McInelly

December Happenings

2012-01-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

In December (over a month ago!!)...we had a Christmas party at our house. It was AWESOME!! It was honestly the funnest party I've ever been to. We had great food, but most importantly, a tournament of games. We put everyone on different teams (only one couple was together, so we were forced to make friends with people that weren't our spouses, an interesting concept).

One of the games we played was egg roulette...this is what it comes down to...

Yeah, Sarah is the best sport ever!
We played some games with candy...Had a paper snowball toss, a balloon game
A paper rock scissors tournament, and concluded with a Dance Central Tournament...

Some people were better than others, I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be doing the same thing...

We also went to a lodge to celebrate New Years with the McInelly family. We had a great time and we didn't see Olivia the whole time. Mat got sick right in the middle of the trip (which was awful), but the rest of us still had fun. Hudson loved all the treats...

We celebrated Ella's birthday!!We had a scavenger hunt (thanks to Mandy)...and the only picture of Olivia I have is of the back of her head, but she was there too!

Hudson loved this he got out of the scavenger hunt.
We had so much fun we didn't even find time to take more pictures. It was a great December!!

McInelly!!

2012-01-19T17:07:00.000-08:00

If you remember back in the olden days, we loved when Olivia learned to say "McInelly". It's quite a mouthful for a last name (most adults can't say it correctly)...so we're quite proud when our kids learn to pronounce it.

We're Snowed in!!

2012-01-19T16:50:00.001-08:00

We have been enjoying our time being snowed in. We've been playing outside, walking around our neighborhood, sledding nearby hills, trying to recover from being sick, and possibly watching a lot of shows...

Our deck before. I was starting to worry that it was going to collapse (that's a lot of snow)!

The deck after (thanks Mat!)

Olivia loves the snow...

Our favorite snow picture of Olivia with her snow(wo)man...

And sweet Hudson loves the snow in small doses (about as long as he'll keep his gloves on).

Olivia in Dance

2012-01-19T16:44:00.000-08:00

Olivia is doing tap/ballet this winter. So far (only one class in), she loves it (and I love watching it). If only we could convince Hudson to like watching it.

Once There Was a Snowman

2012-01-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Once there was a Snowman, McInelly style...

Pacific Science Center

2011-12-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas we let the fun (and Mat's week off of fun) continue by going to the Pacific Science Center. We got to with a lot of our friends and so it was extra fun!

Olivia's favorite part was the butterfly house. She really wanted one to land on her, so I tried to dress her in the most butterfly-friendly outfit possible. I think it would have worked, but then anytime one came near her she would try to shoo it away...so no butterflies on Olivia...

But this guy...he's another story.
Of all the places a butterfly should land, it should be as far away from him as possible. We caught him at one point with his shoe in one hand about to hit one...but luckily for this little butterfly, Hudson didn't know he was there, so after about 30 seconds, he flew away with his life.

We spent a lot of time in the "tots" area (Hudson and I spent a long time in this very car).

I love this picture of him, always moving and happy...

Christmas Morning!

2011-12-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

The "Before"

You can all feel like you were there with us Christmas morning (so Mom, this is for you...). And please note Hudson's pronunciation of "Basketball" and his skills, we already need to raise the rim!

I told Olivia to give me a fake smile, this is what she came up with (and the toys which she is taking back, she said she'd rather have Sleeping Beauty and Phillip than Beauty and Beast...)
Hudson loved his sunglasses...and the cars and candy!

Olivia's last Christmas present and the funniest scavenger hunt...ever!!! You can fast forward to the last minute for the best part, although as her mom, I love all of it.

Christmas Eve!

2011-12-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve in Seattle with some of the McInelly family. We went to the Seattle Center House to watch (and drive) the giant train...

Then we watched the Matt Baker Comedy Stunt show which was surprisingly good and even better free. And probably the best part is when Mat got called up front to perform...Mat always seems to get called on, and he HATES it...so it makes it that much more hilarious.
We reserved the entire front row...

After the show, we went ice skating which Olivia loved. I was a little nervous that she wouldn't do it (she's a nervous child), but she went for it and after a shaky first round around the ice, she could do it all on her own (with the little walker thing of course).
Here she is slipping around after her first few times...

She got the hang of it...
Here's our little deer learning to walk on her own...

And so maybe this was Mat's first time ice skating, impressive, I know...

All the kids doing their best to melt the ice sculpture...

After watching/taking pictures for a little while, Hudson and I ventured out the Seattle Center Fountain. It looks like this...

He loved looking at it...which is why he's smiling like this...

Afterwards, we headed home for some AMAZING ribs that Mat had been cooking all day, seriously, best ribs I have ever eaten (we were really hungry, so that probably helped). And then the kids opened their Christmas pajamas, which I was super excited for!

Microsoft Christmas Party

2011-12-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

While we were in California, Mat went to the Microsoft XBOX Christmas Party. Cee Lo Green was there to perform!!
You know Cee Lo, he want to "Forget You"...he's a little Atari, and my dear Mathew, he's all XBOX!

Pre-Christmas Festivities

2011-12-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

Why we waited until the last Friday before Christmas for our Pre-Christmas festivities is still a mystery...note to self...go the first Monday of December...

But we had fun nonetheless along with the thousands of eastsiders (and possibly most of Western WA) that were in Bellevue tonight!

We started at the Garden d'Lights that was as fancy as it's name. They had millions of lights formed into flowers, animals, plants, rivers, waterfalls, and Mat's favorite part...a smoke blowing dragon (which will not be pictured...it's real blurry...)

Speaking of blurry...here's our blurry family...

Spider (and fly) in web...
Then we tried our luck at the mass hysteria that was Snowflake Lane...

Olivia's favorite part were the pretty girls dressed up as purple fairies...
And snow princesses...
Hudson loved the candy...forget about Rudolph, look at my sucker!
He loved it!

This is the happiest I've ever seen him in a picture, thanks to that sucker (which finally wasn't in the forefront of a picture).

Don't you wish we were your neighbor...

2011-12-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

We took our neighbor gifts out last night. The kids would walk up to the door and knock (probably about three more times than necessary) and shout Merry Christmas as soon as someone opened. They were adorable. We passed out chocolate cookie dough with candy cane kisses (so you could make your treat whenever you desired (in case you just ate a whole plate of fudge, you could have warm cookies at a later date). I thought it was a great idea, and thanks to Camille, it was adorable!!

Nutcracker

2011-12-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

We went to the Nutcracker with the H family girls and Rocky. It was a great time (11:30), it was only an hour long, and there were a bunch of other kids so it didn't matter as much that Olivia didn't stop talking the entire time (mainly asking questions).

The girls were excited...

The boys...not so much.
Look at our little color-coordinated outfits, I know, we're adorable!

And this is how Hudson made it through the Nutcracker, one sucker at a time.

California Pre-Christmas cont.

2011-12-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

After we got the great surprises out of the way (I LOVE surprises!!!), we went to lunch, and then Amberly with her kids came over! Amberly, my oldest sister, is in the process of adopting three kids (all siblings, and 2 and under!!) Yeah, she's a saint. They are beautiful kids and while we were there, they were able to move one step closer to adoption (the parental rights of the parents were terminated, so their adoption date is November 2012). Since we can't show their faces until they are officially adopted, you'll just have to believe me when I tell you how adorable they are.

We went to a magical Christmas forest.

We spent lots of time with their new cousins....

One of the little boys is just Hudson's age. They loved playing together and getting into mischief. We may or may not have found them hitting my grandma's car with PVC pipe. If G-Mil is reading this, it's a may not.

We also got to celebrate pre-Christmas with Grandma Cyndi and Papa!!
Olivia...so many choices!!!
Hudson opening his present on "Pre-Christmas" morning.

And so maybe we like to dress alike. Nearly 8 years apart and we can still be best friends. (We missed you Katelyn!!)

The kids did great on the plane. They spent lots of time talking with the flight attendants. Hudson knows the drill. When he sees one walk by, he holds up his sippy cup and says, "apple juice". Olivia even earned her wings, which she insists on keeping on her pajamas.

California Pre-Christmas

2011-12-21T07:36:00.000-08:00

About three weeks ago I found really cheap tickets for Alaska Airlines to fly down to Fresno. I quickly swooped up two tickets (since I'm dreading the day in March when my sweet baby will have to have his own seat...since he'll probably still be sitting in my lap...). So the kids and I left, telling only my older sister (who lives down there) and my dad (our ride home from the airport). We went straight to my mom's work...

And then went to visit Makenda.(I know, she's the cutest thing you've ever seen in a hair net!!!)

And this was just hour one...

Olivia's Dance Recital

2011-12-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Since we took a trip to California last week, we missed Olivia's last dance class where she would do her "recital". (For this "recital", it was in the classroom, no costumes, and only one song so I didn't feel too guilty missing it. And she's signed up for a ballet/tap class that starts in a few weeks, so there is another recital in our new future). And we think she's adorable.

Family Pictures

2011-12-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

We recently took family pictures. I honestly dread family pictures, mainly because of Hudson...he doesn't like staying in one place and is so hard to take a picture of...

So most of our pictures look like this...

This says Christmas Card to me...

What about a cute, look at us in the distance...

Until he finds out you're still taking pictures of him...

And this...Olivia is thinking, "amateurs".

And then we have Olivia. I'm pretty sure she's not normal, I LOVE her and her posing.

Here is Hudson's best individual...
And imagine our surprise when we discovered that these cute girls were all color coordinated...I know, this pictures deserves a large frame...

What a cute family!!

Later that night (after being showered with gifts by the H's)...we went to live nativity/Christmas celebration at Cascade Park.

Luckily, Santa was there. Now we don't have to go to the mall!!

And a nativity, including a gigantic Rock as Baby Jesus. Thanks for inviting us 'H' family!

We were so excited to come home that night! Mat had put up our Christmas lights and I had decorated the tree, and we couldn't wait to see them lit up at night!!!

