Birthday Dinner...Take Two

Kevin wasn't so happy with his Del Taco birthday dinner on Wednesday. So, he decided to finally take us to El Rico's last night and call that his birthday dinner instead. I am very glad that we went... it was super yummy! The shredded beef is tender and juicy, plus the rice wasn't spicy and the beans were great (I don't even love refried beans). If you are ever in Queen Creek, stop at El Rico's.

Cake, Crayons & Caterpillars

Yesterday, Kimble and Karter helped me make a cake for Kevin's birthday. Of course, Kimble helped more than Karter did, but they were equally excited to eat the final product.



While the cake was in the oven, I had the kids color a sign that I printed off the computer. Karter was more interested in peeling the paper off the crayons, so it was really colored by Kimble. They were so proud, we ended up emailing the picture to Kevin at work.


We picked Kevin up after work and drove all the way to Del Taco for dinner (the original plan was Arriba's, but we are so cheap that we just ended up at fast food). After dinner we went to Home Depot and found some lantana for the backyard and a cute caterpillar chomping a flower. We had to convince Kimble that we should not take the bug home with us.


Finally, we made our way back home to sing to Kevin. It ended up just being Karter and myself singing to him, Kimble couldn't quite make it and slept on the couch. Happy Birthday Kevin!

Happy, Happy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE (2) AND KEVIN... LOVE YOU!!

Father's Day 2009

What A Weekend!

Friday, Kevin took Kimble and Karter camping with my family. It has become a tradition to camp every summer near Woods Canyon Lake and Kevin was really ready for a "vacation." I stayed behind to take Koltyn to his one month well check (he is already weighing in at 13 pounds and measures 23.5 inches- he does not even look like he is only one month old) and traveled up Saturday morning with my sister, Heather, and brother-in-law, Aaron. We were able to get tons of pictures:



Kimble found a blue friend with short legs, as she put it, to play with for a while.


Kimble was showing off her little buddy to Karter and Jayden. Eventually, Kevin got her to put it back onto a tree.


Friday afternoon they stopped at a look-out point on their way to the lake. Kevin even let Kimble take some pictures (she snapped the picture of the boys).




After the rest of us arrived Saturday morning, we headed down a nearby trail for a scenic walk. Kimble, Karter and Jayden all piled into Heather's bike trailer for 2 (we used it as a stroller). The clouds eventually opened up on us and we had to speed walk back to camp.


It always cracks me up to see our babies in the carrier. This was Koltyn's first time and will probably have to be his last.


After lunch, we went back to the lake so that the kids could go fishing. Aaron was helping the kids fish and Kimble made sure to stay close by him. She was so determined to catch a fish, although nobody did in the end.



Karter was not so into fishing and spent his time at the lake exploring in the trees and looking at the water every once in a while.


We took some family pictures before leaving the lake...




Sunday morning was chilly so we made sure that Koltyn was wrapped up. He was probably the warmest of us all.


Kimble made sure that everyone got some tiny yellow flowers before moving on to this stump. She wasn't able to cover it completely, but she did start to call it Stumpy.


One more picture of Koltyn's first camping trip and we were off.


Although we were loving the cooler weather and spending time with the family, we were ready to be back home and sleeping in beds that were not on the ground. We can't wait until next year (we won't have to worry about warm bottles, yay)!

Daddy-O

Kevin is a great dad who has grown a lot over the last 4 years. He is super patient with Koltyn, loves having Karter as his little helper outside and engages in somewhat interesting conversations with Kimble. Plus, he loves to just play!

This is my dad with Karter after he helped us put in our peach tree. He is always willing to lend a helping hand no matter what the project. What a wonderful example!

Grandpa-Great, as he is known to my kids, is such a sweet grandpa. Although his health is not always great, he is always happy and ready to have grand kids on his lap.

