS, no GIGANTIC CORN DOGS etc!!

We went, we stuffed ourselves, and we loved it!!

(sorry no pics of the lovely food...we scarfed it!)

The Last Days of Summer

2009-10-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well summer is officially over here in Spokane:( The days are now in the 30's and night are in the teen's. So here is what we did during our last warm days, and here is what we will be dreaming of throughout the crazy Spokane winter!

Coeur d' Alene beach

Our good friends Nate and Polly

(if you can't tell our kids love them!!)

Testing out the water with dad

The Splash Pad

visiting the ducks at Manito Park

Baby Shower

2009-10-02T10:35:00.001-07:00

My cute friends Paige and Heather threw me a baby shower! Who gets a baby shower on baby number 3?... what a lucky girl I am! I was in much need of some boy stuff. Everything we own is pink and definitely gender specific! I am so grateful to all my wonderful friends for coming and for their generosity. You girls are the BEST!!

Paige made these yummy cake pops...they were so cute!!

Cute decorations...that I got to take home:)

The Girls

Misty, me, Mauressa, Erin, Paige and Heather

Heather made yummy chocolate delight (my favorite)

Photo Shoot

2009-09-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have my amazing sister (check out her blog http://overthemoonbliss.blogspot.com/) take a few pics of the girls. My mom made their cute (red, blue and green) dresses. I think they turned out great...I can't wait to get them printed! My sis also snapped a few of me and my belly. Thanks for making me and my girlies look so cute:) love you Jen!!

...and WERE BACK!

2009-09-19T11:02:00.001-07:00

OK I know I am the queen of neglecting the blog! So now that we have been back home for over a month, I think I have almost recuperated and I'm ready to start my blogging life again. Thanks to all those who still check...and keep me in check by telling me to get going again (Legs ...your the best)!

We had a great summer in Utah with lots of pictures and fun with family!

Camping

swimming

swimming lessons

St. George

Boating

Zoo

Park City

Parades

Forth of July

Strawberry Days

Class Reunion (Levi's 10 year)

Grandma and Grandpa Days

Marchbanks Family Reunion

(sorry about the collage overload...this was the easiest way to get this summer post done)

Be sure to click on the collages to make the pics bigger

BABY NEWS

2009-06-08T19:40:00.001-07:00

We just had our ultrasound and our baby is a .......

BOY!

If you can't tell we are so excited!! We are due on Nov. 15th, but considering our last two babies, he might make his debut a few weeks early.

The girls are so excited to have a baby brother!!

Hopefully I can get some pics up soon of the ultrasound.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

A Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers I know!!

Especially to my mom, sisters and mother in law!

I love you all and hope your day was wonderful.

Thanks to my cute girls and Levi for making my day so special.

I love being a mom...even though it is the hardest thing I have ever done.

I wouldn't trade it for the world:)

Softball Champs 2009 (they did it again!)

2009-05-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Another great season for our boys! They played hard and won T-shirst again!!!

Great Job Boys!!

Great Grandma Smith

2009-04-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Mom this video is for you...hope you enjoy seeing how good your mom is doing! We sure love her! (be sure to pause my music and turn the volume up so you can here the video)

The Many FACES of Easter

2009-04-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Here are the girls on Easter Morning...aren't they cute in their jammie's with their bed head hair. I must say that kids totally make holidays more fun! I love the excitement and joy that comes out on their faces!!

The girls each got a basket full of candy and cute little baby's in a purse (I know that sounds wired so I might have to explain it better...its a purse that turns into a bassinet with a baby in it). Well they are a hit and have been a great toy for church!! Oh yeah Dad also splurged and gave them a set of golf clubs. I think he is nervous that we are only going to have girls, so this is his way of getting them into something he loves:) Such a cute dad!!

Audrey Lynn

Abigail Mckall

Here they are in their cute Easter Dresses... meaning two dresses each girl. I have the BEST mom and mother in law ever!!! They each sent these cute dresses for the girlies for Easter! The girls loved wearing them...we have been switching between the two on Sundays for the past few weeks. Thanks Grannie Terry and Grannie Frannie, we love you both so much!!

Aren't they lovely!!

For Easter Dinner we had some Law school friends invite us over for dinner and an egg hunt for the kids. It was so fun to visit and eat good food!! The kids again had a blast playing and hunting for eggs. We are so lucky to have such great friends here in Spokane!!

Easter weekend

2009-04-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend getting ready for Easter. The girls had a ball coloring eggs and making yummy rice crispy treats. The Ward had a fun Easter lesson and egg hunt on Saturday morning. It was great and indoor so it was warm! Abby did great in the relay races and both girls made it out with a TON of eggs!!

Happy Birthday Audrey!!

2009-04-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

Audrey turns "2"

I can't believe my baby is 2...time goes by way too fast!

Audrey absolutely loved her special day! She knew from the minute she woke up that it was her Birthday!! We sang to her over 20 times due to her request. She LOVED her cake...it was hard to keep her away from it until the party. She wanted to lick it so bad!! Thanks to our friends and family for making the day so special!!

Happy Birthday Podgie we love you so much!!!

For History

at 2 Audrey...

has all but 4 teeth (the fangs top and bottom)

talks like crazy

is saying 3 and 4 word sentences

is the sweetest little girl and gives the best snuggles

loves to sing

loves to play

loves to be outside

has the most tender heart ( you can't say no to her without her completely breaking down)

can almost ride her bike ( just needs to be a little taller)

has the cutest piggy tails ever!

is always happy

has the cutest little high pitched voice

has the cutest chubby belly ( I have to bite it everyday!)

eats like a champ

loves her bath time

is a great sleeper (hooray for me:))

has the best crooked smile!!

etc,etc,etc

On a side note...we are vetoing the private blog. I guess you can only invite 100 readers and we want to invite more than that. So thanks to all those who left their emails and want to keep up with us...sorry about the craziness.

