Visit from Shari, Lisa and Hallie

I just wanted to share a little about the fun visit we had the beginning of this month from Shari, Lisa, and Hallie. We had some great times together in those four, short days (they are always too short)!

We went shopping, went to the park, talked, played games, went to Monkey Bizness, tried twice to get Nyah and Hallie's pictures taken, (did I mention talked) and just hung out. It was great. Here are a few of the stories that you need to know a little more about.

First of all, Hallie wasn't too sure what to think about all of us strangers (who can blame her) and decided she would just as soon be with her mom. Well, when Lisa needed to get ready, Hallie would settle for Shari and me. One day though Hallie had enough of us and wasn't too happy with the whole situation and Nyah was deciding she didn't know what to think about everything either. Anyway, I decided it was time to get outside and give two not-so-happy kids a wagon ride. So that's what Shari and I did. By the time we had gone around our little circle one time, Hallie was nodding off and ready to tip over. Shari laid her down so she was in Nyah's lap. You will see Nyah wasn't so sure what to think of that and it was hilarious to watch her expressions. :) Then Nyah decided if Hallie could sleep in the wagon, she wanted to give it a try as well. When Lisa came out, Hallie was still asleep in the wagon and so we decided to take them for a ride down to the park. Nyah's hair wasn't done so you will see some pictures of her with crazy hair at the park. As any mom knows, having happy kids trumps everything else though so that's how it goes. :) There are some great toys at the park and Hallie and Nyah had lots of fun and Shari and Lisa took some great pictures! I owe them big time. :)

We spent a bunch of time one day getting the girls ready for pictures. I wanted to get Nyah's 18 month pictures anyway and we thought it would be fun to have some "cousin pictures". We went to Kiddie Kandids at Babies R Us and it did not go well. I hadn't tried there before but Nyah and Hallie (mostly Nyah) decided they didn't really like the photographers and Nyah wouldn't stay in one place. I thought maybe Nyah was just tired so we tried again after nap time, but it still didn't work at all so I finally gave up. What a mess. Then we were by Monkey Bizness so we went to give that a try. There were slides and all sorts of toys and both of the girls absolutely loved it. It was a good time and way better than trying to get their pictures taken!

I just want to thank Lisa, Hallie, and Shari for coming to visit. Ryan thinks that my sisters should move here so I have somebody else to go shopping with and to get pictures, etc. since that all falls on him right now. :) Maybe someday we'll all live closer to each other again but for now, I'm just going to enjoy the visits. :)

October and Fall is Officially Here

We have had some fun times over the last month that I can't wait to share. We went to Utah the last weekend in September for Emily's baptism (Adonia's daughter). We hadn't seen them since last November so that was fun. Kaiden and Nyah had fun playing together. Emily's baptism was very nice and we're proud of her for her decision. :)

Nyah did great in the car. We wondered how it would go but she was a trooper. We did quite a bit of entertaining with songs, coloring, reading books, etc. but she did well considering it was about an 8-hour drive each way.

We also took Nyah to Elitch Gardens a weekend during September. It was 1/2 price on the admission that weekend so we decided to give it a try. There weren't tons of rides she could go on but probably around ten. She had fun on all of them except the tilt-a-whirl and we will know not to try that again. She survived but definitely wasn't impressed as it was spinning around. She had a "death grip" on Ryan and me. They have a big play area where they can climb and go down slides and she loved that. She wasn't a huge fan of the ferris wheel because the loading and unloading process is less action than she prefers.

Nyah is 18 months old now and really starting to talk quite a bit. On the way to Utah we counted and came up with about 30 words she can say. She is running and just loves to play. She is getting to be very independent and starting to express her opinions.

Shari, Lisa, and Hallie also came and visited us last weekend. We are going to write more on that next time after we get some pictures. I did awful taking pictures that weekend and am begging Shari and Lisa to share their pictures. :)

We hope all is going well for all of you!