.

Payge..You are FUNNY

2012-01-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

One night Maycie and the twins set up a dog show in their room. Maycie had the twins introduce their dogs and then they did some tricks. Once they were finished that were just playin around with the Microphone. Payge frequently talks about Beau Vanderstappen from her Nursery class, and its funny to hear her talk about him. Payge was asked who her boyfriend was and she had no shame in shouting out his name. As soon as she did Preslee started giggling. Payge quickly turned to her and yelled "STOP" The look on Preslee's face is priceless. The video goes on for a few more seconds but the first part of the video is the funniest. There really is never a dull minute with these 2. Here is the Link to the video

Preslee and Payge

Christmas 2011

2012-01-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I loved that we had church first thing in the morning. It helped the girls to focus on Christ before opening all their gifts. We got up and go ready for church and then went downstairs to see what Santa brought the girls. Brilynn had asked for a moped scooter about 2 months before. I told her that was to expensive and there was no way she would get it. We left it at that and not another word was spoken of it. Santa must have gotten a great deal on the scooter since she already had a razor motor scooter. Santa was a little tricky and hid the scooter behind the tall doll house. She didn't see it when she first came in. I was actually very impressed that she was still excited about the small things that she did get from Santa. Here is the video link of her suprise.

Christmas Morning 2011

It was fun to see her totally suprised and so excited. The moped goes really fast and is really fun to ride. She spent the afternoon giving the twins rides. Can't wait till it is warm so she can spend more time outside with it. She did hop on it the other day to go babysitting for our neighbors. It made me laugh to watch her hop on her moped and speed off to "work"

The twins got their dollhouse..."just like they wanted."

The dollhouse is a little big and we had to do some cleaning out in the play rooms.

These 2 are so entertaining.

Awwwwww

Maycie insisted that she wanted a push scooter. She was tired of having electric scooters. She wanted something that she could ride with her friends. The electric scooters are 2 fast sometimes.

Once we got home from church we had a small breakfast and finally started opening gifts around 11:00. We were almost finished when Payge cut her finger on a Magnet board I got. It was really deep and right in the crevis of her finger. We really should have taken her in, but that was the last place we wanted to go on Christmas Eve...the ER. Instead we bandaged it up and put some super glue on it. I couldn't look at it and didn't until the next morning. I about fainted when I did. It was gouged open and very deep. I had no idea it was that bad. I rushed her over to my friend who is a PA and asked her if she thought I should take her in. She said that they would have done stitches if I would have taken her in but they won't do stitches once its been more than 10 hrs. She said the super glue will do the same thing and just keep it clean. She also informed me that she keeps stiches at her house at all times. Wish I would have know that before but note to self for the future. I continue to worry about it because it took almost 1 weeks to heal.

We enjoyed the rest of the day by hanging out, eating, playing xbox, sewing, and playing Barbies. We had a nice dinner of ham, potoates, jello, and pie. So sad to see the day end but so excited to put all the christmas decor up the next day.

2012-01-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

On Christmas Eve we opened up the last 2 memories. They were cookies to decorate for Santa and new Pj's for the girls.

The girls were very serious about decorating the cookies. They wanted them to be perfect for Santa.

Preslee insisted that Santa liked lots and lots of Sprinkles.

The finished product. I know you are all dying to have one.

Aftwards we played a game of sorry before heading off to bed.

I enjoyed watching the girls set up their notes and treats for Santa.

1st grade Christmas party

2012-01-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

I really don't remember signing up for Maycie's Christmas party since I did her halloween party but I was glad to help. The twins loved being able to participate with Maycie and I think Maycie and her friends loved having them there as well.

The did 2 crafts, had hot chocolate, and then we did a christmas present exchange. I enjoy watching Maycie enteract with her classmates.

HB2U

2012-01-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Once again it's Maycie's birthday in CRAZY Dec. I wonder if that will ever change ;) As usual, Maycie was counting down the days to her birthday.

In the morning we opened her family gifts. Here she is sportin her new rain boots

The latest Family Movie

Her new obsession (well one of them) LEGOS

Ever since Maycie started 1st grade she has been asking, begging, to have her own lunch box. I didn't want to buy the lunch box because I didn't want to have to make the home lunch. I think this was her favorite gift from her family.

G&G Batty gave her a motion sensored candy machine...just what the dentist ordered!!!

We had a basement full of 26 little girls and 1 little boy. Colter is Maycie's good friend and the only boy she wanted to invite. Someday Colter may appreciate these numbers. Brilynn was really good to help Colter make some sports bookmarks while the girls made bracelets. They also made christmas candy jars.

With that many friends...comes lots of gifts to open. Thanks to all her friends for the fun gifts. Maycie with her cousin Shelby Rognon

Kaylan Rydman

Hailey Rollins

Chloe Adams

Madyson Herbst

Madeline Pulsipher

Kaylee Schiers

Eva Butler

Brookelyn Hawks

Kaitelyn

Sidney Stoker

Ashton

Ally Tuttle

Ashlyn Baxter

Kennedy Tyrrell

Claire Stephens

Paityn Cornell

Alyssa Austad

Livie Smith

Ally Bigler

Maddie Gibby

Claire.

2012-01-23T21:21:00.015-07:00

Brilynn and Maycie had another piano recital in Nov. The girls continue to enjoy piano and so far I still don't have to beg them to practice. Just a reminder most of the time.

Brilynn's Piano
Maycie's Piano

Joy School Chrisimas Party

2012-01-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

As the twins would say, they had their "CHRISIMAS" party for Joy School. My friend Amber put together a very cute christmas party for the Joy School kids. The first thing they did was a gift exchange. Some of the kids had a hard time exchanging their gift so they kept their own instead. Preslee and Payge were both excited to open the gifts they recieved.

Next we played musical chairs to christmas music. When the kids got out they got to go sit on the big red santa bean bag. Preslee and Payge both cried and got upset when they didn't get a chair. Guess we need to work on that game.

They made cute ornaments

and played, "Santa Says"

They played a few more games and ended the party with cookies and milk.

A big thanks to Amber for taking charge and making the party a huge success.

2012-01-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Once again Snowflake the elf came to visit this year. On Dec 1st Maycie went down to get ready for school. She saw snowflake sitting by the fireplace and and started to scream. She gave Snowflake a big hug and tears started to roll down her cheeks. The other kids were excited as well but not to that extent ;)

We enjoyed doing the 12 memories of christmas again this year. This is also something that we look forward to each year. Although I didn't take pictures of everything, I did capture a few of them. One of the memories was a family christmas puzzle. It was pretty complex and maybe we need to try a little easier one for next year.

Snowflake continue to do tricks throughout the month of Dec. The girls love it when she writes on their faces.

Another memory was a christmas craft where the girls made sand ornaments.

Another memory was hot chocolate and new hot chocolate mugs.

A few of the other memories we did were Santa Visit, Christmas lights, Festival of the Trees, painting christmas ornaments, playing the christmas chimes, and a christmas movie night.

