Happy Birthday Kendall!

Kendall had her 5th birthday will all her new friends and Chuck E. Cheese. I couldn't find my good camera in all the boxes so these are from my cell phone. She had a great time and my Dad and Stepmom were able to come with my little brother and sister.




Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

You Know You Live in the South When...

Your 3 little Mexican babies can sit in front of fountains like this...

This fountain is in the middle of Bentonville's small and charming downtown. Thankfully, aside from a few confederate flags that some residence choose to use as curtains, this town is very open to other cultures. I think that has a lot to do with Wal-Mart and all the vendors they bring into town. I don't feel like I'll be getting lynched anytime soon but just had to post this. God Bless America!

We're Here!....

After one long day of dealing with Uhaul we finally got on the road and made it to Arkansas.

The kids did great. They really didn't fight too much considering their close proximity to each other but I would say the best traveler out of all of us was our dog Cali. She ended up having to ride in her kennel in the back of the Tahoe and we didn't hear a peep out of her. We found nice hotels along the way that were pet friendly. She really did a great job. It took us 2 1/2 days but the ride was worth it. This is what we looked like rolling down the road.

I would have to say one unexpected thing about our trip were all the dead armadillos we saw on the road. I guess maybe they are the rats of the south? I think there was one every mile, no joke. I spared you the picture. This is what our temporary house looks like.

It was a nice surprise since I rented it sight unseen. I just figured we could live in anything for a month and a half until our house is done. It actually has a flat screen in our bedroom, something we are not used to. I guess we may have to break down and get one when we move. The only let down may be that they only have 4 pans in the kitchen so you are challenged when you have to make something. I guess we'll be eating out a lot more now. Break for me! Arkansas weather didn't disappoint for our first night here. There were tornado warnings for about 45 min. at 3 AM. I didn't wake the kids up and thankfully we didn't get any. In spite of all that it already feels like home.

What we did the month we moved

We thankfully had a lot of help from all our friends in New York the month we moved. I still can't believe we moved in only one month. We were lucky that we knew we weren't going to be in Buffalo for long and didn't unpack a whole lot to begin with. I had a pizza party at the local community pool for the girls and their friends so they could say goodbye.

This is Carson's first friend Tyce. They played so cute together.

We got spoiled with friends inviting us over for dinner the week before we left. This is a picture of the girls with their cute friends the Christensen's. They decided to end the night with a big group hug.

We also had some crazy times with Uhaul the day we left. Long story but we ended up having to leave our truck in NY. Just know that if you ever need to use them take someone who knows about pulling stuff. Thankfully Matt knew some things or we probably would have pulled our car down to Arkansas with the wrong equipment and damaged it. This is my friend Molly consoling me and telling me it's going to be okay. At this point in my day I really needed that.

Happy Birthday Matt!

I know it has been a while since I have posted but as most of you know we moved and have been a little busy! Matt's birthday was July 17th and he was actually offered the job on his birthday. It was a extra special gift for him. We celebrated the day with our friends the Christensen's, delicious steak sandwiches, and of course our chocolate cake. He had a great day. Happy birthday Honey! You deserved the wonderful day you had.

My Nature Lover

Kendall has really become comfortable with touching things like worms, bugs, and now frogs. Meet "FrogStar"...

Kendall found him living under the stairs outside our back door and immediately wanted to play with him. She tried to get him to live in a bowl covered by a plate and really didn't want to believe me that he couldn't breathe under there so she then moved on to getting other people to hold him.

Carson and Daddy held him for a small minute but Carson wasn't so sure about him either.

Jayden on the other hand is more like me and would rather NOT be touching anything like this.

Sadly for Kendall, FrogStar made an escape and hasn't been seen under our stairs for a while. Cali also enjoyed pawing him. I hope she didn't have a frog leg snack!

Softball Fun!

This year was the first year that the girls both played softball/t-ball. It was so much fun watching them and they really did do a great job. The parents on the teams were awesome people which made going to the games that much more fun. They were both on the Red Sox and I got to be team mom for both teams.

This was Kendall's first year and she got to play on a co-ed team.
Our only goal for her was to at least want to go to her games every time and have fun being there. Goal accomplished! She really did enjoy it and it was fun and exciting to watch her. You just never know what those crazy t-ball players are going to do with that ball! It also helped that she had 2 patient coaches who were so positive all the time. She especially loved Coach Leo.



Jayden is just now starting to get into more competitive environment. They got to have playoffs this year and this was her first year at machine pitch. She just loved everything about it. Her favorite positions were pretty much anywhere in the infield (especially 1st base), pitcher, catcher, and right field (because she could still throw people out at 1st base).

She really learned a lot about the game this year and all the rules that go with it. She learned where to throw the ball and loved hitting. She is practicing to be a real pitcher so that in 2 years when she moves up she can do that too.