Olivia's Classes

2011-12-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

This fall, instead of pre-school, Olivia has done two Parks and Rec classes. She's done ballet and an Imagination Theater class. She loved both her classes and here are some pictures of her up to this point...

Putting on the show...she loved it...

Until this happened...

But as you learn in drama class, the show must go on. She continued on and even made it to her final bow!

Olivia with one of her new ballet friends, McKenna.

One of the games they play in ballet in "Fairies wake the princess". Unfortunately, one of the princesses wouldn't wake up, so Olivia had to try a little harder.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

We got to spend Thanksgiving in Olympia with the Madill's, Papa, and Grandma Jeanne. We loved being there and really didn't want to leave! We got there Thursday and arrived just in time to help (but just a little) with dinner. We ate a great meal and then Mandy had a few fun food crafts planned for the kids. We decorated gingerbread houses and made tee-pees. After a little while, it was time to head home, get the kids to bed, and start shopping!

We went to Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, and Target. We had a pretty long list that we were expecting to get half of...but something magical happened and we got everything on our list (and a lot of stuff that wasn't on our lists either...we had no idea we wanted it!). We (we went with Mandy and Chris while the Grandmas watched the kids) barely fit in the Chris's car on the way home (after a few bikes, an office chair, a piano keyboard, a basketball hoop for Hudson, a shark mop, a little vacuum, and even more, I really didn't think we could fit everything in. But that Buick really impressed me...or maybe it was just Chris's packing skills, but we fit (and we were even buckled!)

At around 1:30AM we headed to the mall. This is when we realized we were old and really tired. Mat went to Best Buy and I went to Old Navy. We found what was on our list (magical, really), but then we saw the line. It would have taken us probably an hour to get through the lines...so we went through the next best option...hiding. We hid our stuff in our respective stores and decided to come back the next day for real Black Friday (we were going to a movie at the mall later that morning). So we came back the next morning, and our hiding spots were really good or we were that good...because there was our stuff....we waited 10 minutes in line and we were done!

Mat's hiding spot...it was a good one!

Later in the day, we went and visited Scott at the fire station. It was so fun to see those cute little kids and that huge fire truck!

p.s. i like that I'm in the reflection trying my best to get him to smile...as you can see, it didn't work.

The next day Grandma Jeanne and Papa watched our kids (again) so Mat and I could go out shooting with Ryan, Lindsey, Scott and Stacy. It was so fun! Highlight of the day....

Bri: So, where does the bullet go when you fire a warning shot?
Ryan (a state trooper): We don't fire warning shots.
Mat: Yeah, they shoot to kill.
Ryan: We don't shoot to kill!

So although our knowledge of police protocols is limited, we had a great time!

Second best part of the day...we went to go pick up our TV from Best Buy after shooting...and we opened our truck to slide the TV in...and our trunk was full of guns. People may have looked at us wearily...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-24T08:16:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from our little turkeys...

No Offense...

2011-11-07T11:32:00.001-08:00

But I'm better than JCPenneys...maybe it's my subject, she is VERY photogenic!!! Here are her 4 year old pictures!

Someday soon, I hope Mat can combine her face in this one...

And her "4" in this one...oh the wonders of photoshop...
And Hudson even made it in one!

And the Celebrations Continued...

2011-11-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

After Olivia's party, the O&Hs stayed for a bit for a pizza party and then the moms took the big kids while Reuben and Mat stayed home playing video games with the three "sleeping" babies (unfortunately for them, all three woke within a half hour of us being gone...so much for Batman time...).

We walked the four blocks down to the Baptist church to enjoy their "Harvest Festival".
Those Baptists know how to party, they had six bounce houses, rooms full of games, treats, and lots more...

The next day we headed down to Jared and Camille's to celebrate their birthdays a little more...

After cake and ice cream, it was pinata time!

All the kids got a turn...

I thought it would be over with Linsey (she hit it really hard!!!)
Or at the most with Hunter (just look at the dedication under that bandana!)

But you want dedication? This is what dedication looks like...especially when there is a garage full of people chanting your name.

And this...she could not have been happier...
And this little girl, so tired from her week of celebrating could barely open presents. Luckily, Austin was there to give her some support.

But the party had to go on...for the next day was FINALLY Halloween! I think this is the longest/most I've celebrated Halloween. When I told Olivia that today was Halloween, she could barely believe it, she was so excited. We went to Microsoft and trick-or-treated along with pretty much all of the eastside (about half of the people there hand out candy, that's a lot of candy!)
And after a pizza dinner with the Hartleys (thanks for having us), we went trick or treating just a little more in a picturesque little neighborhood. After about ten houses (running to ten houses), Supergirl was done. Captain America generally ran in the other direction, refused to hold his bucket, and gave candy back to people (maybe he'll get it next year). So with a bucket full of candy, we headed home!
And today we rested!!!

Olivia's Birthday Party

2011-11-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Olivia's birthday (again) on Saturday. She invited 11 of her closest friends (we'll be downsizing next year...or be having it somewhere other than our house...). It was a Halloween theme costume party and it was really fun (albeit a tad bit crazy).

She was so excited for her party!! **Notice the pumpkins behind her, they'll be important for later...

There were decorations!And costumes....

Trying out his flying skills...

And he's adorable...
But back to Olivia...with the invitations...was a small pumpkin that the girls (and Isaac) were to bring decorated. Olivia awarded prizes to 1st and 2nd place pumpkins (and costumes). Although she wanted Emma to win everything, we tried to spread it out a little bit. (Sorry about your prize, Britni/Dalia...)

Our first game was a pumpkin craft. I cut out pumpkins and a bunch of shapes so they could each make their own pumpkin. Then we had a skeleton scavenger hunt (I hid bones and clues all over the house)...and there are their pumpkins on the fridge!

We went searching for "skel-y" in the bathroom...

Outside...
Even at the mailbox.
We played a few other games, and ended up with the classic mummy toilet paper game..

Look at those cute mummies!!

We then had a ice cream sundae bar (and cute witch hat waffle cones made by Mat).

All the princesses loved it...

And even had some dry ice punch...very exciting!

Then we opened presents! I am so glad that we have been able to make such good friends since we've moved here.

This friend, however, we'll be keeping forever...Emma stayed the weekend with us and Olivia loved every minute of it. They went to sleep talking and woke up early (6 AM!!!) talking.
And we know these friends (who are basically cousins) will always be there to help us celebrate too!
And the favors (I figured everyone probably had enough candy and Olivia LOVES bubbles). Mat did a great job on them, sometimes I wonder how other people do anything without a graphic designer as a husband...

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

We went to our church's "Trunk or Treat" on Friday. It was great fun! We were really excited about our costumes this year, well mostly Mat's. He put a lot of thought and dedication into his...so we were really excited there was a professional photographer there!!!

The whole family, Black Widow, Captain America, Supergirl, and of course the HULK!

Emma came with us, she was the sweet puppy we saved or something. Mat tells me that Superman (and maybe supergirl had a dog named Krypton, so maybe that is who Emma is).
Hudson is actually smiling!

And there was another Supergirl at the party, Emily, Olivia's most favorite babysitter!!

Olivia is 4!!!

2011-10-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

The big 0-4!!!! We have been waiting for this day for so long! I feel like she's been asking about her birthday since Hudson's birthday...so I'm so glad it is here and that it time to celebrate!!! And celebrate we did! She woke up early this morning to donuts for breakfast (which she requested and was thrilled by...)

We then opened presents (she was so excited, she couldn't help but wink)...more present pictures at the end...

Then we went to ballet! She loves ballet and the girls in her class. Her teacher is a boy, Eric, who she really likes. Today, however, she had a substitute teacher (a girl). I thought she would like it, but on the way home, I asked her if she liked her new or old teacher better. She said, Eric, "because he's a boy and I love boys."

This is what she gave all the girls in her ballet class (ring pops and Princess stickers).

After that, we went to McDonalds and got Happy Meals!!! This is a rare and special treat for my kids and although Hudson didn't care at all, Olivia realized how great it was!!

After that, we went to the pet store. Grandma Cyndi sent Olivia everything she would need for a fish (the bowl, food, plant, pretty rocks, and $5 to go get a fish). Olivia was THRILLED and could not wait to get the fish (whose name is apparently "Red" for now). She was talking to him all afternoon and before we left for our next activity, she assured him we would be home soon.

After naptime, we went to Chuck E Cheese!! As I have a personal relationship with Chuck E., I can't believe Olivia didn't even know who or what it was. She soon realized how great it is and loved the games, pizza, and the fancy cup she got.

Fancy cup...

Hudson also loved his fancy cup...

It's a bad picture, but still my favorite from the whole day...they love each other!

The only ride Hudson liked...and about the ball he's holding...I'm pretty sure there is a kid playing some basketball game with only two balls and wishing he had another. (When we were getting ready to leave he had somehow stolen a skee-ball...he knows what he likes!)

And then we came home and had cake! It was probably more sugar than a 4 year old should consume in a day...but she loved every calorie of it! At one point during the day, she looked at me and said, "This is the best day ever!" And that made everything worth it! We still have two more celebrations planned too!!

And now for just me (and probably my mom)...here is a little about Olivia. Olivia and I definitely have our moments...we can go from best friends to enemies pretty quickly...but most of the time she is pretty much awesome. People are drawn to Olivia. She gets along really well with kids as well as adults. She is really funny and loves to be funny. She is a great artist and will spend an hour (a whole hour!!!) at the table drawing, painting, or coloring. Mat has high hopes for her artistically. She still loves books and being read to. She loves the ipad more than she probably should, but it's kind of amazing to see how well she can work on it. She loves to take pictures and also (if you can't tell from her pictures, loves posing for pictures...)

And Hudson loves her too...look what he learned in her honor...

Oh, Olivia, we love you and are so grateful you're in our lives.

And for documentation purposes, we went to Olivia's 4 year check-up. She weighs in at 35 lbs (25-50%) and 39-3/4 inches (50-75%).