Going Private

2009-03-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Going private a week from today:)
Please leave your email addresses if you are interested in keeping up with us.

Disneyland (picture overload!!)

2009-03-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Disneyland couldn't have gone any better! The girls were angels and loved every minute of it! We had such a great time with grannie and pa, and Katie, Bj and nix. We are going to have to make this trip a tradition and take the girls every year!! Sorry about the picture overload...there were just to many I couldn't decide on what to leave out. Hope you enjoy:) I know we sure did!

Winnie the Pooh

sweet sisters

"A" is for Adams

Outside The Winni The Pooh ride

Pirate time!

Cute mouse ears

Toy Story Mania
our favorite ride!

Aud loved it!!

3D glasses...check!

me and missy moo on Toy Story

All tuckered out

Tea Cups

Rides with Grannie and Pa

The Carousel

Sleeping Beauties Castle

Just after Splash Mountain...Abby loved it!

we got soaked

The Disney Castle

Minnie's Breakfast

This was a great morning for the girls...they didn't know what was going on. The characters just kept coming and chatting with them all during breakfast. Needless to say not much food was eaten. So fun to see the girls faces...it's magic!

Meeting the princesses

The girls loved this part! They were so excited to get their autographs and give them hugs.

Bell was so sweet, she spun around with the girls and made them feel like real princesses:)

Visit with Great Grandma

2009-03-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

This last week we headed out for SPRING BREAK!! We went to Disneyland (pictures to come),but decided to take a detour on the way and see my Grandma, Uncle and cousins in Seattle! I can't tell you how glad I am that we went. It was so good to see Uncle Todd and his kids, Brett and his cute girlfriend Kristen and cute Jamie! They were so great and we had so much fun catching up with them. It has been more than 4 years since we have seen each other...that is way too long! Then we went to see my cute grandma...she is so cute!!! 89 years old and still wants to look good before any pictures! She has a hard time remembering who is who, but it didn't seem to bother her at our visit. She kept going over our names and kissing our little girlies. She couldn't get enough of Abby and Audrey! It was so cute how they just felt drawn to her, even though Audrey had never met her and Abby hasn't seen her since she was a year and a half old. Abby was showing her all her ballet tricks, (and of course Audrey had to join in) spinning and all. Then she was doing her ABC's and grandma joined in...it was so cute to watch them say them together. Abby kept correcting Grandma and helped her get all the way to Z. We had such a great time, when it came time to go...grandma started to cry and then I started to cry(we must be related). She wanted us to stay longer. She kept saying the worst part about this visit is that you have to leave. She was asking us when we were coming back and made us promise to come soon. She walked us to the door and it took me about 5 mins to get the door closed because she put her walker in the way... she really wanted to come with us! It was so good to see her!!

Grandma we will be back soon!!:) We love you and miss you already!

Letter of the Day

2009-03-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

So in an attempt to keep the girls busy, and learning we started The Letter of the Day. The Letter of the Day entails learning a new letter, writing it and coloring a picture that starts with the letter, then reading some books that go along with the letter and the best part eating something that starts with the letter.

Here are some pics of our Letter "B" day

The girls colored little bakers and then we cut them out and glued them to toilet paper rolls

Then we made yummy Banana Bread, and read some fun books about Bakers

February at a Glance

2009-03-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

SUPERBOWL PARTY

Fun night, great friends, yummy food and football!

What more could you want?

Aud, Babs and Tate

enjoying the 3D commercials

The Crew enjoying the game

back row R to L : Colby, Mandy, Bryce, Cj, Paige, Heather, Tyson and Brody
Front row R to L: Becca (me), Levi, Shay, Misty, Gage and Megan

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Abby and her class making and eating their pizzas

Me with my Beautiful flowers...Levi also gave me our wedding video (VHS) on DVD...I know, I don't think we got married that long ago? We also got to go out the next night to a new (for us) really yummy restaurant called CHAPS! Thanks for making the weekend so special babe!

Making sugar cookies with the girls:)

Our Valentine dinner we made for daddy:)

Abby and Audrey helped decorate... it was a fun day!

Daddy and his girls

My Valentine girls in their cute dresses(thanks mom)

and balloons from daddy!

Also a huge thanks to both grannies and pas for the darling

Valentine packages!! The girls look so cute in their outfits and loved

all the fun toys, etc.

Random Stuff from the rest of the month:

Abby got a hold of my camera and this is what we got...this one is a GEM!!

she made Audrey hold our engagement pic...funny girl:)

Audrey squished in the bottom of the book shelf

Playing dress ups

Sponge curler time!

Abby thought I needed them in my hair too!

r to l: Ryan, James, Levi, Colby and Tyler

Levi when on a Scout camp out last weekend and completely FROZE along with

all the other leaders and scouts. The night was miserable, but the hike the next day

was amazing! They snowshoed about three miles and the scenery was beautiful as you can

see from the picture.

A break from the COLD!

2009-02-22T22:12:00.001-08:00

So it seems we are getting a bit tired of all the cold weather! We are freezing up here while we impatiently await the beautiful summer days ahead!

So in an attempt to chase the winter blues away...we headed to this fun little indoor water park with some of our friends Colby, Mandy and their kids Tate and Seth. The girlies and Seth had a blast as well as their parents. It was a much needed break! We enjoyed the 85 deg weather (inside) some great water slides, fun in the wave pool, and just watching the girls faces as they played. It makes me excited for summer days at Grannie Greats pool:)

me and Audrey

Colby and Tatum, Abby and Dad

Cute abby babby

Audrey lou

Energy Solution

2009-02-16T16:04:00.000-08:00

So lately the girls have had way too much energy. I seems like I have run out of ideas or just gotten lazy when it comes to entertaining them in our little house. So some friends of ours found this fun gymnastic gym that has open play everyday for an hour. We decided to get out of the house and give it a try. The girls had a ball! I think we could have stayed there all day and they wouldn't have gotten bored! Here are some cute pics from the adventure.

