Morgan's 3rd Birthday

Our sweet Morgan is 3 years old today! She loves her new bike. She acted shy when she woke up and saw it in the family room. She enjoyed helping make her barn cake and animal cupcakes. The "pig" was her cupcake of choice at the party. Jenna has been so mature, making sure Morgan gets to choose everything first. Morgan enjoyed playing "duck-duck-goose" with her friends at the park. I love Morgan and all her talents. She brings a sweetness to the room. Sometimes that sweetness is accompanied with mischief in the form of messes (wipes emptied from containers, pen marks on the furniture, etc. etc.). She likes to do things on her own terms, or with mommy helping along side her. She helps herself to just about anything... in the fridge, cupboards, backyard, or garage. She can be so kind, sweet and shy, but watch out because she knows how to defend herself (and her property). She once threw a 6 yr-old off her tricycle. She is so loveable and likes to snuggle with her family members. We love and adore Morgan so much!!

My Birthday

I always love my birthdays. I feel such an outpouring of love from everyone. This year the chocolate cake made by Justin, Jenna & Morgan was delicious! I can't wait to try my new bluetooth headset. Mom's text to me after i sent her a picture of Morgan sporting HER new birthday purse from Nana read "oops, Haley that purse is actually YOURS:)" We all had a good laugh! Justin's mom watched the girls for me while I got my haircut. Mary and her girls came up and celebrated with me as well. Thank you, all my family and friends, for your birthday wishes, cards, presents and banana bread and for making my day so fun and bright!!

Memorial Day Hike

We enjoyed this hike last year so much that we decided to do it again. After hiking to Wahclella Falls, we visited the fish hatchery... Herman the 70 yr-old sturgeon is still alive and well. Eastwind Drive-in is still popular. Jenna remembered she had a strawberry flavor burst ice cream cone last time, so she tried raspberry this time. Morgan and I had black cherry, Justin had chocolate vanilla swirl. (Our girls like to remember these details). Taryn loved riding in the backpack, and was scratching at Daddy's neck. Morgan wanted to be held, but we knew she could walk. She walked most of the 2 miles all by herself. She liked holding my hand and tugging on it to stop every 2 feet so she could pick a flower. Jenna led the crew with her friend, Allie, on the way back. We were so glad 3 friend families could come with their 4 kids per family.

Happy Easter!!

Today our little town came alive in celebration of Easter. Actually, the fun started a week ago when we noticed the giant "Easter Eggs" in the roundabout. (I just realized how small our town is - "THE" roundabout... no stoplights either). The eggs were huge concrete mixers - the kind you find on trucks - and they had been painted in pastel colors and placed there by a giant Easter Bunny, I guess. The girls were amazed by them. The fun continued with an Easter egg hunt at a local park. Jenna and Morgan collected eggs, searched through a hay bail for treats and had a high school girl paint bunny faces. Taryn is growing so much. She is over 19 lbs at 6 1/2 months, and 27 1/2 inches. She is the same length as Jenna and Morgan were at this age, but she weighs 3 to 4 lbs more. Taryn has become confident rolling from back to front and vise versa all over the floor! We love her!! Jenna and Morgan are amazing big sisters. They are patient with her, they teach her about life, and are thrilled when she does new things. Both big sisters tattled on her today for breaking the same toy. She did not really break the toy, and, sorry Taryn - you will have a hard time hiding anything from anyone.

Feeling Close to Holland

Whereas I've never been to Holland, I feel a strong connection to this country because of my family's history. My dad's parents immigrated to the United States from Holland when they were teens, and what I know of Holland I learned from them. Since tulips, windmills and wooden shoes are symbolic to this country, I felt sentimental as I visited a local tulip farm with my girls.

Jenna's 5th Birthday!

Our baby girl is 5! Justin and I were remembering the nicknames we called her when she was a baby - from "Baby Jenna" to "Princess" and "Princessca", which became "Cessca" or "Cessie". We have put aside these nicknames to make way for ones more fit for a 5-going-on-15 yr-old - Jenna or Jen. Of course as parents we slip in the occasional "sweetie pie, Jenna-Lou, or Jenna Louise." Oh, but what's in a name? We love Jenna so much and here are some of the reasons we think she is so special: (.....to be continued)

Arizona - Thanksgiving

We had so much fun seeing my parents, all my siblings and our kids' cousins in Arizona over Thanksgiving. McKenna, Tyler & Monica's daughter, is a super cutie whose sweet disposition we hope rubs off on Taryn:)
It was funny to play this game where we had to guess the child by only looking at their eyes through the paper cutouts. Some of us could not even guess our own kids.
My kids are more brave than I around animals.
Jenna is a natural... feeding the giraffe at the Phoenix zoo a piece of lettuce. I was laughing so hard at how the zookeepers were complaining of freezing in 58 degree weather.
As we were looking at the tortoises we saw a hare hopping about inside the exhibit.
Hooray for a heated pool and a good friend/cousin to play with!