It's been awhile...

So I have this friend that keeps informing me that I haven't updated my blog in forever, so I guess I will make her happy and put something on here. The girls are almost

4 and a half years old already. They are doing so many new things. They both know how to spell their name and can write it. They know almost all their numbers by site, spell out pretty much any word that is in all capital letters(especially stop signs), they sing me new songs that their grandma Diane teaches them at daycare, they are getting pretty good at playing the wii(they love the dance one their grandma Ellen has), they are always asking if it is warm enough to go out and ride their 4wheelers, and they have started helping Ryan out in the shop more. Their favorite thing lately is to help me make lunch and dinner, they pick out their plates, the vegetable and fruit they want and help me with pretty much every part of preparing the main dish except using the stove. I only hope this continues as they get older:) They are still taking dance lessons and have their recital in May, but are also going to dance at the Dogwood festival. They are so excited to start preschool next fall, they don't quite understand the concept of time though.(It's going to be a long 6 months till school starts) The most interesting thing about the girls lately would have to be Jordis' imaginary sister Callie. One day she told me that she has 2 sisters so I asked her what their names were, she told "Elise and Callie". This is what I have learned about Callie in the last 3 weeks: she lives in a pink house with a green roof, her mom drives a red car, she has blond hair(like Jordis), she has a cat named Serafina, she is either 5 or 7 depending on the day, she lives on the lewiston hill, if I asked Jordis when she is coming over she replies "in 4 hours"(every time), she takes dance too, she has an older sister Ariel and a younger sister Areah, and Jordis frequently tells Elise that she is not her sister anymore, only Callie is. I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff. Anytime someone asks Jordis about Callie the story is always the same, kinda weird:)
Well that is all I have for now so hopefully I will update this more often. Hope you all enjoyed!

5 Years!!

Well it's been 5 years since Ryan and I got married. I can't believe how fast time has flown be, I guess having 2 babies just a year after you get married will do that. We have done so many things in 5 years that I can't even begin to list them all, I wouldn't know where to end. I know the next 5 will be even busier since the girls will be going to school and having all their activities. We plan on going on vacation this next spring to a place like our honeymoon which will be nice because we haven't been able to get away just the 2 of us very much. I love you babe!

Fall Update...

So like everyone else, I have neglected my blog. For those of you that aren't my friend on face book here is a little of what has been going on in the last month or two. The girls started taking dance lessons at Footnotes with their cousin Aydann. They absolutely love going to dance class, they come home and show us what they have learned. For Labor Day weekend the girls and I went with my brother Ron and his daughter Jessi camping. We joined the Leiterman's, Frei's, Weeks', Bremer's and Heimgartners at Newsome Creek. The girls really enjoyed going on the 4wheeler ride and then riding the kids 4wheelers around camp. We were caught in a hail/rain storm on the ride back and did great. The next weekend we went to the round up parade to see all the horses and pretty princesses. Elise fell and spent the next hour holding her hands up in the air and saying she couldn't pick up candy because she was hurt. Ryan has been archery hunting every weekend in September so it has been just the girls and I on the weekends so we have been having lots of Tea Parties. It started out because I didn't want to go into Taco Time to eat so I suggested that we bring our food home and have a tea party with it. Well the next morning the wanted their breakfast there and every meal after that. Once Ryan comes home they know that we have to put the table away and eat in the kitchen until he goes hunting again. This last wednesday he shot his first elk with his bow and was very excited. The girls thought they would be able to see it as a "whole elk" when he got home and were confused when he actually showed it to them. I think Jordis will be our little hunter because she was asking all kinds of question about it hanging in our neighbors fridge while Elise hid behind the door. This weekend we headed to the Nez Perce county fair to see if the girls would ride any of the rides. To our suprise they did and loved it. We started off on a calm ride and ended with the Dragon roller coaster. Elise usually doesn't like doing things that she doesn't have control over so I was a learing that she would actually stay on the ride. I think it helped that she had Jordis next to her to make her "brave". Jordis on the other hand wanted to ride big things like the octopus and zipper, she is going to be my dare devil. She even put her hands up in the air and was sreaming with the other kids. I have been busy canning salsa with vegetables from our garden and canned a couple quarts of pickles. Work was really busy in August so it has been a little slow this month, but it will be picking up again since the holidays aren't that far off. Hopefully my next post won't be quite so far away.

Playing doctor

Elise is giving Serafina a shot
Here she is taking her temperature...

Checking her heart....

Looking in her ears...

And then Jordis gives her a drink from the doll baby bottle.