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-27T20:08:00.001-07:00

We carved pumpkins on Monday for Family Night. I'm using "carved" as a general term...Hudson painted, I drilled, and Olivia and Mat did in fact carve. Hudson had to go to bed halfway through, but he enjoyed the painting he got to do.

Olivia liked (not loved) digging in the pumpkin for guts...

The finished product (with no more white dress, for obvious reasons).

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday. We went to Bailey's Pumpkin Patch and I'm only writing the name to remind to not go there again. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't as good as others we've been to. But the kids still had fun and we got pumpkins, which is intrinsically the most important part of the pumpkin patch.

We went with our friends the Turners (these are their two beautiful little girls).
On the hayride...and I'm pretty sure Hudson hates us...

Yep, he does...

But doesn't Olivia look cute? He kind of ruins her picture...

We also were part of a murder mystery that night...don't worry, neither of us were the killer...I was a floosy who was a little bit dumb...Mat was an FBI agent...

Who Is Your Daddy?

2011-10-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hudson thinks everything that looks manly and strong...are his daddy...

And by the way, Hudson is a great jumper!!!

And don't you think he's improved "leaps and bounds" since his last jumping video?

The Most Useful Costume Ever...

2011-10-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

So my mom gave me this dragon costume when Olivia was first born. Mat has always LOVED it and as you can see, we've gotten great use out of it!

Olivia (about 1 month old, 2007)

Olivia, 1 Year (2008). With Hunter (military man) and Emma (MEAN Sleeping Beauty, I had to clarify what she insisted she be called).

WE MISSED 2009!!!!

Hudson, 6 months (2010)

Olivia, nearly 4 years (2011)...K&M...this picture is for you...

Rapunzel Play

2011-10-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

We (with our friends the H's) went to a Rapunzel play! It was at a plant nursery (of all the places it could be), it was free, and it was only 40 minutes long (the PERFECT length!!) The girls (and Hudson loved it!)

The girls with Rapunzel and the Prince.

With the witch (my favorite part of the play!)

Even Hudson loved it!It turned out to be a Molbaks (the nursery where it was held) commercial, but that strangely made it even more charming! We will definitely be going back (they do it every fall).

Olivia has a mullett...

2011-10-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

So this happened...
Here is her explanation...

She was complaining her hair was in her face, so she cut it...and she was happy until I showed her what she looked like in the mirror. Then she cried. I am sad about it too, I don't know what to do with it. I don't know if I should cut it or wait for it to grow a little bit and then cut it. She has one hairstyle that doesn't look terrible...but we'll see. And this is the next day, so she's less traumatized...but a little more bratty, what can you do?

Here is the after...it's pretty short and there is no more bun for ballet, but she looks cute!

And Hudson does the cutest fishy (or kissy) face...

Hudson Says Prayers

2011-10-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

Hudson saying prayers, trying to close his eyes.

Sounders!

2011-10-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Although it may seem that Mat is a Sounders Season ticket holder...he isn't, he's just happened to go 4 times this season somehow! We do think they're really fun, though! And after this one, they got a trophy (they won the US Open Cup) and Drew Carrey was there!

All the girls in our group!

McKenzie's Blessing

2011-09-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Mandy (Mat's sister) had a baby a few weeks ago. After three boys, they really deserve a calm, perfect baby girl. We'll see about the calm part...but for now, she's perfect! They named her McKenzie Love...and she's really just precious. We were able to go down to Olympia on Sunday, spend time with the family, and see Mckenzie be blessed.

And she kind of looks just like Brody in this picture...

Puyallup Fair

2011-09-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to the Puyallup Fair. It was the last Saturday of the fair, so needless to say, it was extremely busy, but we still had a great time. We've been having random bouts of extreme sunshine (I believe it was like 81 outstide), so we loved the sunshine and spending time together.

Olivia and Hudson (and let's be honest Mat) loved seeing all the animals...

Olivia loved squeezing herself into spaces so she could pet them (most likely illegally so)

This one is kind of asking to be pet...so it's okay...

Olivia gets really excited when she sees blonde animals...
Mat enjoyed a fried snickers (it's a snickers dipped in funnel-cake like batter, fried, the covered in chocolate syrup)

Olivia went with frozen yogurt as her treat...we have very similar tastebuds (although I didn't put mike-n-ikes in mine...). Hudson's treat was the $1 cotton candy I snuck into the fair. I passed it while I was shopping earlier in the day and knowing how much it would cost at the fair and knowing that once they saw it, they (Olivia speaks for both of them) would want it...I became the world's coolest mom (or Mary Poppins) somehow pulling a bag of cotton candy from my purse...and keeping the five extra dollars it would have cost to buy it at the fair to spend on ride(s).

Oh fair rides...I HATE fair rides...they scare me (thanks Mom), they're too expensive, and they last like 14 seconds...but Olivia really wanted to go... so we told her she could pick two rides. She picked her two rides, we bought the necessary 13 tickets (seriously fair workers...13 tickets for two rides...) and waited in line. She was so excited...

We shouldn't have been one of the first ones...because the longer it took for that ride to get started the more nervous she got...this face, it's not as excited....

and then...wait for it...uh oh.
here is the problem, I already paid for that ride...and we don't want her to think that rides aren't fun and that crying means you don't have to do things and that she's not brave...so we got back in that line and paid for me to go on. She was the sobbing kid and I was the crazy mom telling her it wasn't that high (it wasn't) and it would be so much fun (it was), that Hudson would love seeing her swing....

and I won (I usually do)...and look, by the end...no hands!!!
And we went round and round having a great time watching Hudson cry the whole time. Luckily, the ride only lasted 14 seconds.

Hudson, 18 Months!

2011-09-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hudson turned 18 months on Saturday...I've got to be honest, I was probably looking forward more to 18 months than his birthday just so he could go to nursery at church. I've (Mat has taken his share fair of turns too)...we've spent two hours of church in the hall for the last six months or so...we are so excited for him to be in there! He went in great on Sunday and only cried when he wasn't the first one to be picked up...

He is such a special boy, very loving, funny, and so sweet. He loves (and hates) his older sister, cars and balls are his favorite toys. He loves to look at books and loves to sing and dance. He is small (22lbs 5-10%, but tall 33inches 75%). But he can handle his own (the biggest kid in nursery took a toy from him and he waited a few minutes then pushed him from behind...). He loves to throw food on the floor...and doesn't really love to eat. He still won't eat meat, but has started eating eggs, which is good progress we think. He loves fruit (or apples, as he calls everything). He also thinks every animal is a dog and therefore barks at everything. He's quite the climber so we're pretty sure he'll be extremely athletic. Pretty much, he still lights up my life...

Olivia in Ballet

2011-09-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Olivia started ballet class today and LOVED it! She loved getting dressed for it, even loved getting her hair put in a bun for it, she had no hesitation going in...she did great!
Moms (and little brothers for that matter) aren't allowed in the class, so I sneaked this picture from the window in the door. I'm kind of glad we weren't, Hudson would not have stayed with me if we were supposed to be in there, we went to a nearby park during the 45 minute class. She already can't wait for next week!

Circus

2011-09-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (yeah, I'm caught up!!) we went to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus! I have always wanted to go the circus, so I was excited when I heard about them coming to Everett. I knew Olivia would love it and she did (as did Hudson, mainly for the music...as you may have seen in a previous post, he's quite the dancer!)

We invited the Hartley's to come with us!

We stopped for donuts on the way home...for Hudson and Olivia, it may have been the best day EVER!

Sunbeam trip to the Zoo!

2011-09-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine planned a little Sunbeam (Olivia's church class) trip to the zoo! Olivia has a great Sunbeam class and even more amazing Sunbeam teacher. I love going to the zoo and even more, going with other people. The kids loved it (even Hudson finally got the idea, although he pretty much just yelled "dog" at every animal followed by "ruff, ruff, ruff.") But they both had a great time!

Hudson with the hippo...

Olivia being an elephant.

Olivia was SO excited to see Mat's favorite animal, the noble tapir!!!

Are you scared for that goat? Because I am a little...
We tried teaching Hudson to say monkey and then make monkey sounds, he kind of got it (wait for the end!)

And all the little kids were gathered around one of the zookeepers holding this snake. He asked who wanted to pet it first, and who raises their hand...my Olivia. I was so shocked, mainly because I have no interest in petting the snake...but she did it a few times and didn't seem scared at all. She also wants a bug party for her birthday (mosquitoes included)...here she is, her first time petting the snake!

Mat had a birthday!

2011-09-11T13:22:00.001-07:00

Mat had a birthday too! We had a full weekend with his birthday too...the day of his birthday we went to the park and fed the ducks (Olivia's suggestion), then came home and while the kids took naps (and I probably read a book), Mat fixed the brakes on the Camry (what a man!) After he was done with that, we had Jamie and Reuben and Brian and Britni over and left all of our kids (we took the baby at least) with one babysitter...there are six of them (under 5 years old)...but we came back and they were alive, so all was well. We went to a great Olive Garden dinner and then came back to play some Kinect sports (which Mat happened to be the MVP). Then we had Mat's choice of dessert...pumpkin pie...
To finish his birthday weekend, we went to Olympia, hung out with the McInelly family and then on Monday, Mat fixed the rotors on the Acura...he had a busy car fixing filled weekend...and I'm sure he saved us hundreds of dollars, and for that I am so grateful. He is such a great husband and father. He works so hard for us and I really appreciate how awesome he is...so happy birthday last week Mat!

Hudson Dancing

2011-09-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

Since he's so amazing, he deserves his own post, Hudson is quite the dancer!

And since I always post pictures of Hudson and Olivia at least kind of smiling, I thought I would post a picture of a little portrait into their lives...this is what our house looks like most of the time...

Katelyn's Wedding!

