Let it snow!

We finally made it to Idaho!!! We were out in the parking lot at the airport when it started snowing. It was kind of cool, and Adella loved it! It has been snowing off and on since we got here. Adella has had a blast playing in it. Poppy (Grandpa Hayes) has been so good to play outside with her.

It sure is fun, and it looks so pretty, but it is quite the change from Florida. The day before we left it was about 85 degrees! We even had to turn on our air conditioner. Hopefully we will have a white Christmas!

We had quite the adventure getting here on Friday. It actually went better than we expected. Adella was really good for the most part. Kayla only got really cranky a couple times and she got over it when we changed her, or fed her, or distracted her. Here are some cute pictures from the trip.

In case anyone didn't see this picture on Katie's blog, here it is. Kayla did this all by herself, yet she won't take a step!

5 More Days!

We are very excited that there are only five more days til we get to fly back to Idaho! We are also dreading flying with Kayla. She does not sit still for anything. We are trying to come up with ways of keeping her happy and confined. It's not that hard to keep her happy, as long as we can let her move around. That may be difficult on the plane. Pray for us!



I just have one more final tomorrow. It's in Biochemistry. Nothing like saving the worst for last. It is the test that I am the most worried about. I have studied a lot for it. Hopefully I studied for the right things. After that we have the rest of the week to clean the house and get ready for our trip. I think we're going to try to squeeze in a trip to the beach too. It might be a bit chilly to get in the water, but walking on the beach will be fun.

It is such a relief to have (almost) one semester behind us. This past week was pretty stressful. I had three finals, all of which were pretty difficult. I did pretty well on all of them. It will be nice to have a few weeks without studying. It will be even nicer to have several babysitters who will be eager to watch the girls for us. Katie and I are going to be going on several dates over the next few weeks. We also have to finish up our Christmas shopping. We didn't want to get too many things that we would have to pack and take across the country.

I took Adella to the library yesterday. She had really been wanting to go, but Kayla was asleep, then it was getting close to dinner time. We normally all go together, but Katie said to just take Adella. Kayla was really sad that she didn't get to go. I guess she was pretty cranky the whole time. As soon as Adella and I got home she was really happy. It wasn't me that she was happy to see, it was Adella. Adella started playing with her and she was loving it! It is so fun to see them playing together!

Well, I guess that's about it. It seems odd that the next blog will be from IDAHO!!!

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

As we all know, this week was Thanksgiving! We only got off Thursday and Friday. My last two classes on Wednesday were cancelled, so I can't really complain. We were going to go to some friend's house, but their kids got sick. We ended up going to some other friends. It was a lot of fun. They have a girl who is a month older than Adella and one that is two months older than Kayla. It didn't really feel like Thanksgiving because we weren't with family, and it was way too warm. I didn't know that Florida celebrated the holidays in the summer!

We also decided to set up our Christmas tree. We had the windows open to keep it cooler in the house, but I was still sweating by the time it was up. As you can see, I was wearing shorts. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I've set up a tree in shorts!

I went to Walmart at 5:00 Friday morning. They had some good deals on some movies for Christmas. I got home a little after 6:00 and tried to go back to sleep. After everyone else woke up we all went to a couple more stores searching for great deals. I went out again on Saturday and it was still really busy. We did find some deals that were too good to pass up.

Here's a gross story. This morning Adella woke up and she was unusually happy. I went into her room because she had woken Kayla up. She was happy too, but needed to eat. I brought Kayla into our room and Adella followed. The girls were all sitting on our bed and I was getting dressed for church. Adella sounded like she was choking. I realized that she was about to throw up and hurried over to get her off the bed and to the bathroom. Well, I didn't even get her off the bed in time. It was so gross. I started cleaning it up and I was doing well until I smelled it. I started gagging, but the only thing that kept me from throwing up was knowing that I would have to clean it up! After she got cleaned up she was acting fine. She wanted apple slices for breakfast (who knows why), so she was eating one and suddenly threw up again! Katie took a turn cleaning it up while I tried to keep Kayla out of it. I ended up staying home from church with the girls. Katie had to go play the piano for the ward choir.

This was her punishment for making me clean up her mess. At least this way she'll throw up into the garbage can. Of course I'm only kidding. She wanted to help peel potatoes the other day. She really is a sweet girl. She seems to be doing much better now. I can't even get her to sit still.

