Hatch Family

Our Summer

2010-09-16T20:35:00.003-06:00

So I realize this blue 'thing' might not look like anything to anyone else...but to us it is pretty special. A few days ago, Addie got the idea to make a Thomas the train for Devin. So she spent a good portion of her day finding everything she needed and took a very long time figuring out how exactly to make it look just the way she wanted. Part of the challenge was keeping it a surprise for Devin. Since he pretty much follows her everywhere she goes, it was not an easy task for either of us. But when she told him what she had been doing and let him see it, it was a pretty special moment for a mommy to see...
This is Addie's picture from her first day of playschool. Devin was as excited as she was. She is still adjusting to the whole idea of being away from us 3 days a week for a couple hours...but hopefully that gets better. She does love it.

This is from Justin and my trip to slave lake for a day and evening. Leanna and Kevin watched the monkeys and we had a great time fishing and went on a bike trail.
Funny hey! Next time you see Devin ask him to sing Spiderman for you...it is the cutest. He is in love.

There is a new park out here called Jurassic forest. You walk through a couple trails and the dino's come to life. It was pretty cool. The kids had a great time.
We went to Drumheller and did some camping for a few nights back in August. It felt about as cold as it looks but we had SOOOO much fun there. We loved everything we did in Drumheller and will go back for sure.
The museum was amazing and it was not too busy when we went. The kids actually enjoyed it...Justin and I could have spent all day there. Pretty fantastic stuff.
We also camped a couple nights at a place called Old Macdonald. It is near Red Deer. It is set up especially for families with kids, with hayrides, merry-go-round, train ride, petting zoo, go carts....you name it. It was a lot of fun.

I miss the sun. It looks so warm in this picture. This was Heritage days. Another really fun thing to do here. We just walked around, looked at everything and tasted some foods from around the world.

All in all, we had a great summer. I noticed everyone updated their blogs, so I thought I should share a few pictures. Sorry I dont write much. Call me if you want to chat.
Love ya!

summer bugs...

2010-07-26T13:12:00.003-06:00

Oh, the summer. We wait all year for it, and then it comes and goes so fast. I can't believe July is almost over. We haven't done anything huge yet, but we have had a lot of fun. OUr garden is growing well despite the slow start. Especailly our strawberries. The kids have loved having their own little crop of fruit, and they are delicious!
Addie loves trying new tricks. She has mastered the monkey bars and likes to do flips on the bard at parks and in the yard. She is very entertaining.

Devin....polar opposite. Wants to be along somewhere playing with a bug. He likes worms and loved this caterpilar that we found, but hates spiders and flies. He likes ants too but has started trying to step on them. He is cute as a button and is continually mellowing out a bit the older he gets.
Anyone who lives in Alberta knows we have gotten a lot of rain. Again the kids proved how different they were. Addie changed 3 times to get out of her wet clothes and I poured lakes out of Devin's gumboots 3 times. He was in heaven. They both loved looking for worms and playing with them. Oh...what a loving mother does....I can't handle touching them....but I know it won't hurt them and want them to expereince these things. It is interesting. Anyways, we are doing well and love our kids more and more each day.

fathers day and camping

2010-07-07T21:56:00.005-06:00

Wed night-Saturday last week we took advantage of the July 1st long weekend and headed out to Waubman to do a little camping as a family. As you can see, we had a blast. On Thursday after a late breakfast and a chilly night, we went out fishing. The kids both had a really good time. We did too. Addison did amazing. Justin would cast her hook, and she reeled it in every time perfectly. Devin needed a lot more help...but still had a lot of fun. Then we went to the beach for a couple hours after it warmed up a bit. We had a lot of fun in the sand.

The next day we spent most of the day at the beach and the parks that were there. It was a lot of fun. Justin even went out early to do some fishing to try and catch supper....but he discovered it was only catch and release so had to throw our dinner back in the lake. Boo hoo. What is the point of fishing if you can't keep what you catch?

Justin is a pro fire starter. Seriously. His fires are BEAUTIFUL. I think late night fires were my favorite part of camping as a teenager....and they still are. It was awesome.

Cute little Avery. Addie and Avery are such good little friends. We love her so much.

Doing the spider....does anyone else remember doing this. I think they are a little young, but always seem to want the swing at the same time. haha

4 is such a great age. Addie gets smarter every day. Her newest thing is puzzles. The 100 piece ones. If anyone has any they want to get rid of...let me know. She loves them. She takes them up to her room, away from destructo-boy and will work on them forever. This one took her about 45 minutes. Yes, I am proud of her.

Fathers day was a nice day. We spent a lot of really good quality time together. It was great. Justin is such a fabulous father and it shows in how loved he is by these two.

Amy's Grad and baby Jasper

2010-06-10T21:22:00.003-06:00

I am feeling pretty on the ball being the first one to put up pictures of Amy's grad. I guess there is a first for everything. Amy looked fantastic...not that I need to say that...anyone with eyeballs attached to their head can she she is stunning and she did not let her niece down as I had promised Addie that Amy would look like a princess....and she really did. We love you Amy!!

Grandpa...just so you know, Devin calls you every day on his fake cell phone. It was definately Grandma with Addie....but he calls you! Well ya, you have a super cool, fast, loud monstertruck!! We can't wait to come down again.

So, a few weeks ago if I said that Devin was obsessed with his bus chances are no one would have thought anything of it....now that everyone has seen his obsession in action, it has a whole new meaning!! He now has 2 more busses to obsess over...which is awesome for both of us. He has more to love and the crazy hunt for his bus is off at bedtime since now they are easier to find. Thanks steph for your thoughtful school bus and city bus gift. he is in heaven.
At my mom's garage sale a few weeks ago, I snatched up this little tea set. It is not only so cute, but a really fun way to have a snack. Keaton is going to have someone to have tea with when he comes home....or make that leamonade. Anyways, Devin may be a manly boy, but he loves doing anything that Addie does and so tea parties are fun!

So Lisa, this is our tree I was telling you about. It is a lilac bush grafted on to a tree. Isn't it adorable. I love the smell and it adds a softer touch to the backyard. We just got it last weekend....hard to believe....you can barley see a seam in the grass. Go Justin.
Anyways, Mom got this dress for Addie and not only does she feel beautiful she looks it too. thanks mom!

And last but not least, this Wednesday, we went to Airdrie for the day to meet our newest little cousin. Lisa looks amazing...as usual, and her newest addition is so perfect. I loved smelling him and cuddling with him. Newborns are the best!! I wish I had gotten a foot picture. They are so cute!! Definately my favorite feature!
It is a miracle. Devin can be gentle!!! He loved the baby almost too much! ok...I guess it is time :)

It has been a good week here. Quiet and surprisingly lots of food without Justin, but we are looking forward to him coming home tomorrow.

Addison's 4th Birthday

2010-05-13T09:07:00.005-06:00

The countdown is finally over, and addison's birthday has come and gone. The anticipation almost kills her every year, so we do our best to make it a special day for her. She was so excited to open her presents in the morning. She opened the ones from G&G Pierson and from us first and loved it all. She was on cloud 9!!
What a beautiful Cinderella!!!

She wanted a Cinderella cake of course, and although I am not a pro decorator...I did my best and she loved it so that is the most important thing!

Devin loved all the excitement and sang happy birthday all day long!

Addison really wanted a friends birthday party this year again, so she kept it pretty small. She had 3 little girls over and they were asked to dress up in their princess gear, and just happened to all show up as Cinderella. It was really cute. We had fun. We first we made jewel bracelets, then talked about princess edicate and had some snacks. Then we played some games and finished off with presents and cake. The girls seemed to have fun and Addison loved having them over.