Joy School at the West House

2012-01-23T18:28:00.002-07:00

Nov. was our turn to have Joy School at our house. We had three weeks and then the 4th week we went on a field trip. For the 3 weeks we learned about Fall and Thanksgiving. We took leaves, taped them to a coffee straw and then stuck them into a regular straw. The kids had to blow the straws and the one who got their leaf to fly the furthest was the winner.

For another activity, they were all given a paper with a tree on it. There were circles on the trees and they had to match the m&m to the same color circle on the tree.

The kids loved all of the matching activites that we did. I think they have completely mastered that concept. I couldn't be to excited about having my week out of the way...when you have twins that means 2 of everything...including having Joy School at my house for 2 months instead of 1. That's okay...maybe by April we can do some outdoor activities. I won't get my hopes up though. The way this winter has gone we will still be having winter in June!!!

For the LOVE of H&M Shoes!

2012-01-23T18:28:00.001-07:00

We went with a few friends done to check out H&M when it opened at Fashion Place Mall. It was crazy and hectic and I had the twins with me so I wasn't really able to focus and shop. The twins didn't seem to mind the chaos and they had to problem finding the perfect pair of shoes. They each picked out differnt shoes that they LOVED. Shoes are really the last thing they need so I let them hold them for awhile and the plan was to put them back as soon as they got tired of them. This was about 3 months ago and they are still not tired of these shoes!!! They were them everywhere and with every outfit no matter if they match or not. I other 6 pairs of shoes that they have have barely left their closet. They LOVE these shoes. Before they wore them outside they wore them in the house non stop including nap time and bedtime. Once they started wearing them outside I quickly had to put my foot down on them wearing them in the house. I think this is the only item they own that isn't matching. Is that why they love them so much????????

Thanks Pinterest

2012-01-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to pinterst...this is my most recent project. I purchased a cheap sofa table off KSL...spent a few hours outside in the cold at midnight...and ended up with a bright blue entry table.

Gobble Gobble

2012-01-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Not quite sure why I never get very many pictures of thanksgiving. Maybe because it is always at our house and so I feel like I have more important things to do instead of snaping pictures. Anway, we had a wonderful thanksgiving. There were a few things that really upset me this year though. The stores started their sales way to early. Kohls even started theirs on Wed. evening, the night before Thanksgiving. Since we had decided to try something new this year and do most of our shopping online, this caused me a lot of stress. I didn't know when the sales would start and so I felt like I needed to keep checking all day. We had lots of great food and great company. We did an adult gift exchange which is always very intertaining. Aughhhh...I wish I had more pictures. In the afternoon we went to the theater to see Arthor's Christmas. The twins fell asleep while Brilynn and Maycie were completely entertained. As we were walking out of the theater we got a call from my brother that Toys R Us sales were live on the internet. As you can imagine...I was STRESSED. They had a lot of things that I wanted for the twins. So I stood in the theater and had Ben do all of my Toys R Us shopping because I couldn't drive and tell him what I wanted at the same time. So we finally got home all of the stores were going live. I had 3 computers it front of me and I was going literally crazy trying to get all the "DEALS" In the meantime, I sent John to Walmart with Ben. This was Johns first experience of Black Friday. He was completely shocked at the chaos. Ben was trying to get all of us the kinect games that were normally $50 and they had them on sale for $15. I think this is the worst thing to try to get every year. As soon as they ripped off the plastic he dove to the floor and grabbed a stash of games for everyone. The bad thing was he was stuck on the floor and couldn't move. He had peole trying to dig in his jacket and take the games he had. He seriously risked his life for same video games. Thanks for the sacrafice:) My sister finally made it to our house after being stuck in traffic forever. A few of us decided to hit a few of the stores for the things we didn't get online. We only shopped till about 3 in the morning and then came home and went to bed. By that time everyone had gotten everything that they wanted. The best part was that we got some sleep and then we woke up early on Friday and went shopping again. This time we were able to enjoy our shopping and still take advantage of good deals but not deal with the mad dash for doorbusters. Shopping online was definately a success and we plan on doing it again next year.

Dan's inlaws come to our house as well for Thanksgiving every year. We love having them come and they alwasy bring some kind of entertainment. This year that brought a game. Can't remember the offical name of the game, but this is how it works. Everyone holds on to a handle and the "music" starts to play. As soon as the music stops you have to drop your handle. The last person to drop their handle gets shocked. This is not just a little gentle shock...it is a full on owwwiee shock. Now I wasn't dumb enough to plan the game and most of the girls didn't. They did convince Maycie to play. I tried to talk her out of it but she insisted. The video is below. Just click on the link

Reaction Game

Thanksgiving is definetly a favorite at our house. We can't wait till next year.

Syracuse Firestation

2012-01-23T17:42:00.002-07:00

For our Nov. field trip we headed to the Syracuse Firestation. I must say...the firefighters there have 1 of the best facalities that I have seen. Glad they are taken care of! Payge was sportin my Sunglasses and having a hard time being patient while we waited for the tour to start.

The kids loved having a chance to sit in the fire trucks.

Payge asked her usual list of questions and kept the firemen very entertained.

We can offically say that we have been to the firestation with all of our girls. Check that off the list:)

Pictures

2012-01-23T17:15:00.003-07:00

We tried to take some pictures before it got to cold...but it was still cold and windy. Also, by time it was Payge's turn she had fallen asleep in the Yukon while trying to stay warm. Atleast we got a few of her.

Happy Haunting

2011-11-03T12:05:00.000-06:00

These outfits were hilarious to me. I think what made it so cute was seeing both of them as little gnomes. At first they weren't quite sure about being a gnome for Halloween. They wanted to be witches instead. After we went to Frightmares one night at Lagoon where they went through a spook house that had a little gnome village they were excited to be a gnome.

They had so many people comment on their cute costumes. Brilynn and Maycie were getting tired of all the comments. Lots of times they would have to wait at the door while the person who opened the door called to the rest of their family/friends to come see the gnomes. The funny thing was one time somebody called them a Smurf. Payge said, " I not a MURF...I a GNOME." The next house she went to I heard the lady say, "Oh my goodness...Look at you cute little elfs." I saw Payge quickly put her hand on her hip and while shaking her hips said, "I not an EWF...I a GNOME."

Brilynn decided to go out on a limb this year and insttead of being a witch she was a twilight fairy

And Maycie was sticking with her tradition...a witch!

The girls kept going and going. Finally at 8:30 I told them that it was getting to late and we needed to stop. I was able to bribe them by taking them to get dinner instead of more candy.

Haunted House

2011-11-03T11:57:00.000-06:00

This was Brilynn's haunted house that she made at school this year. They cut the house out of paper and then I went and helped spray paint all the houses. The next day they got to decorate them. It was a fun project for them and I was pretty impressed with how cute they looked.

Class Parties

2011-11-03T11:55:00.000-06:00

I was able to help at both of the girls parties this year since Maycie's was in the morning and Brilynn's was in the afternoon. I enjoy watching the girls at school and seeing who their friends are and how they interact with them. They played halloween games....

decorated cookies...

and had witches brew ( that was my station and I didn't get any pictures)

For Brilynn's class I was in charge of the game. We did 4 different minute to win it halloween games.