2011-09-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

Katelyn was married August 25th in the Newport Beach CA temple. She was a gorgeous bride and we were so glad we were there to share the special day with her and Nick!

Their invitation!

Their reception. It turned out amazing! It was also an amazing amount of work...but well worth it!

The cotton candy fairy...

They are such a fun couple and we are all so excited for them!

California Beach time!

2011-09-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Before (and after) the wedding, we went to the beach! I LOVE the beach. I really hope that someday we can live close to it (like California beach...WA or OR beach doesn't count). Although I don't know if we ever will, at least we get to visit often!

Olivia loved making sand angels. This was after we found her. Kind of the scariest ten minutes of my life. When we first got to the beach, Mat and I were putting sunscreen and changing Hudson into his swim diaper/swimsuit when Olivia disappeared. I knew she wouldn't go in the water (she doesn't like her face getting wet), but had no idea which way she had wandered. After wandering around the beach for a few minutes, we heard a call... "Mat and Bri, Olivia is waiting for you at the lifeguard tower." On the bright side, at least she remembered our names and knew enough to let someone help her (her loud sometimes obnoxious cry actually came in handy!) All was forgotten in a few minutes and she was back to playing like nothing had happened.

While down in Orange County, we got to meet up with our favorite BYU-I California friends, Brent and Caitlin! We love them and only wish we could have been able to spend more time together!!

Olivia's Talk

2011-09-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

On my birthday, Olivia gave her first talk in primary. The topic was, "Our Body is a Temple." When I first told her, she laughed and said, "Our bodies aren't temples." Like I was crazy, we obviously had our work cut out for us. But she came around to the idea and she did so well. She got right up there, spoke into the microphone, held the appropriate picture...I was pretty sure I was going to be giving the talk, so I was pleasantly surprised!

Sunshine

2011-09-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying the beach (Lake Washington) and the amazing sunshine (as well as our huge backyard as we're squeezing out all the summer we can!

To my McInelly girls beach friends...since most of Camille's kids are in school and Emma is back in Utah...I've missed them! I love the carefree days of summer when we can do whatever we want on a Tuesday (well we can still do whatever we want, the others just have more responsibilities).

Emma and I did a triathlon the second weekend of August. I finished, and I did great on my run and swim...but here we are before...

Birthday Party

2011-09-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

A long time ago (you know way back when it was still August), I had a birthday! We had a fun-filled birthday weekend! First we went camping with the whole McInelly clan, then a birthday party with friends. Then a quiet birthday dinner. It was kind of more fun than we thought we could pack into a weekend, but we did it!
For my party, we invited a bunch of friends to go to a trampoline place. I have great friends and since we've moved I've been able to make some great friends that were all up for a good time!

Even my pregnant friends were willing to jump (at least for a picture)...
B&B...they're just so in-sync as a couple...

Unlike Sarah and I...we had more difficulty timing a jumping picture...
Mat showed off his sweet rollerblading moves from back in the day...all that practice "blading" around the Capital Building paid off!!

We went to OCB after jumping, of course!
For my birthday dinner, I requested ribs, Mat's apples, and other things, that I would have written about if I wrote this blog a month ago...but needless to say, it was a great dinner!

Birthday cookie and ice cream!!!It was as good as it looks...

Torchlight Seafair

2011-08-01T14:23:00.001-07:00

This year we did the Torchlight Fun Run again and loved it (again, as much as you can love a "fun" run. We did finish well, I finished my 5k in 28 minutes (which is super fast for me and nearly 2 minutes faster than last year!)

The McInelly group (they all did the 8K...Mat's first and he finished in 48 minutes!)

Our friends Shane and Joie did the race with us. Joie and I didn't run together except for a few minutes and we managed to finish within seconds of each other...I kind of had my head down at the ground the whole time, willing my body to keep moving forward.
And let's just be honest, my favorite part of the day was meeting the Seagals (Seahawks cheerleaders) and getting my picture with them. I even lent them my safety pins from my race number so they could fix a wardrobe malfunction.

Summer Fun

2011-08-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

We love going to the lake in the summer, so when there is a rare sunny day, we are usually found either at the lake or in our backyard pool.

We also recently went to a music in the park concert. The kids liked it, although Olivia would only dance if I was next to her...(and Wells, who came in early for the boys trip came with us)

We have loved Mike and Emma's firepit also! It has been a source of fun all summer!
Olivia, Linsey, and the Smore Monster (Emma)...she ate 6 smores that night, and that is the norm!

Mat, trying to smile, trying to make sure Hudson doesn't throw himself in the fire...

Girls Weekend

2011-08-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Since Mat got to take a weekend off, it only seems fair that I got to take the next weekend off. The McInelly girls all hung out Friday and Saturday and enjoyed every kid-free (well, except for sweet Baby Ella) weekend!

Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate Mandy's little girls impending arrival. We had great pizza and just enjoyed eating dinner without having to serve little people, cut up said little peoples food, worry about how hot the food was, wonder why I tried ordering a chicken pizza (when they really just want cheese), or ask for ranch to dip the pizza in...oh the things I took for granted before kids!

After dinner, we went back to Mandy's where she opened baby shower gifts (Tamerinda (her name for now) will be the best dressed little girl, this is her 6th shower...people just love Mandy and Chris, what can you say?)

We also exchanged our favorite things (these are actually Camille's spoils, but I didn't take a picture of mine, so instead of that Target gift card, imagine a bottle of Olive Garden salad dressing (Camille's favorite thing).

We also did facials...I was excited about it...

It was late and we were a little delirious from all our new found freedom...
The next morning, we went out to eat again...

And by eat...I mean this...that omelet was so good!
We then went shopping and got pedicures!

It was a great weekend and really couldn't have come at a better time. It was so fun to relax and enjoy each other's company!

Some dudes with their wives...

2011-08-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

On Monday, once half the dudes had left, some of the wives (along with the kids) came to hang out in Seattle with our husbands. We hadn't seen them for a few days and we're pretty sure that they had a "first one to call your wife gets hit" rule, so we really hadn't talked to them very much. We were all excited to see them! I had spent the week with Deana, Doug's wife and their little girl Raylee. We were excited to get out and spend some time in Seattle!

We checked out the space needle, the fountain at Seattle Center (which can get you very wet, just ask Mat), rode the monorail, hit the candy store and food court, then wandered around Pike Place and then headed back home.

Olivia loves the carousel now...as does Tes in the background!

Hudson on the other hand, didn't really like it...but once again, look at Tes in the background. (And please, don't think I'm a bad mom because of my face in this picture...)

We went to the gum wall...

Olivia in front of the EMP (side note: a homeless man told her to "Rock on")
Doug, Deana, and Raylee in front of the throwing fish guys at Pike Place...

Doug and Deana ended up staying with us for a few more days due to a broken RV (those boys had something to do with it, I'm sure). Deana and I enjoyed our newfound babysitters by leaving the boys a few times to take care of the kids so we could go shopping one night and to a movie another. They sent us pictures of them taking care of the babies each night...

And we're pretty sure this one will be in their wedding slideshow someday...

One day, we went and visited Mat at work. This is the first time I've visited him in this office (we were here at Halloween but he didn't work on this campus yet), so I was excited to see his desk and make sure there wasn't a picture of another family on it...luckily, there wasn't.

Dudes Reunion

2011-08-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Mat has dudes. They are a bunch of his old roommates that really have all made impacts in his life. He loves his "dudes" and they love him. I love their friendships and love how well they entertain each other. Although he's been graduated from college for five years and hasn't seen most of them since then, they were all able to pick up right where they left off and had tons of fun. They started their trip by flying in to Seattle, taking over Eric's parents house and left early-ish (as early as you can get up after a 3am Harry Potter showing)...can I tell you how much I love that this big, tough group of guys went to Harry Potter at 3am...pretty much awesome. So they drove to Zions camp in an RV (thanks to Doug), swam, ate (Mat's yummy BBQ dinner), slept in triple bunkbeds (who knew those were real), and did a little archery. The next day, they piled back into the RV and went to Forks, because where else would they go, besides to Twilight's hometown? After a day camping at the beach (and by their accounts, having the biggest bonfire EVER), they spent the night in Seattle where some of their lovely wives came to join them before most of them flew out Monday.

Now that these dudes are all grown up, married, with 22 kids between them (I know, crazy!!!!) I'm glad they were still able to find the time to get together, although they've promised that their next "Dudes Reunion" will be a couples cruise.

Family Pictures

2011-08-01T13:01:00.001-07:00

Mike and Emma recently took a few family pictures for us...and although Hudson was more uncooperative than I've ever seen him, we got a few good ones...mainly of Olivia, she does love to work it for a camera...

A Christmas miracle, they're both kind of looking in the same direction and smiling!!!

Rockwell's Blessing

2011-08-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Brian and Britni blessed baby Rockwell on July 10. We were so glad we could be there to help celebrate him on this special day. We love that we get to live close to them and the Ortegas, BYU-I for life!!!

The kids, and uncooperative Hudson...

Sweet baby Rockwell...we're so excited they have a boy! He just needs to grow up now so that he and Hudson can be best friends...

4th of July

2011-08-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

For the actual 4th of July, we went to Vashon Island to hang out with some of Mat's oldest friends, Ryan and Scott and their families. Earlier that morning, I ran a 5K with Emma (let's just go ahead and keep this picture small...)

After that "fun" run, we took a ferry to Vashon to see their great fireworks show. Olivia loved it down there and all the adults to give her attention. We found lots of cool shells and sand dollars (that are still in our garage). But the only pictures I have...

Olivia on the ferry...

And (thanks to Scott), prepared for the fireworks.
But, even though we didn't make it home till around 2 am and Hudson was awake for our 12:30 am ferry boat ride back home, we had a great time and loved seeing fireworks on the 4th (which we haven't done since I was pregnant with Olivia).