Audrey is such a dare devil! She would slide down and take a 3 foot drop into the foam cubes!

She couldn't get enough.

Abby, Tatum and Clara

Abby jumping in the pit!

Abby's favorite thing was the rope swing.

Ice Skating

2009-02-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

We headed out on the town the other night to take the girls Ice Skating. We went with our Friends Mandy and Colby. Abby and Tatum are the same age and love playing together. Sorry the pic are a little blurry...it was a phone camera.

Me, Abby, Levi, Audrey, Mandy and Tate

the fam

how cute is that!

I had no idea they would have skates that would fit her.

She loved every minute and kept saying more more!

Thank You Santa!!

2009-02-02T11:49:00.001-08:00

Dinosaur Museum

2009-02-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

We went to the Dinosaur Museum with my mom, sister and her 4 cute boys. It was our first time and it is so fun! We will defiantly need to get a pass when we move back to Utah:)

Thanks for the fun day!

Build a Bear

2009-02-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Grannie and Pa at Build a Bear with the girls. They got each of the girls a bear to take back to Spokane with them. The girls give there bears big hugs and kisses every time they are missing Grannie and Pa! Thanks mom and dad! We miss you:)

The Cabin

2009-02-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

Just after New Years we headed up to a Cabin with the Marchbanks family.
We had a blast sledding, snowmobiling, eating, playing games and watching the UofU play football!! Go Utes!!

We got about a foot of snow while we were there. When we were getting ready to leave we got stuck in the drive way. We were lucky Levi had bought chains when he drove down from Spokane. We threw those on and got out slick as a whistle!

As we were heading down the canyon we got a call from mom and dad, they said that Jen and Nate need some help. Well come to find out Nate was trying to turn a light on in the car and hit the sun roof button instead. Remember I told you we got a foot of snow. Well the whole foot of snow fell into the car with 4 sleeping boys, Nate and Jen. Needless to say they were all freezing! So we spent about 45mins in 9degrees trying to fix it. We finally got it to close(when the snow fell it it melted in the tracks and then froze instantly, which caused it not to close)and then the battery died. So we jumped the car and made it home safe and sound! It was quite and adventure and some great memories!

NYE

2009-02-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

This year for NYE we went to the Gonzaga vs Utah game with some of our friends from GU. We ate at Buca Di Beppo which was so yummy! Then headed to the game, which didn't turn out in our favor:(, but it was still fun! Then before heading back to get the kiddos we stopped by to see some of our friends in SLC. It was a great night with great company!

heading to the game

Meg, Michelle, and me

Levi, Gage and Brett

Brooke and Stef, Levi and me, Kyle and Jen

The count down to NYE with Abby

The morning after...

Christmas Morning!!

2009-02-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

We are lucky that both our families live so close to each other. We are able to spend time at both of our houses on Christmas Morning. Thanks to our great Families for making our Christmas so great! We love you guys!!

Here are our cute girls on Christmas morning. We had to wake them up, I'm not sure how many more years that will last:)

Not sure if you can get a better morning face then that one!

Pa Todd and daddy with the girls

Checking out the goods

The girls and I opening presents

The girls got bikes from Santa! They couldn't have been happier!

Isn't she sooo cute!!!

The cheese balls:)

Christmas morning with the Marchbanks

Christmas Eve

2009-01-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

This year we got to spend Christmas Eve with Grannie Frannie and Pa Todd. The girls had a blast getting ready for Good Old Saint Nick to come. They hung their stockings with care and made sure they...and Santa had something yummy to eat! There is nothing better than the excitement of little kids on Christmas Eve!

Just look at those cute faces!

The stockings are hung

Cookies are ready

and yummy!

We also got to spend some time at Grannie and Grandpa Greats house!

They gave the girls the cutest little dolls! Which they love!!

Grannie and Grandpa Great!

We love you guys so much!!

Abby spending some much needed snuggle time with grandpa Great!! He is the best!

Christmas Cheer!...about a month late:)

2009-01-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful trip to Utah! It was so great to get to see everyone and spend so much time with the family! Thanks to everyone for making our stay so great! and for all the great memories!

Cookie party at Grannie Terry's

Millie and Abby

Mason and Audrey

Audrey enjoying the cookies

Snow fun!!

Aud with dads gloves on

Our cute snowman

My Favorite things breakfast with my cute sisters and mom

I love you girls:)

Babs with her new tea set from Grannie

Aud loving her baby

Our crazy Nativity

The girlies with Santa

Ugly Sweater Party!!

2009-01-27T14:14:00.001-08:00

So this had to have been one of the funniest parties I have ever been too! (thanks to Kim and Amy for throwing it!) Here we are in some of the sweetest sweaters ever... in some of the sweetest poses ever!! Be sure to check out my sweater...I think it was made for some one a little more round with really short arms? We had a great white elephant exchange with some pretty crazy presents? Then we had a root beer taste test with 10 different brands of root beer. I thought that root beer all tasted the same, but I was proved very wrong...why do we even drink that stuff (yuck)! What a lucky girl to have such awesome girl friends (your hubbies are pretty cool too!) I love you girls and can't wait for our next get together!!

Happy New Year!!

The Polar Express

2009-01-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

My mom got us tickets on The Polar Express! Well sort of...just a little smaller:)

We had such a great time with the Fam. It was a great start to a great Christmas!

Not only did we get to see Santa, but even more important, we remembered the true meaning of Christmas!

Grannie and Pa with the kiddos

Audrey trying to smile with Santa despite the nervousness

Abby Babby with Santa

On the Train ready to go

the rest of the fam

Catch up...

2009-01-22T22:36:00.000-08:00

So we have been home for a couple weeks now...and I just haven't been able to get myself to sit down and get caught up! I know that if I keep putting it off it will only get worse...and probably never happen. So here it goes! Prepare yourselves for a long couple of posts:)

Here is how we celebrated the rest of Abby's Birthday!