This morning I caught the girls playing"doctor" with Jordis' kitten Serafina. Thank goodness Serafina is so mellow and will let them do pretty much anything to her, she just lays there and takes it:) Elise's kitten Wolfie on the other hand is just like her, she doesn't sit still for anything and would rather be running around or playing in the girls' toys than let them do anything to her. They kittens personalities are a perfect match for the girls', Jordis just wants Serafina to lay with her and read a book or watch tv while Elise likes her kitten but would rather play barbies or do something else. As I am typing this Jordis is trying to put a doll's pair of pants on her kitten and Serafina is letting her!

Our summer has been very busy...I made a trip to Boise to see my friend Maria and her new baby girl, the girls have been going to the Childrens Matinee movies on mondays and have been to numerous birthday parties and to the aquatic center a couple times. Ryan has been working on finishing the shop he started to build this spring, we should have electricity to it by this weekend so all that is left is digging and hooking up the sewer line. Archery hunting season starts pretty soon so he will be busy with that the whole month of september. I have been busy in my garden and now have started canning some of my produce. I was hoping things would slow down but it doesn't look like it will anytime soon.

Border Days 09

Papa Ray & his grand-daughters

Papa Ray & his grandsons

Cousin Reed & Jordis

I love these bows, I bought them from a lady walking down the street selling them out of her stroller!

Micaela, Elise, Dani, Jordis, Macenzie and Hailey

Picking up toys at the toy scramble

This past weekend we headed up to Grangeville for the annual Border Days celebration. We took in 2 of the parades and one rodeo. The girls really enjoyed playing with all thier cousins since this is the only time of the year that they are ALL together. I was hoping that the girls would stay awake for the fireworks this year but they only made it through our little display and then snoozed through the big ones. The really liked playing with the sparklers at my moms house Thursday night, Jordis kept trying to write her name. It's good to be home finally, I really need to give my house some attention in the cleaning department:)

Camping at Elk River

Uncle Ron and Jordis

Elise riding home with Cori

The girls zonked out

Johnny and Velvet

Jordis pickin' daisies

Elise doing the same

Elise listening to my ipod

Jordis with her "stick girl" that she woundn't put down.

Colby and Jordis going for a ride

Elise eating a smore(that was the only bite she took)

Jordis attempting to take a bite

This past weekend the girls and I went to Elk River with my brother Ron and his daughter Jessi. We camped with the Leiterman's, Weeks', and Baldwin's. Poor Ryan had to go to Boise to be in his friend's wedding so he wasn't able to go with us. My brother hauled our "redneck" camper up and I attemped to bring the 4wheelers on our trailer but we soon found out that the shocks were broke, made the trailer smoke! So we had to do some rearranging with the Weeks' and our 4wheelers. It was raining a little when we got there but we were still able to have a good time. Saturday morning I opted to not take the girls on the poker run since it was still cold and looked like it was going to rain. So we hung out at camp and then went into town to meet up with everyone else. While we were waiting to see who won Elise dropped the key to our 4wheeler inside it, which ended up taking over an hour to get out. The guys had that 4wheeler every direction, up on it's back wheels, front, and side. In the end they finally found it and then my brother won $65 for having the lowest score. Sunday we took the girls on a ride up to Elk Butte. They did really well, Elise even fell asleep on the way back, thank goodness for cori's strap that I had around Elise and me. Hopefully next year we will all be able to go and the girls will be able to go on the poker run with Ryan and I. It was so nice getting out of town and having no phones and t.v.'s(well in our camper anyways:)

The new kittens have arrived

Monday I got the call that the girls' kittens were ready to go to their new home. So we headed to Walmart to pick up a couple things that we didn't have and then after the girls napped we went to pick them up. The whole way home Wolfie was whining and the girls were trying to comfort her by saying"Oh, it's all right, we are almost to your new home". The first night I don't think the kittens touched the floor, especially Jordis' kitten. She wants to pack her everywhere and wants her to just sit and watch tv with her. Elise is a little more distracted and tends to lose her kitten. The kittens personalities match the girls' very well, Jordis and Serafina are both content to just sit and be held where Elise and Wolfie want to get down and run or play. The kittens are awesome so far at using their litter box and don't whine at all in the night. I think this will be a good thing after all.

The other picture is of the girls and Misty Dawn Taylor, 2002 Miss Idaho. We went to the theater in Grangeville where she sang disney songs and there was a slide show of the disney characters she was singing. The girls were able to where her crowns and get their picture taken with her. She used to sing on a Disney cruise ship and actually graduated from Grangeville with Ryan so it was pretty neat.

I'm sure I will have lots more pictures of the girls and their kittens to come.