Canoe Trip - again

Well, we just finished another canoe trip.  Daddy and baby stayed home again while I took the boys.  Thankfully no one sank this year (heh hem Grandpa), we did however almost lose Braiden.  He was manning a kayak and the last mile of the entire trip, the winds picked up and they kept getting further and further behind the group.  Mamma was a little (ok a lot) nervous.

Other than that little scare, the rest of the trip was absolutely awesome!

Here is a litte "preview" of the trip, courtesy of the awesome Apple apps 

Tyson is King of the hill here :)  He loves to climb

 My new water/hiking shoes.  They were awesome.  I was a little afraid I would hate them since I only got them the day before we left but holy cow, money well spent.  Best hiking shoes ever!

 This is Braiden and his kayak buddy that I was afraid would not make it back to Willow Beach (the pick up spot at the end of the trip)  They did good though

 Candice and Olivia.  Such cute girls :)

 Goof ball Grandpa Mike.  This was the sauna cave.  It is so cool.  Completely dark inside.  These mountains are full of natural hot springs.  One of them is inside this cave.  Since it is pretty much closed in, it turned itself into a God made sauna.  Nature is so amazing.

 Braiden inside the sauna cave.  I wondered if the flash would pick anything up.  Yep sho nuff!  It is so dark inside this cave you cannot see your hand in front of your face.  Spooooky

 Sweet Candice.  Isn't she beautiful?  My brother is a lucky man

 Awww, how romantic

 No he is not peeing, he is standing under a nice warm shower courtesy of hot springs

 The extremely good looking Fam + Corina (Braiden's kayak buddy)

 The kids were waiting for everyone to finish loading the massive amount of stuff we packed into the canoes so we can take off

 And there is nothing cuter that these kids, if I do say so myself.  Someday Addison will get to join us, but for now babies and canoes freak me out

 Grandpa and the amazingly cute grandkids.  He is so lucky to have such a beautiful family (wink, wink)

 Isn't this hole in the rock a cool photo op.  Mother and son photos are so sweet (Not as sweet as daddy daughter, but a dang close second)

 This is the coolest picture.  Right as the sun was coming up one of the mornings

 Hangin out by the camp fire

 Who is this man, oh wait it is my son.  He is getting to be so old.  I can't hardly believe it.  Isn't he handsome!!

 "Who me?"  hahaha

 Sweet Olivia.  talk about the kids growing up on me.  She is becoming more and more beautiful every time I see her.

Last day on our way down to Willow Beach.  Notice how calm the water is here.  Uh, yeah it was like this for about 6 miles.  The last mile was the mile from ... well fill in the blank, this is a family show

 It was right after this little hike that the wind decided to pick up.  Doesn't look like it yet does it?  It waited for us to get back in the boats first.  This is such a cool bridge, a little warped and slightly scary but the view was awesome

 Again with the beautiful children :)

 Loading up the boats to go home

Everyone made it home safe and sound again.  Thanks Grandpa Mike for inviting us.  It is always so much fun.  The best part by far was being able to hang out with the family.  Those nieces of mine melt my heart.  I wish all of us lived closer so we could see each other more than a couple of times a year, but for now we are thankful for vacations!

We Got Some Smiles on Camera!

I keep whining and complaining that I can never capture Addison's smiles on camera.  Well the other day she was full of it so Kent whipped out the camera.  These are some huge cheesers.  Can't help but laugh.

Awww - how sweet.  Ty and his little sis.  I love how much she has changed him.  Our child who was once anti-public-display-of-affection.  Now look at him :)

Happy First Birthday!!

Oh my sweet baby has turned 1.  The time truly does fly.  My mom has other pictures on her camera so I will update once I get those.  I thought Addison would be way more into tearing the wrapping paper off of her presents than she was.  The boys ended up opening up all of her presents for her.  The cake on the other hand, she was definately into that!  We had cake all over the floor, on the walls, even a little on the ceiling.  It was hillarious!!

- Right now, Addison has 8 teeth. 


- Right now, she is crawling like crazy. It is funny to watch her chase after something, usually her brothers. She is getting so fast. I can be getting into a cupboard and before I know it she is right in there with me, trying as fast as she can to grab whatever is in there before I can close the door.

- Right now she will pull herself up on anything she can, has not tried to let go yet though. She is very cautious and will only do things she knows she can do.

- Right now she loves to be thrown in the air, or spun around until she is dizzy. I think it is funny because when she was a newborn, if you stood up too fast she would panic; now she is a total thrill seeker. Disneyland here we come baby!