They also painted pumpkins

and made spider cupcakes

At first the girls were upset that they had to go to school on Halloween. I think they ended up having a much better time than they thought they would.

Carving Pumpkins.

2011-11-03T11:49:00.000-06:00

For some reason John and I were not in the mood to carve pumpkins. It was something that I really had been putting off and wasn't really excited about. Maycie was the most excited and did the most work though. She loved it. John even became very focused on his pumpkin

I was not so thrilled when I cut the top off my pumpkin. Instead of having nice bright orange guts in mine...it was full of dark brown guts. Absolutely disgusting. I was ready to quit right then.

Maycie had no fear and volunteered to clean out my pumpkin.

Even Brilynn thought it was completely gross!

Preslee and Payge spent most of their time poking the pumpkins. They said they were putting freckles on them.

Brilynn was very helpful with the twins pumpkins. She made them a cute little Jack-O-Lantern

I think Maycie assisted everyone on their pumpkins. She was a die hard!!!

J & J

2011-11-03T11:37:00.000-06:00

Since our pumpkins that we got from Black Island Farm were a little small we decided to hit J&J's pumpkin hayride as well

Once again Preslee insisted on a small pumpkin

There were not very many pumpking left in the field so we had to search hard and walk a long distance to find them.

Good thing everyone was able to find their perfect pumpkin!!!

Black Island Farm

2011-11-03T11:29:00.000-06:00

I was glad when I noticed that Brilynn and Maycie would be off track when we would be taking the twins to Black Island Farm for Joy School. For those of you who know me...know that the reason for my happiness was the major discount. By going with the joy school, my cost was $18.00 compared to the $70.00 it would have been if we had to pay regular price. This is a cute and fun place for the kids but not sure I would spend $70.00 for it. So glad we could ALL enjoy it at a great discount :) Moving on...

Pagye, for some reason, wasn't wanting her picture taken. She was pretty disgusted at this moment.

and she really didn't want a picture with Preslee :(

These girls can go from one extreme to antother in no time!

We love these 4 little girlies!!!

We got on the hayride and headed out to the pumpking patch. On our way there, we stopped in a field and they should the kids some of the different things they grew on the farm.

The kids were able to pick their own pumpin from the patch.

Preslee made me laugh because she didn't want a big pumpkin. She insisted on trying to find the smallest pumpkin in the patch.

After the pumpkin patch and hayride went over to the play area. I only snapped a few pictures before my camera died. Another benefit of having Brilynn and Maycie there with us was that they were the best little helpers to the twins.

Rapunzel, Cousin it, or Wrip Van Winkle...you choose :)

2011-10-20T16:44:00.000-06:00

Not quite sure how she sleeps like this...whatever it takes to get that beauty rest!

Great Harvest Bread

2011-10-20T16:39:00.000-06:00

The twins first field trip for Joy School was to the Great Harvest Bread Co. in Layton. Since Brilynn and Maycie were off track...they got to be a part of the fun! When they first got there, they had everyone wash thier hands. Then they gave everyone their own loaf of dough. They were told to make their favorite thing out of their dough. Preslee made a snake,

Brilynn made a spider

and Maycie and Payge made a nest with eggs in it.

Payge waiting to listen to the story, "The Little Red Hen"

Then they took the kids back to show them how they make the bread.

They got to sample, smell, and touch the different ingredients.

Aftwards, they went outside to wait for their bread to finish baking.

It was an excellent field trip snack.

Soccer...

2011-10-20T16:24:00.000-06:00

This season has been so good for Brilynn. I think she was at a disadvantage when she first started playing AYSO. When she was Pre-K we put her in the city soccer. The city combined the girls and the boys and the girls really didn't have a chance and Brilynn hated it. So we didn't continue. 3 years later she decided to try it again. By this time most of the girls had played for 3 years and new a lot more than she did. This year she has a really good coach. He has taught her a lot and I have seen a huge improvement. We love watching her be aggresive and seeing her practice the things she has been taught. Maycie is still a die hard and claims soccer to be her favorite sport ever. She LOVES it. I love watching my girls gain confidence when they do something great on the field.

Having a twin...wish I had one.

2011-10-20T16:18:00.000-06:00

This picture seriously shows the bond between these 2. They fell asleep on the way home from Lagoon one night. When we went to get them out of the back seat, this is what we saw. Payge had fallen asleep on Preslee's shoulder. I loved that they were holding hands as well. I can't imagine having a best buddy by my side for my entire childhood. Nothing like a built in best friend.

Do you think they could look any more different.

Love Payge's face in this one.

A look that I get quite often when I ask Payge to do something.

I am so glad I captured this look of Preslee. Whenever she points to something, she closes one eye and points with the opposite hand. I love it!!!

Joy School

2011-10-20T16:02:00.000-06:00

I really feel like it was just a few months ago that it was time for Maycie to do Joy School. It makes me sad to think how fast the last 3 1/2 years have gone by. Since we don't plan on having any more sweethearts, I think it makes it that much harder for me to watch these 2 grow up. However, these 2 are hilarious and make us laugh every day. They couldn't wait for "Doy Scoo"

They were so excited to show me what they had learned at school. I love to see their excitement and listen to their stories.

An Unexpected Hair cut

2011-10-20T15:53:00.000-06:00

One afternoon I was busy doing Primary stuff in my room. The twins were being so good and I was getting a lot done. While working away, the girls walked into my room. Before I even looked up, they made a huge announcement..."Mom, we cut our hair." I remember looking up and the first thing I saw was one of Preslee's pig tails being 90% shorter than it used to be. My first reaction was "Oh my Goodness girls!!!!! What are you doing??????? I felt the tears coming to my eyes as I got a closer look at the damage. Payge's response was "Mommy we just playin" and Preslee followed up with "We just want to be a lady" AUGHGHGHGHGHGH. How could I be so mad and upset when they were so innocent. I quickly pulled out their pigtails so I could see how much damage had been done. I am so upset that I didn't take a picture of their pigtails but I wasn't thinking about that at the time. Payge's hair was actually a perfect layered cut. I am assuming that Payge's pigtails were thick enough that they couldn't get the scissors to cut through the entire pigtail, unlike Preslee's. Her hair was so thin that it didn't take much to chop the whole thing off. I quickly put them in the car and we headed to the salon once we picked up Brilynn and Maycie from school. They did a pretty good job of fixing the disaster. We had to cut about 5 inches off of Payge's hair and about 3 inches off Preslee's. It ended up being a good thing for Preslee because it has helped her hair to thicken up a bit.

It could have been much worse and I'm thankful that this was the only hair they cut off. You must admit they were very particular about keeping it nice and neat in the shell.