Dinner with mom, dad and Audrey at Chuck E Cheese

played all the fun games and rode the rides

Present: Leapster(pink of course)

Celebrated in Utah with Grannies, Pas and cousins

Princess Bell Cake

Spoiled

spoiled...spoiled:)

Great Birthday!!

Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day for Abby!!

Preschool party!

2008-12-08T15:18:00.001-08:00

At preschool they celebrated Abby's Birthday. She wanted donuts (with sprinkles) for her treat! Audrey has to be right in the middle, just like all the big kids! Thanks Miss Char for making Abby feel so special!

Gotta love that ear holding up her hat:)

Happy Birthday Abby!!

2008-12-08T15:10:00.001-08:00

What a fun day we had!! Our Abby turns 4 on December 9th, so we decided to have a princess party for her. Abby has loved princesses for the last year and a half straight! So we thought this was a perfect opportunity to have a bunch a girlie girls over to celebrate out cute Abby!! We had a house full of little 3 and 4 year olds...I was a little nervous, but they were great! When they arrived we put special princess makeup on. We played a bunch of fun games, pin the crown on the princess, the princess and the pea( the girls had to sit on three pillows and decide which pillow the pea (golf ball) was under, pass the crown (hot potato) and then we made beautiful crowns and mirrors for each princess. Each of the girls enjoyed a pink cupcake with pink lemonade! We opened presents that were all fit for a princess (thank you) and the girls played and played!!

Abby with her princess cupcakes

The beautiful princesses making their crowns and mirrors

Playing games and singing songs

Christmas Festivities

2008-12-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend we decided to get in as many Christmas Festivities as possible before we head to Utah. So the girls and I met some of our friends at The Davenport Hotel for Christmas Tree Elegance. This actually turned out to be pretty cool...especially if we win. You get to walk around and see all these trees that have been decorated and donated by businesses along with cash prizes, trips, diamond rings, leather chairs, family portraits, etc. Then you can buy raffle tickets for a dollar for the trees you like the best...and then they have a drawing on the 13th and if they draw your name you get the tree and all the prizes that go along with the tree. So wish my friends and I luck...we could really use a win!:)

my favorite tree

The girls in front of the huge Christmas tree in the Davenport.

Then on Sunday night we went to the Nativities Around the World that is hosted by our Spokane Stake. It is a really fun tradition to do every year and is also a great missionary opportunity! There are over 800 Nativities from around the world that are displayed beautifully, they also have a place to dress up and take nativity photos (which we couldn't leave without doing!) There is a kids area with stories, coloring, and kids nativities to play with. We had such a fun night with our friends as you can see from the picture!

sticky face Audrey...suckers are the best!!

Some of the nativities

Paige, Bryce and Cj, Tyson, Brody and Heather, Me, Audrey, Abby and Levi and
Shay and Misty

CDA Light Parade

2008-12-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving we headed over to Cour DE Alene for the annual light parade. It was cold and snowing, which soon turned to rain, but we still had a good time! The kids got to see Santa in the Parade, and then after they had a firework show. It was crazy to see fireworks when there was such a huge cloud cover. You could see light behind the clouds when they would go off and a few got down low enough for us to see them. We had a fun time and definitely froze, but it's a good memory!

Our friends Beau and Maureesa

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

2008-12-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

So the last week has been really crazy for us! Levi has been studying like a mad man for finals and on top of that he has had to be at tithing settlement. I have had the Young Women in Excellence Program (and set up the night before), Feeding the missionaries, Hair appointments, Abby's birthday party, and teaching the lesson for Young Women's on Sunday...not to mention trying to get everything ready to go to Utah for Christmas! So we had a few minutes on Tuesday night before I had to head to set up for YW so we decided to decorate the tree. The girls absolutely loved it...Audrey was so funny, she watch Abby and I for a few seconds and then jumped right in hanging up as many ornaments as she could! If you look at the bottom of the tree you can see Audrey's contribution:)! Abby decided to take one side of the tree and put all her ornaments on it...she even figured out a way to hang her princess sunglasses on the tree. I am glad that we decided to get a tree this year (we were really close to not getting one) the girls really enjoyed decorating it and it help us to get into the Christmas Spirit and make some great memories!

I had to take a pic of the girls right before we headed out the door (I was passing them off to Levi at the Church so I could decorate for YW...that's why they are in their jammies).

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Levi was too crazy with school to allow us to go to Utah, so we got some friends together and enjoyed the holiday! It was a small group but it was really nice to be able to relax and really enjoy the meal and company. Our friends Mandy and Colby hosted it at their house. She did such a great job decorating and made the table look so beautiful! Paige and Bryce made the turkey and it was also so beautiful! She displayed it with parsley, orange slices and cranberries. Not only did it look beautiful but it tasted spectacular!

The kids had a great time playing and eating too!

Thanks to my mother in law and my mom for all their help with the yummy rolls! (last year they were a disaster...I used bad yeast)

Audrey enjoying a little banana cream pie!

Cute Tate and Abby eating pie and watching movies:)

Stake Football Champs!!

2008-11-23T22:50:00.000-08:00

Moran Prairie Ward Stake Football Champs!!
It was a fun season to watch the guys play ball. They worked hard and
in the end it payed off. It was a close couple of games with the 6th Ward (last years champs)
But Moran Prairie came out on top!

Audrey enjoying the game...trying to share
her chair with C.J. :)

My cute girls cheering on their DADDY!!

Halloween Party!

