Random Happenings

Well, this post is long overdue. Just wanted to fill you in on some of the random events going on in our lives. First of all, one night, when Timothy was at work (or somewhere else, I don't remember) anyway, the girls and I melted some chocolate chips and dipped some bananas. Kaylee really enjoyed them and just went to town. Couldn't resist a pic.

(p.s.Yes, she is in her swim suit. We also played swimming all day. Emma was quite angry that I did not want to walk around in my swim suit with them.)
I just had to share this picture. Last weekend was General Conference (that's where the leaders of our Church speak to members World Wide via satellite broadcasts, etc.). Anyway, we were able to watch it at home. Emma went into her room and brought out one of her little chairs and sat in it. Kaylee was missing for a minute, then I heard her grunting for help. I found her trying to carry her own chair. She loved to sit beside her sister while they listened intently and took meticulous notes. It was totally cute! (Don't feel bad if your kids don't watch Conference, ours are just really advanced. I'm kidding. They didn't take notes. We barely had time to snap a pic before they were up and running again.)

Also, this last Saturday - for those of you who have been following our history, this will be really exciting - Timothy and a friend (thanks Justin! and Janelle for letting us have him!) starting tiling our bathroom!!!!! I was so excited!!! We grout on Tuesday and I just have to paint, fix it up a little bit (another new light, some new furniture) and I will be ready to reveal the after picture! But here's a little something to tide you over.

Isn't that exciting!!!
You know what else is exciting? Last Sunday, a friend lent me a book that I have been kinda curious to read for a while. I devoured it in a day. I got the next book and read that in one night. Yes, you guessed it, I am officially a huge fan (or addict) of the twilight saga! I finished Breaking Dawn last night and I have to tell you, I think I'm going to miss Edward and Bella. I might have to start over! (I know that I am years late starting my addiction, I'm not sure how that happened.) Anyway, Timothy is starting Twilight as we speak. I am so excited for him. I hope he likes it. Alright, now I'm so excited I might have to watch the trailer again. Am I alone in this? Please tell me I'm not a freak!

Finally some pictures

The last week in August, the girls and I went to visit Grandma Allred. We had a blast! The girls got to ride the carousel until I got sick (Kaylee can't ride by herself, so I have to sit with her) and Grandma loves to spoil them rotten! They loved it! I didn't take too many pictures but here's a cute one that I needed to share. One night Grandma made some popcorn. Emma was able to reach the bowl with her stool but Kaylee needed help. So, Emma would feed her little sister individual kernels. It was pretty cute. She loves to take care of her!

When we got back from Grandma's, we discovered that our internet was down. I did everything that I know how to to fix the problem. I finally had to call Qwest at 8pm on a Saturday. They told me to do everything that I had just done. (Really helpful guys, thanks.) Nothing was working. So finally, the guy says, "How old is your modem?" I replied, "Just over two years". "Oh, well, they usually only last two years." Then he explained that the wiring starts to go on them and blah, blah, blah. I was like, seriously? I have never heard that before. It would have sounded more credible had he said that modems were only good for 2-3 years before he asked me how old ours was. He said we needed to buy a new modem from them. I pretty much hung up on him. Long story short, we have very, very strong feelings towards a certain communications company. Their customer service is awful! We would not recommend them to our enemies. We have been unhappy with them for a while and looked at this as a great opportunity to switch companies! Yeah! But we had to wait two weeks for installation. So, now we're up and running. Anyway, that was kind of a side note. Here are some more pictures of my beautiful girls.

So, I've fallen in love with homemade bread. I like to make it, I like to eat it. We've been making it a lot lately. I have also discovered instant yeast. But that's another post. Here's Emma after a good 'kneading'. She likes my bread too.

Kaylee, doing laundry. I like to sort my laundry on the floor in the living room. Then, I put it in baskets and take it downstairs. Well, Kaylee got to it and resorted before I could get it down. Oh well. She had a great time.