In the evening we had a family birthday party with the Herrington's and Boutin's. We had Addie's favorite for supper, pizza, of course, and was excited to open up more presents after dinner.

Right after she opened her new jewelry and jewelry box from G&G Hatch she ran up to her room and reorganized all her necklaces. She loved it!

Hey Lee.....I wish this picture was not a little blurry, but besides that I love it. So cute!

Addie loves her Auntie Jocie!

Thanks to everyone for making the day so special for our little princess. She had a wonderful day and was obviously tuckered out because it is 9:39am and she is still in bed!! Our little sleeping beauty.
We love you Addie!

playing catchup...yet again

2010-05-13T08:44:00.003-06:00

I love you all....and my little Addie, and in order to share her birthday with everyone, I had to play catchup to post some pictures of yesterday.

A tradition we have started over the past few years, is on Mother's day we feed the ducks. It is a fun way to make the day special and the kids really love it. it was kind of sad we had to wear winter jackets....but the weather is nice this week, so hopefully it sticks around this time.

Devin and his new favorite toy. His awesome surf bus. It just about NEVER leaves his side. It eats with us and sleeps with him. He loves buses.

Justin had a pretty quiet birthday this year. I think next year for his 30th we will have to do something big and exciting. He had a nice day though and loves his new heartrate monitor.

The kids got new outfits for Auntie Nanna's temple wedding. I love being all matchy-matchy.
Uncle Garth has been letting us come out and ride his horses. They are such gentle horses and we have all had a lot of fun learning how to ride.

Devin is just the sweetest little boy, and, like his sister has such a special place in his momy and daddy's hearts.We can't get enough of this little boy.

I HATE BLOGS....

2010-03-22T21:37:00.004-06:00

I appologize I am such a horrible blog updater. I really don't like doing it. Mostly just because I don't know what to say....I like Steph's blog, it is likc an ongoing story. Mine I am afraid is pretty pathetic. So I figure you mostly just want pictures, so that is what I did. I don't exclude pictures of Justin and I on purpose, they just don't exist. We need to try to document our lives as well as our kids...oh well.
So this is Ashley's new baby Koston. He is super cute and we loved being able to hold and love him this past weekend. He is a sweety and Ashley and Colby are natural parents. It was fun to see them.

We all love Avery...but Addie really loves her. They always have fun together!

Addie is a Grandma girl. She takes months to get over every visit. They have a special little bond with both her Grandma's.

haha...I love the face he is making in this picture.

They both love my shoes! I just hope they never break an ankle.

Devin is so pretty as a princess!! Both kids love singing so much.

No, there is not this much snow in Edmonton right now. These pictures are from a few months ago. The snow is almost gone, although we have had a few small snowfalls lately.
Things here are good. We had a great winter...it was mild which made it nice and with this more springy weather we have been getting out for lots of walks and playing in the backyard. It is a blast and a nice change to inside stuff. Things have been busy but we are having a good year so far and I can say we have made some good changes this year and are doing well.
I will try to post again soon.

Christmas is coming...

2009-11-30T13:02:00.003-07:00

The kids have been anxious to set up the Christmas lights as our street is starting to brighten up at night, so this Saturday we got out there and did it! It was chilly, but Justin and Craig did a great job...especially considering the clips that kept breaking....grrrrr.

Addie was cold after we came in...and asked for some apple cider and to sit infront of the fireplace. What a way to bring in the Christmas season. So she sipped apple cider and ate a yummy homemade granola bar (which if anyone is looking for a good, low sugar recipe I really like this one) I thought it was pretty cute.

What a beautiful Princess!!
My boys. So handsome!!
A couple weeks ago on our way to church I was teasing Addie that devin was a girl and she was a boy...and she thought about it and replied. You and me are GIRLS. Because we both have pretty eyelashes! What funny logic!! But yes, she is my pretty little girl.
So in November Addison learned how to write her name all by herself. She is doing really well now with all her letters and is drawing better too. It is exciting.

Wow...this post was all about Addie!! Sorry Devin. We love you too!!

Halloween and Swimming Lessons

2009-11-08T21:16:00.002-07:00

We love Halloween. I love getting my kids all dressed up and going out. We thought this year was going to be a really cold Halloween night, so we decided to have a Halloween party with some friends in our ward. It actually ended up being a lot of fun for Addison and I to get ready for. We made a pinata, made lots of homemade decorations, and of course made the costumes. She was so excited about it, that it was fun for the whole family.

This is right after the pinata broke open.
In case it is not self explanitory, Addison is TinkerBell Devin is Peter Pan, Justin Captain Hook, and I am Wendy.
Devin LOVED his little dagger. It took him a long time to notice it was there, but once he did he thought it was pretty cool.

I was in charge of the pumpkin this year, and I HATED doing it because I am not a perfectionist and I had to be to make the Dora Pumpkin look good, but I was proud of it in the end and the kids loved it....2 hours later!!
Addie's month of swimming lessons ended last week. She really enjoyed them. The first week she was really shy and not so interested in paying attention to her teacher, but she got better and better and actually learned alot. She loves the water to begin with, so this was really fun for her. So this picture is of her swimming through the hoop. I took these pictures about half way through the course, so she got better at some of the things. She can not swim through the hoop with her head under water!

The back float.
They did this a lot. They wold swim with the floaty around their front or their back. She really improved at this too.

All in all, I am glad we did it. It did increase the business factor, but it was nice to be doing something for her.

I love this age!!

2009-10-21T14:50:00.004-06:00

They are actually playing together!!! It is a Hatch miracle. Not that they are bad kids, but they are close enough in age that they often want the same thing at the same time. I love it when they play together and keep each other happy.

I don't know if it is just me....but I think Addie is at such a pretty stage. She is my little helper. She loves to do jobs for me, which is really helpful, and she is starting to get some regular chores around the house which I didn;t think would happen at 3 1/2 but I am glad it has as she helps out a lot!
And then there is Devin. He is 18 months and such a sweetie. I have found myself thinking every day that he is at my most favorite age. He tries to repeat our words...and is getting so good. He can say about 1/4 of what we do. Addie works with him a lot. And he loves trucks, and cars, and calls, and anything of his Daddy's. It is really cute. But he is also cuddly, and loving. His cutest work right now is 'see ya' it just comes out so funny and when Addie was a baby her Grandma Hatch taught her how to say 'I do' when we asked who loves grandma/mommy/daddy... And Devin is saying that now too. It is adorable. He is in nursery now too, which is fun, but Justin is there now too which is great for Devin but Justin and I were sure looking forward to going to class together. He is going to be great for nursery.
The shirt says it all!!
Mom, Addie has used this paint set almost every day. It is great though. The brushes that coordinate with the paint color so they don't get all mixed up is brilliant. she loves it and so do i. It really keeps her busy.

Glasses

2009-09-29T22:37:00.001-06:00

Sorry to leave you hanging...I chose the second pair-the green ones. I am happy with them. Thanks for all your imput.

Help...new glasses!

2009-09-16T10:19:00.002-06:00

Please help me pick a pair of new frames! My other glasses, which have lasted over 4 years broke a couple weeks ago. I was able to get them repaired but decided it is time to get a new pair! (And thanks to Craig's amazing discount and Justin's plan I have been able to look at the frames I like, not just the pricetag) So these are the 2 pairs I am down to.

I really like this first pair. It is very classic and can you ever go wrong with black??

This second pair has a bit more flair and I like how it brings out the green in my eyes. It is plastic in front and the sides are a wide metal.

Sorry the pictures of me are so geeky....it feels weird smiling when you are the one holding the camera. Just look at the frames and tell me what you think. If you can't post a comment, please send me a quick e-mail. I am probably going to make the decision by tomorrow. HELP!