2008-11-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

So last year I planed a Halloween Party for a bunch of our friends and it was a success. Everyone wanted to have another party this year...so we planed it again. I had a ton of help from everyone this year especially Paige (thanks so much)! We were lucky to get to have the party at the institute building this year. They had a ping pong table, pool table and a foose ball table, needless to say all the hubby's were happy! Paige planed a darling Ghost Hunt for all the little kids. She had a bubble blower, balloons, cute Halloween music playing and tons of candy for all the kiddos. It was so much fun!! We also had a Costume Contest for all the Adults... the winners were

Paige and Bryce ( basketball and Dr. J, there baby was the ref)

Taylor North (tooth fairy)

check out the pics and be sure not to THROW UP when you see our picture!!

How did we get such cute girls???

White trash!!

The Gals

The Guys

All the cute families

Preschool Party

2008-11-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

Here is Abby Lou at her Halloween party with her preschool class.

She has made some great friends...and I have too! Her Teacher Miss Char

is so great! She relates so well to each of the kids and you can really tell she

loves to teach!

Here they are lined up for the parade

Miranda (Abby's best buddie) and Abby

Abby didn't want to walk by her self...and Audrey didn't

want her to walk alone either!

Singing some fun Halloween songs

After the costume parade they had some fun singing and
decorating cookies. Again Audrey has to be in the middle of things:)

Trunk or Treat!

2008-11-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

OK I know it has taken me forever to get the Halloween pictures up (sorry grannies and pas).

Here we are a our Ward trunk or treat. The girls had such a fun time and made out with so much candy!! Yes I know I look look like the only parent that is dressed up, but there were others, I just didn't catch them in any pics.

The Fam

out little lady bug and dad

Princess Cinderelly and lady bug Audrey

Audrey was so big! She didn't want anyone to help her...

she would go up to each person and grab the candy and head for

the next car!! Sometime she even tried to get two from the same

person...smart kid!

Me with my girls

Paige, me and Mandy

The girlie girls

Abby, Tatum and Clara

Midnight Madness!

2008-11-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

We thought we should take advantage of going to Midnight Madness...because it is the only time the girls and I will be able to see the Zag's in person. This wasn't even a real game it was their first practice and it was packed!! There season is already sold out! The only people that can get tickets are the students and they have to stand in line for hours to get them. Levi went to a game last year and loved it! Well we had a great night and got to see what all the hype is about. It is crazy, the students get so into it...it is fun to watch and remember back to the college days (not sure if I was ever that crazy?) !

we ate Chines food for dinner...hence Audrey's greasy face!

Fall is Upon Us!!

2008-10-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

We went to visit Levi at school the other day and decided to take a walk around campus. We ended up on the bridge over the Spokane River. It was so beautiful and peace full. The trees are changing colors and they are so pretty!! Just had to share the beauty!

Abby took this picture...pretty good!

Halloween Treats!!

2008-10-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks Grannie Frannie and Pa Todd for the fun Halloween package and the cute jammies!!

The girls have had so much fun with all the cute stuff...the glow bracelets were a hit!!

Love ya!!

Pumpkin Carving!!

2008-10-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween and all the fun things we get to do... especially carving pumpkins!!!

Here are our CREATIONS!

Levi's (nightmare before Christmas), Audrey's(little one), Becca's (Frankenstein), Abby's(Cinderella)

Happy Birthday Levi!!!

2008-10-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited for Levi's birthday this year...I had everything planed out so well, then the stomach flu hit me! At least we got to go to dinner at a really yummy restaurant, Clikerdaggers and to a (not so haunted) haunted house with some of our friends before it hit!

We really enjoyed dinner and having time to ourselves, which we never seem to get these days! The haunted house wasn't that bad, in fact what made it really fun was standing in line for

an hour and a half telling scary stories with our friends!!

(thanks guys for making his day special)

I am grateful that I made it till the date was over, and really sorry that Levi had to do so much on his Birthday. He really is so great! He took over and kept everything under control, fed the girls, put Audrey down for her nap, got Abby ready for church and took her, and went to all the Bishopric meetings (he is the assistant Executive Secretary and of course this is the only time in the last year the the E. S. has been out of town). He was GREAT!! Meanwhile I managed to get some dinner together and make a cake while they were at church...I couldn't have him make his own dinner and cake on his birthday! Well I wish the day could have been more relaxing and less stressful, but hey it's life... you never know what is going to come your way, so we roll with the punches and make the best of what we've got!

Happy Birthday babe!! I know it wasn't the best birthday ever... but we love you and are so proud of all your hard work!! You are the best hubby and dad ever!

us at Clinkerdaggers

Levi, Me, Shay, Paige, Misty and Bryce

Present time with the girls

Dads new shoes...too tempting!

Making the cake

I'm glad the fire alarm didn't go off!

Green Bluff

2008-10-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we headed up to Green Bluff. It is one of our favorite places to go! They have fun little festivals for every fruit harvested...apples, strawberries, cherries, pumpkins etc. This weekend was the pumpkin festival. There were so many fun things to do and see... a hay maze, donkeys to pet, goats to feed, pumpkins to pick, tractors to ride and the ultimate pumpkin launcher!! We had such a great time with our friends Bryce, Paige and Cj.

Audrey, Levi, Abby, Bryce, Cj and Paige

the girls and me lost in the maze

2008-10-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Audrey couldn't get enough of the baby pumpkins! She wanted to
bring them all home!

I wish my sister was here to take professional pics...but these will

have to do! Abby is such a poser!

The Amazing Corn Maze!!

2008-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

So for those of you that don't know I got a new calling... I am the Young Women's first councilor! I really don't know what I am doing, but I just try to have fun with the girls (which is easy) and hopefully the rest I will learn with time.

