Friday, January 30, 2009

I should be folding laundry...

I'm so close to being done folding the laundry today. All I have left is towels and sheets, easy enough. So I should be doing that, but instead I am posting pictures of the girls here so Ben can see them at work. hehehe. Oh well. Kara got this puzzle for her birthday. It's her first one that she actually has to fit the pieces together instead of just sticking the cow (or whatever) in the spot that is shaped like a cow. (or whatever) She figured it out pretty quickly though.

She got this cute dress for her birthday too. Ben said it was a dress, but I was insisting that it was just a longer shirt. He was right, it was a dress, but I put her in leggings with it so I could be halfway right. It's pretty cute either way.

This is what Kara looks like while sleeping. She had her three year check up today, and she has been "sick" the rest of the day. This was kind of convenient at nap time, because she got right up in her bed and pathetically asked to be wrapped up in her blanket to take a nap. Kiersten was less cooperative, but had fun playing with all of Kara's unguarded toys. Ben should be happy, since the last two days, she has taken her nap really late in the afternoon, and has not been wanting to go to bed at night. My fault, I know, but sometimes the day just gets away from ya.


This is what Kiersten looks like when she is laughing about getting into Kara's stuff.



Here they are reunited and getting along again. Kara was a little upset to wake up and find Kiersten eating goldfish crackers without her. but once she had some of her own and a trip to the potty, all was forgiven. Another fun development: Kiersten started imitating Kara's fake little cough she's been suffering from all afternoon.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

my siblings, well 9 of us at least...

top: Chris and Dad
middle: Jerry and Alan
bottom: Angie, Jackie, Becky, Shelly, and Janae
front and center: Nic I had to post this picture of my siblings. This was taken about 10 years ago, maybe more. My brother Cory, is not in this, but the picture we just took at my grandma's funeral doesn't have my sister Janae. So we are still without a picture of all 10 kids. I just love this picture, it brings back fun memories! I swear, we did not even plan for everyone to be matching, I guess it was just the style then.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Kara's third birthday!


Happy Birthday Karalee Ilyana! She woke up early to open some of her gifts!
Kara's birthday party was at Chuck E. Cheese. This is her birthday cake with MinnieMouse.
Kiersten is such a good little eater. She ate an entire slice of pizza and two pieces of birthday cake.
Hank and Kara at the party.
These two were both so cute playing on the slide. At first, Kiersten went really slowly because of her shoes, so whoever was behind her would catch up befor she got to the bottom.
Riding the horsey with my girls.
Kiersten loved the balloons, and Kara was so sweet to share them with her and the other kids.Kara's favorite balloon was this Mickey Mouse one. Here she is touching noses with Mickey.









Saturday, January 24, 2009

We're back from Utah

Kiersten baby waiting to board our plane to Utah. Every time I fly with the girls, the other passengers tell me how good the girls are on the flight.

Linkin, Cash, Kyrielle, Kiersten, Lily, and Lucas chillin on the couch together.


Here I am with cute little Kyrie and Cash. Poor Kiersten must have felt left out. :(



While we were in Utah, Kara had a little birthday celebration with my family. Here she is opening gifts!




Makayla and Addyson didn't want Karalee to leave! This morning when I told her we were going to go home on the airplane, she said, "no! I wanna stay here with my friends." It's good that they all like each other so well.





Here is Kara waiting at the airport for Daddy to come pick us up. Our flight landed 15 minutes early. When we got to baggage claim, our bag and the carseat were already waiting for us, so we had a bit of a wait for Ben to get there.





Kara's gifts are waiting downstairs for her to wake up and open them! Isn't that exciting??? Tomorrow she will be three years old!






Tuesday, January 20, 2009

sad news

I am so sad to say that my Grandma Boot passed away on sunday, January 18. She was 86 years old, and the best person I know. I am missing her and sad that she is gone, but I am glad that she is no longer suffering. I'm glad that she gets to be together with Grandpa after so many years without him. After living such a long, giving, selfless life, I didn't want her to go. I especially didn't want her to suffer so much at the end. Ben helped me to remember that when you come to the end of your life, it's supposed to end. This was the end of hers, and it is better for her to finally be with her husband, than to continue suffering on earth. I know she touched a lot of hearts and meant much to so many people. I admire her for her strength during WWII and also after she was widowed only a year after coming to America. I'm greatful that she stayed, even though it was difficult. I admire her courage and her humor. She was really a great person. I miss her a lot already. Here is a link to her obituary for anyone interested. http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=123038358 and the paper in provo http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2009/01/20/obituaries/337590.txt
Grandma meeting Kiersten for the first time in May 2008. She was already having a hard time with her memory, but she loved holding her. She kept opening her eyes and saying, "look! a cute baby!" Then she would give her a good snuggle and laugh. It is important to me that they got to meet.