Zions Camp

2011-08-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've been the worst blogger ever (it's been nearly a month since I've posted after all...so I'm going to go back to a whole month ago when we went camping right before 4th of July). We went to Zions Camp with Mandy & Chris and Mike and Emma. This is our third year going to Zions Camp for 4th of July weekend and we love it there! We're usually the only ones there and there is a great lake, playground, and lots of sand for the kids to play in.

We loved paddling around the lake...

The kids loved playing in the sand/water...
Hudson had to eat all of his meals in his stroller, so he (and it) were pretty messy after just two short days...

But can we just take a moment and acknowledge how beautiful he is...like seriously...
Okay...you can scroll down...

Here are Mat and I at the campfire, moments before we were nearly scalded with boiling water when Mike decided that putting a sealed water bottle in the fire was a good idea (it's not, in case you were wondering).

The next day we spent on the swings...Olivia didn't like swinging with me...

As you can see, she much preferred swinging with these crazy boys...

Even the normally stone-faced swinger Hudson enjoyed his time...

Olivia (and all those boy cousins) had a great time!!

Linsey

2011-07-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

Linsey turned 11 on Sunday!! I almost can't believe it...when we moved here...she looked like this...A sweet, sweet little almost 6 year old...

We fit in small kayaks together...I got her a My Little Pony (a huge one, ironic, I know) for her birthday that year (2006)...
But we've moved past My Little Ponies, and as a sweet, sweet 11 year old, Linsey is much more into shopping for clothes!!! As this is one of my favorite hobbies as well, I invited Emma (aka the other Fun Aunt) along and we hit the Super Mall (oh how I've missed you, Super Mall!)

Working it...
Enjoying her spoils...
As the oldest grandchild, it can't always be easy for Miss Linsey. She is usually in charge and probably gets more responsibility of all the younger ones than should be required of her...but she is always so willing to help and play with them. She is so sweet to Olivia and Hudson. Olivia especially loves her and often says that she is Linsey's little sister. I am so grateful for this sweet girl. She is such a good example for Olivia, such a good big sister, so talented, so smart, so kind, and beautiful too! I can't wait for what the future holds and know that all too soon I will be posting about her turning 16, graduating high school, even getting married...so I'm going to enjoy this year, the year she still thinks I'm cool and wants to go to the mall with me.

What We've Been Up To!!

2011-06-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

We've been busy the last week or so... in between trips to Costco and Target, we've been enjoying the sunshine...

And attending some birthday parties (here is Dylan opening his present!) We went to another party this afternoon for a little girl that we go to church with.

Eating treats...our homemade pizookie (cookie baked like a pizza, and straight from the oven, you put some ice cream on it and then chocolate syrup and cool whip...) this picture looks like Mat caught us in the act, but I assure you, he was most certainly there...and Olivia officially thinks we're the coolest parents ever...

On Thursday, Mike and Emma got free tickets to a Sounders (MLS Soccer) game and invited us along! It was so fun to be out on a weeknight without kids and cheering them on! They are really good...and it made us wish we could sit this close during Seahawks games...and kind of wish soccer players didn't cry so much (I know, soccer is the most popular sport in the world...then really, what do they have to cry about?)

The next night, I (with a few friends from church) went to a Harry and the Potters Concert at the Seattle Public Library. Thankfully, Makenda was willing to lend me her Gryffindor tie and I was able to get into character. In case you don't know, Harry and the Potters sing songs all about Harry Potter (i.e. Voldemort can't stop the Rock, Save Ginny Weasley, etc.)...here is a link, well for Kenda... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpko7WDFAng&feature=related

So today (Saturday), I found out about this little Party in the Park close to our house where they were going to have a cake walk, face painting, and most importantly, pony rides! Olivia gasped and jumped up and down when I told her. She's been talking about riding a horse for literally years, so she was SO excited!

Classic, and the only picture I have of Mat from the whole day...

Eating her snowcone...in a sweatshirt, welcome to WA in the end of June...
Her rainbow butterfly hand painting (she wanted to see it all day, smart kid)!
First time riding a pony...

Olivia's friend Jezelle came too (along with her parents and little brother!)

Hudson stayed on long enough for the picture...
Video of Olivia riding her horse...

Hudson, 15 Months

2011-06-24T11:28:00.001-07:00

Hudson turned 15 Months (well, a week ago...where have I been?) Hudson really is a great little boy. He is so full of life, he loves to run around (he hardly walks anywhere anymore), loves to play with his sister, and especially loves cars although his favorite toy is any kind of ball (he can already pick up a regular size basketball over his head and throw it...yeah, we think he's pretty strong). We had his 15 month appointment this week, and he's weighing in at 20 lbs 12 oz (gained 2 whole pounds in three months) and 31 inches (also grew 2 inches!). He is super picky, though, which is honestly kind of annoying...he won't eat any meat (hidden or otherwise, and really picks at everything). He does like all fruit (especially blueberries), bread (he chases after the sacrament tray once we pass it on), and any kind of treat. He loves his water and tolerates milk (but likes chocolate milk!). He's saying about the same words as last month, mostly: mommy, daddy, car (and vroom), ball, dog (and ruf), cat, water (oh-wow sounding), please, diaper, baby, hi, bye, and I'm sure a few more I'm missing. He is one tough kid. He is falling down, bumping his head, getting pushed by his sister (and pushing his sister back), and he really doesn't cry. He just jumps back up, he's a very resilient fellow!

He does like to scream though...so we've started some punishment measures...it's not going so well...see video below...and promise not to judge us...

Father's Day

2011-06-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

I love Fathers Day! I love celebrating Dads because I feel like a lot of the time Moms get all kinds of praise...and Dads don't get enough attention...So woohoo for dads!

I have an amazing dad. He showed me what to look for in a husband. He's extremely hard working, loving, and always serving. He has given me an intense love for all things pickled, sauerkraut, pickles, and farmers market olives. And for this, I am eternally grateful.

Mat has an amazing dad. He is so strong, even when he doesn't feel well. He would do anything for his grandkids (especially Olivia)...that even means spending an hour trying to fix her dollar store flashlight. And then, when it wouldn't work anymore (because it was from the dollar store), going out and buying her a new one so she wouldn't have to be without.

And to my dear Matty! He is a way better dad than I am mom. He is so full of life and love and goodness. He is so good with Olivia and Hudson (and good for me)...he puts them to bed every night. When asked why she loves her dad, Olivia said, "He tells me stories, and takes me to the park. He gives me hugs. He gives me kisses. He plays with me. And he gets me slurpees." And let's be honest...he's hilarious...
So Happy Fathers Day! Thank you for going to work all day, then coming home and getting right back into a new job! (And he made (and made up) his own peanut butter cream pie...so creative that one).

Our House

2011-06-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been in our house 3 whole months now...and here is the first published look! I still feel like we have a long way to go until I feel like we're completely settled...but here is where we are now...

It's a split-level house. When you first come up the stairs, there is the living room...

And behind that is the kitchen and dining area...

Right out that door is a large deck (which we LOVE). It now has a patio table and chairs on it, which we, after about 3 months of searching finally found!!

Down the hall, there are a few closets, then the hall (kids) bathroom...

I love this rug...so I took a picture of it...
Next up is Olivia's room. I love her room, mainly because we have a toy/playroom now and she has way less stuff in it (just clothes, books, and dress-ups make it a lot easier to clean-up!)

Next is Hudson's room...it never really had anything in it...so it's usually the cleanest room in the house...

Then our room...(there is still a ton I want to do in here...but I'm kind of burnt out...we now have nightstands, but I'm still looking for lamps to re-do.)

Our bathroom...I'm really into grey/white/yellow lately...
Downstairs there is a family room/playroom. The camera died as I was trying to take a picture of the play part...but here is half of the room. We love it!

And the big reason we were sold on the house...the backyard...complete with our own "park".

It just goes on and on...just ask Mat in the middle of mowing it...
So there it is, most of our house. We hope you enjoyed the tour...and hope you'll come visit soon!!! We love visitors!!

Hudson's First Haircut

2011-06-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Most of you are probably thinking that Hudson is bald and he doesn't need a haircut...well, he only has like 50 hairs, but they were getting really long (like 4 inches!)...so it was time to shave it off! He did really well, much better than I expected!

After...at least I can tell a difference!!

Mariners 2011

2011-06-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

We have loved our new ward and how social everyone is! A few weeks ago, on Memorial Day, we got invited with a bunch of families in the ward to a Mariners Game! It was perfect weather and fun to get to know people better! So here is our first Mariners Game of the season!

Cousin Fun!!

2011-06-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves her cousins. We are so glad that ALL (14 total...until August when Mandy makes it 15 with her little girl) are now living in WA and all within an hour and a half of each other!! I didn't grow up with cousins, aunts, and uncles, so I always wanted that for my own kids. Seeing her with these cousins she loves and her amazing aunts and uncles that truly dote on her, what can I say, it warms my heart!!

We've been going to the park...

Playing outside (whenever it decides to stop raining, which has been more frequent lately!)...

Making a few trips to Olympia (and playing at Burfoot). On this particular trip, Mike and Emma took the kids down to Jeanne to watch for the weekend. With the weekend off, we went to dinner (at the OG, where else?), planted our front flower beds, went to breakfast, and to lunch at sushi...we definitely made the most of our weekend off (oh and we slept in!!!) Thanks for taking care of our kids for the weekend!!!

Olivia had a great time without us...

And Hudson, well, he's practically perfect (though I sense his shift to the darkside of temper tantrums is shortly coming...), but for this trip he did great!

A few weeks ago, Grandpa Bill came to visit, so we loved seeing him!

Since we moved away from Jared and Camille, we've really missed them. Luckily for us, Mike and Emma moved to Redmond for the summer! They watched our kids on Thursday so we could go to the temple. Once Emma sent me pictures of the trip, I see why Olivia didn't want to leave...they had a great time!!

Just enjoying each other's company...

Eating ice cream...

And eating popcorn (IN BED!) while watching a show! Thanks Mike and Emma!

