Tagging Along

A few weeks ago, Travis had a conference in Boise and the girls and I decided to tag along. The best part was that we got to stay on the top floor of a luxurious hotel in downtown. Because most of our vacations are spent in a tent, we love hotels! We feel so pampered with someone making our beds, continental breakfast that I don't have to make or clean up after, the pool, and even the elevator.  (I know, we're hard to please.) The pool was perfect for kids and we spent a lot of time swimming. It was a great little getaway. I wish it would have been a little bit longer so that we could have visited people, but maybe next time.

 Our hotel was only a few blocks away from the zoo and the girls were thrilled to go see all of the animals. It was a warm fall day and a good "girls day out". Makenna kept telling me that the animals were "neat creatures". The girls favorites were the giraffes, lions, tigers, and of course, the monkeys. If it was up to these two, they would be at the zoo every day.

     
              

Our Super Cute Kids

We have been keeping busy with our everyday lives lately. And can I just say that I love those days? I love the days where there is no big thing going and we aren't going anywhere. We just get to do our everyday things, stick to a schedule, and hang out. We love being at home together. I think those are the moments we will look back at the end of our days and want to return to. So I try to truly enjoy them and soak it all in. We still have our tense moments, little meltdowns, and I NEVER seem to be able to keep our house clean. But, despite all of that, I wouldn't trade these days for anything. 

Our Little Princess

A few weekends ago, Makenna had three parties in one day! A primary party and two birthday parties. She had so much fun! The first birthday party was a princess party and the second was a costume party, so Makenna was stoked to get to dress like a princess for the day. She looked beautiful and the whole "princess" thing was all too fitting for her. :) She is such a sweet little thing and still cuddles up on my lap throughout the day. I hope she never stops!

She wanted to pose like this. I love it.

Makenna with Faith at her party

Faith is in Travis and my primary class at church and she melts us.

 

Look at all of these little princesses!

Hadley

I just had to throw in some pictures of Hadley. I LOVE this age she is at. She says the funniest thing and loves that she can boss us around. She seems to have some magical power over us when she grabs our finger with her chubby little hand to take us somewhere and then tops it off with "Let's go Mommy" or "I hungry". So cute!!!

This is what I look down at all day. How am I not supposed to pick her up and kiss those cheeks?

Our Cute Little Bugs

We had a fun and busy Halloween this year.  The girls were both as cute as a "bug" this year- Makenna was a ladybug and Hadley was a butterfly. We thought they looked adorable. I loved dressing up two cute girls for Halloween. We dressed up and visited family on Friday, which was fun because my little niece was also a ladybug, so we were all bugged out. And then on Saturday, we did some more visiting and went to the Aberdeen trunk-or-treat and carnival. Travis and I had to smile every time Hadley said "Twick ow Tweet" in her small voice. The girls had fun seeing all of their little friends and playing games. The only bummer was that Makenna was so excited to hand out candy and by the time we got home, we only had 2 trick-or-treaters. It was so sad seeing her sit and wait. :( But she said it was okay, that next year she can hand out more treats. What a sweet girl. Here are pictures of our cute bugs.

My Favorite Picture- I just want to eat them up. 

How cute is the leg kick? We didn't even realize she did this until we saw the picture.

Their favorite game at the carnival.

We didn't plan on going to any houses, but we drove past this house on our way home and had to stop. And, of course, Makenna's primary teacher answers the door. She's amazing. We will definitely stop here ever year.

Makenna and Hadley with their cute cousin, Aizlyn at Grandma and Grandpa's

Makenna adores Aizlyn and was so excited that they were both going to be ladybugs. 

Halloween Cookie Tradition

The tradition of making Halloween sugar cookies came from way back in college. A friend and I would make cookies and deliver them to cute boys, one of which was Travis (and look where that got us :). So, we think it is appropriate to carry on the tradition with our kids, who love it. (Who doesn't love cookie dough and colorful frosting?) Halfway through the long process of rolling, cutting, cooking, then frosting the cookies, Travis and I looked at each other and thought why do we do this to ourselves- it is exhausting! But it was all worth it when Makenna looked up from decorating her cookie and said "This is so much fun!".  She is so excited to take the cookies in cute treat bags to her preschool Halloween party tomorrow. Kids really do make everything fun.