Isn't she cute? On the other hand, everyone is getting big, fancy cameras. I'm a point and shooter. But I think you can really see the difference in quality can't you?
Also, my big girl has finally learned how to come down the stairs by herself! I feel so relieved! I got so nervous whenever Kaylee would get near stairs because she thought she could just walk right off. AHHHH! Here she is, revelling in her achievement! (OK, I'll be honest, I'm still nervous if I see her on the stairs. But if I don't have to watch, she does great!)

Sorry, this post has been really random and I'm sure most of you gave up reading a long time ago. That's fine with me.

Beautiful Ballerinas!

So, here's the deal. I tried to do two posts last Friday. But I couldn't upload the video until today. So, it posted under Friday's date, even though it didn't really post until today. So, don't get lost. I explain these pictures in the last post. Here are the pictures of the girls in their new outfits. They wore them to Church today and they were so cute!

I don't know if you can really see their shirts. They say "Little Sister" and Big Sister" on them and there is a little girl. They are adorable. Emma really has worn her tutu everywhere. The day after we got them, we went to Walmart and she had to wear it there. Everyone was looking at her and telling her how pretty she looked and then looked at me and laughed. I'm not sure if they were laughing at me or with me. Doesn't really matter. Sorry about the pacifier. I had just woken Kaylee up from a too short nap and threw her clothes on her to rush out the door. Give her a break.
One of the gifts that Emma got for her birthday was some coloring books and markers. She really likes the markers but prefers blank canvas to coloring books.

Fortunately, we caught her before she got to the walls. We'll just put those away until she's a little bit older!
Emma had a rice krispie square the other day and went to enjoy it on the stairs. She was followed by her best friend. They sat face-to-face. That is, until Timothy went to get the camera. Then they backed up a little bit. Wicket loves the kids...food.

And another of the best friends. Both sittin' at the window. Watching the neighbors.

Well, that's all for now. Sorry to bombard you with so many posts in such a short period!

The Big Update

So, as it turns out, I really do need to post more often. I have a lot to put up today. Bear with me, I'll try to keep it as short as I can.
So, I totally forgot that our ward had an activity for Pioneer Day and we got some pictures, until I was 'cleaning out' the camera. It was a really fun activity, well done to the committee!

This is Emma and me in the three legged race. You see the little girl next to us? Well, we totally beat them. Just kidding! We had Emma and her run the three legged race together. It was really cute! Except that they looked at us totally confused. I think going with their mommies was a little bit better. But it was really cute. ALSO, here's a video. You all get to participate in Kaylee's first steps. She is pushing a stroller but still. This is what started it all! She is walking very well now, for all of you who are interested. But this was her first experience with pushing something that moves and she really loved it!

Alright, that was pioneer day. The first part of August, the State Fair was in town. We went one day and Mom and Dad came down. It was tons of fun! Thanks to our friends for the free gate admission! Unfortunately, the batteries for our camera died right after we got there. I'll post our pictures as soon as they get emailed to me! Just be on the look out for them because they are really cute!

Last Saturday, August 9, was Emma's third birthday! I cannot believe how old she is! And I still feel like I'm 18. We had a little party for her and she got spoiled rotten! I asked her what kind of party she wanted (princess, fairy, etc.). She requested a horse party. So, we rented a horse. Just kidding, do you think we're crazy? I made a cake. That was about it. Anyway, here's some pics!

This is the day before the party. I made the cake and then let the cupcakes cool on the counter. I turned around for about 5 seconds to sort some laundry. When I turned back around, each of the girls were enjoying a cupcake. Hey, at least Emma got one for her sister too!

Let me explain this next picture. Like I said, Emma got spoiled rotten. And we did allot of it. Timothy saw all of this stuff at a garage sale. We spent like, $12 on all of this stuff. Plus, she shares everything with Kaylee. So, we'll justify.

