Starting of our School Life

As the school year started I realized that I haven't updated the blog since last May.  Many things have happened this summer with different vacations, three birthdays, and starting Kindergarten.  So I will back track to June and try to let you know what we have been up to. 

As June started we decided to get the girls each their own bikes.  We have had a lot of fun riding our bikes this summer, and even got to do a neighborhood bike ride.  Each year they close down streets by our house for a community 7 mile bike ride.  You don't have to do the whole trip, but along the trip there are different areas to stop and do activities.  We chose to ride about a mile from our house to one of the schools where they had a kids area to play.  The girls got to play on the bounce castle until we had an accident.  This was the first time that we had taken Lucy out and about for a couple of hours since we had started potty training, and we forgot to bring clothes.  It made for a little harder time riding back, but thankfully we were outside in the grass when it happened.

Bike Riding Pictures

In June we also found a cute little dog that we decided should join our family.  Her name is Lady, and she is a bundle of energy.

Then as June was coming to a close Robyn, Heather, Todd, Mandy, Brett, and I took off for our trip to the Dominican Republic.  We spent a week down there without any children, and had a great time hanging out on the beach and different activities.  I am not really sure what my favorite part was, but it is probably a tie between the 27 waterfalls and boogie boarding.

 Robyn, Heather, Ismael (our taxi driver), me, Brett, Mandy, and Todd before we went down the 27 waterfalls.

 On the balcony of our condo.

 Cabarete Beach going out for my birthday.

We made it back home just in time for the 4th of July and enjoyed the day at the Creswell Parade which is one of my favorites to go to.  While we were in Eugene we also got to go to the Rodeo.  Avery loved looking for the "Jessie's" (cowgirls for those not in love with Toy Story), and Lucy looked for the "Bullseye's" (horses for those not in love with Toy Story).


Parade and Rodeo Pictures

Next came Avery's 5th Birthday.  I made Lucy's 1st birthday cake so I thought this year I would make Avery a cake, and now I am all done making cakes.  Avery wanted to help me make the cake so she helped with the batter.

 Laura and her girls gave us their easy mixer which worked perfectly.

 Licking the beaters.

 Proof that I did it.

 The finished product.

Lucy got Avery a stuffed Jessie doll for her birthday.

That weekend we went up to the Winlock to listen to Papa Randall (my Papa) play in the bluegrass festival.  It was a lot of fun eating hamburgers, having cake, and listening to him play, which was one of his favorite things to do.  This was the best way to spend one last time with him.

 Nanny and the girls playing on the playground by the stage.

 Papa playing in the band scramble.

 Avery and Lucy dancing while Papa played.

 Papa only got second which he was happy about because they didn't have to play for 45 min. that night.

 Capri watching as Avery blew out her candle.

This is Myah who Avery wants to be just like.

The next weekend we had a party for Avery's birthday at a park up here in Portland, and it rained that morning until it was time for her party.  Thankfully it was fairly nice weather for the rest of the day and we had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday. 

Avery's Birthday Pictures

We also did swimming lessons in July.  This time Lucy got to be a goldfish even though she isn't 3 which means that she gets to go into the pool all by herself.  It turns out this is the most wonderful thing in a parents life because then you don't have to get in the pool and get all wet, but instead get to sit back and enjoy watching swimming lessons.

Swimming Pictures

In the middle of August we went camping like we did last year with the Cliff Kimball Family, Grandpa and Grandma Kimball, Grandma Murray, Mema, my parents, Heather's Parents and brother, and Bri.  We had so much fun in the boats, floating, and going to the fish hatchery.  While we were there we also got to celebrate Annika's 4th birthday.

Camping Pictures

Then as August was ending and September was starting Avery got to have her first ballet recital.  It was really fun to watch her class do their routine, and to watch how much she has grown.  The funny part was that Lucy could also do the routine as well as Avery because she had to go to so many dance classes as well.  Starting this fall Lucy will be big enough to also get to start ballet so both girls will be doing that again.

Ballet Pictures

After ballet we went up to Washington to hang out with Nanny and my dad's family for the weekend.  We got to go to the Packwood swap meet which is always an experience.  They had a spot where you could pay for 10 min. of playing on bouncy slide, and they kids had fun taking a break from walking in the heat.

 Brandon pausing for his picture.

 Avery going down the bouncy slide.

Allison, Avery, Lucy, and Brandon

When we got back on Tuesday we officially became the parents of a school girl.  Avery started Kindergarten, and seems to really be enjoying school.  She did last Thursday night make a request to have a home day, but it didn't have as much to do with not wanting to go to school as just wanting to hang out with Lucy at home.  We will now wait and see how many days she makes it this week before she asks, because it could end up being a long 12 years. 

 Avery in front of her school sign

 Avery has a Jessie backpack thanks for Ms. Rhonda

 Practicing writing her name.