Our own Little Taio Cruz singin DYNAMITE

2011-08-22T15:33:00.002-06:00

I came downstairs from getting ready and this was what Preslee was doing. It made me smile

Click on this to watch the video

Preslee's Version of DYNOMITE

Wedding Day Tiffiani and Coulson

2011-08-09T16:01:00.000-06:00

Tiffiani and Coulson were married at the Timpanogos temple. It had been about 10 years since the last time John and I had been to that temple. I had forgotten how much I loved the different colors in all the windows. We snapped a few pictuers while waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the temple.

Brilynn and Maycie are so sad that their cousins are moving to Georgia. It was really hard for them to say goodbye when they left this time.

Preslee was upset about something and said, "I don't wanna a pichur with da pincess"

I thought her center pieces were darling.

They served yummy crepes at the reception

Brilynn and Maycie were ticked because I wouldn't let them do the candy buffet until the end of the reception. So they decided to pout for a few minutes instead ;)

The bride's dad giving his speech

awwww...she looked beautiful

Preslee pampering and reapplying her "yipstick" for the 10th time that night!

Revenge of the Nerds

Mr and Mrs. Potatoe Head...haha

Nick was the lucky man!!!

Unless you look really close in the picture you can't tell that Brilynn is soooooo close to catching the bouquet. However, the tall girl held up a little girl who snatched it right from above Brilynn's hands. To say the least...she was ticked. Maybe next time:)

Back 2 School

2011-08-09T10:14:00.000-06:00

Our 8 weeks of summer went by REALLY fast. The girls and I were both sad that our summer is over. We spent lots of time going to movies, chuck e cheese, roy aquatic center, little weekend road trips, and just being LAZY. Although I am sad to have the girls back in school...I am totally ready to get back to a routine. We have had no schedule WHATSOEVER. It was fun while it lasted but I am enjoying being back on schedule.

Maycie started 1st grade this year. She was super excited but I think a little nervous once she got there. I was a little emotional once I saw how nervous she was and had to fight hard to hold back my tears. Good thing I was able to hide my face behind the camera for a few seconds :(

Brilynn wasn't excited to go back to school. I think the older they get the less excited they are. Once she got home from school that day she was excited and loved her first day.

I really miss having the girls around and the twins are really lost without them as well. The girls always entertained them when they were home. That's why we love year round school so much. Only 9 weeks until they have a 3 week break. Good luck this year Brilynn and Maycie

4th of July Midway STYLE

2011-08-09T10:07:00.000-06:00

Our friends Rachel and Bryan invited us to spend the weekend with them at their parents cabin in Midway. Our girls were so excited to see their friends and spend the weekend with them. The Garner's live in St. George so we don't get to see them very often. We went up on Saturday afternoon. We hung out for a while and then decided to go to Provo for dinner and to watch the fireworks. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, The Old Spaghetti Factory. Then we headed over to the BYU stadium. They were having the stadium of fire that night. We didn't have tickets but thought we would enjoy the fireworks. We sat right out side the stadium and could here the whole concert. The kids were able to run around and be crazy while we sat and enjoyed each other's company. The fireworks were amazing and by far the best we have seen in a long time. The only bad thing about that night was trying to get out of traffic. Once we left out parking spot we drove about a half a block and quickly came to a dead stop. We sat in our car for 20 min. with out moving an inch. I decided to walk up aways and see what the hold up was. I could tell we weren't going anywhere soon. We turned the car off and the kids sat and watched a movie. It wasn't very long before both the twins needed to go to the bathroom. UGHHHHHH. So I went to the closest house where the people were sitting outside and asked if my cute little girls could use their restroom. They were an elderly couple and were so sweet. I think the man had alzheimers because he kept telling us the same stories over and over again and his sweet wife would just let him do his thing. We ended up visiting with them for quite sometime and then a knock came at the door. John was telling us the line was finally moving. It had been just over an hour since we had turned the car off. The time actually went really fast since we were visiting with our new friends. We finally got home very late that night and all the kids were asleep. Once we got the kids in bed we enjoyed some late night nacho's and visited until early morning. The next day we just hang out and were completely lazy. The kids spent most of the day having rides on this. (can't remember what they called it:) They all took turns driving and riding in the back. Once they were done riding they were insistant on riding the horses. None of us had ever saddled a horse and the scary thing was that it was a neighbor's horse that they were keeping on the property. So Bryan went in a spent a few minutes watching some youtube video's and within a few minutes the kids were taking turns riding the horse.

Horse's make me completely nervous, especially since we didn't know the history of the horses.

Payge was having a hard time waiting for her turn.

She was so excited to finally get her turn on the horse but I was so nervous and was relieved when her turn was over.

Our girls absolutely adore their kids and I really think that Adie could have been Brilynn's twin sister. nd Their personalities are identical and they even have a lot of the same mannerisms. It's really fun 2 watch the 2 of them together. Monday morning we woke up VERY EARLY and left midway at 5:30 in the morning to see the balloon festival in Provo. As soon as we got there they made an announcement that the weather was to windy so they wouldn't be flying the balloons that morning. It was such a dissapointment for the kids. We were still able to walk around and watch them inflate some of the balloons.

Singing the national anthem.

This darth vador balloon came all the way from Belguim. They said this hot air balloon was close to $500,000. I am sure they were as dissapointed as the kids were that they weren't able to fly them. We then went back to Midway and had a yummy breakfast. After that Bryan and John got in 1 more good tennis match and then it was time for us to head home. Thanks Bryan and Rachel for inviting us. We look forward to going again soon.

Richfield Rooks

2011-08-09T09:44:00.000-06:00

My sister recently moved to Richfield. We are so excited that they are only 2 1/2 hours away instead of 6. While John went to Scout Camp, we went down to visit and see their new home. We love visiting them and enjoy just hanging out. She wanted to get a few pictures of the boys to hang up in her new home. Here is just a sampling of her cute kiddos.

Thanks for letting us come visit and hang out for the week!!!

Richfield

2011-08-09T09:37:00.002-06:00

When we went to Richfield my sister really wanted me to take pictures of her boys. I figured while I was doing her boys I would snap a few of the girls. Well the twins weren't wanting to cooperate AT ALL. So I guess I will do them another time. I did get a few of Brilynn and Maycie but we ran out of daylight.

Brigham City

2011-08-09T09:31:00.000-06:00

The first Sunday that John's family was here, we all ended up being sick. John's parents and Nick still went to church that morning with out us. By time they got home we had all slept in and were pretty much recovered from the 24 flu bug. We decided to go on a Sunday drive to see the progress of the Brigham City temple. While we were there we saw the tabernacle across the street and realized they had a tour. We watched a video and walked around the tabernacle. We learened a lot of history and the significance of the tabernacle to Brigham City.

In front of the temple was a little stream that the girls thought was the best thing EVER!!!

You can see the construction of the Brigham City temple in the background. You can also tell that Maycie's shorts got a little wet from the stream. We enjoyed spending d the afternoon learning some church history and were really glad that we were all over our sickness.