I've got to say, my favorite part so far of the summer has been our bi-monthly sisters lunches at Camille's. We've happened to have great weather, so the kids could play outside and we get great food and even better...adult conversation!!!

Here are the kids while we're busy visiting....Olivia loves all those boys!!

Hudson, 14 Months

2011-05-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hudson turned 14 months this week. He is officially walking, which is super exciting for us and him. He's been working on it for awhile (he took his first steps at the beginning of April and improved a lot while we were in California).

He's now trying to run and jump, which just might be the funniest thing I've ever seen.

At 14 months, he LOVES to eat. He's pretty picky though. For breakfast, he loves toast with jam, waffles, pancakes, or a bowl of cereal (he's getting pretty good with a spoon!). For lunch he loves quesadillas, grilled cheese, and PB&J sandwiches. For dinner, we try to give him whatever we're eating, but he doesn't like meat (besides pepperoni), salad (he does like some vegetables), or pretty much anything besides fruit. He could eat fruit all day. His favorite are the clementine oranges. We go through a bag of those a week! He also loves bananas, pears, apples, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, any kind of fruit he will eat it and a ton of it! He has started getting more sensitive, he HATES when Olivia (or anyone else for that matter) takes a toy he's playing with (see picture above). He loves to play with balls, that is by far his favorite toy (any shape or size) and can kind of catch. I have big plans for him to be super athletic!! Oh and by the way, he's adorable...like really, he's the most beautiful boy I've ever seen.

Words he can say so far: Ball (most common), mama, dada, ow (both the literal meaning and how he says water), me (more), doh (done), diaper (Mat says he has said it), cat, dog (and ruff ruff), uh oh, and probably a few more he doesn't say as frequently.

McInelly Kids

2011-05-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

We had the privilege of watching the McInelly kids (I know there are lots of McInelly kids, but I always mean these four when I say that...) while Jared and Camille had to go on a "work trip". And by work I mean a whole week in a 5 Star (4 Seasons) Hotel in Hawaii! They had a lot of fun, but so did we! We went to the park a few times, took Hunter skateboarding, walked to McDonalds, had brownie sundaes, went swimming, went shopping, and my favorite part, we went to a Bounce House place (mainly because I have pictures of it)!

These four kids were AMAZING! They were so good, listened so well, and were so nice to each other and my kids. I think it's a real testament to how well Jared and Camille have raised them! I would take all of them home in an instant!

Austin kept right up with the big kids!!!

Emma loved it, no matter what her hair looked like!

And this pretty much captures my week in one picture: Possibly dangerous, a little crazy, but really entertaining!
And my new Facebook profile picture...

A big thank you to Nicole and Lacie who came during the week to help with dinner, homework, piano, and gave us Friday night off to see Thor (which we loved, by the way!)

Spring

2011-05-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Emma's birthday...Happy 6th Birthday Emma!

We washed the car...on one of the few sunny days we've had so far...

And we went to see Linsey and Hunter in "Into the Woods" (or Through the Forest as Olivia calls it):

Hunter as Jack (in Jack and Jill fame):

Linsey as the Most Beautiful Swan Princess (that's what they should have printed in the program):
And their fan club!

Easter

2011-05-12T08:22:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter down in Olympia! The only picture we have of the whole day...
But don't worry, we went to church, had an Easter Egg Hunt (and one on Saturday, thanks Hartley family!), Easter Baskets, big Easter dinner with the McInelly family, and lots of candy!

Britni's Baby Shower

2011-05-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

A few days after we got home from California, I helped put on a baby shower for my dear friend Britni. She is due any day (she might be in labor right now!) with a baby boy (she has two girls), and we're so excited for her (and Brian too)!

Isn't she the cutest thing, you know when people say someone is all baby...this is what they mean!

The food table:

The favors (thanks Joie for the amazing idea that I will be re-using again and again!)

The invite (thanks Mat!)
Olivia with Britni's girls. We're so excited for Hudson to have a best friend too!

McInelly Family Party

2011-05-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we moved March 12th. We've been loving our new house and will have pictures up soon. A few weeks after we moved, we had the McInelly family over to celebrate Camille's Birthday!

My kids were really cute that day, so I took pictures of them...

And I would take him home with me as my own, but alas, Camille is just as smitten (alright, probably more) with sweet Austin.

The kids had SO much fun playing together!
And this is why I love Hunter...
And by kids I mean...Jared is always picking on people, well, mainly his dad.
Happy Birthday Camille!

You know I think you're really cool and pretty and fun and now tan. And good with kids (the REAL baby whisperer (sorry, Jared), with Ella).

CALIFORNIA!!

2011-05-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty much always on the lookout for cheap(er) tickets to fly to California and after the TERRIBLE, RAINY winter we've had, I'm always on the lookout for the sun, so we got to visit my parents! I also planned my visit to coordinate when my little sister would be home between semesters so we had tons of fun! The kids played outside all day basically and loved the sunshine! Hudson started walking better, (BTW, he's TOTALLY WALKING!!! HOORAY!!). But he also spent a lot of time crawling around outside, which I was hesitant about at first, but then decided to not worry about it. He was filthy every day, but he (and Olivia had a great time!)

This pretty much sums up their relationship...

After we'd been there for about a week, Mat and Katelyn came (not together, but only a day apart!!) We then had their vacations booked! We went to Magic Mountain on Friday. We all felt super old by the end of the day, especially when we were all ready to go home by about 3:00. We used to stay there until close (or later), so we think we may have outgrown roller coasters...at least we thought that until we were all super sick for the next few days...

Katelyn and Makenda were with us, pictures to hopefully come~

But the party must go on, so away to LA we went to catch a Dodgers Game. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and kind of boring game (sorry Bret...but it was like 8 whole innings on no runs!) and then Matt Kemp hit a home run and won the game...yeah, football is way better!

But we enjoyed our little outing and spending time together as a family (and Edmundo). We stayed at a Holiday Inn really close to the park that we got for $40...yeah, Priceline is the way to go for hotels!!!

Who's Edmundo, you might ask...He is one of Mat's old mission companions who happens to work at Disneyland (for the past 10 years). He was generous enough to get us all (SEVEN OF US: My mom, dad, sister Amberly and her husband, and our family) FREE tickets to both California Adventure and Disneyland!! It was so great to enjoy it all without a tinge of guilt of spending so much money! Who cares if we paid $6 for a corn dog...it was free to get in (and the corn dogs are REALLY good).

Olivia loved meeting the Princesses. We asked her if she liked meeting Rapunzel to which she responded, "Yeah, but she has a man in her house."

Sleeping Beauty in front of her castle.
Meeting Mickey (withe Edmundo's kids).
Mat and Edmundo

And this is what Edmundo drives, complete with A-Team music at pretty much all times...

Needless to say, Mat LOVED this ladybug ride...

Alright...he had kids with him...
Hudson tolerated the rides. Doesn't his face just say, "I'm enjoying this, I promise."

Not so sure about Dumbo...Oh, this is fun!

Amberly and Olivia on the other hand, were sold from the beginning!
Olivia was super excited about Small World:

And so was my mom:
Hudson was okay with it...

We LOVED the Toy Story Ride...Mat wouldn't look at me for a picture, but he did really well. I think he had the best score of our car for the day.
Can you handle her hand on her chin, because I nearly can't...

My dad was in it to win it, my mom was trying to make sure she didn't lose Hudson along the way.
Princesses do need their beauty rest.

The last ride of the day, we had a great time!

Olivia, with her biggest fan, Uncle Bret!

We enjoyed Disney a ton. A HUGE thank you Edmundo for the amazing Disney experience! And thank you to my Mom, Dad, Amberly and Bret for spending the weekend with us! What we didn't enjoy...the 4 hour drive, but we made it home around 1AM, slept for 3 hours...Mat had a 6AM flight that he had to catch meaning we left my parents house at 4...(who's idea was that, oh it was mine...)

After Mat left, the kids and I stayed a few more days. I wish I lived closer to my parents, Olivia and Hudson love their Grandma Cyndi and Papa and always talk (well Olivia does) so fondly of them and how good they are to her! Thanks for hosting us and allowing toys, sippy cups, clothes, and diapers to be all over your house for a few weeks, we can't wait for our next visit!!

One Year Pictures!

2011-04-07T09:57:00.001-07:00

I just got Hudson's one year pictures back!! He was super uncooperative, but they still turned out okay...

He is the cutest little professor I've ever seen!!!!

The ONLY picture of the two of them is kind of weird...but still cute, I think (?).
And we can't get Hudson's pictures without taking some of Olivia, what can we say, the camera loves her!!

Olivia singing "Friday"

2011-04-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Olivia (and Emma's) new favorite song...

Daddy Daughter Date

2011-03-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Mat took Olivia on a Daddy-Daughter Date last Saturday and to say she LOVED it is a total understatement. She looked forward and talked about it all day. She was amazing all day, mainly because we kept threatening that she wouldn't get to go if she didn't obey...I see many dates in their future. I loved spending my night with Hudson, it was great to spoil him with attention!

They went and saw the movie Rango (which was a little scary...Olivia would have preferred something with princesses...), went to the Home Depot (where Olivia got lots of attention), and brought home pizza for us! She said she had a great time!

I cut her hair a few weeks ago, and at first it was really straight. It's gotten some curl back in it now, but I think she looks really cute!!

Pi Day!

2011-03-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrate Pi day every year with Brian and Britni (alright, I missed last year since I was about to have a baby...but nearly every year!) This year we had amazing pot pie and an amazing assortment of pie! My favorite was the Radimak Oreo Creme pie (probably because it was the most unlike pie and was chock full of my all-time favorite cookie, as you can probably guess from the name, Oreos!) We love spending time with both of these families and although we're sad to leave the Radimaks in the Southside, we are so excited to be up north (and closer to the Hansens!!)

The adults (minus Britni and including Hudson)...

