Family Bike Ride

On Saturday we went on a family bike ride in Moscow. It was such a nice day. When we usually ride, we bring the kid-carrier for Sydney to ride in because she is not comfortable riding over hills or bumps yet. But I decided it was time for her to venture out a little bit. So we chose a very flat trail without much bumps and hills and she did awesome! She had so much fun and she did very well. She was slow and pokie (as usual) but the important thing was that she had fun. She wants to do it again on Monday for F.H.E. I even brought the kid-carrier just in case, but we didn't even need it. After she slowly rode down a small hill, she said, "that was fun, it felt like it kind-of carried me." It was cute. I love riding bikes together as a family; which I have to thank Mike for. He's the one that kind-of "forced" the whole bike thing. But it's been a very good thing for all of us. Livia loves it too. She jumps off from curbs and steep hills that I'm too afraid to go on. I strongly recommend that every family get a set of bikes. It's worth the money!

Game Night

I invited my sisters, Tara and Heather; along with their families, over for a game/dessert night. It was a lot of fun. The kids decorated sugar cookies, the adults had a yummy huckleberry cobbler with ice cream, and then we played Gestures and the kids played Twister. It's nice having family so close.

Sydney turned 5!!

Sydney had her 5th birthday on Tuesday, the 23rd! She is getting so big and grown up! The first picture is of her new birthday outfit. Isn't it so cute?!! (I love anything with leggings lately!) She got to have 2 parties, in the same day even! She was very spoiled! She first had a party at the park with her school and church friends. Then she had a party that evening with her family and Aunts and Uncle. Here are a few pics:Notice the tongue in this picture! Very funny!

Here is the crown that you got her Aunt Amy. She was a princess all night!

This is what a 5 year old looks like when they are told to close their eyes for the last BIG gift! :)

Here is what the last gift was, but it needs explaining!!!!..... (notice what she is holding!) Sydney wanted a hamster for her birthday for a long time, so we decided to go for it. But... when we went to the pet store, (several times) all the hamsters seemed very skiddish and not very friendly. That's when the pet store guy talked Mike into getting a... fancy RAT! I know! Disgusting! I agree. Mike FINALLY talked me into it as well though, after we researched all the small rodents, and discovered that rats are actually one of the smartest and nicest one of them all. So we went back to the pet store, (again) and the rats were all calm; compared to the hamsters and gerbils, and didn't bite and run all over the place. FINALLY, after a long time! I finally agreed to it, and we told Sydney it was a "Norwegian Long-Tailed Hamster"! She LOVED it at first sight!!! Since then we explained how they are just like a fancy rat, but by then she didn't care what it was. She named it Alena, and plays with it constantly! I will admit that it is a very nice and gentle rat and we don't have to worry about Sydney getting bit, but I still like to call it a Norwegian Long-Tailed Hamster! It doesn't sound so gross that way. Poor fancy rats have a bad wrap because of their name! Anyway, Livia is already wanting to save up 12 dollars so she can buy a boy and then they can have babies and we can just have LOTS of rats!!!! I told her ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! She loves to hold her and play with her too! Here is a better shot of Alena!

9th Anniversary!

Today is mine & Mike's 9 Year Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe it's been 9 years!!!! It feels like we've been together FOREVER!!! :) 9 years sounds like a really long time and makes me feel a little old, for once! :) Here are some fun pics!

This first one is on our wedding day in front of the Spokane Temple!

This was our engagement picture that we took ourselves and put in our announcements.

Here is a picture of us now. Don't we look so different!? NOT! I swear we look the exact same! :)

And here is what Mike got me today! He surprised me with a dozen roses and 2 snowballs! Life doesn't get much better than that! Thanks Honey, I love you!

Since we have been married for 9 years, here are 9 reasons why I am glad that I chose you:

1. I love your sense of humor. (Same dry, sarcastic humor as me!)
2. I love your patience with me and the girls, no matter what we do!
3. I love how you overlook a messy house. (Or so you SAY you don't care!)
4. I love your faithfulness in the church.
5. I love you because you are a great kisser! (Sorry everyone, but he is!)
6. I love you because you learned very quickly to just say "yes dear"!
7. I love how you blindly let me handle our finances (and are unaware of where 1/3 of it goes!)
8. I love you because you taught me how to drive a stick (Our first stick-shift people!!!)