Well this last week we went to The Amazing Corn Maze! It is in North Idaho, which is only about 20 minutes from Spokane. We had a great turn out 6 girls...we only have about 9 active girls, so we were really excited! Levi was right in the middle of Mid Terms so I took the girls with me. We had such a fun time and Abby thought she was so big. She got to hold the flash light and walk with the young women! Audrey on the other hand was another story...she loved it, but I had a hard time pushing the stroller! ( Note to self NEVER take a stroller to a corn maze!) It was ridiculous! I would push for a while and then one of my young women (Ashley) would take over, so I could rest! It was quite a workout!! Well as you can see from the picture below...the stroller didn't make it out alive! We lost a wheel...I think we were as far from the entrance as you could get when it fell off and there was no fixing it! So Ashley and I carried the stroller out and let me tell you we thought the workout was good before...well I don't think I need to exercise for the next month!! Other than that the night was great!

Conference Weekend

2008-10-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

I always get excited for General Conference weekend. I love getting to wear sweats and mozy around the house for two days constantly eating yummy treats and hanging out with family. But my favorite thing is getting to hear a Prophet of God and the General Authorities of our Church Speak. It is always so uplifting and gives me that extra push to try harder to be a better person! Here are some cute pics of the girls trying to survive the weekend (why is it so hard for little ones to sit still and listen for two days?)!!

"Mommy" Audrey at 18 months

2008-10-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I am biased because I am the mom, and I know everyone feels this way about their kids so please bare with me while I brag.

I have the cutest 18month old ever! Lately Audrey's little personality has really begun to show in all her actions. She is learning so much everyday and is getting way too big. So here are a couple of cute videos of her singing to her baby doll. She does this all day long, so I thought I better get it on video to document it.

Cute things Audrey is doing:

Says MOOOOM for moo!
Says DUCK
Says Hi and Hello
Signs(mom, dad, milk, please and thank you)
Barks like a Dog
Smiles and poses for the camera
Tries really hard to say Abby, but it doesn't really work:)
Sings all day long
Loves shoes, tries all the shoes on in the house at least once a day
has to have her 2 blankets when she wakes up
( so funny to watch her try to carry them down stairs)
Gives BIG kisses by grabbing your face and holding you there till she is done
Gives SQUEEZES, the best hugs ever
Loves her baby doll
She could play outside all day
Folds her arms for prayers
Started to pout when she gets in trouble (which is way too cute that I can't not laugh)
Loves her daddy, run to him and squeals when he gets home

Happy 18months Audrey!
We love you and feel so lucky to have you in our family.

Turnbull

2008-10-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we decided to venture out and enjoy the last nice weekend of the year. We looked on line and found a National Wildlife Refuge just a 1/2 hour away. So we packed a lunch and we were off. The weather was great and the Lake was beautiful... but we saw no wildlife! HELLO this is a Wildlife Refuge??? I thought for sure we would see some deer or moose...but nothing. O.K. we did see some ducks, but hey we can go to the park down the road if we want to see ducks! All in all we had a fun day enjoyed the weather and the girls...they loved just being in nature. Audrey was so cute and wanted to walk all by herself. Lunch was great and it turned out to be a great family day.

The Olympics...well almost!

2008-09-26T17:53:00.001-07:00

Abby had the Olympics at her preschool. It was so fun to watch and the kids loved it. Audrey wanted to get in on the action too! After it was over they gave each of the kids a GOLD medal and you can't imagine how proud Abby was. She has it hanging in our kitchen and tells everyone that comes over about it.

Ballet Girl

2008-09-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

Abby started her Ballet class today. She was so darling and tried really hard to listen, but for some reason when they gave them pink marshmallows she couldn't focus?? Hmmm I wonder why:). For those wondering why they had marshmallows, it's to help them learn to hold their hands the correct way. She had a great time and after class she asked me when she gets to go back...so I guess that's a good sign!

I'm a BIG GIRL NOW! (almost)

2008-09-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here is our little (trying to be big) girl. She found Abby's panties and wanted to be just like her big sister. Here is her cute attempt!

Be sure to pause the music so you can hear her cute voice!

Our Missionary

2008-09-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

We flew home this last weekend for Austen's farewell and to take him to the MTC. I am so grateful that we were able to go and support him in his decision to serve the Lord as a Missionary. The farewell was so awesome! Austen did such a great job on his talk and Levi got to share his testimony as well. The meeting was so spiritual and made Levi and I so excited for Austen to start something that is going to change his life forever.

The Gospel is so important to Levi and I. It has honestly brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. Sure there are always hard times and trials to go through, but everything just seems easier with the Gospel and knowing that we have our Savior to guide us through those rough patches. I feel so happy that Austen gets to share the amazing message of the Savior to the people of Cambodia. When we went with him to be set apart as a missionary, he told us that he already felt such a strong bond and a love for the people of Cambodia. I know that there are people there waiting for him to come and teach them. He is going to be such an amazing missionary and have such a great adventure!

A few fun facts about Cambodia:

The people offer you live crickets to eat when you come to visit

Fried tarantulas are a common tasty treat

There are a lot of snakes (which Austen hates)

One of the few places fresh water dolphins are found

Angkor Wat is in Cambodia (click on the link to see what it is)

I set up a blog for everyone to keep up to date on Austen. It will be updated when we get new letters from him:).

eldersweeten.blogspot.com

Heading to the MTC

Glad I don't have to learn that language!

Abby was so sad to say goodbye! She had her own tissue and was wiping her eyes saying how sad she was.