Avery and Lucy at the door leaving for Kindergarten and Preschool

This weekend for one our home days we went over to my friend Laura's house.  She has two big girls, Kelsey and Maddie, who my girls are totally in love with.  The girls all played in the pool together, while Laura and I floated in the pool and sat in chairs to dry off.  It was a great way to spend a warm Saturday.

 Kelsey and Lucy drying off.  Who knows what Lucy is telling her.

 Maddie and Avery hanging out in the pool.

 Lucy refused to let go of Kelsey the whole time in the pool.

As we are now starting a new school year we hope that you are all doing well, and hope that this school year will be great for everyone.

The First 5 Months of 2011

So it turns out that if you are doing tax season, dance class, working full-time, school part-time, and swim class then you don't have as much time to update a blog.  There was a request for me to update the blog so I thought I would do that tonight.  Here are all the pictures from the last five months.

Pictures

Here is the update on our family.  Brett has now survived another tax season and is back to having Friday's off.  My full time job ended in April, and I have now been subbing.  We just got the girls bikes so we have been practicing how to ride bikes and they are actually getting pretty good at it.  There has only been one time that we rode our bikes to the park because we got about half way back, and they both decided they didn't want to ride any more so we had to push them the rest of the way.

Avery is getting big by the day it seems.  She is so excited to start kindergarten in the fall, and will be going to Arthur Academy.  We got to go tour the school, and will get to go next week to a kindergarten open house.  She just finished up another time as a penguin for swimming lessons where she made a new friend Daniel.  Last weekend we even got to go to his birthday party, and it is so cute to watch them.  Avery also has been doing ballet class since Feb., and is so in love with dance.  She loves learning the moves and it is one of the highlights to her every weekend.

Lucy is no longer a baby, but has turned into quite the little girl.  She has been wearing underwear for a few days now and is so proud of them.  The thing she is most proud of is that she has earned a big girl date by filling up her sticker chart.  She also got to do Starfish swimming lessons, and we are really excited to do swimming lessons in the fall so that she can move to Goldfish.  The big plus to goldfish class is that mommy or daddy doesn't have to do swimming lessons as well.  Lucy also got to do dance class, but it really wasn't for her.  She would only go out there if Avery went out there, and by the end didn't want to go at all.  She does however like to do freeze dance with Avery's class. 

We are definitely enjoying ourselves as the sun starts coming out more, and we are getting to do more fun things.  We hope that you are all doing well and now that I am not working full-time maybe I will have more time to update this.

The End of 2010

It has been quite a long time since I updated the blog.  To me it is amazing how busy we have been, and how few of pictures we have taken.  Since my last update Lucy turned 2, and had a wonderful birthday party.  We also celebrated Halloween as an 80's couple, Belle princess, and a fairy.  We got to go trick-or-treating over at Auntie Mandy and Uncie Todd's house which was a lot of fun.  They let us walk around their neighborhood, and we also got to help pass out candy.  (Avery loved being in charge of the candy.)

Pictures of Lucy's Party and Halloween

After Halloween we went to Washington to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family.  We had a lot of fun playing with everyone up there, and even got some good pictures of Papa playing Uno with the girls, and Nanny making a backpack out of a shopping bag since she didn't have two.

Next came Thanksgiving with both of our families.  This year Jason, Carley, and Cody came up and the girls had so much fun playing with him.  We really enjoy when they come and love playing with them.

Finally came all of the Christmas fun.  First we started off by going to the Singing Christmas Tree which was a great way to start off the Christmas season.  We went out and got a Christmas tree with the girls and searched all over the tree farm until we found the right one.  Next we went to the Grotto and got to see all of the Christmas light there.  Lucy is my child who is never to sure about petting animals, but she petted the bunny at the grotto.  Then we got to celebrate four Christmas' with one at home, and then one at both of our parents, and then one with all of Brett's extended family.

Pictures and Videos of Christmas

We hope that you are all doing well and enjoyed your Christmas.  Hopefully with this next year I will find a little more time to do the blog, but it might have to wait until Spring Break since that is when the next break in school is.  We love you all and are so glad to share our lives with you.

Random Pictures and Videos from the last 3 months

Pictures that Avery has taken (with permission) from my camera

The Summer has Ended

It is now September which means back to school we go. We had a lot of fun at the end of the summer and tried to cram in as much excitement as possible. One weekend we went camping at the coast, then we drove down to Oceanside, CA, Avery had her birthday ice cream date with Auntie Mandy and Uncie Todd, and finally my cousins came up from Brazil to visit. We had lots of fun doing all of these things.
For the coast we went over to Florence to test out my parents new trailer that they bought this summer. It was a lot of fun getting to break it in and play on the sand. We stayed for two days and got to play on the sand a lot. Avery even got to try to fly a kite, but it wasn't really windy to it didn't go as well as expected. Overall I think that we had a great trip breaking the trailer in and are looking forward to more trips in it.
Florence Pictures