There is now less than two weeks til we get to go back to Idaho! We are still really excited about it. It will be fun to be with family again. I just have to get through finals this week, and next Monday. I have been spending a lot of time in the anatomy lab looking at cadavers, so I feel pretty good about that exam. The rest of them shouldn't be very bad (I hope).

This is after one of Kayla's many times peeing without a diaper on. She absolutely loves the bath, and it's even better with mommy in too!

We bought a gingerbread haunted house after Halloween and had fun putting it together. Kayla got to try some of the black icing. This is what happened when we stopped giving it to her. She throws her head back a lot. Adella says she is drama, and she really is. Everything is like the end of the world with her. Adella and I finished decorating it while Katie fixed everything by...

giving Kayla a bath!!! You can fix almost anything with a bath!

As you can see, we have reached the (back) end of this blog. Isn't that the cutest little bum you've ever seen? Until next week!

GOSH

This semester is quickly winding down. I have now turned in the two papers that I had to do, and my first final is tomorrow!!! I can't believe it's already here. After that I have three finals next week, and one the Monday following that. That is it. Two weeks from tomorrow I will be done with my first semester of optometry school. It has gone by really fast. The bonus point from donating blood will be nice also (we made it).

I have been spending a lot of time in the anatomy lab with the cadavers. Our first two lab exams for that class have been with pictures, not on the cadavers. Well, for the last unit they decided to change it up and give us a test with the gross cadavers. I think I should do fairly well on it. They are going to have a mini mock exam set up a couple days before so we know what kinds of things to expect.

Now for the reason I named this post gosh. That is Adella's new favorite word. She is so stinkin cute. She really says it all the time. If she eats something good she'll say, "Gosh, that was good." If she thinks something is funny, "Gosh, that was funny." The cutest (sometimes) is when she says it under her breath when we tell her to do something. Katie and I were talking about what people will think when we go home to visit. I mean if they will think she has changed at all. Kayla has obviously changed in the last 4 months, but we don't know if Adella has.

Kayla did the funniest thing the other day (and a couple times since then). She was sitting in the hall next to the wall. We started hearing a thud, thud, thud. I was wondering what the upstairs neighbors were doing when I noticed Kayla banging her head against the wall! You hear of kids doing that, but I didn't realize they actually did. Adella never did it. Adella and Kayla are different in a lot of ways though. Adella has always been pretty cautious. Kayla is not afraid of anything. We have had several close calls from her trying to crawl off the bed or couch. She is afraid of walking, so we're not sure she'll be walking by the time we go visit.

We have all been sick this past week. I think Adella and I got it first, then Katie. I'm pretty sure Kayla is just cranky from trying to get a tooth. We have all been miserable with stuffy (or snuffy, as Adella says) noses and bad headaches all week. Adella and I are definitely getting better, and I think Katie is too. It's no fun being sick when Katie can't take care of me. :)

Well, I can't think of anything else, and I don't have any new pictures to post, so I will say good bye until next week.

Donating Blood

There are now less than four weeks until we get to go back to Idaho! We are really excited about it. Katie realized that we only go to church three more times before we leave. That is really coming up fast. That also means that finals are just around the corner. I can't believe that they are so close. One of my finals is actually a week from tomorrow. Yikes! Then we get Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving. The week after Thanksgiving, I have finals on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and the following Monday. The Friday after the last final we come home. When I list it out like that it makes it seem even closer. I guess I need to make sure I know what I need to.

Last week at school they did a big blood drive. Well, we were informed that if at least 50% of our class donated blood we would get an extra 1% on our final grade in three of our classes! That is a lot! They also told us that we could get other people to donate and count toward our class. Katie likes giving blood, so she said that she would. It's been about ten years since I have donated because I don't really enjoy it. I have never had any problems though, so I decided to do it.

Right after I sat down and they stuck the needle in my arm, one of the other people giving blood passed out. Not really a big deal. I even thought that I was glad I had never done that. I keep squeezing that little ball and everything seems to be going fine. Then the girl to my left says that she feels like she's going to throw up. That's when things start going downhill. I knew that if she threw up, then I would too. My vision started fading, and the next thing I know there are a couple ladies dripping water on my face waking me up! I had completely passed out. I felt like such an idiot. I have never passed out for anything! They told me that sometimes it just happens. I hope they weren't just trying to make me feel better.