9. I love you because you take out the garbage and kill the house spiders for me!

I really do love you for more reasons than I can list or even think of Mike. Thanks for 9 great years! Even though we were homeless, jobless, without money or even a car at times, I just wanted to tell you I am still glad that we got married and I know we'll be okay, as along as we have each other and plenty of snacks! I LOVE YOU!

P.S. Here is a song that reminds me of us: Pink, So What

Just kidding babe! :) ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

My Stick Family!

Here is my stick family for my car! Mike is holding his laptop, since it goes EVERYWHERE he goes! (even to bed with him most nights!) :) I am exercising, since I am a trainer and I exercise more now! Livia is holding her digital camera that she loves to take pic's with, and Sydney is wearing her swimsuit, since she loves to play with water and be outside! I got them from my friend, Chauntelle, who makes decals and fun stuff, so she helped me personalize all of us! Isn't it so cute!!!? Here is her blog if you want to check out a few things that she has! http://www.expressionsbyelle.blogspot.com/ Thanks Chauntelle, I LOVE it!

Sydney is such a girl!

Sydney LOVES taking bubble baths with candles and music. It's really funny, but cute! She had her first one, by herself, when she was 3, and ever since she always wants one. She doesn't get them that often, but when she does she could stay in there for an hour if I let her. Funny girl!

Computer Geeks!

I walked into the office the other day and this is what I found:

Mike's playing his game on his computer, Livia's playing Webkinz on my computer, and Sydney is playing Hello Kitty on my laptop! Can you say Computer Geeks! I think Mike is rubbing off on the girls!!!

Sydney's First Day of Preschool!

My Baby's Growing Up!!! She started preschool today. She is actually a "Lab Rat" for the U of I. There is a Children's Laboratory on campus, where students interact with the kids, (supervised of course) where they get hands-on experience. It's only for 2 1/2 hours MWF, but she loved her first day today! She loves being with other kids and loves crafts! Now I will have some "me" time a few times per week; that I will probably, hopefully spend at the gym! ;)

Fishing in Spring Valley

This weekend we went to the Spring Valley Reservoir and went fishing for the first time this summer! Sad, I know! Last summer we went fishing a lot, but for some reason we haven't gone this summer. Anyway, we explained to the girls that they can't sissy out of helping with the worms, but when it was actually time to put a worm on the hook, Sydney totally FREAKED out! She started crying and everything! So I insisted that she hold one to show that they are just dirty, not dangerous. She cried for a little bit (as you can see in the first photo), but then she laughed 'cuz it tickled her hand! Now she will hold worms, but still won't bait her own hook. Baby steps right? We never did catch anything, but it was still fun!

Crazy Sleepers!

Almost every night when I check on the girls before I go to bed, they are always in very weird positions. Sydney always has some body part sticking out from her rails, and Livia is just a crazy sleeper! She will be sideways, backwards, twisted all up in her blankets, or everything will be stripped off the bed. Anyway, this is what I found last night! They wanted to both sleep sideways I guess. I can't understand why - it can't be comfortable, especially for poor Sydney on the top bunk! I thought it was funny though!

Priest River Weekend

Last weekend we went to Priest River, again (shocker - I know!) :) We went to my grandma and grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary party, celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday, and went blueberry picking! It was a full weekend, but it was fun. The girls absolutely LOVE it up there. They get to run around wild and get as dirty as they want; plus they get to see all 4 of their grandparents, which only live 2 miles apart from one another! They are very lucky girls.

Here's some pics from blueberry picking! The berries were so big and easy to pick. I think the girls ate more than they picked though! :) We went with my mother and sister-in-law, Diana & Beth, along with my mom and sister, Tara, and of course, the kids.

Aren't the blueberries huge!!! We got a good mix of the blue and red berries! I kept telling the girls to get only the dark blue ones, but they insisted that they tasted the best if you put a red and a blue one in your mouth at the same time! Whatever, at least they are eating something healthy, right?!

Here are my grandma and grandpa, Cal & Betty Holley. They just had their 60th wedding anniversary, so we all went to that on Saturday. It was a very busy event. TONS of people were there, so the kids got to play with their cousins.

Here are all 5 of their daughters, Becki, Christy, Terri, Kathy (my mom), & Deana Holley

They tried to do the Charlie's Angels Pose ..... (no comment!) :)