The dreaded post...

2009-09-13T21:33:00.000-06:00

I always do it wrong...so the pictures are from newest to oldest. This is Devin carrying around a zucchini from our garden...not bad! It makes him look little.

We love you Carter!!

Devin loves cars...such a boy.

2 Of Justin's dad's horses.

Devin loved driving the boat.

Waiting for daddy to get home from work!! cute hey! If this doesn't make you feel loves...what does?

We did a square foot garden this year. It looks so pretty small. This picture is from July.

addie's pony ride at the zoo. She was so brave.
We got really into toenails this summer. Look at Addie's watermelons...they were the favorite.

A bit overdue...

2009-06-11T15:08:00.004-06:00

Sorry I have been so lazy with my blog. It has been a very busy few weeks here at the house. Between our callings, getting our garden going, and coming to and from Brooks, the past 3 weeks has flown. I cannot believe we are almost 1/2 through June. I need to start having some serious summer fun. So last week from Monday to Saturday the kids and I went down to Brooks to stay with Amy and Tali while my mom and dad were on a golf trip. We missed Justin a TON but we had a lot of fun with Amy. We sure love her....especially Addie! Addison even warmed up to Tali. They became pretty good buds and cuddled together on the chairs ehen Devin was napping...Tali always napped when Devin was as it was the only time he was not chasing her around the house. Sorry Tali!
I a not sure why I don't have any pictures of it, but My friend Lashauna and her kids are temporarily living in Brooks so we spent 2 of the days we were in Brooks hanging out with them in the afternoon. It was great to see them again and get the kids together. We miss them!

One night we went out to lake Newell with Amy and had a little picnic and walked in the dirt/sand/rocks over to the swings. It was such a quiet night at the lake. I have never seen it so deserted. It was kind of nice to have bathingsuit bods everywhere...if you know what I mean! So, we just played and watched the boats a bit.
..oh and put rocks inbetween our toes.... Look at Devin's shadow! He looks like he is floating, not swinging!

What a fun Auntie!
Ok...possibly this is only funny to Amy and I, but we worked on this for way too long not to post it! We tried to make it look like I was eating Devin. He would not sit still though so it proved to be a bit of a challenge. It was funny....had to be there. I think seeing our sad attempts brought the humor.
Nice haircut Dev!

We were originally going to head home Friday morning, but the weather turned rainy so Mom and Dad could not golf and came home early, so we stayed and extra day so we could see them. I am so glad too. We missed them alot and it seemed wierd to be at the house and not see them.
We made some yummy cookies and grandpa made a very special Tali one for Addie. Cute, hey.
So, Dev was so, so cute with dad. The first time he saw grandpa saturday morning he ran up to him, arms extended and gave him a big...long...bear hug. It was adorable. They kind of had this special connection. It was really nice. Devin kind of buddied up with grandpa and Addie with grandma...following her everywhere she went!
These 3 pounced all over each other playing for a long time. I think in this action shot, Dad is about to pounce on Dev and send him into a fit of giggles, and Tali is about to pounce on Dad!

We drove home Saturday morning and we were so happy to see Justin. And I think he was as happy to see me....and my ability to cook dinner.

This week we have had a bulldozer behind the house clearing a path for something to get rid of the bad misquitos...not really sure what he is doing, but it is great entertainment. These are my farmer kids watching the action....
Oh, I hear Devin..just woke up from his nap. Better run! Good timing...no time to proofread, as always. Ignore the typos.

Happy 3rd Birthday Addie

2009-05-13T21:40:00.008-06:00

Happy Birthday Addison!! On Tuesday it was her 3rd birthday and we decided we would have a little party for her with some of the girls from nursery. With Addison's help we finally decided on a fishing birthday party. She really wanted rubber boots for a cake, and then we made little ocean cupcakes with a whale jumping in the water and a beach with an umbrella on the other side. She really loved it....even though one boot was a little wonky.

On the invitations we asked that all the girls wear their bathing suits as we were going fishing.
First thing Tuesday morning Addie walked down to the living room where her new bike was waiting for her. She LOVED it and has been asking for a bike for about a year.
Who doesn't love balloons. Devin was a really good boy at the party. It helped a lot too that Justin was home to help out.

So when the girls first got here we played with baloons for awhile until everyone arrived and then we had some yummy snacks; veggie bars, jello jigglers, pineappe and watermelon, jubjubes and of course fishy crackers and juice.

The kids needed a break from sitting so they all got down and played a bit again and then we got them back to the table to do a craft. They decorated sailor hats with little mermaid stickers and ocean foam stickers and markers. They all got pretty into it and the hats looked beautiful. Then it was finally time to go fishing.
Justin made all the rods with the little girls initials engraved into the bottom so they were all unique and hopefully a nice little keepsake. They loved fishing.
So after that we opened presents and then fished again and everyone had a cupcake. Then the party was over. I was totally stressed and was worried how it was going to go, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Addie felt so special and it was a great little group of girls.

After the party Addie opened a few more presents from us and then Daddy had to go to work. We spent the rest of the day playing with presents and Addie had her new favorite supper of club quesedillas. Then we had Addies Aunties and Uncles over for cake after supper. It was a full and fun day. Thanks to everyone who sent presents or cards and called Addie. She really had a special day.
The dress up clothes were a total hit..thanks grandma P. My favorite moment of the day was I heard Addie upstairs singing happy birthday to herself. When I peeked in her room she was checking Benny's teeth. maybe we have a future hygeinist in the family.

What a pretty princess. We love you Addie!!

Mothers day

2009-05-12T21:46:00.002-06:00

I had a great mothers day. My husband and kiddos did a great job of making me feel special. I know they love me and they really keep me going.

Sunday after church we decided to go to Horlak Park and feed the ducks. I guess everyone had the same idea on mothers day because the ducks weren't all the interested in us even though our bread was homemade!! We figured they were full and we did not wat to feed the pesky seagulls. We only stayed about 1/2 hour or so. It was chilly when the sun went behind the clouds.

Devin loves hide and seek. Peekaboo.

I will get a post up soon for Addie's birhday. I am just too tired tonight. It was a long day and Justin is out of town..so I am going to bed. Hopefully I will get a post up tomorrow.

April Sun

2009-05-08T12:57:00.003-06:00

Devin looks like a little snob in this picture...it is wierd not to see him smiling or yelling, his 2 favorite things. But he really loves the outdoors. It has been great to get the kids outside and have something different to do. Devin has eaten sand about a dozen times...he likes it. I remember Addie tried it once at that age, and she hated it. But oh no, not our Dev! He is a crazy man!

Addison loves to help out with chores. And feeding Devin is one of her favorite things to do. It is a big help...even though he can feel himself. He thinks she is funny so it keeps them both happy while I am cooking.

Every morning for the last couple weeks we have been riding. We were given this trailor for free...yeah...and first thing Addie asks for in the morning is to go in the bike trailor. She loves how fast it is. Dev has mixed feelings I'm afraid Some days he loves it...others he is not so sure and he wakes up the neighborhood with his howls.

The kids love waterbottles and I found these ones that are spillproof tops at wal-mart for when we are on the bike. Blue for Dev and pink for addie, right?? You would think. The first day Devin decided he liked pink, and blue is actually Addison's favorite color, so they kinds switched. It was so funny how much they loved them...they both peed for about 2 hours straight after guzzling down so much. Devin carried that pink bottle around with him the rest of the night, but he now will take the blue one. haha. Funny kidos.

Addie let me crimp her hair sunday. I love my little lioness!
This is my new fav picture.
So Sunday night we did our first scavenger hunt while we were on a walk. I never really thought of doing it sooner, but I must say I am glad I thought to do it because she LOVED it. I think she is at the perfect age because she really got the concept and was excited to find all the pictures on her list. the only thing we could not find was a flower...so we found some fake ones inside when we got home.