The kids! Luckily Hudson won't be so outnumbered in the near future, both Britni and Amy will welcome baby boys in May!!
And the guests of honor...

Hudson's Birthday!!!

2011-03-17T20:00:00.001-07:00

Hudson turned 1! This year seems to have flown by, but at the same time that he's always been in our family. I have a hard time remembering Olivia without Hudson (she really is a good big sister and loves that little boy)! At 12 Months, he's saying mama, dada, ball, hi, bye, uh-oh, and possibly bum-bum (don't be mad Grandma Jeanne)! He is very resilient, and even when he gets hit, picked up, pushed over, he doesn't seem to mind...unless a toy is taken from him, then he'll growl or shake or pretty much do anything to get that toy back. He is much rougher than Olivia, always running into things, falling over, throwing everything (especially food, Olivia was always a very neat eater). He is always smiling and is the most easy going baby. We've just started to go down to one nap a day and I'm still nursing (I know, when will I ever get my body back...give me one more week to wean!) He loves the bath, the toilet, and the stairs. He loves to eat, especially any fruit and most vegetables. He loves bread, doesn't like meat, but he loves beans so he gets a lot of his protein from them.

We started the day with streamers and balloons (which he LOVED!!)

We had Lucky Charms for breakfast...we're still working on the whole bowl and spoon thing...

He got to take two great naps, ate a cheese quesadilla for lunch and we went to McDonalds for dinner. I know, McDonalds seems like a strange birthday dinner...but ours is really nice and has a really fun play area! We also got Olivia and Hudson Happy Meals (which is a pretty big deal in our family!)

We then headed home for presents and cake and ice cream!!

He loved the balloons. He would hold them up to his mouth and just yell (and no balloons were popped in this process...it sometimes helps to only have 2 teeth).

Getting ready...

He didn't even wait for Olivia to blow the candle out...
Oh he loved it!!
Did we mention he loved it?
Happy Birthday to our sweet Hudson! We love you!!

We went to Hudson's One Year check-up on Monday, and although he's healthy, he is a bit small. He weighs in at 18.8 lbs (5%), 29 inches long (25%), and head circ. of 45 1/2 cm (25%). The doctor didn't seem concerned, the thing is he honestly doesn't stop eating...he also doesn't stop moving...so whole milk here we come!

What We've Been Up To!!

2011-02-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

We've had a few events that I haven't blogged about yet, so here goes!!

In January, Mat had a few weeks off and we spent a few days in Seattle. We went to both the Seattle Aquarium and the Pacific Science Center. The kids loved it and we loved getting to spend some time together before Mat returned to work (and the dreadful commute).

We invited Dylan to come to the aquarium and we're so glad we did! Olivia and Dylan get along very well and she had lots of fun with him there!

Olivia and Hudson at the P.S.C.

Have you ever seen a kid happier to be underneath a giant praying mantis? I think not!!

It was cold and windy, but we were there and managed to take our own picture in front of the space needle!
In the beginning of February, we had a Superbowl party!! It was just us and Jared and Camille, but oh it was a party...just look at this spread...
I mean, that food is not just for our two little families...

Anyways, to work off all that food, we've been taking trips to the park on sunny days. Olivia has been getting really good at riding her bike and rode the nearly 2 mile trip (not without much urging), but she did it. The next day, she asked me why her leg hurt when she moved it...we probably should have stretched first!

Is it just me or are these the two cutest kids you've ever seen?!?

For Valentine's Day, we decided to keep it simple and just do dinner with friends! We feel so lucky to have such good friends from BYU-Idaho close and love getting to spend time with them!!

The group at dinner at Barrios in Bellevue.
He was totally an awesome valentine!
After dinner, we went to an arcade close by and then to Cheesecake Factory where everyone (minus Reuben and I) got cheesecake. Much to Reuben and I's great delight, they also serve yummy ice cream (so we didn't have to stop at McDonalds for a hot fudge sundae on the way home!)

Like a kid in a candy store...or 10 year old in an arcade...

For actual Valentine's Day, the kids woke up to presents. When I told Olivia to go out and look on the table she was really excited, when she saw all the presents, she said, "Oh, how wonderful!" She really is the best person to get things for, no matter what it is, she gets so excited. (Mat made her an egg for breakfast and she told him, "Oh, thanks Daddy, this is the best egg I've ever seen." Doesn't that make you want to make her like a whole dozen eggs? It does us!) They both got socks, chocolate, and little spinny things that Hudson LOVED!!

Unfortunately, my usually very photogenic little girl took this as her best picture on Valentines...

See, he loved the spinny thing!
The weekend after Valentines, Mat's boss Joanne got married (to a great guy named Tim) in Leavenworth. We took this opportunity to leave the kids with Jared and Camille for (count them) nearly 30 hours...the longest I've left Hudson! We really needed a break and loved Leavenworth and the cute little cabin that we shared with Shane and Joie (Mat's friend from work and his lovely wife).

We took the opportunity to eat our way through Leavenworth...

We started with Brats...
Then moved on to pretzels, taffy, fudge (you get the idea)

And ended our food tour with something Bavarian filled, we loved our little Bavarian city!!
We made it to the wedding and ate even more good food (seriously great wedding dinner/breakfast the next morning). Mat and I also happened to win a dance-off...it was more of an endurance challenge and the other team may or may not have been aware of the competition, but still, we're winners in our hearts!!
And that has been our last few months! Whew, you still with me?

11 Months Old!

2011-02-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today is Hudson's 11 Month Mark!! (Olivia wants to know where the cake is!) He is growing so quickly, and changing each day. I feel like he has changed a lot in the last few weeks. He has learned a new scream/yell and it is mighty loud!! He loves food, especially fruit. His favorites right now are bananas, peaches, yogurt, beans, green beans, graham crackers, pears, and any kind of carb (sandwich, rolls, cake, etc). He has 2 whole teeth now!! He is a charming little boy and likes to smile at everyone (as long as they're not holding him...he gets a little nervous). He is crawling really fast these days, he pulls himself up on everything, and has started to be naughty (pulling all the toilet paper off the roll, trying to play in toilet water, opening cupboards)...He loves Olivia and she can still make him laugh like no one else (and for that matter, cry like no one else). He's really good at playing with Olivia and even by himself (which Olivia NEVER did, so that is really exciting!!) He LOVES the bath, loves toys that make music, loves to dance, clap, and is a really happy baby. He is learning to use a spoon to feed himself (very much a work in progress...today I had yogurt literally half way across the house...), but we'll get there! His words so far...mama, dada, uh oh, and I swear he says "Mmm" when he's eating something he likes. He still gives me hugs every time I pick him up and has recently started grabbing my face and pulling it into his to give me "kisses". He is such a sweet baby and I can't believe he's almost a year old!!!!

Hudson today...

And where you'll find him most of the time...

He loves being outside!

Hudson dancing!!

Here he is in action...he is crawling really fast these days, but I think we still have a long while until he's ready to walk. This video is a great representation of him...he loves to crawl, loves his toys, loves attention, doesn't do anything he doesn't want to, and he still falls over all the time!!

New Years

2011-02-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

We celebrated New Years (I know, like two months ago...), but still...at Jamie and Reuben's house. We had just gotten home from California, hadn't made plans, called the Ortegas and invited ourselves over. While we were at it, we invited the Hansens over too!! We had a fun night, thank you to Jamie and Reuben for letting us invite ourselves over!!

Olivia playing a little Dance Central, she was "Riding the Train"...well attempting to ride the train at least.

Hudson, 10 Months

2011-01-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Hudson's 10 Month Mark! How quickly this past year has gone, and how small my little baby is! Since I just wrote his 9 Month Report a few weeks ago, he's pretty much doing the same thing. He does pull himself up on things and is starting to walk around them, but I think he's still a few months from walking...his feet are really little (he's still wearing size 2/0-6 Month shoes!!). He is also starting to get mad when you take something away from him (his sippy cup, a toy he was playing with/his spoon, etc). He is very ticklish and has a really cute laugh. He is starting to get a little stranger anxiety, but is usually okay to be held by other people. At his 9 Month doctor's appointment:
Weight: 17lbs 5 oz (10%)
Height: 28.25 in (50%)
Head: 44cm (10-25%)

He might be small, but he still weighs a whole pound more than Olivia did at 9 months and is nearly 2 inches longer...her head was bigger, but only by 1/2 a cm.

He is kind of awesome, and I think we'll keep him!

Here are Hudson's 9 Month/Olivia 3 1/4 year pictures!

His most common expression with the squished up nose:

A little comic book trivia, Batman and Superman have indeed fought...Batman won.

The Trip, Part 2

2011-01-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

We headed to California and got to my parents house at around 7 that night (the 22nd). The kids were pretty worn out, but the adults still had plenty of fun without them. The next day, we hit up the local arcade where Katelyn and Kenda won tons of tickets and we managed to use said tickets to get stuff for Alyse and Olivia (and two candy bars for Mat)! We also hit a few at the old batting cages and had a lot of fun.

The next day we made our semi-annual trip to the zoo! The girls loved it and it was by far Olivia's fastest trip to the zoo, she was ready to move on from each animal pretty quickly.

Hudson also had a great time, as you can see...

Being Christmas Eve, we ate our traditional food, Clam Chowder, lots of fixings (including little smokies, always a crowd favorite), and lots of yummy treats! We also acted out the nativity, and everyone opened their Christmas pajamas.

Olivia is the best person to get a present for...because even though they are just striped Christmas pajamas, check out this reaction:

Olivia was the angel...

Alyse was Mary...

The rest of the cast...

For some reason, there are lots of pictures of me with a crown on my head...
Another day, another crown...

Kids in their Christmas pajamas... Seriously, our best looking pyramid ever!!