Kid Trouble

2008-09-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

So here I sit in my basement on the verge of tears trying to figure out what to do (any advise is welcomed) while I listen to my sweet Abby cry. She hasn't been sleeping well for the last couple weeks, well actually she hasn't slept well on and off her whole life. She will get in bed and is good for a few minutes then gets out of bed or starts screaming and crying to the point that I can't even understand what she is saying or what she wants. It's not like we shut the door and turn all the lights off. We leave the door open and a hall light on, and her little sister is in the same room for heaven sakes. So our nightly routine is to go comfort her give her loves and tell her it is time for bed, then we head out for the second time. Again with out fail 5-10 minutes later the crying starts and she gets all worked up, gets out of bed and comes down stairs! This situation is not good for any one, poor Audrey ends up getting woken up like three times a night, (hopefully this won't start any bad habits for her, she has been such a good sleeper) which isn't fair to her. So now after waking her sister twice tonight we decided to let her sleep in the pack and play in the basement so that Aud can sleep. She has been crying for the last hour on and off and asking to get out, needs a drink and on and on and on. I am at the end of my rope, I have no more ideas...I feel like the worst mom! Has anyone else been through this???
Well I have had quite a few people tell me how grateful I will be for her determination when she gets older...but right now I am not so sure. She is such a beautiful girl and is pretty good most of the time with listening and being polite, so I'm just not sure what the problem is. She always apologises and lets me know the next day that she is going to try harder to stay in bed, but it ends up being the same story every night. In the beginning Levi and I thought it was a bit comical, but as it continues the humor is fleeting fast! I have read a bunch of great books on getting your kids to sleep well at night and I feel like I have tried all their ideas over and over. Some of them work for a while but nothing long term. So who knows what will come of this situation...but one thing I have learn from being a mom is that nothing lasts forever!! I have to remind my self of this OFTEN so that I can make it though all the rough stages. Hopefully this is one of those stages. Sorry for the vent session... Abby is asleep now and I feel better. Hope your night was better than mine :).

Abby's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I have a kid old enough to go to preschool!! Well truth is I do and she is so excited to be big enough to go! She had a great time the first day, so hopefully it will continue to go well!

Tired!!

2008-09-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Audrey got a little tuckered out after lunch the other day! It was so funny because Abby and I were just chatting away and I looked over and Audrey was completely out! It was so fast that I didn't really think she was asleep. She has never done that before so we were kind of surprised! All I know is I wish I could be a kid again... eat, sleep and play, what a life!

Tutu Girls!

2008-09-01T23:19:00.001-07:00

Here are the latest pictures of the girls. My cute sister is the photographer...amazing hu!! Check out her blog Over The Moon Bliss Photography . Jen thanks for the darling pictures can't wait to see the rest!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday:

PIG OUT IN THE PARK!!

YUMMY, GREASY, MASSIVE

Pig out in the park is Spokane's annual food fest. They have all kinds of crazy yummy food!

As seen below...HUGE CHEESE FRIES!!

(can we say heart attack waiting to happen!)

Abby and Audrey enjoying the fries and an ice cream ("bannilla" of course").

Stuffing our faces:)!!

Audrey popped her balloon with her teeth within two minutes of getting it.

Snugglin' with DAD!!

Sunday:

Well the morning started off great... a yummy pancake breakfast! Then I headed to a Bishops interview...a little stressed...Called to First Councilor in the Young Women's:). I am really excited that I don't have to teach every week!!

Headed to church and listened to a great talk by Levi while I was wrestling with my girls.

Abby yelled out "Great Job Dad!" as soon as he finished and had everyone around us laughing!!

Enjoyed a nice evening with the family!

Monday:
Levi got up at 5:15 to go golfing with all his friends. They had a blast, but if you ask me that is way too early to enjoy anything!!

Then we headed to Manito Park...one of our favorite places to go. The girls love to feed the ducks, well I guess we all love to feed them. We saw some crazy looking cat fish, a turtle, ducks and geese.
Finished up the weekend with a fun BBQ with our friends! Good food and great company...can't ask for more!

GO INDIANS!!

2008-09-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the Indians Baseball Game! Anyone who know us knows we are always up for a hot dog, Pepsi and a baseball game. We had a great time enjoying all the food! Some how we chose the right night to go...it was family night and all the food a was a buck! The game wasn't that exciting...but we had some friends come which made for great company. I think the most exciting/scary thing happened at the end of the game. A foul ball came our way and hit a little girl in the head just a few rows in front of us. OK definitely more SCARY than exciting!! I think it really sacred Abby, she kept asking us if we could say a prayer for her. What a sweet girlie!

Temple Day

2008-08-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

Austen, Levi's little brother went through the temple last week. It was such a great experience to be there with him and to support him in this decision to serve a mission! He leaves in less than a month to Cambodia! We are so excited and proud of him for making the decision to serve. He will be an amazing missionary!

2008-08-14T09:02:00.002-07:00

We have been having so much fun watching the Olymics this year that we decided to get in on The Games...hope you enjoy!!!

The Olympic Games

2008-08-14T09:02:00.001-07:00

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WARNING POSTING CRAZE!!

2008-08-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

So just a warning about the million posts that follow!! As you will see from each post we have been gone for the last I think 5 weekends on some sort of vacation. That is why I haven't had time to update this thing!! So now you get them all at once... Sorry!! I know its a lot.
We are heading back to Spokane on Monday so hopefully things will settle down and I will be able to get back on a normal schedule...probably not, but we will see.

Camping Trip!

2008-08-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Well if you think we haven't been on enough vacations here is one more!! We headed up AF canyon this weekend with Mom and dad, Nate and Jenny and Matt and Angie to have a little R&R. Well we definitely didn't get any R&R but we did have a lot of fun!! Friday night the rest of the fam came up for dinner. It was fun to play games and listen to dads stories around the camp fire. Grannie had a lot of fun projects for the kids...a magic candy tree, planting donut seeds and waiting for the donuts to grow!! We went fishing all day Saturday which turned out to be a success!! All the kids caught at least one if not more!! Audrey loved the fish and wanted to keep holding it (you can see her in the pics giving it a hug). We cooked them up and enjoyed the taste of fresh trout! Here are some cute pictures from the weekend!

Be sure to click on it so you can see them a little bigger!

Presents

2008-08-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

We brought the girls home a yummy sucker and a superman cape for Abby from California. They were in heaven to say the least!! It is funny how a little sugar and a $5 cape will make your kids happy for a week! All I can say is it was money well spent!! Abby looks a little funny because she is trying to

fly by jumping up and down.

Need I say More!!