My boys. So handsome!!

Justin had a great birthday on Wednesday...and the countdown has begun for Addies on Tuesday. I will be glad when the birthday stretch is through. It is a bit of work for me, but it is fun.

Easter and Craig's Birthday

2009-04-23T15:40:00.004-06:00

Craig's 19th birthday was on the 11th...and I can't believe it is allready the 23....anyways, we were lucky enough to have mom, dad, amy, jeff, and tali all come up to celebrate it with him and us. It was great having everyone here....even thought we got everyone sick.....they still managed to get some shopping in, do go-carts, see where craig works, and go bowling.

Ok, so Justin kinda looks handicapped in this picture, sorry!! It was the only one I had of Craig with slow poke. happy 19th!!

We would not call Devin the most gentle child. He does like to bite and is kinda rough. But he loved tali and was so gentle with her. They really enjoyed each other and during super one night we cought them both watching traffic through the screen door. It was so cute.

Decorating easter eggs.

Sunday morning the easter bunny came and hid all the eggs we decorated around the living room. Then we looked outside and there were plastic eggs all over the backyard. Addie love it....Devin even got into trying to throw the eggs around to make them break open. Hahaha.

Uncles are soooooooooo uch fun!! Addie fell in love with Jeff while he was here. it was really cute. One night there was some thunder and lightening. I came upstairs and Jeff and Addie were sitting on the couch and Addie has her touque on. They had figured out a way for her not to be afraid of the thunder. The touque helped her not hear it and it kept her safe. That night, she insisted on wearing her hat to bed.

Devin loves his swing...and yes all the snow is gone now. This was a couple weeks ago.

Best buds.

Trying out her new umbrella.
One of my favorite things about devin is his obsession with the garage. The more you know Justin, the more you appreciate why that is so cute. he just wants to be out there with his daddy. So, we made one of this sleepers into a pair of coveralls and we let hi get them all dirty on the garage floor. Sunday, after everyone left, we had some vehicle problems...thank goodness for warrenties...and Devin was right out there with his daddy in the action. These are the moments Justin has been waiting for his whole life.

Devins first birthday and Keaton's goodbye

2009-04-10T08:46:00.005-06:00

Justin's younger brother Keaton Left for his mission to London England early Thursday morning. We all went to his setting apart and were sad to see him leave but were so happy that he is taking this opportunity to serve. He will do great.

Leanna and Kevin gave Devin a little Future Missionary tag for his birthday. He looks so cute with it on next to his uncle's real tag.
How much more cool could you get?
So Devin was sick on his brithday so we did not take very many pictures. We did get this one of his Handy Manny tool box wearing his new sweater from Grandma H.

This is what he looked like most of the day. Snuggling with Daddy.

This is the cake I made Devin. Addie and I made the tools out of foam, so they weren't edible. But really it was good enough....he did not even have a piece. What a lame birthday. Oh well. You can't win them all. We enjoyed it for him!
Grandma hatch Took Addie on a date one afternoon. They did some fun Wal-Mart shopping They picked out these pink rubber boots, heart umbrella, and super cute hat. So stylin!

Addie's favorite thing to do for awhile had been to build these obstacle courses. She loves climbing from one thing to the next and likes to mix up the order of everything. We often fear she will fall and break her neck....but she has pretty good coordination.
Smile!!

Little girls in daddy's work boots. Can't get much cuter!

Will winter ever end???

2009-03-15T21:00:00.003-06:00

Addie sure loves crafts. She keeps me on my toes trying to think of new fun things we can make around the house. She did not used to really like getting her fingers dirty with finger paints, but it is one of her favorite things to do while Devin is having his nap. She has made some beautiful art!
Devin is still working on mastering walking. Today he walked all the way across our living room and stood up by himself for the first time too. He is getting it!!! Crawling is still much easier though! We are all excited....even Addie.

Last week for our FHE snack we made Banana popsicles. They were delicious. I knew Addie would love them but I was not so sure how much of a grown up snack it would be...but they were really, really yummy....you should try them. You cut banana's in half, stick a popsicle stick in one end, and then stick them in the freezer for about 4 hours. When you are ready to eat them, pull them out of the freezer, and melt together some chocolate, peanut butter, and a little margerine. Roll the frozen bananas in the chololate and then top them with nuts or coconut, or sprinkles. Addie did sprinkles and coconut. They were so yummy and fun to eat.

Every child has a picture like this. Devin has recently switched to 1 nap per day and he sometimes has a hard time getting through lunch. Last week he fell asleep eating. It was so darn cute. his favorite food is yogurt, and that was what I was feeding him when he was dozing off....he was falling asleep but kept opening his mouth for more yogurt. I wish I had a video of it...I was feeding a sleeing baby. What a cutie.
My kids would be happy if they could go on the rides every day....we only have a couple more months before Addie won't be able to go for free anymore due to her age, so we will enjoy it while it lasts. They really do love the rides. Devin cries every time he has to get out of the cars.
I think Devin has been learning from his Uncle Craig. He loves the basketball toy we got him for Christmas. So many toys get played with so seldom, that it is awesome to find things that your kids really like. He has such great coordination. It is fun to watch him play.

And then there are the toys they create themselves....Addison has these shoelaces that we braided together for her. She calls it her rescue rope and she goes on adventures rescuing things. She loves to play makebelieve and it is fun to watch her imagination go.

I love getting cuddles from the kids. It is not too often they both sit still for very long like this. Mommies love quiet cuddly times. We are really getting ancy for the spring to be able to play outside and go on walks....I hope our mountains of snow start to melt soon. We can't wait for our run of birthdays to begin!!

Devin's first steps!!!

2009-02-28T21:57:00.003-07:00

Ok, don't get too excited, Devin is not running around the house yet, but our family was watching some home videos today of Addie when she was exactly Devin's age and she was taking steps between Justin and I. So tonight before we put the kids to bed we tried it out with Devin and he did amazing. His balance is getting pretty good and we have noticed around the house he will let go of things and stand on his own for a couple good long seconds. So tonight he went back and forth between us for about a half hour. Many attempts were just 1 step or him tipping, but he did 3, 4, and even 5 steps a couple times. We can't remember ever seeing Devin get so excited. Every time he fell he was ready to go again and was having so much fun laughing and loving the attention. So the fun is on!! We loved practicing this with Addie and love it just as much with Dev.

Valentines Love

2009-02-18T13:31:00.002-07:00

For Chirstmas Justins's mom gave me a cupcake book. There are some amazing ideas in there from puppies, to slumber parties, to penguins. One of the ideas was to do a little valentines platter and so as a family we decided to bring some around to our friends and Addie's nursery teachers. We had so much fun decorating them...and sampling the candy. Yum yum.

Addie got to wear her valentines dress, which she looked so pretty in.

Devin has been so cuddly lately. We took the kids to the Trilesure Centre in Spruce grove on Family Day. It has a fun kids pool and a big waterslide. Addison had so much fun!! She did the waterslid all by herself. We went up and down so many times!! And Devin cuddled just like this on Justin's shoulder the whole time. And last night he was giving Craig some love for like a half hour. Craig was in heaven!! Cute boys!

Leanna and Kevin Herington

2009-02-09T22:40:00.002-07:00

On January 30th Leanna, Justin's oldest sister, was married to Kevin. It was a very nice ceremony and reception. As you can see Leanna looked gorgeous and the reception was a lot of fun. Addison was so excited to finally be wearing her special black and white dress for the wedding. It was great seeing everyone, but as always it went too fast!