Kevin's dad seems to do a great job at avoiding the camera...this is the entire gang last summer at Sea World. He is a super griller, gardener and grandpa!
We can't forget Grandpa Schlink. We don't have a picture to share, but we are grateful to have him in our family.
Happy Father's Day to our rockin' dads and grandpas!! We love you all!!

Finally...

Koltyn is one month old! It has been a very long four weeks. Koltyn started out to be so quiet and a great sleeper like Kimble. But lately, he has become more like Karter- very loud and always hungry. I cannot complain by any means, though; he has only had one really bad night. He has not lost any of his wacky hair yet. He is, however, starting to lose his newborn look. Koltyn is sure to be an adventure in the months and years to come!

Try, Try Again

Kimble finally got back on her bike. She has only taken it for a ride once since getting it for her birthday, so we were pretty happy that she was willing to give it another try. She rode to the park and back without any problems. Way to go Kimble!

A Trip To The Park

Monday night, the Pratt family came over for dinner (Aaron is at scout camp this week, so Steph is trying to keep the boys busy). The weather was nice enough that we let the kids have a picnic dinner in the backyard. They ended up being more interested in playing, so they didn't actually eat much.
After dinner, we walked down to the park to help the kids get some extra energy out of their systems. Parker and Dallin made sure to destroy every ant hill they saw on the way so it took a little while to get there. We weren't able to stay long, but it was fun to let the kids loose...

Lovin' It!

My mom and I found this outfit at Kohl's. It was way too cute to pass up... the baby is pretty cute too! (I was just snapping away when a smile popped up and I was lucky enough to catch it.)

On The Boat

Saturday, we got to visit Lake Pleasant with the entire Johnson family (Kevin's brother and his wife, Steven and Keeley, are down from Colorado)! I had never been to that lake before, but it is only about 20 minutes from the Johnson's house in Peoria so they had been there plenty. The weather was perfect and everyone had a fantastic time. The kids got to go out first with a couple of the moms and grandma- Koltyn and I stayed behind with the boys. It was their first time out on a boat and they did well. It took some convincing to get Kimble to put on the life-jacket, but that was the worst of it. I was told that Karter simply sat back, chilled out and munched on some chips the entire time. Sounds just like Karter! When they got back to the dock, the boys quickly shuffled the kids out and got in. The girls then went back the house with the kids while the boys enjoyed water skiing and tubing. Thankfully, they returned without injury, just a little sunburnt. All in all, it was a little crazy, but we definitely would do it all again!

Brotherly Love

Karter is becoming a SUPER big brother!!

Hanging With The Crew

Last week, Kimble and Karter were invited to spend three days with Kevin's parents in Peoria. I was a little nervous at first because the kids don't spend a lot of time over there, they have not been left alone with grandma and grandpa Johnson before and we forgot Karter's blanket. Boy was I wrong... they had a great time!! Sharon kept them so busy with fun activities that I doubt they even had time to think about missing mom and dad. What a fantastic opportunity to get to know their grandparents, uncle Brian and cousins better! Here are a few photos of some fun things they did:

Picking vegetables from the garden...


Exploring Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium...

Playing at the Phoenix Museum for Children...

Rolling In The Dough

My sister, Steph, came over Monday and dazzled us with her mad bread machine skills. I never make bread of any kind, so it was fun to see all that she could make with just a few ingredients. First, she made some pizza dough for a yummy lunch. (I think that it turned out better than the pizza dough in a can that we usually buy.) Next, she made doughnuts. Kimble was so excited she just had to help- first, they rolled the dough into balls (doughnut holes was the goal), then after letting them rise, Steph fried the dough and Kimble sprinkled them with cinnamon-sugar. They turned out to be pretty tasty and Kimble was a great helper.



So, after making a batch of dough for some sweet dinner rolls, Steph made Kimble some purple play-doh. She played with it a lot longer than she usually plays with the store bought stuff. She really loved it and has already asked to play with it again. We were really happy that Steph and Sophie were able to spend the day with us and can't wait until the boys are back from vacation for next time. THANKS STEPH!