California

2008-08-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip to Cali with our good friends Pio and Ashley. Ashley works for Jet Blue so we got a great deal!! We went to six flags and had a lot of fun! We definitely got our fill of thrills! We rode X2 which is the newest coaster and it was unbelievably awesome!! Then we enjoyed a day at the beach soaking in the sun and playing in the waves! This is my kind of vacation!! Thanks for the great time Pio and Ash!!

(the turkey leg picture is for you Kyle and Jamie!)

Bear Lake

2008-08-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

We had our annual Marchbanks family reunion at Bear Lake this year. My sister Amy and her husband Brett have a cute Cottage that we stayed at. We are so grateful to them for letting us stay and enjoy their darling cottage. We had so much fun just hanging out on the beach, boating, playing cards, watching movies and the highlight of the trip the Pickleville Playhouse Play!! If you ever go to Bear Lake go see a play at the Pickleville Playhouse. We haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We enjoyed every minute of the vacation and can't wait to go again!!

Dad, Amy and Mom
Audrey digging in the sand
Audrey floating in the boat
Us at the play with the villain...Juanito Bandito!
Abby ready to go boating
The fam

Me and my cute sisters minus two
Me, Heather, Jen and Amy
Lizzy and Angie were on the boat.

Park City

2008-08-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend at the Marriott in Park City with Fran and Todd and the Eyres. We had such a fun time with them. We rode the Alpine slide, Alpine coaster, and a bunch of little kiddie rides. We also had a great time swimming and relaxing in the hot tubs (I think there were like 7 of them) not to mention playing our new favorite game Killer Bunnies. A big thanks to Steve and Pixie for introducing us to the game! We had great food and great company!! Thanks so much Grannie and Pa!!

$$ VEGAS BABY $$

2008-08-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

We headed down to Vegas to see our friends Jen and Kyle and their cute boy Bridger. We had such a fun time. We went to the Pro Bass Store which was amazing! We also made it to a few of the kid friendly casinos (if you can call them that?) Circus Circus and New York New York. The kids loved it and we did too! Jen was such a great sport...9months prego and still trucking around the strip with all of us. We had some great card games and a fun time swimming. It was great to visit and catch up on everything.

Congrats on the new baby he is darling!!

Some cute pics from the trip...although there arn't any of us moms?

Kyle and Levi

Bridger and Abby the hunters!

Cute kids

The 4th

2008-07-23T09:41:00.001-07:00

The 4Th of July was a fun filled day. We were busy all day long starting with the Provo parade. We had a great time sitting with the Eyre's. Abby loved watching all the princess floats go by and Audrey was thrilled at any animals she saw. After the parade we headed to Grannie Greats for lunch and a swimming party. Then we headed home for a quick nap. Then off to Jen and Nate's for a BBQ and to watch the PG fireworks which the girls loved. We had such a fun day! The 4Th is definitely one of my favorite holidays!

At the parade
swimming party
fireworks at the BBQ
Firework Fun!!

The Best Place On Earth!! otherwise known as Lake Powell

2008-07-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

What a fun vacation!! This is our families favorite place to go! Warm water, beautiful scenery, good food and the best company... you can't get better than that. We left early Sat. morning and met up with the rest of the crew and headed out on the house boat to find a spot to camp. We found a beautiful spot in Hansen Canyon that ended up being perfect. There was so much to do...hiking, wake boarding, skiing, surfing, playing cards, reading books and don't forget eating. I don't know what it is about Lake Powell, but everyone feels like they can eat what ever they want at any time of the day... and I love that. Candy at 9:00 in the morning or Ding Dongs after you have brushed your teeth for the night. It's great! It was also my birthday while we were there. Everyone was so nice and made the day so wonderful! My cute mother in law made yummy Hawaiian Haystacks and we had a Luau. It was so fun and made me feel so special! Thanks to my hubby for my awesome present ( heart rate monitor for my workouts) and for being him. He is always so thoughtful and makes my birthday so special! I am defiantly the luckiest girl ever!
Well we had a great trip and made some wonderful memories. We left our cute Audrey at home, which was really nice to not have to worry about her, although we did miss her a lot!! Thanks to my mom and my sisters for watching her!! I love you!

Thanks to Grannie and Grandpa for the amazing trip!!

We love you!

Fran, me, Abby, Levi, Todd and Austen
Levi and Abby made this cute sign out of seashells for me!

My birthday Cake
Our family minus one
Abby always posing for the camera

Me and Ab

Me wake boarding
Levi slaloming
Playing horse shoes

most of the crew

Abby being brave on the slide!

Strawberry Days

2008-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

What a fun week we had!! Strawberry Days is our little towns yearly celebration! We absolutely love the whole week, from strawberry shakes at Taco Amigo and strawberry's n' cream to the rodeo and parade! The week is full of fun activities and yummy food!
The girls loved every minute of it, and we loved spending time with family and friends!!

Crazy Carnival Girls

Rodeo with the Friends

Pio, Ashley, Rick, Levi, Abby, Audrey, Me and Naomi

Audrey is loving it!!

The Big Parade

Rodeo

more carnival fun!

Boating with Grannie and Pa

2008-06-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

We went boating last weekend with Fran, Todd, Austen, Katie (Nixon), and Al. We had so much fun. The weather was perfect! Abby decided to try wake boarding with her dad. At first she was really excited, then when she realized what it would entail it was too late, but she did great, and only shed a few tears (because her band aid came off).

Back Yard Fun!!

2008-06-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

Audrey and Abby on the new HORSE SWING!!

(love it Grannie and Pa! )

Chicken nugget girl!

(gotta have one in each hand and one for her mouth)

It has been so nice staying with my parents for the summer! They have this beautiful backyard that the girls absolutely love. It is so nice not to have to go to a park, we can just walk out the back door and enjoy!

My Ten year High School Reunion

2008-06-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

Okay... so now you know how old I am! J/K

We had a great time visiting with all our friends!!