Congratulations Leanna and Kevin. We love you.

Stair Bolter

2009-02-09T22:08:00.002-07:00

I think it is so funny how babies love to do whatever they know they shouldn't. Devin is a classic case of this. He loves anything breakable and electronic, and really loves disappearing up the stairs when nobody is looking. Good thing he is so cute, because I sure love him to pieces.

So a couple weekends ago addie accidentally had a nap in the car, and so she wasn't tired at bedtime. Justin and I decided to have a date night with her. Addie and I made candy popcorn, which she loved turning the handle on the popcorn popper!! And Justin rented a movie. We watched High School Musical with her. Her little friend loves it so we wanted to try it out on Addie. She loved it too!! It was so cute to see ow she followed the plot and loved the dancing and singing. Next time you see her, ask her what her HighSchool Musical dance move is. It is so funny. She kind of jumps and does a star with her body! I love it.
She is also really into making crafts. The first one is Craig and the one below is Justin. She designed them. Anything she can glue she loves. We all have pretty big collections of cafts from her and we love them.

winter fun!!

2009-01-17T21:06:00.003-07:00

So it is possible to have winter fun! It has warmed up so much outside so we decided to capitalize on it. I just thought I would share some of the pictures I took.

I know, pathetic snowman, right. The snow just would not stick!!!

Devin has started to crawl to anything that moves and walk while pushing it. It won't be long for this little dude. He sure wants to keep up with his sister.

Christmas Holidays and home again

2009-01-12T16:09:00.006-07:00

So this is officially my new favorite picture. We don't have a lot of junk food in the house these days, but Craig came grocery shopping with me the other day and we decided to get some fruit loops. A few days later I found these 2 in the pantry with the door closed snacking in secret. Are they starving or bonding??? Pretty cute anyways.
Addie and Devin are really starting to play together. It is so fun to watch. There are often casualties, but they really do love each other and are good friends.

Speaking of good friends....these 2 are buddies to the bone. It is so funny because Devin is obsessed with electronics. Justin is on his laptop lots at home working and it has almost become a problem because now that he can pull himself up to standing Devin will reach with all his might to touch the keys and just yells. It makes it close to impossible for Justin to get anything done. I think it is pretty funny. It just shows how much they have in common....oh, I mean the electronics part, not the annoying yelling thing. haha

So as many of you know, we went to Utah this year for Christmas. The 18 hour drive went sooo much better than we could have ever hoped. We drove to Cardston the first day, and spent the night with Justin's Grandparents. The next morning we got started before the sun and drove, drove, drove all day. We got there around 7:30 and were so happy to see everyone.
Addison Had a blast with her cousins. It is bailey and Taylor in this picture. They built a snow fort with payton and Carter too. They were so great with Addie. She loves all her cousins soooo much.
This si the kids Christmas Eve in their Christmas PJ's. They wouldn't sit still, so this is the best picture I could get.

This is Addie and I Christmas morning waiting on the stairs to go up to see if Santa came. She was really excited this year. It was a lot of fun and she got lots of presents. She even got a doll house from Gand G Hatch. We didnt have room in the car to bring it back set up, so we had to wait until we got home. But she loves it and has had a lot of fun hours palying already.

We did some fun activities as a family. We all went to see the festival of lights, which is a drive through show of Christmas scenes all with Christmas lights, we also went to Temple square in Salt Lake to see the lights of the temple grounds. It was so beautiful. I forgot my camera that night. Woops. I think mine and Addies best memory was singing to Abba. Grandma got the Mamma Mia cd for christmas and Addie can sing the chourus to Mamma Mia and dancing queen. She also has some pretty fancy dance moves up her sleeve. It was so fun. Another fun thing we did was go see Grandpa's horses. Addie loved feeding them hay. Grandma taught her how to keep her fingers safe and she was sooooo brave.

And dirty!!
Even Devin got up close and person with Grandma's favorite horse, tucker. The orse wans't thrilled to have a little guy on his back, so it didn't last long, but it was really fun to see the horses. They were beautiful.

We then got back in the car and drove to Brooks to spend New years with my family. We had a great time looking through photo albums, playing with Tali, and bringing in the new year Addison made it to 11:30 new years eve. I didn't have the ehart to keep her up any longer. I did take some pictures of Addie's first easy bake oven creations, but my camera was cold and you can't hardly see Addie through the fog!!

We came home on the 2nd, and were glad to be back in our house. It was a blast seeing everyone and having a holiday, but it is always nice to have babaies back in their schedules and having routine.

thanks for everything everyone.

sick babies

2008-12-16T11:55:00.006-07:00

So, like so many others, we have been under the weather the past couple weeks. Especially the kids. Justin, Craig, and I have been fighting it, but my poor children have had some sad, cuddly days. This picture of Devin was when we were getting ready to leave Brooks last weekend he just couldn't stay awake....he was just starting to get sick then. The picture of Addie below is so funny....we were reading our nightly christmas story and she dozed of in like 2 minutes. Looks comfortable, hey!!

Nice bruise hey!! She walked into the corner of Devins's dresser....ouch!

When we were decorating for Christmas addie thought her stocking would make a great....well stocking!!

Devin has been crawling for about 2 weeks now. He is a busy boy and is loving his new freedom.

Addie dropped a weight on her toe a couple months ago, and got a black toe. Every once in awhile she notices it. My dad disappeared when we were there and addie was talking about it and came back to show addie his new, matching black toe. Addie looks concerned doesn';t she. She has told me a few times since we have been home that grandpa has a black toe too. Funny.
She had so much fun learning how to drive grandpa's helicopter. Tali looks like she is about to pounce on it!! haha......their new puppy is so cute and fun.

The last couple weeks have been hard ones around here. Being sick is hard and wearing to have unhappy kids all day long. But they still managed to fit in some happy moments.

All I want for Christmas is...

2008-11-27T16:00:00.003-07:00

My 2 front teeth!! So I finally managed to get some pictures of Devins shiny new pearly teeth. They are so cute....and funny.

Yes, this is a picture of Addie in Devin's bed with him. No, they don't sleep together, but every time he wakes up from his nap, she bolts up to his room and uses a stuffed horse as her stepping stool and jumps into his bed with him. She thinks it is so fun, and he is always excited to see his friend Addie.

So we spent the afternoon on Sunday making some special icecream-cone cupcakes. Addie of course loved helping and eating them!! We dropped a couple off at some friends houses and she must have been exhausted because she fell asleep in te car the minute we drove out into the street and even when we gt home she would not wake up. We brought her in and she just flopped face down on the floor. By how she isdressed you would think it was the dead of winter here, and although normally we do have tons of snow, it is still just brown grass and temperatures of about 5 above. She just loves her snowpants. Reall,y she wears them at home almost every day. She just loves to dress herself. Often her clothes are on backwards. Oh well.
Addie and Benny-the doll- found a new place to hide out.
Dev is so cute. So he is almost 8 months old now. He is growing up so fast. He has been a horrible eater, though you would not know it by his growth chart, and we have always struggled getting him to eat baby food. This past week I started trying table foods just cut up tiny, and not so tiny if they are soft, and he LOVES it. He has been doing great. Now I just have to figure out who do give the freezer-full of baby food to.
What a sweet picture hey!! I sure love these kids. Justin and I made a little slideshow on his computer the other night of pictures of our family from addie's birth to now, and I cannot tell you how overwhelmingly greatful I am for these 2 little monkeys. They are great kids and we sure have a lot of fun together. It is also surprising how much they look alike!! A couple of Addie's younger pictures looked almost identical to Devin. I guess they did come from the same gene-pool. They both have Justin's eyes and my nose.

