The Ranch

We went to my grandpa's ranch near Aripine, Arizona for the month of July(which is about 45 minutes away from the Snowflake temple). This was such a special place for my family growing up as we would spend our summers here to get a break from the heat. At the same time, we learned to climb trees, that beautiful sunsets mean grandma and grandpa love us, and its okay to get dirty!

It was such a treat for my girls to play with their cousins just like I did growing up (even though there was a LOT of us in my mom's nice new little cabin). It was funny at first to see how much of city-girls they were tripping through the forest, constantly trying to wipe their hands clean, and running from bugs (and dogs!). But in the end, they adored their aunts & cousins and brushed away a little of their city-girl edge.

March 2008

Waiting to hunt Easter eggs

Showing off their goodies

Point Pleasant Beach
We decided to take a trip down to Point Pleasant Beach, even though it was still cold.  This is a picture we
took for cousin Rachel's "Flat Stella" school project.

Jenkinson's amusement park
We spent most of our time at Point Pleasant on this amusement park on the boardwalk.  The kids had a blast!

The pony cart

The choo-choo train

In the belly of the dragon

Chloe's favorite--the fire truck

Point Pleasant beach

Good morning!
 I don't know why I took this picture, but I love it.  She just looks so morning-ish.

Welcome home!
This is the view from our new apartment window just after moving in.

At the top of the Twin Lights lighthouse

Twin Lights lighthouse
We love the lighthouses here and used Rachel's flat stella project as a good excuse to go ,
even though we were in the middle of moving!

February 2008

Favorite Holes

Sydney & Chloe love to climb in baskets together. Matt made the mistake of pushing them around our wood floor once and they wanted to be pushed around all the time after that.

Its Frosty
Actually, Sydney corrected me and said this was Frosty's mommy.  The next day when it started melting, she kept crying, "Where is Frosty going?"

The kids with Viola
Viola is our deaf neighbor that likes to come hang out with us occasionally.  She helped Sydney & Chloe build this snowman.

Brrrr!
This tells you how bad our apartment is.  We had one big freezing snow and woke up the next morning to 1/8-1/4 inch thick ice on our living room window...on the inside!!

Emily's birthday

I am always a princess!
Ok, we have way too many crowns in our toy chest, but I just love these  moments when Chloe is not so princess-ish, but still wants to wear the crown.

Another hole
Sydney discovered that if she pulled all of the blankets out of the hall closet, she would have a comfy little hiding place. She told me she wanted to "go to sleep", but we all know Sydney does not take naps!

Counting Cuties

We're trying to get Chloe to show off how cute she is when she counts, but she gets to giddy in front of the camera. Sydney also shows off her counting skills in Spanish thanks to Dora the Explorer.

Happy Birthday Sydney!

Singing happy birthday to Sydney.

January 2008

I haven't been feeling well, so we weren't going to do a big birthday party for Sydney this year. But at the last minute felt guilty that she might actually remember this birthday, so we invited over the friends she plays with the most, the Murff's & Perrotti's. Now I'm sad we didn't have a bigger party, but know that I would have never been able to handle it.

I'm 3!!!
Showing off Sydney's presents

Opening presents
We're such dorky parents.  As I watched her opening presents, I realized we had gotten her a tool set and a train set.  Luckily Hannah & Hailey Murff gave her a Cinderella Barbie to balance it out.

Hanging out with Hannah & Hailey
We watched the Murffs while Jaime & Joe celebrated Jaime's birthday.

Hanging out with Hannah & Hailey

Getting ready for church
We never get "pretty" pictures of our girls -- so here's my best attempt.  I had just done their hair for church, but they  are still in pajamas.

Pretty pig-tails

Our favorite bench
Matt has discovered that when our kids get whiney and out of control, he pulls out this little bookshelf that looks like a miniature bench and tells them to sit.  They love it!

December 2007

With life getting busier, we stopped taking pictures so often, but the biggest news was Christmas (of course) as well as the first snow.

Sydney & Chloe with Santa
We took them for their first pictures at the mall with Santa. And of course Chloe wanted nothing to do with it.

Must Be Santa - Sydney & Hannah Murff
We spent Christmas with our friends, the Murffs, and followed the Brown family tradition and dressed up our kids to that song.

Chloe must be Santa

Elmo present from the Murffs
Don't let that look fool you, she is in love with Elmo!  She gives our stuffed Elmo kisses (open-mouthed!) everytime she sees him.

Christmas Morning
Ok, it was closer to afternoon (we covered the presents with blankets so the kids wouldn't know they  were  there).

Christmas

Forget the presents, I just want the M&M's from my stocking

The First Snow!
I didn't even know Sydney remembered what snow was, but as we were getting the girls ready for church, she started yelling, "Its snowing, its snowing!"

Looking at the snow

Good Morning Sunshine!