I was feeling well enough to watch the girls while Katie donated. Then we started walking to the car and by the time we got there, I felt really sick. That feeling stuck with me for the rest of the day. It was like the worst feeling. All I could do was lie on the couch. This was on Thursday, and on Saturday my arm was still really sore. I looked and there was a big bruise. I just took this picture because it has not even started to go away. In fact I think it's worse today! It looks worse than it does in the picture.

Well, in other news, Adella has been sick this week. She has had a sore throat and runny nose. Also, Kayla is trying to get a tooth. This combination led to a very rough night on Friday. It all started better than normal (that should have tipped us off that something was wrong). Both Adella and Kayla hadn't slept great on Thursday night and were tired from not feeling well. We put them to bed a little early, and they both went right to sleep. Katie and I were up working on some Christmas presents and we kept hearing Adella crying, but she wasn't really awake. Then at about 10:45 Adella woke up and pretty much threw a fit until about 1:00. Of course this woke up Kayla, who wasn't feeling well either and wouldn't go back to sleep. The rest of the night was not great either. We kept Kayla in our bedroom in her portable crib so that if one of them woke up, the other would (hopefully) not be woken up.

The good news is that they are both acting a lot happier now, and have been mostly sleeping through the night. Kayla had a little temperature earlier, but she is napping now. Adella is still really stuffy, but she is feeling a lot better. Getting sick is no fun, but having sick kids is the worst.

No more exams until Finals!!!

Hooray! Last Monday was my last midterm exam. It was a pretty difficult exam in Biochemistry. Overall, I did pretty well. It is a relief that I don't have another exam until the Monday before Thanksgiving. I have two short papers that are due between now and then, but I am done with both of them. It's been nice to be able to stay home in the mornings. I have been going in to school and studying in the mornings. This week I have been able to stay home a little later and spend time with my girls.

This week we went to Ikea to get the girls a rug for their room. We had found this one there before and thought about getting it for Christmas or Adella's birthday. Well, we decided that was too long to wait. We went to the store and left Adella at the play area. You can leave them there for an hour and they give you a beeper in case they need you before the hour is over. She had a lot of fun until it was time to go. She couldn't find the picture that she had colored, and was heartbroken. Poor little girl. Anyway, we got home and unrolled it. She absolutely loved it! We told her that we could have a picnic for dinner. We had to have a picnic on the rug. It was a lot of fun. I got to sit with my feet in the ocean. She has had so much fun with it this week.

We went to the beach yesterday. It still feels like summer here. It has been getting into the 80's. The water has definitely gotten cooler, but I still get in. It's WAY warmer than the Oregon coast that we used to go in. We are getting used to having the beach close to us. It's going to be hard to have to move back and not have an ocean. Good thing that's not for a while. We'll just enjoy it while we have it!

So, we started a new tradition that we check out a family movie at the library (which reminds me of another story to tell in a second), and watch it together on Sunday afternoon. When we lived near our families, we would almost always spend Sunday afternoons with one of them. It is a lot of fun. Adella loves to turn the couch into a bed and have the whole family on it. It really is a fun tradition, and I think they are about to start without me.

Now for the library story! We were there on Friday afternoon and the fire alarm went off. Of course it was really loud. Adella doesn't like loud noises, so she was a little freaked out. We had to go out a back door. We explained about fire drills and she kind of thought it was neat. This happened shortly after we got there, so we hadn't picked anything out yet. While we were checking out it went of again! I guess they were working on it or something because the guard was telling people they didn't have to leave! I couldn't believe that! Now when there is a real fire, nobody will leave.

While we were outside the library we walked around the pond that is behind it to find big lizards. We have found them there before. This time we found a huge one. Of course we didn't have a camera. Maybe next time.

Well, they started the family movie without me, so I gotta go.

Halloween!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a couple really fun things happen this week. We took the girls trick or treating, and my parents visited! First I'll tell you about trick or treating. As you can see Adella decided to change her costume a little bit. She wanted to be a Cheetah Girl kitty this time. We went with a couple other people in the ward who have kids Adella's age. We just did a couple streets, then they were done. Nothing like how we used to run between houses and go home only to dump out our candy and go to another area. I am totally fine with that by the way.