Here is Grandma holding little Karalee in 2006. I think this was when she came down to Provo for my niece Laynee's blessing.


Here is a picture of me, Jackie, and Angie visiting her together. This is March 2007, right before we moved to Washington.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

1/15/09

We had such a busy day yesterday. We went up to Seattle and went to lunch with Ben at Gordon Biersch, then we stopped at the branch so Vicky could see his office. Then he had to go back to work, so we took the girls down to the aquarium. We spent a really long time there. Then we walked down to catch the ferry to Bainbridge island, and right when we got there, Ben called and said he would go with us, so I got him a ticket. He ran all the way from the branch and made it there about one minute after they called for boarding. He was covered in sweat, but at least he made it! We wanted to find a certain diner on the island, but when we got there, we found that it had closed permanently. Then we saw the children's museum there, and it is one we can visit for free with our membership. But it was also closed. We then had time to visit a cute little toy store, and then had to hurry back to catch the ferry back to seattle. It seemed like such a long, cold walk in the dark to get back to the branch. Luckily, Ben carried Kiersten, so I just had to push Kara in the stroller. I was glad I had parked right there, Ben and Vicky had to walk even further to get to where he had parked. I was exhausted once we got home. We had a quick dinner and watched Kung Fu Hustle (one of Ben's favorites) and then somehow, Vicky still had enough energy to play wii fit. She had to get up early for her flight back to SLC, I don't know how she does it. Now, it's just us girls again. We have plenty of housework to catch up on and laundry to fold. Both girls have coughs and runny noses still, so I think I'll just keep them home for a few days to get well.

Kara wanted to play wii fit with Grandma. This is the yoga tree pose. hehehe.

This is on the ferry to Bainbridge island. It was pretty cold, but both of the girls did pretty well. We were the only people outside on the way over. On the way back it was even colder and dark, so we sat inside with everyone else. My camera was dying, so I'll have to wait for Vicky to get home so she can email me some of the pictures she took.

We visited the Seattle aquarium. These were the fur seals we were watching. Kiersten fell asleep while we were there, so she didn't end up seeing any of the marine mammals.
These are the heart suckers that Kara made. some of hers turned out really pretty. This time, I had her use a little paint brush instead of a toothpick, and that was a lot less messy for her.

Here are some of the suckers that I did. The bears sure turned out cute, but when are any of us going to want to eat that big of a sucker???






Sunday, January 11, 2009

01/11/09

We have been doing lots of fun things this week with Grandma Van Sickle here. The girls have really been enjoying all of the activities. Poor Ben has had to work a lot of the time she's been here.


We took the girls to the zoo. I forgot the stroller, but they loved sitting in this double stroller that we rented. They were really cute sharing their snacks and Kiersten's blanket.

Kara drawing a picture at the children's museum in Tacoma. She is very into drawing lately. It's fun to see her draw actual pictures instead of just scribbling.

Kiersten playing in a little boat at the children's museum.



Here we are after making fun cupcakes with Grandma!


Here are the fun panda cupcakes we made. Vicky made the all brown bear. It is supposed to be the scary one since all of the pandas are so happy. The Kara bear and Kiersten bear are the ones with bows on their heads. The fat one is the Kiersten bear.




Poor Kiersten has had a cold. I guess she needed to blow her nose. This is why she was smiling so big when I got out of the shower. I thought she must be feeling better, or be happy to see me.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Grandma is here!

Ben's mom, Vicky, arrived on Monday. She missed her early flight, but ended up getting here safe and sound that afternoon. The girls love having her here!













Here are some pics of Christmas gifts that arrived a few days after Christmas!








Friday, January 2, 2009

Yay!


The pediatrician just called me and said that there was not sugar in Kara's sample. So for now they are not going to do the blood test for diabetes. Most likely she does not have it, but they will follow up at her 3 year checkup to decide if they will do further testing at that point, but it's looking good that they wont need to. There was some blood and protein in her urine, but they said the culture came back fine, so she luckily doesn't have a uti. so since she is feeling better, we are going to assume it was just the flu, unless she starts having problems again. All of this does, however, make me hesitant to take her in to the doctor's office when she's sick, since it seems like they are always scaring me with things that could be wrong with her. I know they're erring on the side of caution due to her past issues, but it is STRESSFUL.