- Right now she still prefers her bottle to most foods but definitely wants to eat whatever anyone around her is eating. She just tonight fed herself spaghetti. It was everywhere by the time she finished and definitely needed a bath.

- Right now she is putting more and more things together. You can tell she knows what is going to happen next, and she likes to see how many times she can do something with me still thinking it is funny. I almost always think it is funny.
- Right now she will get mad if you take something away from her. That girl can whip out the crocodile tears fast when she knows it will work, she can also turn them off fast when she knows it is useless.

- Right now she thinks silly things are silly. She can tell when something is not normal and will laugh at it, which is nice because we don’t have to act like total idiots anymore to hear her precious laugh. She now laughs more freely.

- Right now she gives kisses, but only on her terms. She is an independent girl that way. You can’t get her to do something she does not want to do.

- Right now she loves to be on the move. She is loving being able to do more and explore more. She prefers for us to be in the same room as her but does not need to be held quite as much anymore. It is nice and sad at the same time. Time needs to slow down just a bit.

- Right now she has a snuggly blanket that she rubs on her face until she falls asleep, which she has never wanted us to rock her to sleep. She has been so good putting herself to sleep. Sometimes I do wish she would sleep in my arms more.

- Right now she is a total daddy’s girl. Once Kent walks through the door, she wants nothing to do with anyone else and will crawl as fast as she can to greet him. He of course loves it.

- Right now she loves bath time. In fact any time she can be in the water. Over the summer, she loved going to the pool as well. Definitely a water baby. She squeals and splashes and has a great time. It is so fun to watch. It is funny because as soon as I walk into the bathroom and open the curtain she practically starts undressing herself and jumps up and down knowing what comes next.

- Right now if you say jump, jump, jump, she will jump, with a huge smile. She also will giggle until she is breathless on the trampoline.

- Right now she still babbles like crazy, no words yet. Well just mama and dada. She of course said dada first, so I would try so hard to get her to say mama. She would laugh and shake her head no. Little stinker. Everyone else thought it was quite funny too. Thankfully she will say mama now.

- Right now, and always have, we get stopped everywhere we go by people commenting on how beautiful she is. She knows it too.

- Right now we still have not captured a smile on camera. She just is still very cautious with new people and new things. The girl does not need to smile for a camera to capture her beauty though

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Funny Sleeping Positions

Babies crack me up the strange positions they sleep in.  Little cutie pie all schlumped over in a heap.

When Did He Grow Up???

Looking at this picture I flash forwarded (yes I know that is not a word) to High School/College.  Here is B-dog writting a paper for school.  He is so grown up now.  Handsome little devil.

sketti

Don't you always have to take a picture of your baby's first spaghetti experience.  It seems like everyone has one.  Well, here it is.  There was "sketti" everywhere!!

halloween update

ok so the last post i think I said how no, we wouldn't let Addison have any candy ... well, that didn't last long!

Cute. Sticky. Mess. 

Halloween 2010

This Halloween was so weird.  A year ago at this time, we knew about Addison but were still waiting to find out if we had been picked.  We keep walking around saying "a year ago today ..." I cannot believe it has been a year. 
So, Happy Halloween to my wonderful little family.  I love them more that I ever thought possible.

Kent is Ghost Rider by the way 

Pumpkin Carving time.  Boys and their knives - sheesh 

Cute little stinker did not want her picture taken. But she is such a cute little skeleton.

This witch hat was so flippin cute, but ... she did not like it and would not leave it on.  I can barely keep barretts in her hair.  I knew the hat would never last 

I just have to say, the amount of candy these guys came home with was quite repulsive, but they had a blast.  This Halloween it was cold and raining.  This meant the girls were on door duty while the boys went out.  We decided Braiden was finally old enough for he and his friends go out without adult supervision.  They did think they were pretty hot stuff.  Ty and his friends got followed around by daddy.

Tyson was so funny.  The goof ball poured his candy on the floor and really thought Addison would leave it alone.  She was all over that stuff.  No we did not let her eat any candy this year but she thought it was fun to pretend. 

Jazz Game

We decided to take the kids to the Jazz game.  Addison loved it.  We wondered how she would do since we would be out past her bed time and girlfriend likes her sleep.  With all of the commotion, she was completely entertained.  It was a ton of fun!

Go Jazz!  Cute little cheerleader 

This one makes me say "things that make you go hmmmmm" 

What a cute familiy I have!