John's Happy Day

2011-08-09T09:24:00.000-06:00

I always feel so out of control when it comes to John's birthday. It is just 2 days after Brilynn's and I feel like Brilynn's party always sucks me dry of energy and John's birthday doesn't really get planned. This year the girls all made cards for John while he was at work. They were so excited for him to open their cards. I'm pretty sure the cards were the most exciting thing for him. For those of you who know John, he never shows a big reaction to gifts. He is thankful but doesn't show a lot of excitement. This is something that I now understand and realize he does like the gifts even though he doesn't show a lot of excitement.

Grandma and Grandpa West gave Brilynn her present on John's birthday as well since they weren't here for her's. She was thrilled with her new attire and can't wait to sport it this fall.

After John opened his gifts we all went to eat with his family at his choice of restaurant, Cracker Barrell. Happy Birthday to an amazing husband and dad. We love you so much and appreciate all you do for us. Happy Birthday babe!!!

Brilynn's Happy 9th

2011-08-09T09:17:00.000-06:00

Brilynn counts down all 365 days till her birthday. She LOVES having a birthday. She didn't really have a lot of things on her list for her birthday, she just loves it being her day. I tried very hard to say yes to her all day long and I made sure I said yes followed with "only because it's your birthday."

She didn't want cake for her birthday. Just a sundae bar with her friends instead.

For her party we watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 and did glitter gel toes for the girls. That was a lot of work and thank heavens my friend Rhonda was willing to help:)

After all the girls had sparkly toes, it was time to open presents.

She got completely spoiled by all her friends. She had an amazing day and is already counting down until her 10th birthday. This birthday was an eye opener for me. I realized that John and I are half way done raising Brilynn. Another 9 years and she will be heading off to college. It was a good reminder to me to appreicate each day (good or bad) that I have with my girls.

Roy Aquatic Center

2011-08-09T09:09:00.000-06:00

We spent a lot of time at the aquatic center this year. Since we only had 8 weeks of summer, we tried to cram as much in as possible. The girls were able to swim and play all day and I got to spend time visiting with friends. It was a win win situation:)

This was Maycie's first year to do the high dive. Brilynn and Maycie spent a lot of their time at the diving boards.

Bear Lake

2011-08-09T09:02:00.000-06:00

We were so excited when my brother's in-laws invited us up to bear lake for my brother's 30th birthday. They have a lot in an HOA right on the beach of the lake. In the future they plan to build a cabin but for now it is just a open lot with grass. The nice thing is that there is a bathroom with a shower and a vanity to get ready in. On his birthday, we started the day off with a nice breakfast. It was delicious!

Then it was time to head to the lake. This was our first trip to Bear Lake. They said usually there are tons of beaches but with the lake being so high this year, their beach was completely under water. That was a little disappointing but that just means hopefully we'll get invited again next year and maybe the beach will be back.

After spending the afternoon at the lake, we went back to camp. Nikki and her mom had planned a treasure hunt for the kids.

They had so many goodies in the treasure box. Each kid had a huge bag of treats and toys. Each of the clues were in a treasure box. Each kid got to keep a treasure box and later in the afternoon they painted their box.

They even did some tatoos.

That night the girls made animals out of molding clay and the adults enjoyed a few rounds of farkle. It rained on and off during the evening but it was fun to hang out and play games. I love thunder and lighting and it only lasted a short time.

The next day before we headed home we decided to take the kids to the Minnetonka cave. We weren't really prepared to go cave expoloring. We were in shorts and flip flops. They were kind to give us sweatshirts to wear. Brilynn had on really flat flip flops and the mud and water kept squishing in between her toes. So I switched her shoes. There were 800 and some odd stairs that you went up and down during the cave. John and I had to carry the twins 99% of the time. When we would stop we would set the twins down to stand for a few minutes. Then we would pick them up once we started walking again. By doing so, our shorts were covered in mud. By time we left the cave we were a muddy mess.

We all had such a great time at Bear Lake. We hope to return soon and this time we will make sure we get a Raspberry Shake. We had so much food to eat that everytime we thought about getting a shake, we were too full. On the way out of town we were going to get shakes but the line was about 50 people long and we decided we didn't want one that bad:) Thanks Lisa and Andy for inviting us. We loved it!!!

It's What fun is!

2011-08-08T21:58:00.000-06:00

This year the Easter Bunny gave the kids Season Passes to Lagoon. The last time we had season passes is when the twins were just a few months old. Getting a season pass for us is for sure an every couple of years event. The first few times is fun and exciting, but it soon becomes a chore for John and I. Since this was the first year that the twins were able to ride the bigger rides, it was fun because we were all able to ride a majority of the rides. The picture above says it all. Payge, the outgoing one was absolutely terrified and said the rides made her tummy hurt. Preslee was the complete opposite and wanted to ride the tidal wave over and over.

We loved watching them ride together

Bri and Maycie were good sports to take them on the little rides as well

I think Puff is every kids favorite

Waiting in line and getting pulled in the wagon. They really are best friends

Even though they do annoy each other at times.

Such big boys and girls on puff:)

2011-05-31T11:06:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since we went to Vernal. The last time we were there was in Dec. So the first week that we didn't have soccer on Saturday, we headed out for the weekend. The girls loved helping Grandpa cut the weeds in the fields.

Now I am going to have to find out for sure but this was either my grandpa's or great grandpa's first truck that they bought brand new. Some day my dad hopes to have the time to fix this thing up!!! For now, it makes for some great pics:)

Brilynn uses her "Heely's" whenever and wherever possible.

Preslee and Payge loved the yellow chairs that my mom bought for them to use. Brooklyn also had a cute pink swing in my parents backyard. The twins loved being pushed. We figured Payge needed to take a break when she told us she was going to "frow up."

It was a little chilly outside so we made a little fire to help keep us warm.

I think I have done many posts about these swings before. These are always a hit when we make a trip to Vernal.

Dinosaur Land

2011-05-31T10:58:00.000-06:00

I think the last time we went to the dinosaur museum was when I was pregnant with Maycie. Since John and the guys went fishing early Monday morning, we decided to take a trip to the Museum.

Ben, Marcie, and Brooklyn

2011-05-31T10:55:00.000-06:00

We went outside behind my parents house to take some pics for Ben and his family. I had Brilynn help me to get Brooklyn to smile...and she did a great job. Here are just a few of the pics we got.

Little Cuties

2011-05-31T10:41:00.000-06:00

We spent the weekend out in Vernal. My SIL wanted some family pictures done, so while I was at it, I snapped a few of the girls. This wasn't anything that I had planned on doing but it was fun to snap a few pics of them in between taking pics for my SIL.

Tennis Lessons

2011-05-31T10:30:00.000-06:00

This year John decided to teach tennis lessons to the girls instead of taking lessons through the city. We got a group of neighborhood kids and he gives lessons every Monday. The girls look forward to playing tennis and we hope it is something they will continue to love to play. John is learning that it isn't always easy to "coach" your own kids:)

Economics Fair

2011-05-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

The economics fair was something Brilynn has looked forward to for a LONG time. A few months ago they started earning nickels at school. They would earn them for good behavior, good grades, acts of kindness but they could also loose them. Brilynn was very diligent about earning and keeping her nickes. She kept track and made sure she was the one to have the most money. On the day of the fair, they set up their shops and started spending their money. A lot of kids didn't have very many nickels so they had to sell stuff before they could shop. Brilynn had plenty of money so she had her friends run her shop while she went on a Shopping Spree. It was so fun to watch the kids wheel and deal with each other. Brilynn was very cautious at first and wanted to make sure she got the best deal.