It is different trick or treating here. I think about half of the houses we went to had people sitting out on their porch handing out candy. We didn't even wear jackets! I'm beginning to see some of the appeal of south Florida. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't outweigh the whole down side of hurricanes, not to mention the awful heat and humidity, but it has it's good points. When we got home I showed Adella how we would separate our candy into piles on the floor. She thought that was great! Oh, I almost forgot about this until I saw this picture. Adella was pretty tired when we got home. She sat down in her chair and just let her arms drop like she was too exhausted to move. It was really cute.

Earlier in the week we had my parents visit. That was a lot of fun for us. It was a really short visit, but we are glad they came. It was quite the adventure getting them. We got all loaded up in the van to go to the airport, and it wouldn't start. I was pretty sure it was a dead battery, so I started trying to find someone home to give us a jump start. I finally found someone who was home, and he actually used to work as a mechanic. He had a thing that can charge a battery, or jump a battery. He said it sounded like it was completely dead, and his machine said that too. He told us where he would go to get a new battery.

Anyway, we went and picked up mom and dad, then I had to go to class. Katie took them to the place that our neighbor had suggested, but they were really expensive. Mom called Costco and they had some for way cheaper. Instead of everyone going, my dad dropped everyone off and headed to Costco. They wouldn't let him buy it because it's my mom's name on the card. By this time I had gotten home from school and we all got ready to go to the beach, but first we went to Costco and got the battery.

We had a lot of fun at the beach. Grandma helped Adella make a sand castle. Katie sat Kayla in the sand this time. When we have gone other times, Kayla has been held the whole time. Of course she loved it, but she also kept shoving handfuls of sand in her mouth. Katie has a cute blog all about that. Check it out.

It was funny when we picked them up because Adella was very excited. Kayla, who faces backward in her car seat, saw them and started crying. She screamed the whole way home. She did finally get warmed up to them, as long as Katie was within view. We can't wait for December when we get to go home. I'm sure Kayla will really warm up to everyone within the three weeks we are there.

Just one more really cute story from today. Adella was playing with a flashlight in our closet while we were changing after church. I told her to stop because I would be upset if the batteries died. She gave it to Katie and said, "Mom, will you put this up somewhere I can't reach it? I don't want dad to get upset." I don't know when she started caring so much if I was upset, but evidently she does. Well, Katie gave me the flashlight and told me what she had said. Adella went into the bathroom to go potty. I went in there and sat the flashlight on the counter so I could help her. She got a little upset with me when I did that and told me she could still reach it there! What a sweet little girl I have. And here's a cute picture of Kayla, in case you thought I was forgetting about her.

She'll probably be walking pretty soon. She is really good at walking along the furniture. Oh, I just remembered this cute picture. I was reading Adella stories for bedtime, when Kayla crawled in. That isn't unusual, so I kept reading. The next thing I know, she is standing by the bed, but she was way too tall. She had somehow climbed on the step stool that was by Adella's bed.

Until next week...

Trunk-or-treat!

This was a pretty fun week for us here in Florida. Last night was trunk-or-treat at the church. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the best way to trick or treat. Everyone parks at the church and decorates their trunk and hands out candy. It is so much better than walking around all the neighborhoods. Adella dressed up as a kitty, and Kayla was a little fairy.

They had so much fun. It looked like it was going to rain the whole time we were there. It kind of sprinkled, then stopped. Then it rained for a couple minutes and stopped. Then suddenly it started pouring! It was a mad rush to get everything back in the van. We all ended up pretty wet, but it was still fun. Adella is so excited to have gotten so much candy.

Katie has been wanting to get something that we can use for exercising at home. We thought about getting a treadmill, but they take up so much room, and they aren't cheap (even used). Walmart had a little trampoline that we ended up getting. Adella keeps calling it her trampoline. She has a lot of fun on it.

So, my parents are supposed to be coming to visit us today. They are up in North Carolina at Corey and Lu's house. Wyatt is getting baptised today, so they went for that. Their plan was to hopefully fly down here tonight and spend Monday with us. Dad has to go back Tuesday for work, but mom might be able to stay until Wednesday.

Well, since they are flying standby you never know what will happen. The flight they wanted is oversold. That means that they might be able to make it to Miami tonight at about midnight. If that isn't going to work, they won't be able to be here until tomorrow at about noon. That kind of stinks because they won't be here for that long. We are probably going to take them to the beach. It has been rainy the past several days, but they say it's supposed to be nice and only get up to about 80 degrees. I'll take some pictures and put them up next week.