  
 
                

The Pumpkin Reveal

Can I just say how much I love fall? I love it all (minus the cold weather), especially the tradition of carving pumpkins. We had so much fun this year. Our girls were so funny. They were so excited until we took the tops off the pumpkins. Makenna called the pumpkin guts "seaweed" and wouldn't even get close to us as we cleaned it out. And Hadley was happy to watch from afar. I really am hoping that one day they will get the enjoyment of reaching in the slimy pumpkin. 

But they were excited to "color" on the pumpkins. Makenna was so cute as she designed her pumpkin and as for Hadley, let's just say the backside of our pumpkin is very colorful. And Travis had fun being a " big kid" with his pumpkin. I really love family activities like this.  Makenna's design was so cute that we tried to cut it exactly how she drew it. And, it seriously is the cutest pumpkin- I wish I could take credit for it. :) 

I love this picture- it shows the deep concentration that took place.

How cute is her drawing? I love that it isn't perfectly symmetrical. She is our little artist.

Ta da!

The girls were completely amazed when we lit the pumpkins. Ah, the simple joys in life.

The Big 18 Months

Our little Hadley is 18 months already. I can't believe that she will be two in 6 months. She seems so grown up lately. Her little personality lights up our lives. She is such a funny little girl. She has us laughing every day. She really couldn't be any cuter. We have loved every bit of her 18 months. 

Here are some things about her at 18 months:

• She loves, loves, loves books!
• She wants to play with her sister all the time.
• She prefers fruits and vegetables over any other food (including sugar- I know, whose kid is she?)
• She is a talker. She says new things every day and has a pretty good vocab for her age.
• When she smiles, her nose crinkles.
• She loves feet- she asks for shoes and socks all day.
• Hadley is our sleeper. She tells us when she is ready to go to sleep and goes right to bed. Love it!
• She loves to "help" wherever she can.
• She gets mad if we tell her "no" and tells us "no" right back. 
• She takes out her frustrations on Makenna, who lucky for us, just takes it.
• Hadley loves being outside.
• We can't get enough of the cute gap between her teeth.
• She still runs everywhere.
• She is afraid of bugs, especially spiders. 
• I love how she grabs our pointer fingers and leads us wherever she wants.
• She is a softy for animals. She gets down to their level and says "Ohhh".
• Here are our favorite things she is saying:

              * "Sowwwy" (Sorry) * "Welcome" (You're Welcome)* 

              * "Okay" to everything * "Amen" * "What doin' Mommy?"*

              * "Ot this" (Watch this) * "I want up" *

              * "Where go" (Where did it go?) * "Don't touch" *

Happy Little Reader

This picture perfectly shows how she is always wanting to be big. Slow down sweet girl!

We love Harvest Break!

For harvest break, we were able to head to Northern Idaho for a week. My aunt and uncle were generous enough to let us stay in their cabin on Coeur d' Alene Lake. It was so nice to kick back and relax. We spent a lot of time cuddled up watching movies, LOTS of reading, playing games, and just enjoying the view on the deck. We also spent a night with Travis' brother, Trevor, and his family. Stacy and I had fun bargain shopping.  :)

The first day we were there, it was beautiful. We spent the day swimming and lounging on the big deck.

               How cute are these girls?

Bike Trails

We went for a few rides on the Trails of the Coeur d' Alene. This trail is seriously amazing. It is 72 miles of an old railroad that has been paved for biking, which was so perfect for a bike trailer. We would use this all the time if we lived close to it. It was so pretty with the fall colors and the sounds of the elk bugling. And the chilly weather topped off the fall feeling.

Finally getting some reading in- yeah!

Cataldo Mission

We drove up to the old Cataldo Mission, which is the oldest standing building in Idaho. We love our Idaho history. It was really neat to see how they built it without any nails- talk about miracles. :)

The were doing a little restoration work when we were there, but you get the picture of how neat this church is.

We then biked the Cataldo section of the bike trail and had a fall picnic. This part of the trail was seriously amazing. We biked almost 15 miles this day. 

Lounging around...