The next morning was Christmas!! Christmas keeps getting better and better for me the older I get. Olivia really got it this year and was so excited about Christmas! She asked Santa for a Barbie, and he was more than happy to oblige her. My mom spoiled Olivia and Hudson by being far too generous (yeah, she got them better presents than we did...). Luckily she got Olivia and Alyse the exact same presents so they wouldn't fight over them...right, well not so much. Turns out Liv and Lyse are a little too much alike and kind of fought a lot (the moon is mine, you're sitting next to me, this is my Grandma/Papa)...you get the idea. But we're hoping it's just a phase and they return their BFF vs Frenemy status the next time we see them.

See how seriously excited she is about that Barbie!

My mom got me a Batman shirt (I was the only one in our family without one!)

Katelyn's favorite gift...a "Lone Wolf" sweatshirt!Amberly got the girls capes, they love them!

I don't know what we'll do when these two are married with kids, I'll have to entertain my kids on my own...boo!

My favorite Christmas present was my Waffle Cone Maker (thanks Matty!!). I really do love it and can't believe I didn't have one sooner (and really, what is a waffle cone maker without an Ove Glove, so thanks Grandma!).

The next day, we headed to LA to eat (yeah, I gained 4 lbs this trip...that is a lot for me!). We went to a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives restaurant in Santa Monica called Baby Blues BBQ. It was so good!! It was really small, not too expensive, and they had the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had!

I really am lucky I only gained 4 lbs...

Next we headed to the Santa Monica Pier, rode some rides, ate some cotton candy, and enjoyed being close to the ocean.

We also made our last stop at Cafe Rio and enjoyed every last bite of sweet pork, kernel of rice, morsel of bean, and dripping of the dressing...oh it will be missed.

And we happened to be close to a Pinkberry, so we had to go!!

We then stayed at Amberly and Bret's for the night where of course they fed us well, but then made us exercise. We went to a jump house place to get all of our energy out. We even had relay races and I was by far the best (I really should be on Wipeout).

Okay, maybe Mat should...

Hudson even had tons of fun!

After playing, we of course worked up an appetite, so we headed to Bret's favorite sandwich place and then capped it off with ice cream (so full, so happy).

Oh, how Olivia loves her Uncle "Butt"
We drove back to Visalia to spend one last fun-filled day with the family before we began the crazy drive back to Washington. The worst part of the trip was the ridiculous California drivers putting on chains, driving like 30 mph...there was no snow on the road...for that 1 hour I was ashamed to be from California...

We stayed in a hotel in Medford, OR that I got on Priceline (it was real ghetto, though, so I complained...it only cost $30!). We finally made it home on Thursday, Dec. 29th at around 7ish (we stopped in Olympia first). We were so excited to be home and although our house took 3 days to warm-up, we were so glad for all the fun we had. We are so grateful for all the many people that so graciously took in our vagabond family of four, for feeding us, laughing with us, dancing with us, and showering us with gifts. We feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family, it was so great to get to spend time with so many of you! And to my amazing children who made it through the nearly 4,000 miles, $600 in gas, 8 different beds, and countless late bedtimes, missed naps, and empty calories, you guys were awesome!!

The Trip

2011-01-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I should have wrote this post about a month ago...we've been home for two whole weeks now, but we've been so busy since we got home! We've decided to sell our house to move closer to Mat's work (another time, another post)...so we've been cleaning/organizing/purging like crazy! And then I didn't know how to write this post...all the activities together or day by day...but anyways, here it is! Mat's vacation started December 16th...and we left bright (actually it was still dark) and early and 4 am! The kids slept for 3 1/2 hours and then the real fun began! Our first adventure was Cafe Rio in Boise (well aside from the 45 minute stop to get gas and let Olivia run around). Mat has literally been dreaming of Cafe Rio since we were last there in 2009...so this is kind of a big deal. We stopped, we ate, we laughed, we began our weight gain...

We drove just a few hours more to Pocatello to stay with these cute people. Lindsey was my roommate in college for three years...we started dating our future husbands a day apart, got engaged a day apart and married a day apart...yeah, we're bound for life. It was so great to see them again since they abandoned us for Idaho a few years ago. Although they didn't have a baby the day after us, we have big plans for Austin and Hudson, they will be roommates at BYU!

Lindsey and Austin...sorry Logan, I really did look for a picture of the three of you!!

We stayed the night in Pocatello and in the morning began the very practical 45 minute drive to Rexburg.

I haven't been back to Rexburg since we graduated (April 2006), so I was super excited!! My parents and two little sisters were already there, so it was so fun to see them. We had pretty much planned our trip around food...so of course we went to Craigos...

And a new place called Sammy's (they put entire pieces of pie in ice cream to make extra yummy shakes). Katelyn also had her college graduation that night (University was the next day). And THANK YOU to Jenna and Scott who watched our kids so we could have Friday night to ourselves at graduation and no big deal, Scott happened to crochet hats for our kids while we were gone for seriously like two hours...impressive stuff, I tell you!

Katelyn and her many friends, this girl is popular!

That night, we stayed in Rexburg at my parents hotel (sorry about the loud night)...and in the morning we went straight to Katelyn's University Graduation at the new BYU-Idaho Center (It was awesome and huge, it didn't seem like we were in Rexburg at all!)

Olivia is wearing her new hat, made just the night before!

BYU-Idaho Center!!

After graduation, we drove to Idaho Falls to meet up with college friends!! Our first stop in Idaho Falls was Texas Roadhouse (of course)...we have been looking for ribs as good as those for literally years...and it was worth the wait!! We then went to Michelle and Drew's house and started the Kinect playing.
Michelle and Drew with their 3 kids...Michelle was my roommate my freshman year of school and super fun...and then Drew stole her away from us! But luckily, even after they got married, she was still our friend and we loved seeing them!

Don't worry Logan...you made the blog after all, you are welcome!

The boys! What cute boys!! I can't believe all three of us had baby boys within five months of each other, kind of impressive!!
Emily and Olivia, they were born just a few days apart and instantly became best friends! I have watched Emily grow up through Michelle's blog, and was so excited to get them together, they were so cute!

We loved playing with our fun friends and stayed the night with the Bartons and after church in the morning headed out to Utah to see Mike and Emma (and kids and Grandma Jeanne who was visiting).

Olivia and Hudson were great travelers, Olivia sang to us most of the trip...here she is with her rendition of Jingle Bells...

We played more Kinect, ate more yummy food, and probably the best part of Utah for Mat...Coke Freestyle! He had been waiting for this day for so long, I'm so glad he finally got to go there for himself!!

Another trip to Cafe Rio (2 of 3)...
The first night there, we loaded up the kids in one stroller (3 week old Baby Kate got to stay home) and went for a walk by the Provo River.

They took us to a swing where the kids all took turns...
And by kids I mean...

Thank you McInelly family for hosting us, we can't wait until you're here all summer and we can hang out pretty much every day...see you then!

After spending a few nights in Utah, we went to Vegas! It was kind of a treacherous drive, there was tons of snow in Utah and we were extremely grateful for how well our car handled, there were cars all over in the banks and shoulders. But we made it safely and checked into the Trump Tower for $65!! It is a very fancy 5 star hotel...there was a TV in the bathroom! We also had a view of the strip and it just happened to be next to a huge mall...lucky how that happened!

We spent the next day in Vegas in rain, which was normal for us, but not for anyone else apparently (we were the only ones out). We went to the M&M store (Olivia got purple M&Ms), the Coke Store, and went to the Rio Buffet (it was good, but could have been better...but we found really good deal for passes, so it was great!). After spending a long morning in Vegas, we started our trip to California!
Not really what the best picture of the buffet...but lots of empty plates and cups, you get the picture...and apparently what happens in Vegas does not in fact stay in Vegas...

California to come!!

Hudson, 9 (1/2) Months

2011-01-01T12:48:00.000-08:00

We were vacationing while Hudson hit his 9 Month mark, so we'll celebrate his 9-1/2 mark!! He loves to give hugs, I know it sounds funny, but he hugs me everytime I pick him up, it really is so sweet! He is saying Mama, Dada, and trying to say Uh-Oh. He is getting his first tooth (in the past few days it's started to come up, so technically he has 1/5 a tooth). He is crawling (and loves when you chase him so he can crawl away from you), pulling himself up onto things, and LoVEs his sister, she can make him laugh faster than anyone else! And although he's been crawling for a month, sitting for awhile, he still falls over all the time (it's probably because his head is so big). He is very friendly and always smiles at everyone freely. Everyone always comments on how blue his eyes are, he really is a beautiful baby! He also loves to eat and has given up baby food, but he hasn't rejected any table food I've given him, but his favorites are any kind of fruit (especially bananas), graham crackers, beans, pancakes, and chicken taquitos (yeah, he's kind of awesome). He's still taking 2 naps a day, and I think he really looks forward to them.

We just love him and are so glad he's in our family!

Present from Grandma Cyndi

2010-12-13T15:57:00.000-08:00

Olivia's Fillings

2010-12-13T12:13:00.001-08:00

Olivia did great at the dentist, she got all three (two were really little, more like sealants) fillings done in literally 15 minutes. Mat held her during it and she complained more about the cotton they put in her mouth than the drilling, nitrous, and fillings. We love her dentist, Dr. Jared Lothyan...he is really good with her and most important fast (Olivia really likes him, mainly because his name is Jared).

I like this picture because Mat looks so nervous too...

And since we don't have our own Christmas tree (Hudson can destroy my mom and dad's)...Olivia wanted her picture with this one, so we obliged...and I really like the random pose she is doing...

Cutest baby. Ever.

2010-12-06T16:12:00.001-08:00

I know I've said this before, but look at this kid...he is so cute! And so happy, it helps that he's eating, it's his most favorite hobby! He has been so happy lately. I think it's his new found freedom!

We did a Rudolf craft today...we usually do our crafts during naptime, but I really wanted to have Hudson "make" one since I knew it would be so cute!

Hudson is Crawling!

2010-12-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here is some footage of Hudson crawling (finally!!) He started crawling last week and I'm really excited about it. He can finally go where he wants and my floor has never been cleaner!