Part of being the team for Jayden's team was organizing a team party. We did it after their last game before the playoffs and made shirts for them to wear under their jerseys. I even bought one of those Bedazzler things so they could Bedazzle their sleeves! It was a great time with the girls. It kind of took me back to my good old little league days.

They won 2 games in the playoffs but ending up loosing before the finals. It was Jayden's first "loosing" moment and they all handled it so well. They ended their season with a group hug! She also had great coaches who kept everything so positive yet competitive enough for them to know how to play the game. I can't wait to see how she does next year.

4th of July

For the last 2 years we have been lucky to have friends invite us to their house for the 4th of July. They live on an Indian Reservation so they can do whatever they want with fireworks and boy do they. We get a private show that is better than the ones in the small town I grew up in and I liked those. It's also their daughter's birthday so we get spoiled with a big party including pinatas, bounce house, tug of war, volleyball, horseshoe tourney, DJ and a band! It's the best time ever because we are with awesome friends who have really become more like family. God Bless America!

Jayden and Sosha enjoying the beautiful day... Kendall and Carson enjoying some birthday cake... Pinata fun, the littel girl in the purple is the birthday girl...
Playing in the volleyball court with dad...

Kendall's Graduation and Gymnastics

Kendall had a big week last week. She had her final gymnastics show and her preschool graduation. She was so excited to perform her gymnastics show because she got a medal.This was her first year in gymnastics and she learned so much and did a great job. It helped that she had an awesome instructor, Miss Michelle, and was taking the class with her friend Mya.
Her graduation was really cute. They sang songs and got to wear caps. These are her best buds at school. Ashley, Ryan and Mya.

Her teachers were awesome. This is the head teacher Miss Kristen

Miss Jean and Miss Elyse were helpers. I know she is going to miss everybody next year.

Colorado Fun

Our 2 oldest nieces decide to grow up and graduate from high school this year making us feel like the old folks in the family now so we decided to go and celebrate with them. Abbi and Brekelle are the beautiful graduates. We also got to see Matt's grandmother whom we haven't seen since Jayden was Carson age! The kids got to jump on the trampoline as much as they wanted and play with their cousins. My mother-in-law has an awesome community center by her house and it has an amazing indoor water park in it. We love to go there when we visit. As you can see the girls had fun and Carson slowly got used to the water. Once he found the shooting water there was no stopping him. I'm pretty sure he swallowed a couple of gallons of pool water. We also got to go to Cousin Colby's firehouse. The kids got to go in all the trucks and get the cool hats. Carson was in his element. He didn't want to take his hat off and he kept trying his hardest to not let go of the pole. Matt and I celebrated our anniversary while we were there. We went to a Nuggets - Lakers playoff game. Thankfully the Nuggets spanked them so it was a good time. It's too bad they couldn't pull it all off. Matt got to golf and I got to practice some distance running in high elevation. It was a definitely a well needed vacation and a good time with family.

Where have we been?

I very lovingly got a message on Facebook from my dear friend simply asking "Umm...are you alive?" or something like that. Yes, we most definitely are alive but we have been so busy with softball/tball for the girls, we went to Colorado, and the end of their school year that I haven't been able to post or look at other postings. So this post is going to try and catch you up on our lives since March. This one's for you Teresa! Thanks for asking if I was okay :)



Kendall had "Dad's Day" at school in April. It was a Hawaiian theme and they sang songs and did crafts with their dads. It was a good time had by all.



We went to our friends The Christensen's house for Easter. That was a great time. Carson's first real Easter egg hunt and he stopped after her figured out their was candy inside the first one.

In May we had "Mother's Day" at Kendall's school. She got to make me a corsage and we sang songs and did crafts.

Her school also threw a bowling party. Matt and I did awesome thanks to the bumpers :)

In May we started softball for Jayden and tball for Kendall. I started running more seriously because I'm going to run a half marathon with my aunt in August. So far my farthest run has been 10 miles. I have to admit I'm a little addicted now. We also went to Colorado but that will be a post all by itself because we did so much. It's good to be back!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad's birthday was March 19th and I just wanted to post some of my favorite pictures of him. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Jayden's Baptism

Jayden was baptized by her Dad on March 14. It was our first child to baptize and it was such an amazing and beautiful experience. She really thought about what she was doing and that was the best gift as her parent. Both our moms came in for the event and that was a special treat. They gave the baptism talks and then we had a small dinner at our home to celebrate the day. I wish I could have taken a picture of her sweet face as she was waiting for Matt to confirm her. It is an image I'll keep of her in my mind forever. Even when she is grown and has a family of her own. I think that is how I'm going to choose to see her still! Her dress was hand made by our bishop's wife, Melba Seacrest. She is so talented and did a beautiful job. Here are some pictures of the day...