Montana

We recently went on a trip to Missoula, Montana for our friend's wedding. It was so beautiful there and we were so grateful to be able to attend James' wedding. We started the 7 and a half hour drive around 4am, so the kids would sleep for most of the trip...that was a good decision! Reese thought she was hot stuff sitting in the front seat while we got gas.
This has to be my favorite outfit Kai has ever put together...a batman t-shirt, spongebob pajama pants and Spiderman shoes - Oh yeah!!!!

After arriving - first on the list, shower and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. "Thank you Aunt Kari for making my beautiful dress (it fits, my mom is just holding me weird and making it ride up), Love Reeses Buttercups".

Me and my babies!

We took a chairlift ride up the mountain - about a 20 minute ride. It was so gorgeous and so peaceful...the kids were really quiet and just looking around at everything. The only not-so-good thing...the only thing keeping the kids from falling was us, it was a bit scary but nothing happened, so totally worth it.

The Thompsons at the top of the mountain!

We went swimming whenever we could. They had a kiddie pool that was about a foot deep and Kai and Reese loved it!

I realize I look a bit drugged here...but Buttercups is so cute!! She is our water-baby.

We were actually there for the wedding...see?! This is our very good friend James just minutes before the ceremony.

During the reception the music was provided by Reese and her good friend Paxton! Again, thanks to Aunt Kari for Buttercups adorable flirty skirt!

LOVE IT!

Kai wanted to dance so badly...he asked during the entire wedding dinner, "When is the music coming?"

Congratulations James and Ruth!!! We love you tons!

The Fab 5

Ok, I'm continuing this from my sister-in-law...should be fun...

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something specially made by me for you! Of course, there are some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make - yet, its from me, so you should like it!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done sometime this year.

4. You will have no clue what it will be. It could be ANYTHING from a story, to an article, to something baked or sewn (yeah right), or painted! Who knows? Not you, thats for sure!!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

6. I will send it anywhere! It doesn't matter where you live!

The catch? The catch is you have to repost this on your own blog and offer this to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will when a FABULOUS homemade gift by ME!!!!

Oh! And be sure to post a picture of what you won when you get it!

What Happened to July?!?!

I can't believe that its August...and practically the middle of August - summer is almost over!! AHHHH!!!! So, what did we do in July?!?! We started off by going down to Cedar City for the Utah Summer Games. Kai competed in Demo Team competition and he got his very first Gold medal!! He was super excited and he keeps it safe in his special "Treasure Box".

Troy also competed at this tournament. He got bronze in his forms division and gold in his sparring division - I wouldn't want to compete against those long legs!! Troy is in blue.
God Bless the USA
The kids and I watched a parade that Troy participated in - don't they look super excited?! We got there an hour and a half early to drop off Troy and by the time the parade started the kids were ready to go home - hope next year is a better experience for everyone. But don't they look cute?! :)

Reese got a pretty necklace from a Princess in the parade.

Afterwards we went to a carnival and watched fireworks!

We also goofed around and read a lot of books.

We also went to Las Vegas for the Martial Arts Supershow! Troy got to meet a lot of awesome people and the kids and I got to have a great vacation!! We hit the strip and M&M World - chocolate is a favorite for the kids and me.

Troy got to meet and train with Chuck Lidell...he said it was awesome!

We went to the pool A LOT!!! The kids LOVED it and I am so happy that Kai will now put his face under water and Reese absolutely loves the water!!

Reese has also been advancing in her activities...she is standing and walking along furniture. She is standing on her own, but not moving. Her favorite place to stand is in the bathtub.

We were so busy in July, the kids slept where ever they could!! Kai is in the stroller while we are checking out of our hotel in Vegas.

I also took pictures of the kids, finally!! Reese's 6 months and Kai's 3 year pictures. I did these myself and I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out!

I LOVE this picture of the two of them together. I just LOVE my kids so very much and I'm grateful everyday that they are healthy, happy, playful kids - it makes my days easy!!

Reese is 6 months!!

I can't believe Reese is already six months!! She is an absolute perfect fit in our family and have loved every minute of having her with us. So, what can she do, now that she is six months?

-She sits on her own

-She is crawling (still a bit wobbly...but getting around)

-She smiles everytime you talk to her

-She loves Kai and thinks he is the funniest guy on the planet

-She recognizes her name

-She sleeps great at night (only getting up once or twice)

-She laughs (although she makes you work for it)

-She loves to grunt

-She tries to feed herself - not super great at it yet

-She still puts everything in her mouth

-She loves starring at our fish

-She makes very dramatic yawns and we love it

For her half birthday, I let her eat a blueberry pancake for dinner with bananas - she gobbled it down and still wanted more!!! Reese is just so much fun and we know we are so blessed to have her as part of our family. We are excited to see what the next six months bring. As a reminder - that means that Christmas is exactly six months away!!

(In your face, Uncle Josh!!!)

So Much To See...

Its been a while since I've posted, obviously! The kids have kept me quite busy - and I'm loving it!!

Kai discovered that Reese's carseat doubles as a rocking chair
It was a beautiful day to go to the park - and Kai loved being able to run, run, run!!

Kai has also ventured into helping me feed Reese - this is very nerve-racking for me

Kai helped Grandpa tear up the deck

And recently Spiderman was captured!!! (Although he escaped)

Showing me his sweet dance moves

Still falling alseep in the real rocking chair

Pucker-up!!

My sweet little girl!!!!

She is a finger-sucker. She only gets her binki when she goes down for a nap or bed, so her fingers substitute for other times.

She absolutely loves Kai and he is SO good with her

She is starting to crawl - not super great at it yet (thank goodness). She "inch-worms" around for now.

I love her big cheesy grin!!

This is her new thing - grabbing her toes

First bad hair day

Nudey-Booty after a bath

Thats us for now. Just a bunch of fun, random times in May. Summer is going to be super busy and I'll do my best to keep everyone updated, but no guarantees!! :)