Kayla had a doctor's appointment this week. She is healthy. She weighs 17lb, 10oz. That is normal for her age. Her height was the average for a 10 month old baby (She is 8 months). They didn't tell us her actual height. She had to get three shots. We missed her 6 month check up. She has been in such a good mood since then. We aren't really sure why, but we're going to see if we can just give her a shot every couple days to keep her happy.

One last thing (I think). Katie's brother, Brian, got home from his mission yesterday! We are so bummed that we couldn't be there. He has been in Germany for the past two years. Adella knows he is her uncle, but doesn't remember him. Kayla has no clue, but that's to be expected :). We only have to wait another seven weeks to see him, and everyone else!

Yep, that was the last thing I can think of. See ya next week!

Another week

Well, I'm not exactly sure what I did this week. I'm sitting here now thinking of what I can blog about, and all I can remember from this week is anatomy. We have a big test on Tuesday, so I have been studying that for about two weeks now. It feels like that's all I've done, and I am really sick of it. I'm not real sure why an optometrist needs to know so much about circulation and the names of arteries and veins.

This week was pretty full of school things. I had to stay late twice this week. The first time was to elect class officers. That was pretty lame. Maybe it's just me, but I don't know why anyone would want to add extra things to their already packed schedule. I guess some people like to be involved. I'll never understand that. The second time was for a lecture about ... well, I'm not really sure. I do know that I get an extra percent added to my final grade in biochemistry, that is always nice. The lecture was actually pretty interesting, it just had nothing to do with optometry. It was about stars and the origin of matter.

The girls have been getting up at about 6:40 for the past several mornings. It is getting a little out of hand. It leaves Adella pretty cranky for most of the day. Kayla is ready for a nap by about 8:30 or 9:00, which means we have to keep her up longer between naps, so she can get pretty cranky too. I won't comment on what it does to Katie and me.

Once we get them fed and rested a little bit,

they get back to their typical cute behavior. What a lucky guy I am.

Katie's haircut

I think everyone probably already knows that I cut Katie's hair this week. She has been telling me that she wanted it short again, so I finally gave in. In the past, she has donated her hair to Locks of Love. They need at least 10 inches. That is actually how much we cut off. When we measured it, it looked like about the right length. Well, I guess I cut it a little higher than we planned. She can't get it into a pony tail, and that is what she really wanted to be able to do. I still think it looks cute. Here is a picture to prove my point. The other thing we did this week was buy a new couch. After we paid for it, we realized that it was the first piece of furniture we had purchased (other than a $10 bookshelf). We left our old breaking down couch in Idaho, so we needed something. Well, we checked craigslist, but they were just as expensive as new, but they were used. The one we got folds out into a bed that is surprisingly not uncomfortable. We were just going to get a futon, but since it will be used as a couch more than a bed, we wanted it to be comfortable to sit on. We are really excited for my parents to visit in about two weeks! And now they have a place to sleep! That also goes for anyone who wants to visit us, we now have a place for you to sleep.

School is going pretty well. I am still not loving all the science classes, but I guess it's a necessary evil. We got our schedules for next semester. It looks like some of the classes will be more geared toward optometry, which will be nice. There are a couple of days that I will have class in the morning (8:00), then not again until the afternoon (3:00). I originally wasn't thrilled about that, but then I realized that those are built-in study times. We are really glad that we are in the extended program (5 years instead of 4). The traditional program is in class from 8 to 5 almost every day. I don't know when they will have time to study. I will be able to study all day at school, then come home and be able to spend time with my family. It's great!

I guess it snowed in Boise a couple days ago. That is crazy! I was just telling someone that it doesn't snow until mid to late November. It is still really hot here. The day that it snowed there, it was 90 degrees here! This is not a picture from that day, but it could have been. This is in the pool at our complex. We had decided that if we didn't go home for Christmas that we would go to the beach for part of Christmas day. Wouldn't that be a fun memory? Adella and Kayla both love the beach and pool so much. Kayla will just splash the water and think it's the coolest thing ever. It's cute. Adella will even go under the water (at the pool) by herself. She is still a little nervous about going into the ocean without Katie or me holding her (which is fine with us).

Well, I better get going. I'm going to give the grill another try. I don't see any rain clouds, so I don't think I'll get poured on like last time. Until next week.

I Can't Believe It's October!