The Huntin Boy

2008-11-06T22:55:00.004-07:00

Hey everyone, we had another first in the family. We went to the shooting range and practiced our sniping. Not really, but Keato had just refinished his rifle and it looks pretty cool. So we thought it would be fun to snap some pics of Dev with it. The pics turned out to be pretty cute.

So I finally got moving on the water aspect of food storage and inadvertently got the whole ward involved. We got these jugs at a poly-bottle distributor and I checked with the people in the ward to see if anyone else wanted to be involved in the purchase. At the end of church, within ten minutes I had sold 130 and ended up selling all 175. People got pretty excited about it anyway. Oh and btw Dev got his third tooth yesterday, first on the top. See ya.

Halloween Fun!!

2008-11-05T11:13:00.003-07:00

Both our Mom's have requested that the blog gets updated....and I talked to Steph yesterday and she motivated me to get some halloween pictures up. So here we go.
Things have been going well here. Addie is doing great. She is officially potty trained...we did it when we got home from thanksgiving and she did amazing! Yeah!! Devin has been hitting lots of milestones. He has been sitting on his own for awhile and he has been trying to crawl for about a month. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks and pushes himself back but the last couple days those little knees have been coming foward. As soon as he figures out how to move his hands he will be off. Addie can't wait. I am excited too....other than the realization that my little teddy bear is growing up.
Babies are so beautiful when they sleep. Especially bedtime.....

as always I put my pictures in the wrong order by accident. So birthday before halloween....anyways Justin and the kids were amazing. They spent a secret night decorating my wrapping paper which we framed a part of. It was so special to me how much effort Just put in to make it a special day. We spent saturday just spending time together and we did some errands and went to west edmonton mall and spent a couple hours taking addie on the rides. It is her favorite thing ever!! Thanks for a special day guys. Love you.

Halloween was a blast. Addie was strawberry shortcake....another one of my hand-me-downs...thanks mom.......and we are not sure what devin is, but he sure was cute. The friday before halloween we took the kids to the ward halloween party and they did some games and trick-or-treated door to door. Addie's favorite part was the blue juice...haha
So cute....too bad we couldn't get smiles from avery or addie!
We also had a little halloween party here. ustin and Addie carved a cat pumpkin while Devin and I made the pumpkin cat cake. It was lots of fun...and yummy!!

Finally Halloween came. Addison and Justin went out for about an hour. She was definatly candy driven this year!! She didn't want to stop. But when she did come home she had fun handing out candy too. Halloween is so fun with little kids. We had a blast.

where does the time go??

2008-09-28T16:33:00.002-06:00

I have no idea how I got so far behind...but I know I have to keep up even if only a couple people still check my blog. It is so easy just not to do. Anyways, we have been really busy. My baby is growing up fast. Devin is almost 6 months, has 2 teeth, is almost sitting on his own, rolls across the room, loves anything he can get his hands on toys or food! Addie is still addie. Pretty fun loving. I have done a bunch of canning the last couple weeks and that has kept my kitchen a busy place. Work has been really busy for Justin and he is loving his calling in family history. He just told me today he has a bunch of names to bring to the temple...that is pretty exciting. Craig, my brother, moved in with us almost a month ago. Addie is in 7th heaven. He is the 'new toy' around here and we are loving having hi around too. It is nice to have a peice of my family close to us too!

This is such a funny picture. I love how addie looks like she is wearing her boyfriends sweater Oliver is like what is wrong with you crazy girl. And crew...look at me I am so cute! haha. This is at lisa's house when we drove down to say goodbye to steph and crew. the kids were taking turns getting rides on grandpa's motorcycle....but no not addie. It was too loud and scary for her. I dunno. She picks and chooses what to be scared of. The boys were sure cute riding with grandpa though...it will be devin's turn soon. I can't wait.
I love baby finger dimples.
Mom, I told you I would post this picture. This was my dress when I was addie's age. I think it is so beautiful on her. I know it looks totally 80's but she wore it again today, and I am so proud of her in it she might as well be wearing my wedding dress. haha. What a pretty girl, hey.
There is a picture of me that I love when I was this age. i am sitting in the sink and you can just count my rolls. I was trying to duplicate this with dev as he is pretty chubby. Don't you just love his buzz too. Sooooo cute.

Well, I don';t know what else to say....that is the bad thing about getting behind. I will try to be better. I really don't like blogging too much, but I like reading other people's so I guess i should try too.

The birthday bash

2008-08-22T08:21:00.003-06:00

I am in love with these pictures of addie. She was trying to carry Benny, her favorite doll, around in devin's sling. I shortened it with an elastic and it fit her perfect. I think she looks like the perfect little mommy. What a cutie

This past weekend was my mom and dad's big birthday bash. My whole family was staying here mom dad, jeff, craig, amy, lisa, reid, oliver, and claire, steph and crew (minus dave) and our family. It was a blast. Lots of bodies in the house on the httest weekend of the summer, but on saturday we spend the whole day away from the heat at the waterpark. None of us had been there in years and it was a blast. We had so much fun on the waterslides....I think that was dad's favorite part!!
Steph and Crew(above) and reid and oliver(below). Sorry these pictures are so small. I stole them off one of lisa's web albums....you can double click to make them bigger.
Happy birthday mom and dad. We sure love you. What a fun excuse to get everyone together!
I can't put on a post without a picure of this munchkin. Isn't he a sweetie. Just as an update. He had his 4 month shots on wednesday. He is weighing in at a surprising 22 pounds and is 27 inches. i checked back in Addie's baby book and she was 18 pounds at 3 months and 22 pounds at 6 months. So to answer those who have asked, he is bigger. He is a great baby and just full of smiles!!

Fun camping in BC

2008-08-20T11:02:00.004-06:00

So for those who don't know we went camping the last week in July and 1st week in august. The first week we spent at Mable lake with my mom, dad and amy. It was a blast. The weather could have been better as we only spent 2 days out on the boat, but it gave us a chance to do some other things too. -Big thanks to Trudy who lent us her tent trailer...we were able to hide from the rain in there when it got pretty bad outside-

We went on the only hike we know of at mable lake and that is taylor creek...or turtle creek as us kids always called it. Addie and grandpa ventured off alot to walk on all the fallen trees. They had lots of fun doing that and throwing rocks in the water...the next best thing when you can't go it, and going on walks to the ballerina -aka marina. We also did a hike by the okanogan falls. BEAUTIFUL. There were lots of stairs built into the hills which addie did all by herself. We packed the stroller but ended up ditching it in the trees because addie just wanted to do everything herself. We were all tired, I am not sure how her little legs managed!

Thanks for the use of your baby carrier Lisa....it was very well used and loved. It broke our backs but saved our arms!! Devin is sooooo heavy but we love him so much. He did so well being packed around everywhere. I was so glad we brought the excersaucer. It was well used as well and Devin loves it.
I don't know what mom does, but she is the baby charmer. Kids just love her and Devin always just cuddles up and falls asleep on her.
This picture is kind of out of order, but on the way out of Edmonton, we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Pierson's It was great to see them and Justin had a chance to tap into some family history while we were there.
So the times we did manage to get out on the lake we had a blast. Waterskiing and tubing and playing around in the water. We all even went off the rope jump. It is just some random rope somebody rigged up on the side on the mountain. i have to admit i was scared half to death, but I am easily peer pressured and did it twice. This is Justin swinging out. Justin, Amy and dad did it for a long time one day...even after dad got a monster bite from a horse fly.

The kids had a lot of fun. It was a pretty relaxed week and 'most' everyone got lots of reading in and even some golfing and Addie went to her first movie in a theatre. Wallie. She loved it- or was it the pop and popcorn she loved?