Brilynn made candy lei's. They were a big hit and she ended up selling all 30 that she had made.

She even convinced the Vice Principal to buy a necklace.

There was another class that was doing the fair with them as well. They had to purchase a bus pass in order to go shop at the other classroom

Each student also had to purchase a business license.

It's a good thing I was there to help Brilynn carry everything home. She was completely satisfied with her purchases.

She made sure she bought things for all her sisters as well.

Piano Recital

2011-05-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

The girls had another piano recital a few weeks ago. Even though they each had a few "hiccups" I thought they both did very well. Maycie had one song that was very long and I was very impressed that she could memorize the whole thing. Brilynn makes me laugh cause she looks at me while playing to get confirmation that she is doing okay. The girls have been taking lessons for about 14 months. I love to hear them play and it really makes me happy when the go in and play without me asking. I hope it will be a talent that they continue to develop for many years. Here is a link there their recital. It is a little long but fun to watch them play.

Maycie and Brilynn's Spring Recital

OUCH!!!

2011-05-24T10:51:00.000-06:00

I came home from running errands the other day and this is what I found on Payge's face. It looks a lot better in the picture since this was taken 2 days after it happened. John said she tripped and fell on the scooter. There happened to be a screw that was poking up a little and she scrapped it right against the screw. She did use it 2 her advantage to get whatever drinks, cookies, and candy she wanted to help her feel better!

Maycie's 1st "NEW" bike

2011-05-24T10:48:00.000-06:00

The other day Maycie came in and told me her bike tire was flat. When I went out her tires were full of the goathead stickers. She explained that they were riding their bikes through the field and all of a sudden she heard air coming out of her tires. After removing the stickers, I put some bike slime in the tires and pumped up the tire. It immediately went flat. We then headed to Walmart to buy a new tube. While there, she talked me into buying a new bike. It did seem much easier to just buy the bike instead of trying to fix the silly tire. I know at first that seems completely ridiculous but here is the true reasoning. Maycie has never had her own bike. She has always recieved hand me downs from Brilynn. She also likes to ride Brilynn's current bike because it is much bigger. Maycie had her eyes on this bike and at first my response was "nope, lets just get a tube to fix your old bike." after offering to give me all her money for the bike, I knew she really wanted a bigger bike. So, it was beneficial for all of us to just buy the new bike. She loves it and rides it everyday. The highlight was when I let her finally ride her bike to school.

She can even do TRICKS on this new bike!!!

Brilynn was ticked because Maycie wasn't willing to share her new bike right away with her.

What a proud moment!!!

PLEASE!!!

2011-05-24T10:40:00.000-06:00

This is how Payge gets WHATEVER she wants in this house. John was out cleaning the garage the other day and the girls wanted to ride the big 4 wheeler. When Preslee asked John to get it out for them, he told them they would need to wait a few minutes. He heard Preslee go in and tell Payge "Dad wouldn't get it for me." Payge then said "you have to ask like dis" she then went out to John and said, "Dad, get da forweeer for us PEEEEEASE." followed by the batting of the eyes. She can really work the system!!! Here is the link so you can see what we deal with on a daily basis:)

Payge's Magic

FHE

2011-05-24T10:34:00.000-06:00

FHE is always a little interesting at our home. The twins are just getting old enough to participate and it brings a lot of laughs to the meeting. This night Brilynn conducted and then turned the time over to the twins for the song. Of course we sang...Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Then Maycie had our lesson. She spent a couple of days coloring and preparing this lesson. It was fun to see her come up with different ideas and thoughts about her lesson.

Even though we may not always accomplish alot on these nights, it's a time we enjoy being together and sometimes even being a little silly!

Easter Eggs, Hunts, and Baskets:)

2011-05-24T10:26:00.000-06:00

This was the first year the twins joined us in coloring the easter eggs. Payge got a little bored waiting for the eggs to sit in the dye.

When asked if she was having a good time though...this was her reaction!

Brilynn and Maycie were good sports to help the twins use the tye-dye machine

Then Payge was mad when it wasn't her turn to use the machine:(

After awhile, the girls got Dad to get involved with the FESTIVITIES!

ohhh...once again Payge is HAPPY

This year we decided to have an Easter Egg hunt at the park with some neighbors instead of trying to battle the whole city of Syracuse at the city's hunt. This was much more enjoyable for the kids and the parents.

Easter Morning was a little crazy. We had to get ready for church before the girls could go downstairs to see what the bunny had brought them.

Brilynn had just finished reading all of the Diary of a wimpy kid books, so she was thrilled to be able to watch the movie.

Payge is so proud of her gummy bears!!!

Sweet Pres loves books. She doesn't let me put her down for a nap or bedtime without reading a stack of books.

This year the bunny brought their Season Passes to Lagoon. They were much more exited about this than their Dad. This to him means lots of time spent at a place that isn't his idea of "FUN" however once we get there, he loves to see his girls enjoying the rides!

Grandma and Grandpa Batty sent an Easter package to the girls. Just what they needed. More SUGAR!!! Thanks for being so thoughtful mom and dad.

Soccer Season

2011-05-24T10:03:00.000-06:00

Another year of unpredictable weather for soccer. We spent some pretty cold days huddled under blankets and sometimes the twins were so miserable they sat in the car and watched a movie. This was a big year for Brilynn because they moved from the small field to the full size fields. She made some big improvements through out the year and and some awesome goals. Maycie came back with the same love for soccer. She talks about soccer all year long and can't seem to get enough of it. She is our competitive and aggresive sports girl. Although we love to watch the girls play...we are looking forward to having our Saturdays back:)

Kiss the Cook!

2011-04-13T13:14:00.000-06:00

While Brilynn was off track for 3 weeks, she took the reines of being the lunch lady. She loved it...and so did I. Oh, and we can't forget the cute apron that she wore everytime. Thanks Grandma Batty for such a much needed kitchen accessory!!!

Hello Cursive

2011-04-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

Brilynn brought this paper home yesterday and I must admit...I was pretty IMPRESSED. I thought it was really good. John and I both agreed that we don't know if our cursive is that good. I even questioned her when she showed it to me whether she had done that or the teacher. Her response was, "Of course it was me, who else has that good of handwriting." hahaha

Happy Birthday...You're 3

2011-04-08T19:10:00.000-06:00

We had quite a busy day for the twins birthday. Saturday morning I was busy with the Stake Primary Activity Days activity. As The girls loved the rides, but the place was extremely busy and a little crazy. There was a Kneaders bakery across the street so we all picked out a favorite dessert and indulged in an afternoon snack. On our way home we stopped by boondocks and let the girls play in the jungle gym and played the arcade games. By this time we were all hungry so we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrell.