Time seems to go by faster all the time. Katie was asking Adella what she wanted to be for Halloween a little while ago and I was wondering why she was asking her so early. She also asked me when we were going to get out the Halloween decorations. I wasn't sure why she was wanting them out so early. That was only a few days ago. Then I realized that Halloween is less than a month away! Of coarse Adella keeps changing her mind, so who knows what she will be. I don't know if I will be able to persuade her as easily this year. Last year she was a "princess fairy" or something like that. This is a cute video from when Katie put her costume on her. I think she was a little bit excited about going Trick-or-Treating. I can't believe how much she's changed in just a year!!!

It was our anniversary on Friday. We didn't really get to go out, but we still had a lot of fun. I had made a bunch of little "love notes" and put them up around the house before she got up. We went to the library after I got home from school. That may sound lame, but if you know Katie very well, that was a great thing to do. She absolutely loves going to the library. I think I scored some brownie points with that. I have been wanting Katie to start her own blog since I started this one. That was her present to me, that she started her own blog. The website for hers is http://www.thejamesjourney.blogspot.com/ Everyone should go look at it. I think more people already look at hers than look at mine. I told her she would be great at it.

Obviously I changed the background of my blog. Katie figured out how to add music (I'm sure you noticed that already) and she even made a cool Halloween playlist for me to put up. Isn't she the greatest? This picture is from her birthday. She had to make her own cake. I felt pretty bad, but it was really good.

The girls sure do love her. I'm still at the top of Adella's list, but Katie comes in at least third (usually). The other day she said something about how I was her favorite. We asked her who was second. She told us that Kayla was next. When she saw that Katie was surprised at that, she got an idea in her little head. We asked who was third and she looked around the living room. The first person-like thing she saw was a scarecrow. That was number three, then Katie was number four. Adella loves to trick us.

Speaking of tricking, I'm pretty sure that Kayla played a trick on me the other day. She likes to grab the vertical blinds at the back door. I tell her not to a lot, but she still does it. It must have something to do with the fact that she is only eight months old. Anyway, I saw her crawling over to them and she reached out her arm like she wanted to grab it. She didn't actually grab it, instead she turned to me with a big grin and waited for me to tell her no. She has actually done that a couple times since then. She is growing so fast, I don't think anyone will recognize her when we go back to Idaho for Christmas. I guess people will just have to come visit us. Hopefully my parents will be able to visit us the end of this month. They are going to North Carolina for Wyatt's (my nephew) baptism at the end of this month, and they want to be able to fly down and see us then too. We really hope they can get the time off, even if it's only for a day.

A Couple Videos

The big news this week is that The Office came back on. What a funny show. I forget how much we like it until we see it again. They didn't let us down. If you haven't seen it and don't want to know anything about it, skip to the next paragraph. I was a little disappointed that Ryan (the stinkin temp) was back on the show and not in prison. What a dork. The ending was good. We're so happy for PB&J.

I don't have any new pictures to put on this week. We usually load them on the computer every month. I think I can probably find something to put up. Oh, Katie put our home videos on the computer, so I will try that. One morning Adella came into the room and told me that she had dressed herself. I looked over at her and this is what she had. I think she wore it for at least part of the day for the next three days. It is her Cheetah Girl outfit. What cute girls I have!

I guess the other news of this week is that I got a new bike. The bike that I hauled all the way across the country ended up breaking the first time I touched it. I wasn't sure when we were going to be able to get a new one because of how much they cost. We checked for used ones, but they were either too small or in the same shape as mine. We ended up getting a refund from school for insurance, so we used a little bit of that to pay for it.

Before we got the refund we had found a bike that was the right size, style, and most importantly price. Well, when we went back to buy it, they didn't have it anymore. We checked several other stores with no luck. We finally checked a different Kmart (where we found the original bike) and they had one. When I pulled it out to look at it we noticed that the stickers on the one side were all tore up. It was regularly priced at $120, but was on sale for $109. When I took it up to the cashier I asked if they had one that was in better shape. She told me they didn't, so I asked for a discount. She told me to go get a tag from a bike that was $89. I couldn't find one, so she went back and got one that was priced at $79. So, we ended up getting the bike for 1/3 off! I don't know if I like the bike or the good deal better. It makes it a lot faster for getting to and from school.