We rigged up this little swing for Addie between 2 trees. It gave her hours of enjoyment.
This is Addie's first smore. It was her last to. She didn't like the melted marshmallow.
So the week ended and mom, dad and amy went home to take amy to EFY, and we drove to a place outside of Armstrong to enjoy the second half of our vacation. I was really bad about taking pictures this week, so these are all stolen off other people's cameras.
It was a hatch reunion with justin's parents and all his brothers, sisters and families. It was great to all get together as it does not happen very often.
Addie loved seeing her cousins and especially had a blast with bailey. They were equally silly!!! Thanks for all your help with her girls!

SMILE!!

This is just one of about 20 silly pictures these boys took together.
The week was absolutly gorgeous. We spent almost every waking moment at the lake and took turns going out on the boat. It was a lot of fun. Addie got alot braver with the water and had a lot of fun playing in the water and floating in her little blow up boat from glenna and keaton....I wish I had a picture. We all took turns doing the meals, which was a fun way to do it and the food was all amazing. After a week of sun and heat the morning we packed up to leave we all woke up to thunder. It poured!! it was exciting to say the least and it sure got us moving fast!

It was a great 2 weeks but we were ready to come home to our beds and the comfort of our home. thanks to everyone involved for all the momories.

craziness

2008-07-24T13:50:00.002-06:00

So amid the crazy busy week that we've had, we have had some down times too. While I was doing laundry Addie got all dresed up in my stuff. It was pretty cute and she felt so pretty.

So devin has started to hold toys a bit and chew on them. We think he may be starting to teeth. He has been way fussier this week and chomps on everything. Addie got her first tooth at 4 1/2 months, so he could be close. Who knows though.
I love these of Devin wearing Justin's hat. He has such a cute smile. His whole body just wiggles!! I love it.

I will try to get some good pictures from our trip. Wish us luck on the weather....We are so looking forward to getting away. Addie can barely wait!! Camping!!

Fun, fun, fun....

2008-07-17T14:49:00.005-06:00

Addie is officially my new best friend. Yup! Yesterday we were making supper together and she was sampling the fresh pineapple and cut up ham chunks....2 of her favorites....and just out of the blue she looks over at me and says, " mom, your my best friend". I was totally taken aback and almost instantly got tears in my eyes. Then she reached over to me and gave me a big hug and then one of her perfect little kisses. It was honestly one of my favorite moments I have ever had. I felt so loved by her. it was awesome. So that's that...we are best friends....sorry Justie ;)

Does he look happy, or what?? This is Devin's first time in his little bumbo (knockoff.) He loves it so much, and Addie loves that he can sit in her boosterseat. What a great purchase!! This was about a week and a half ago and I am so excited that he is ready for it before our holidays. It will be great to get him off the ground and in this little chair. He loves being where the action is, and where he can see his sister....she is pretty entertaining for him...and us all!

Sorry Claire, I know this isn't the best picture ever, but it is the only one we go of her. Lisa, Reid, Oliver, amy and claire came up and spent Friday through Sunday here. It was a blast. Claire is amazing for a 7 month old. She is climbing on everything and never stops moving. She is a really fast learner and was even clapping on demand for us. It was so fun to see her newest trick! It is pretty hard not to love this little sweetheart.

Amy of course pretty much singlhandedly took care of Oliver and Addie. They both love her so much. It was so fun to see her with them....the best Auntie ever! Oliver and Addie did really well playing together. Addie is a little bossy with Oliver...she pretty much stole every toy he ever picked up , but occasionally they would really play together and have conversations. The older they get it seems like the age gap gets closer and closer. I can't wait for the 3 older cousins to play together at the end of August!!! One of the things we did was take the kids to West Ed. We had intentions to do some shopping, but I think claire is the only one that got anything...we ended up going to galaxy land where kids 2 and under get to go on about 5 kiddie rides for free. It was soooooo fun. We are totally taking Addie to do that again....Lisa had her camera, I didn't so I will put pictures up of them on the rides when I get them. They had fun and so did I. I love rides!!!

It is funny, Addie got her first haircut when she was 2 years and 2 months, and Devin got his first at 3 1/2 months. He totally needed it though. He was so good the whole time. I buzzed the back b/c he was getting kind of a bald spot around the back where his hair was rubbing off and then it was really thick around his neck. it looked wierd. And the top was getting long and fluffy, so I just trimmed it up and it looks way better. He looked so cute in his cape!! Addie and I were calling him a superhero...she really liked that.

So we found the best babysitters ever....and they even volenteered themselves. leanna got some free tickets to the Eskimos football game and so Keaton, Josh and Glenna offered to babysit both kids so Justin and I could go on a date. It was so great of them. We had so much fun....dates are few and far between and there is just something about being in a stadium of people who are all so pumped. I am ot really a football person, but I loved the game. We were gone for like 3 hours. Glenna got to change her first diaper ever...and of course it was discustingly messy, and after Addie jumped up and said "we did it!!" I think she was proud of glenna too!! Thanks so much guys.

We are geting so excited for our trip. I hope I remember everything. I have started packing a little...but I will do most of it next week. Mom, dad and amy leave tomorrow....so we will see you there soon!! We are pumped.

from 2 to 1

2008-07-08T19:07:00.002-06:00

So, this does not happen very often. It has only been Devin and I at home together for almost 2 hours now...Addie and Justin went to a friends house to check something out for them, and had to do some shopping. And I have already baked 2 kinds of muffins, cleaned my kitchen checked my e-mail and written a few and now I am catching up on my blog. Devin has napped and is just smiling away content to be on my lap. Don't get me wrong....I am not happy to have them gone, but I feel like I am having a ME night kinda. I dunno....anyways let me catch you up on what we have been doing. I have decided it is about time we finished our basement and so this week I put the second coat of paint on the walls and did some touchups here and there. It went surprisingly fast. It is nice not to be pregnant painting. That was definately a labor of love for my kids. We have been trying to spend lots of time outside. I am too cheap to buy devin blue sunglasses so....he has been wearing addie's old pink ones. She wanted to try her new ones on him and took the baby ones and it turned out to be pretty cute. I ahve to say dev looks quite pretty in the pink ones too!! haha. Sorry son!!
There we go...he looks like a boy here!!

How is Devin standing??!! are those fingers or just more rolls!!??! kids get so dirty in the summer. We try to never miss bathtime. It is a fun time for them too. They both love splasing around.

Devin is so strong. and getting so big. He had his 3 mo appmt today. He weighed in at 19 pounds and 27 inches long. I am so proud of him though. Our doctor could not believe how strong and happy he was. She played with him for a long time...it was cute.
They are still gone...maybe I should tackle the bathrooms...

rolly-polly baby

2008-06-30T16:05:00.002-06:00

So devin rolled over from front to back on Saturday morning for the first time. Yes, that's right he is not even 3 months old. He is rolly-polly in every way!! He has not done it again yet, so it may have been a bit of a fluke, but he does love being on his tummy and is a really active baby. So, we tried a recipe for KFC honey BBQ chicken wings, and you know they were pretty good. They have you bread them 3 times!!! and that was just a little much for us, but they definately were delicious.

So we cut Addie's hair for the first time last wednesday. Her hair was getting pretty long....and I love it long but it was soo uneven. So we cut it about shoulder length just straight accross. She did really good. Justin read her a library book she had not read yet to keep her entertained while I did some quick snipping.

What a happy little boy!! he has been such a joy to add to our family. You can tell he allready loves addie too. He watches her whenever she is around him and is so tolerant of her playing with him. In this picture what happened was Devin was just innocently laying on his blanket, or blankLet as addie would say, and addie wanders in and starts wrapping him up like a little swaddled baby and playing peek-a-boo with the top part by his head. He started giggling and kicking the blanket away. He loved the attention from her I guess.