The kitchen is in awesome condition and it came with dishes and food. Then there was the stroller, Emma's wanted one for two years. Seriously. The red boxes are board games left over from Christmas. (She was too overwhelmed to open them.) And the makeup counter thing. I'm sure to some people, that doesn't look like a lot for a birthday but in our family, its unheard of!

So, did you know that you can go online and print out templates to make horse head cakes? Neither did I. You can though. So, next time, remember that! This time, just don't make too much fun of my cake. It tasted really good!

The green cupcakes are supposed to be grass.

Here's Kaylee, enjoying her sister's birthday.

And the pinata. I read this idea in a parenting magazine. You make a pinata out of an oat container. It was super easy and fast and worked really well. I'm such a cool Mom. Just kidding! Anyway, that's all I've got for you this time. Emma and Kaylee's Aunt and Uncle sent them the cutest outfits but I don't want to tell you what they are until I get a picture. Emma won't take hers off but Kaylee's not quite sure how she feels about it. So, I'll snag a picture and get it up here sometime soon. Thanks Jen and Isaac!

An Ode to Ma and Pa

I realize that I've posted this picture before. I'm sorry that I had to use it again. Obviously, I don't often take pictures with my parents. So, sorry about your hair Dad. Anyway, I just felt that I needed to write a little bit about Mom and Dad.

I have the greatest parents in the world. They have done so much for me and taught me well. They are kind and caring, gentle and loving. They are incredible. Their testimonies of the Savior have strengthened me and their love of His Church has taught me. I hope that someday, I can be as good as they are. I hope that the family I am starting will be like the family they raised. They made our home such a wonderful, happy place to be. They showed me what a marriage should be like. I cannot recall a time when either has ever raised their voice to the other (in anger, anyway). They have taught me testimony, service, love and communication by example. And now I have another reason to want to be like them. A lot of you know that they are going on a mission. Well, they are currently flying to Salt Lake City to report to the MTC on Monday. I am so excited for them and so proud of them. They will be missed but I know that we will be blessed for their service. Thanks for all you do Mom and Dad. We love you!

Happy August!!

So, I've been meaning to post for a while now. Sorry about that. I've got some more before and after pictures (don't get too excited, it's not the bathroom) but right now, I don't have a ton of time, so just some cute pictures of our incredible kids!

Emma asked if her car seat could be right beside Kaylee's. They like to hold hands and Emma will make sure that Kaylee is safe. Today we were out and Kaylee was pointing out the window grunting like a monkey (which is currently her preferred method of communication) and Emma said in a sweet little voice, "What do you see KK? Some grass? A tree? A man walking with a pack-pack?" I looked back and saw some grass, a tree and a man walking right on the road wearing a backpack. I had to laugh. They are such good sisters! It breaks my heart how much I love them!!

We had to take a picture of this monumental occasion. One night I decided to promote Kaylee from high chair to booster seat. She absolutely loved it! She loved sitting right at the table with the family. I think her favorite part was picking food off of Daddy's plate! For the sake of keeping the house somewhat clean, I feed her most of her meals in her high chair still. She likes to throw her plate.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to get the before and afters posted soon!

She's got talent!!

Emma loves to sing. We often watch her concerts as she sings all of the primary songs she knows, and makes up words to the one she doesn't. She usually stops when the camera comes out but she was more than happy to perform this time. Dang she's cute!

The 1st, the 4th, and all in between!!

It's been a while since my last post and I'm sorry about that. I seem to have a bit to catch you up on, it's been a busy couple weeks!
On the 25th of June, the girls and I headed up to Mom and Dad's for some fun and our annual Gibb family reunion. We had a total blast! The 1st of July is Canada Day and our favorite little town always has a really fun celebration. Unfortunately, I'm a little bit ditsy and forgot to take my camera anywhere. So, I have no pictures to show for all our fun. Just one little video of the girls and their cousins jumpin' on the tramp. They thought it was so great just to jump and scream.

Mom and Dad were headed to Moroni's Quest right after the 1st. (Moroni's Quest is a youth conference based around the Book of Mormon where the kids dress up and scenes are acted out). They looked so good in their costumes!