Kayla has figured out how to crawl. She is now able to pull herself up on the furniture. She has even ventured to "walk" along it. Katie is convinced that she will be walking before Christmas. I guess that is possible. It's kind of funny that Kayla has started crawling so much earlier than Adella. Kayla is almost eight months and she has already started crawling. Adella was eleven months before she ever crawled. This video is Kayla trying to crawl. Isn't she cute? We just don't have any on the computer where she is actually crawling.

Well, that is about all this week. I'm excited to watch BSU play this Wednesday. The game is on ESPN, so I can watch it! I looked through the pictures and only found ones that are similar to ones I have already uploaded. Two videos are worth a lot of pictures, right? Have a great week!

We'll be Home for Christmas

So, I know it's pretty early to be talking about Christmas, but we are really excited. We are going to be going back to Idaho for Christmas!!! We didn't think we would be able to because it is so expensive to fly, and we're not about to drive almost 3000 miles across the country with two little girls. Katie's parents are using their credit card miles to buy us tickets to come home. Really they are using them to fly the girls home and we're tagging along, but that's OK.

So, let me explain the picture. I was looking through the pictures on the computer for something Christmasy, like a Christmas tree. Well, I found this one from Christmas two years ago. My dad has this sweater that he wears every Christmas. We always used to make fun of him because we thought it was ugly. Now we all love it! This is another cute picture I found. Adella loves to "help" me put up the lights. It was always a tradition in our family to turn off all the lights in the house, turn on the Christmas tree lights and just watch them. I'm glad to see that tradition will not be lost.

Hopefully this will be a new tradition with Katie's family. They have a little chocolate fountain that the kids (and adults) love. These are from last winter. Katie's sister Emily and brother Sam are in the other picture. I'm sure they will be glad that I put a picture of them stuffing thier faces on here for the whole world to see (the world that reads this blog at least).

Well, enough about Christmas (for now). Kayla has started to crawl this week. She has been scooting all over the place, but this past week we have seen her several times on her hands and knees crawling! She normally only does it when we aren't looking. We keep trying to get it on video, but every time we get out the video camera she goes back to scooting. Today she has been crawling a lot, so maybe the scooting days are behind her.

A Fun Week

This week has been a pretty fun week for our family. First, let me give a little bit of background. When Katie, Adella, Kayla, and my mom got down here, I was showing them around our new house. Katie noticed that there was a nest in our front garden area with eggs in it. At first Adella was convinced that they were alligator eggs and that we would have pet alligators when they hatched. It turns out that they are Muscovy ducks, they are all over down here. Well, we didn't think they were going to hatch because we never saw the mother duck for about the first week we were here. I looked online to see how long it would be before they hatched. We figured that if they were laid the day we noticed them they should have hatched on September 1st or 2nd. Well, those days came and no hatching. We had given up hope that they would hatch. When I got home from school on Monday, Adella was so excited to show me the new ducks! Five of the six eggs hatched. It's been really fun for us to watch them from our kitchen window.

I'm not sure why I didn't tell about this next thing last week, maybe I was still in too much pain (just wait, I'll get to that part). We went to the beach on Labor Day. It was actually the day that Hurricane Hanna was out to sea just east of us. That made the waves pretty big. It was so much fun. We are always very good about putting sunscreen on, especially on the girls. Well, Katie totally forgot to put sunscreen on, and I asked Katie to spray my back (we have that cool spray on kind). Well, neither of us thought about rubbing it in. We never really have before, but it was a lot windier than it usually is, so I think the mist that would have normally stuck on my back got blown away. The only part that was protected was where the spray went directly on. I guess this picture will show you what I mean. This is also good proof that sunscreen does work (when properly applied)!

We got to feed the missionaries last night. That is something that we rarely got to do in Idaho because the missionaries covered three or four wards. Well, Katie and I were in the kitchen getting dinner ready and I was kind of teasing Katie. I guess it sounded to Adella like we were arguing because she came in and said, "Guys, guys, settle down guys." We stopped talking because that was pretty funny by itself. Then she said, "Let's talk nice to each other." She is such a funny girl. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to go along with that story, so I'll just put up a couple of the cutest girls ever!

Adella really wanted to help make the chili, so I wasn't going to argue. She also put this tiara on Kayla.

That reminds me that Kayla is very close to crawling. She has been scooting around on her belly for a while now. Yesterday she almost started crawling a couple times. It won't be long now. I'm not sure we're ready for this. I guess I'll let you know how things progress next week!