Addie let me curl her hair the morning after we cut it. She looks so grown up to me. Thanks again to Keaton and Glenna for the Dora chair. I know addie was a little hesitant the night she got it, but she LOVES it.

So other than an update on the pictures things have been good at our house. We have been keeping busy and active and loving the weather....except we do get a little hot. We are trying to get motivated to finish the basement. We have done nothing since Devin was born and want to start decorating a bit. We still need to get rid of that sectional that we got such a good deal on and does not fit and so that has been slowing us down as we know it will scratch the walls all the way up the stairs as it goes out. oh well.

Happy canada Day tomorrow

....and ps to mom and amy...I LOVE the roxie bathing suit....how ironic, hey!

Funny Video

2008-06-22T21:19:00.001-06:00

So sorry....we're back

2008-06-21T16:32:00.005-06:00

Hey....so I am a bit embarassed at how long it has been since we have posted on here. We were having some uploading problems, but Justin got it all fixed up, so I can finally catch up on what has been going on here.
As you can see the kids are doing really well. Devin is growing soooo fast. He just got weighed this last week. He is 2 1/2 months old and already weighs in at 18 pounds, and is 24 inches!! He is more than 1/2 Addie's weight!! He is a little chub, but we sure LOVE him. He has been such a fun little baby. Addie loves being around him so much. If he is on the floor she usually brings her toys right next to him and plays beside him so she can be close to him. It is pretty precious.

So a couple weeks ago we pulled out our baby toys and set up the jolly-jumper. Devin doesn't really bounce yet, but he has great head control, so he just kind of hangs in it. addie got so excited and so we let her go in it just once. She was hilarious trying to bounce in it. We all got a good laugh.

We sure love our backyard. It was pretty rainy for a couple weeks, but it finally cleared up and was nice this past week.

We have started to bath the kids together every night. It uses half the water and is soooo fun for both of them. devin is all smiles in the tub and Addie loves pouring water on his tummy. The only thing is it has brought up the iossue of why she doesn't get to have a tail and Devin does!?! (I promise she thought that up all on her own...we are yet to correct her...or acknowledge it)

Our little bedazzler. She loved to have jewlery on. Especially the ones that she has made. Here she also is wearing a bunch of hair elastics.

We never knew how wonderful the invention of the swing was until these last few months. Devin loves it. And it sure handles his weight better than my back!!

Ok, this picture i think is so funny. When Justin hurt his eye years ago now, Shauna's girls made him a build-a-bear that had this tool belt on. Addie was playing with it the othe day, and we realized it fit Devin perfect. He looks surprisongly just like his daddy!

It sure was fun to have grandma and grandpa hatch here for a couple days last week. addie had a lot of fun with them and again....loves to dress up.
I'm sure there is so much I have missed. I am soooo tired though, so I am going to head to bed. I will be better now that I can get on again.

Water......................how much water?

2008-05-25T13:23:00.004-06:00

So I have been giving a lot of thought to the teachings to establish a healthy food storage. This morning President Monson alluded to the teachings of how important it is to have a food storage. I always wonder if we really have enough to keep us going for three months or even a year. While we have done fairly well I suppose that there is always more to do. This is a link to an article that I read earlier today, http://mormontimes.com/ME_index.php?id=1145 it sheds some more light on the importance of calculated and careful planning in preparation of a fud storage. Water, water, water. How can we possibly store enough water to get a family and likely some thirsty neighbors through a catastrophe or a disaster. There is only so much in a toilet tank and hopefully we don't have to resort to that, plus I can't imagine those little mints Leanna puts in her tank tasting that great. Even dexter stays clear. There are the water purifiers that come in pretty handy, but man start saving because for any of them that provide a reliant and consistent supply of water they cost quite a bit. Anyways....

Well the family is supposedly doing pretty well. Rox and the monkeys are in Brooks this weekend. As I had a mountain of paperwork to complete I needed to stay home and fight the battle. Just had some rain here last night and ironically I found that I didn't sleep as well as normal. I missed the thumping noises coming out of Addie's room and the squeaking noises coming from Dev's. The fam is coming back tomorrow. It will be nice to see them. I think that Keato is coming over tonight to eat Gramma Pierson's perogies with me. Can't wait! ciao.

Make Believe

2008-05-16T14:38:00.002-06:00

I have got to say that watching Addie grow and change has been the funnest thing ever. I know it will be facinating with each child, but as the first, she sure has us thinking she is amazing.

She has started to play make believe all the time. She has kind of been doing it for awhile, but in the last couple weeks it has gotten better and better. She is always talking to herself, and her babies. She now has them all named except one. Butterfly baby is still just baby, and then there is her favorite, benny, and alice, there is emma, baby puppy, baby jaguar, and baby bear and she not has a pony too. She LOVES them. Her bed is often pretty full with 2 or three of her little friends in each arm....but whatever the combination may be, Benny is always there. In this picture she is putting one of her bibs on benny so he can eat at their tea partyThis is her castle. It is a kitchen, but that is what she calls it...
Ok, so Devin has been smiling A LOT more and this is the best picture I have gotten so far. We sure love this little guy. He is starting to get into a pretty good schedule, and last night was by far our best night EVER. I woke up feeling rested! It's amazing how good that feels. It is kind of funny though, because Justin was the opposite. Addie kept having nightmares last night, so he spent half the night on her floor. He woke up groggy and I was chipper. It was an opposite morning at our house today.....I kind of liked it;) Sorry hunny.
Doesn't he look peaceful all wrapped up in the sling. We came back from a walk and he was conked out for awhile on the couch.

For anyone who has kids you will know who the little blue bull is under Addie's arm. Benny the Bull- off Dora. That is who her doll was named after....I thought it was kind of fun to find her cuddling both Benny's on her stool.
other than that, things are going well for us this week. I am back in the swing of things with primary. I have pretty much taken 5 weeks off of sharing time and ward council and I start them both this sunday. Wish Justin luck...and Devin. he may be getting not just 1 bottle this sunday, but 2! I'm sure they'll do great. Addie has gotten way better at Nursery. She cries for a minute when we drop her off, but then she is fine. What a blessing!
Things have been busy for Justin at work. I am already looking forward to our 2 week holiday this summer...2 weeks with Daddy around all day will make all these long days he is working now worth it.
We sure have been enjoying the heat. Addie and I spend just about every minute Devin in sleeping out in the park. It is so fun and she is doing amazing on it! I will post pictures soon...I kep forgetting to take the camera out with us.

Addie's birthday

2008-05-14T18:34:00.001-06:00

SO, I always put the pictures in the wrong order so forgive me. The older ones are at the bottom. As you all know, we took Addie to the zoo Saturday. It was a blast.Here Justin got to touch a snake. Addie and I were not interested!!Lucy the elephant was her favorite part, and this is my favorite picture we got.

Devin slept most of the time which was fine with us as it made it way easier. What a little chub, hey!!

So the theme of Addie's birthday was that she was Addie the explorer, so that is why it is a crocodile cake. She loved it so it made it totally worth it!!
I keep forgetting to tell you girls how much Devin and I love the sling. I know this is a very unflattering picture....but it is the only one I have.
I love this onesie. Not only is it so cute and funny but I think black is my favorite color on Devin so far! And he really is a mini pooper!!
Whoever said boys are not as fun to dress up as girls is wrong. I love his little sunday clothes.
...and his golf outfit. Addie is in heaven. Benny and Devin her 2 favorite babies!! I'm just glad she is more gentle with Dev. She is practically drop-kicking Benny half the time!!!
She is still our little angle though.
Hope you like the pictures. Love you all.