Once we got home it was late but we still hadn't opened gifts or had cake and icecream. The girls quickly got in the tub and then it was time to continue the celebration. A funny story about this cake:) The activity day girls were doing a fund raiser back in the fall. I purchased a cake for Maycie's birthday, but when her birthday rolled around I totally forgot and we were headed to Vernal when they tried to deliever it. When we got home, I picked up the cake from my friend Alisa's house and stuck the cake in the freezer since we still had cake leftover from her birthday. So the morning of the twins birthday I pulled it out of the freezer, chipped of the "Maycie" and WOLLAAA the twins had a birthday cake!!!

When we asked the twins what the wanted for their birthday this year, the only thing they ever said was "Princess Dammies" So the Stokers completely spoiled the twins with a princess swim/beach bag, a princess beach towel, princess sandals, and a princess swimsuit,

Princess Jammies from their sisters

And princess bikes from Grandma and Grandpa Batty.

Here's a link to a funny video of them riding their "bikes"
Preslee and Payge Princess Bikes

Everything they got this year was princess.

By time we finished opening gifts it was too late for cake and ice cream. We saved that for the next evening. The cake was amazingly delicious and was enjoyed by ALL!!!

Happy Birthday Preslee and Payge!!!

St. George

2011-04-08T18:35:00.000-06:00

We went to St. George last weekend to visit our friends, the Garner's. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a very relaxing weekend. Saturday morning the guys went golfing while the girls took the kids swimming. Afterwards the guys took their turn of taking the kids while the girls went shopping. Once we got home the guys went to the Prienthood session. We then left the kids with a baby sitter while the adults spent the evening at Anasazi Grill. Rachel is raising some baby chicks and the girls loved them. They don't understand why we don't have any!!!

The chick was about to escape. Brilynn was trying not to freak out. Brilynn and Addaline are 2 peas in a pod. Their personalities are identical and are pretty funny when they are together.

Andrew and Payge are only a few months a part but he is much bigger. It's hard to remember that he is only 3 years old because he looks like he is atelast 4 or could be 5.

The kids made a fort on Sunday during conference. It was the forte of all fortes!!!!

Thanks Garner's for letting us spend the weekend with you. We look forward to the next time we get together.

I wanna sweep in da big gir bed!!!

2011-03-22T22:48:00.000-06:00

Preslee was sad that she was put in her crib tonight. Her and Payge wanted to sleep together on "da big gir bed." I'm starting to wonder if they will be sleeping in their cribs till their 12. I can't seem to figure out a sleeping situation that works for them, but they are so sad when they have to sleep in their cribs. If anyone has any ideas...I'm open for suggestions. Good night Preslee:(

...And the RACE is ON!!!

2011-03-22T22:45:00.000-06:00

A Few weeks ago the girls cousin Kaylee came down to visit them for the weekend. While she was here, she was reading the book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. For some reason this sparked Brilynn's interest and she asked me to get these books for her to read. I was glad that she was excited to read these books because she is pretty picky about what she likes to read. She does her 20-30 minutes of reading each day that she is supposed to do, but she isn't one that just picks up a book and reads for pure pleasure. I put the books on hold at the Library and yesterday we went to pick them up. On the way home, Brilynn and Maycie started reading them. The next thing I new, they were having a competition to see who could read the books the fastest. They serisouly haven't put them down since. Tonight as I went in to say prayers with them they were already reading and I heard Maycie say, "Brilynn will you read a little slower tonight since you are older than me?" I was a little worried about Maycie being able to read these books, but she is able to tell me what is going on when I ask her about it, so I figured it couldn't hurt since she was comprehending what she was reading. The funny thing is that Maycie, who's in kindergarten, is very competitive and it is driving her nuts that she can't read as fast as her sister who's in 3rd grade. However, I'm not complaining because we are off track for 3 weeks and so far I haven't even had to ask them to read which is not the usual. Now I just need to find more books that they can continue to read together.

St. Patty's

2011-03-20T21:29:00.001-06:00

Once again the little leperchauns visited out house this year for St. Patricks day. They brought the girls a light up 4 leaf clover necklace and some yummy green muffins. They turned the juice green and got into the icing in the fridge and left the foot prints all over the kitchen.

2011-03-20T21:23:00.000-06:00

Last week we had stake conferance at the Ogden Tabernacle. On the way home I saw a few old buildings that caught my eye and wanted to snap a few pics. We were all hungry and the smell of Great Harvest Bread was killing us. I think I will return to this place when it is not a Sundayso that we can get some bread and hopefully the kids will be more cooperative:) For now though...this will do.

Cupcakes PLEASE???

2011-02-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty laid back Saturday and the girls kept asking what we were going to do. They wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese, but I wasn't about to go there on a Saturday. So instead I gave them free reign of the kitchen. I gave them a cake box and a tub of frosting and let them work their magic. They mixed them, baked them, and decorated them ALL BY THEMSELVES. I even cheated on my diet to try one and either they are really good bakers or I forgot how good sweet's can be. Now I just need to teach them how to cook dinner:)

I don't want to go to SCHOOL

2011-02-22T12:57:00.001-07:00

Maycie came out of the bathroom this morning looking like this! When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I just pulled my tooth out"

She was pretty impressed with herself...until she looked in the mirror. Big tears started rolling down her face and she said, "I can't go to school today, I look so weird!!!" This was how upset she was. Her excitement was quickly washed away:(

It took a lot of convincing to finally get her to agree to go to school and that it is normal to look a little "weird" when you loose a lot of teeth.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-02-22T12:27:00.001-07:00

Brilynn was positive she didn't want to go to the Daddy Daughter dance because she didn't want to have to slow dance, whereas Maycie was really excited to go. John said once they got there, Maycie was totally embarassed and didn't want anything to do with him. She just wanted to run around and play with her friends. Brilynn ended up staying with John the whole night and danced the fast songs and SLOW songs. These girls are complete opposites of each other and we love them both!!!