Here we come Oceanside. We took Tamma and Grandpa with us and drove all the way down there. It took about 15 hours to get down there, but we spread that over two days. By the time we got down there we all wanted out of the car. Down there we got to play on the beach, walk on the pier, and enjoy the sun. We also spent one day at Sea World. Lucy and Avery loved it, and we had a blast there for the day. Brett and I also got to go to dinner one night to celebrate our 6th Anniversary. We tried a place in La Jolla, and got to drive down Hwy. 1 to get there. The food was great, and we really enjoyed our date night down there (Thank you Tamma and Grandpa). On our way back we stopped at Concord for the night and got to tour the Jelly Belly factor. We had a lot of fun there seeing how jellybelly's are made.
Oceanside Pictures

Avery also got to go celebrate her birthday by having ice cream with Uncie Todd and Auntie Mandy. This year she got to dress up like her favorite princess, and they dressed up as the King and Queen. I am not sure who had more fun. Them coming up with their outfits or her getting dressed up.
Ice Cream Pictures

Finally right before school started my cousin and his family came to visit. It was really great to get to meet his kids and watch them play with Avery and Lucy.

Hope you are all enjoying your first week in September.  We have been busy with back to school things.  I have excepted a full time sub job through December with Centennial School District teaching 8th grade math, and helping coach a cute little soccer team.  Brett now has the priviledge of having the girls all to himself on Friday's.  This last one they went to the zoo and had a great time.  The girls are back at the daycare they were at last year, and are so excited to be going there every day.  We hope that you are all well and pray that you all enjoy your time as the summer ends and Fall comes.

End of July

Over the last couple of weeks we have had a lot of fun going to the zoo, swimming lessons, and hanging out with family. We also spent sometime writing on our chalkboard wall. Hopefully you can tell the difference between my handwriting and Avery's, but she wrote everything that I wrote. We only practiced our A's and 1-5.














Right now we are loving to learn to write, and our imagination is growing a lot. We were at the doctors office for her 4 year old check up and she decided that she was on the mountian, the white sheet was snow, the top of the table was grass, she was wearing a snow suit, and she kept telling Lucy to let go of the string because she was holding ice with her bear hands. I love trying to figure out what is going on in the world, because you never quite know where you are. (fo














For those of you who want to know Avery is 40.25 in. tall and weighs 32.5 lbs, and just like every four year old.

We have also been doing swimming lessons for the last two weeks, and the girls are doing very good. Avery is learning to do back floats by herself and bobs, which some of you know is a huge deal. Until this time Avery has never wanted to put her face in the water. Lucy also has done really good the last couple of nights playing with her teacher. Before this she would cling to Brett and I whenever her teacher looked at her.

Hope that you all had a great July and are looking forward to the many adventures in August.

End of July Pictures

Swimming Lessons Pictures

Happy 4th Birthday Avery!!!!

Over these last couple of weeks it feels like a lot of things have been going on, but it has been so much fun. We started off our crazy weeks by going to Seaside to my cousin's wedding. (For those of you that think you might get to see pictures from their wedding before them you are sadly mistaken. I only put up one because I thought they should get to see them first.)

Seaside

Then when we got back from Seaside we had one day before we left to go camping. This year we went to Cove Palisades with Grandma and Grandpa Kimball, Grandma Murray, Mema, Tamma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Doug and Sally (Auntie Heather's Parents), Uncle Robyn, Aunt Heather, Annika, Jenna, Auntie Mandy, and Uncie Todd. It was a lot of fun camping with them and we had a great time at the lake.

Cove

We got back on Monday and have been waiting for today to come. Last night as Avery was going to bed she told me she was ready to turn 4 because it has been a very long time that she has been 3. Today she got extra marshmallows in her hot chocolate for breakfast. Then we spent the day at the zoo with Auntie Julia. Finally we went to McDonald's for lunch and she got to have her very own Happy Meal. Tonight we will see what her birthday holds, but for now we have set the bar high for future birthdays to come. I hope you are all enjoying your day as much as we are enjoying ours.






























Avery went down the big slide for the first time today because "4 year olds can do that."

First Week of Summer

This past week we have been getting ready for this next week, but I thought I would post a few pictures before we leave for more family fun. There are just a couple of pictures that I have of the girls playing around the house, but I want you to get to enjoy them.

Brett was working out, and Avery thought she would join him and do jumping jacks. It is my favorite thing to watch because she is positive that she is the best at jumping jacks.



Also as many of you know Avery has loved playing sleeping, and is finally starting to get Lucy to play it with her. Which basically means that Brett wont be guaranteed a nap each day.















Then this last weekend we went to Spokane without the girls. We thought we would make a quick trip up and back so we decided to share a room with Mandy and Todd. The whole way up we joked about how funny it would be if they gave us a room with only a king bed. When we got up there you can guess what happened. We decided to take a picture of the four of us in the bed which actually fit, and then we invited Robyn and Heather over and proved that you can actually get 6 people into a king size bed.