On the 2nd of July, we came home! It was really good to see Timothy! We missed him so much. I really don't like being away from him. Anyway, on the 4th, we went to Choutou (I have no idea if that is spelt right) for their celebrations. Here's a couple of shots from the parade.


I have to fill you in on a little secret. David Letterman lives in Choutou. Well, he has a ranch there and spends a great deal of time there. He used to always be the parade Marshall (so I'm told). I was really disappointed when the parade Marshall was some old man named Bob. While we were watching the parade, Timothy's Aunt (who lives in Choutou) pointed out Letterman's ranch's float. So I ran over to take a picture, thinking maybe he was on it in disguise. No luck. But, here's the float.

So, after another major disappointment, Timothy's Aunt told me where he usually sits to watch the parade. You better believe I went to find him! (I had told everyone I was going to get to see him. I really wanted to!) So I walked two blocks to where he usually is and wandered around behind the crowd with my camera. As I started to walk onto the street to hunt him down and get a picture, I paused and had a vision of the next day's local paper front page: "Crazed fan arrested after harassing Letterman at local 4th of July parade". I turned off my camera and walked away. How sad. Don't feel too bad for me yet! I did see him. We were driving through town after the parade and I saw him standing at a gas station talking to someone. He's really tall.
Anyway, just to reaffirm in your minds what a nerd I am, here's a picture of us girls with patriotic hair (and a huge cold sore for me).

Let me tell you another story about David Letterman (would you believe that I'm not a stalker? I really don't even watch his show. I'm just kinda pathetic). Anyway, Timothy got tickets (box seats) for the minor league baseball game tonight. The seats are right behind Letterman's seats! I am kinda hoping that he's there tonight. Maybe by the end of the game, we'll be best friends! (cause, baseball games are long and slow. plenty of time for us to get to know each other.)

Anyway, I have more pictures and stories to post but I have to go and get ready for the game. I've got to try to get rid of this cold sore before I meet Davey! (that's what I'm going to call him when we're best friends.)

The 'Afters'!!!

Well, it took us a really, really long time, but, we have after pictures for you all! I'm sorry that it took so long. We have been waiting for our kitchen table for two months. We finally got it and got the house clean enough for me to take and post pictures of. So, here they are. I hope that you enjoy them! Remember that it's not totally done yet. It probably won't be for twenty more years! We still have to do the floor (I'm thinking bamboo...any opinions?) And there's only one coat of paint on and we haven't touched the kitchen. But it's so much more livable now! We absolutely love our results! (for a complete background on the before pictures, find the post with them and the full story.)
And lets all remember that I'm not very good at taking pictures! I can't get angles so that you can see everything very well. Use your imaginations!

So, here's the before, standing at the front door, looking in.

And the after, standing at the front door.

And the new stairway.

This is just inside the main floor apartment, before.

And this is the main floor after, standing in the kitchen.

The kitchen before,

And, after.

We'll keep you posted on the progress of the bathroom. You can see it at the end of the hall, with the tub ripped out. Nice.

The Meadows

Timothy had a couple of days off last week so we decided to head up to The Meadows (Mom and Dad's house) for some family fun and a couple of trips to the temple. We had a great time. We love spending time there. It is so peaceful. Papa (that's my Dad) was driving the school bus as substitute for someone and Emma got to ride it Thurs. and Fri. She loved that! We did a lot of jumping on the trampoline and playing. We also got to watch the basketball game on the big, big screen. (the NBA playoffs, Lakers vs. Celtics. awesome game for those of you who are Celtic's fans!). Mom and Dad took the girls uptown (that's Hillspring talk) to a talent show at the school. Kaylee had to sit up front with the big kids. Anyway, I'm writing this all in a confusing mish-mash because I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures and you can figure out what they are. I had to post one specifically for Dad because he looks so great in it (nice hair, Dad!). He opposed the picture being taken but we got one anyway. Also, a little video of Kaylee from this morning. She loves music. She loves to lead it and dance to it. She's so cute! Enjoy!