Bri bri

2011-02-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

So tonight I got a phone call from Brilynn's teacher, Mrs. Forest. Some of you may know that she is known as a strict teacher at Bluffridge and I think sometimes gets a bad rep. for being "mean." However, I really felt strong that she would be a good teacher for Brilynn. I am so glad that I chose her for Brilynn's teacher. She really has been so good to Brilynn and has really encouraged her to do her best. So when I got the phone call for her tonight I was a little worried at first. My heart jumped a little when she told me who she was. I had a split second where a million things ran through my head of WHY she would be calling me out of nowhere. For those of you who know Brilynn, you know that she has quite a bit of "spunk" to her and I never really know what to expect. Thank Heavens, it was a good phone call. Mrs. Forrest said she was just calling to tell me that Brilynn is "kicking butt" at school and thought I would appreciate knowing that. She said she is the 2nd furthest on her multiplication and the first one to reach all of her AR goals. It makes a parent feel good to know that their child is doing well at school, but what made me feel even better is that her teacher would take the time (at 7:00 in the evening, after school hours) to make a phone call to a students parent just to tell them what a good student they have. That is pure dedication in my book and something I truely appreciate. I am so grateful for both Brilynn and Maycie's school teacher and all that they have done for them this year. Keep up the hard work girls:)

Piano Recital

2011-02-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Brilynn and Maycie have been taking piano lessons for about 11 months. So far, they have enjoyed it and it's just part of their early morning routine to practice. On Saturday the girls had their Valentine recital. Brilynn played Beauty and the Beast and Maycie played Valentine Boogie. Beauty and the Beast had a lot of parts that are similar but still different. While she was playing she got a little confused and you can tell in her video she kept looking at me. I knew she wasn't sure where she was in the song but she just kept playing and I don't think anyone else really knew that she actually skipped about a line and a half of her song. I also am putting up a video of Maycie playing If I lived under the sea. This is a song that she is going to be using for festival. Brilynn hasn't started her festival song yet, but is in the process of picking one out.

Brilynn Piano

Maycie Piano

Maycie Festival

Are you SLEEPING????

2011-02-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

We have had many different sleeping arrangements for the twins since they were born. They first started out in our bedroom in their own basinets. Once they were about 6 weeks old, they would sleep in their carseats in their bedroom. As soon as they started getting big enough to wiggle around we transfered them to a crib. From what I had read...twins do best sleeping together. Well this wasn't the case for Preslee and Payge. I got tired of them waking each other up during naps and in the middle of the night. We set up a porta crib for Payge in our closet and this was her sleeping quarters for the next 3-4 months. I then decided I would try to put them in the same room but just in different beds. This worked out very well and worked for about 18 months. Once the twins were about 2-2 1/2 one day they discovered that they could climb out of their cribs. I wasn't sure how they were getting out so I decided to spy on them. I found that Preslee was using the dresser to help climb out but Payge was just able to climb out completely on her own. I rearranged the beds so that there was nothing around Preslee's crib. This worked and she was no longer able to get out. I decided to watch and listen one day after laying them down for a nap. They were quiet for quite some time and then all of a sudden I heard Preslee say to Payge. "dit out, Payge, dit out!!!" Payge sat up quickly and responded by saying "Otay Pesse, Otay." She preceded to climb out of her crib and ran over to play with Preslee who was still trapped in her crib. This really made me laugh but at the same time, I was not ready to give up nap times. Once again I knew it was time to rearrange bedrooms. This time I felt she was to big to be put in the closet. I didn't want her in Brilynn and Maycie's bedroom or downstairs in the spare bedroom or craft room. The only other option was to move her crib to the classroom. Once she didn't have Preslee convincing her to be naughty, she was content with staying in her crib. Well the twins will be 3 next month. I would love to get them both out of their cribs and into their day bed. We have tried this a couple of times at night and it hasn't been succesful. They end up talking and playing. One night John and I thought they had gone to sleep. When I went up to go to bed I found them in my room watching Aristocats. I couldn't believe it. Last night we decided to try it again. We laid Preslee on the bed and Payge on the pull out trundle. We explained that if they didn't go to sleep they would each have to go their cribs. I checked on them a few times and they were really quiet and not moving. I had high hopes. However when I went in about 30 minutes later Preslee had moved down to lay by Payge and this is how I found them...PRETENDING THEY WERE ASLEEP!!! These 2 really do bring much laughter into our home. Every night Brilynn and Maycie thank Heavenly Father that they are blessed to have Preslee and Payge in our family because they are always making us laugh. Maybe someday...before they graduate...we will be able to rid our house of cribs. As for now, they continue to sleep in seperate cribs in seperate rooms.

Twinny Bopps

2011-02-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Preslee knows her ABC's...ALMOST:)

And Payge learned sign Language...hahaha

TOFW

2011-02-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

I must say the "Time Out form Women" could have been a total flop and it would have still been worth the money just to spend a few days with friends. We were spiritually fed and well nurished with lots of laughter and good food.

We had quite a bit of waiting time before the program began...thank goodness Stacie had her camera to keep us entertained!!!

Fishy Faces:)

Chubby Faces:(

Stretchy Faces:}

Not quite sure face????

Amber and I were supposed to be doing sad faces. However, I looked so ridiculous...Amber was having a very hard time!

Ohhhh...SWEET faces.

Thanks girls for a great weekend. An even bigger thanks to my "AMAZING" husband for keeping the kids and allowing me to be gone for the whole weekend. The house was even clean when I got home on Saturday. What more could a woman ask for. I am so BLESSED!!!

Tooth #2

2011-02-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Maycie had a tooth that had been pretty loose for a few weeks. We finally called my Aunt Linda to come over and pull her tooth. This was the 2nd tooth that she pulled for Maycie.

Preslee wanted to see Maycie's tooth. Her response was "Eww...dats gwoss."

The only bad thing about this whole experience was that the toothfairy forgot to come...not once, but twice:( Who is this "Toothfairy???"

Back to LIFE...Back to REALITY

2011-02-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

This was our last day before the girls went back on track. Laying in bed watching "Dispicable Me." We had been off track for 4 weeks and we LOVED it. Now it's back to homework, schedules, getting up early, getting to bed early, getting dressed EVERYDAY, combing everyone's hair EVERY MORNING...and the list goes on and on. We look forward to our next break in 6 weeks!!!

Where's all the SNOW???

2011-02-01T15:29:00.001-07:00

The girls had been begging for us to go sledding. I don't remember the last time we didn't have snow on the ground in January. A few weeks ago we decided to head over to the park even though there wasn't very much snow. Once I started getting everyone "bundled up" I was quickly reminded how much work it is to get everyone's snow clothes on. Then the one her gets dressed first gets really hot and starts complaining while I am trying to dress the other 3. Anyway...

The twins loved their new snow hats. The "princess flowers" were their favorites!!!

You can tell we were really pressing our luck with the snow. There was enough to keep them entertained though.

Payge was waiting so patiently for someone to give her a push down the hill.

Brilynn and Maycie really do take care of the twins. They feel very lucky to have twin sisters!

Payge loved going down the hills with Brilynn

Brilynn was determined that she wasn't to BIG for the twins sled:)

Poor Preslee had such a hard time bringing the sled back up the hill.

Good thing Dad was there to come to the rescue!

Maycie also helped Preslee get up the hill. What a sweatheart!

Since the hills were pretty small and like I said before...not a lot of snow, the playground quickly grabbed the girls attention. It's been a while since we have able to play on the playground.

My feelings are that if it's going to be cold...we might as well have snow. We are axiously awaiting the next snow fall and hoping that we can get some "real" sledding in before spring arrives!

Morning Breakfast?????????

2011-01-07T17:34:00.003-07:00

Doesn't this look like a great time spending the morning together as a family and having french toast. Well friends...this isn't morning!!!! This is 5:00 P.M.!!!!! I guess this is what happens when we are off track, no schedule, and no place to go.