Good Morning Montana!!

I just wanted to share with you our adventures here in Montana! This morning around 6am, our power went out. (It's a good thing Timothy woke up.) Hmm, that's funny. I wonder why our power is out? So, Timothy goes to look outside and guess what he saw! Snow! Yeah! The snow was so heavy that it took some trees down. Which took some power lines down. We were without power this morning for six hours. Not fun. We were cold. Emma wanted to build a snowman. So, I guess, it was fun. Anyway, here's some pictures and a little video for your viewing pleasure. Make sure your speakers are turned up. You can't really see the snow that well, but you can hear it hitting the camera. It was really kind of sharp and biting. I just stuck my hand out the door to take it. Enjoy!

This is an after shot. I took this around 2pm today. The snow is already mostly melted. But our neighbor lost a couple of tree limbs. Bummer.

Not so Extreme Home Makeover

So, we found the leak in the bathtub, and decided that we might as well redo the whole room now, rather than wait, like we had originally planned. So, last week, I gave Emma a hammer and told her to have at it. She really had fun, but didn't make much progress. Then I took the hammer. I forgot to take pictures before we started but I got some pretty near the beginning. There is so much nastiness and water damage in this tub. It's really disgusting.

Those are the almost befores, here are the part-way throughs. This is where we were as of Saturday night. Timothy had to work this weekend so we didn't get much done here.

And of course, some really cute pictures of some really cute kids. This is Kaylee after spaghetti dinner. She enjoyed her very first Popsicle! Yum! (And, she might be a bit of a poser. This is the face she made when I brought out the camera.)

Last but definitely not least, my 'princess'... with a dirty face. Oh well.

Rain, rain, go away...

We have had rain everyday, and every night, for the last week. It has been ridiculous! Those of you who are aware of our current housing situation know that we are getting, and desperately need, a new roof. However, our roofer needs four consecutive days of good weather, because of the lift he has to have. I have been really kinda concerned that our falling apart roof would leak during this downpour but, it seems to have held up really well. (knock on wood). So, here's my question. I know that people pray for rain and its really good for the farmers and such but, does there come a point when its too much rain for the farmers? I mean, we were driving and the fields looked more like marshes than farms. That's too much rain right? I don't know. Anyway, let me tell you what Emma did to entertain herself during the rain.

That's pretty much all of my bake-ware type stuff. She called it her store. The picture doesn't really even show it all. But, she really had fun with it. And even helped to clean it up after!

We had a playdate the other night and the girls all sat at the table in Emma's room. Four beautiful ladies! I cannot believe how big Kaylee is getting. She had a doctor's appointment today, just her one year check up, and I was astounded! She is literally off the charts for her height. She has always been in the 97th percentile but today, she was above and beyond that. I think its time to move her into some bigger clothes!
Anyway, yesterday was Memorial Day. Sunday morning, we decided to take a quick trip to see Timothy's family. Timothy has been talking about taking Emma camping, or at least sleeping outside with her for a long time. So, he decided to sleep outside with her at his Mom's Sunday night. Emma was so excited! She kept talking about camping and she loved getting ready. We got them all bundled up. (she doesn't look very happy here because she didn't like having to wear a hat)

Then we got them all tucked into bed. Then Linda and I went inside and made bets on how long they would last. We were both wrong. They were only about 5 min. before they came back in. Emma decided that sleeping outside was scary. Poor Timothy. So, he and I camped outside while Linda took the night shift! Thanks for a good night sleep Linda!

Now, I don't know how people feel about naked baby pictures but I'm sorry, my kids were just so cute in the tub last night, I had to share it at least with grandmas and grandpas!

Pay no attention to the filthy tub surround...just another thing that needs to be redone! Well, I know that this was a lot of pictures that aren't exciting. But I kinda made a decision to update every week. So, I will. Even if it is boring.