Vacation Bible School / Sedona

On Saturday June 18th we took Abby up to Munds Park, AZ to spend a whole week with Granny Annie. Granny signed her up for Vacation Bible School. From Monday through Friday she went to Vacation Bible School in the mornings. She did a lot of coloring and crafts. Not sure if she understood some of the Bible stories, but she enjoyed everything that they did. In the afternoons she went swimming or would go into Flagstaff with Granny to see a movie. Granny and Abby went and saw Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer 3 times!! Abby really liked that movie. During the nights she would get a little home sick and cry, but was always okay in the morning. On Friday, when it was time to come home she didn’t want to leave Granny’s cabin. Once she saw us she was very excited to come home though. She kept telling us, “God loves us all” and, “God is watching us”. Once she even told us, “God was watching us with his glowing eyes”! Hmmmm…..not sure where she picked that one up. Over all I think Vacation Bible School was a hit and I know she is looking forward to going again next year!

The girlies before we left to take Abby to Granny's

Now…..while Abby was gone the parents got to play….a little. That first weekend Nana watched Savannah so we could go play with Nick’s golf group in Sedona, AZ. Our friends Carl and Amy came and played with us. We met them up in Sedona after we dropped Abby off at Granny’s. We went to the Oak Creek Canyon Brewing Company and several other interesting Sedona places and just enjoyed ourselves!! We stayed overnight and the next day we played golf at Seven Canyons in Sedona. It was a very difficult course, but Nick ended up coming in first place in the tournament!

The next week was weird without Abby around, but we got to have a whole week with just Savannah. It was strange to just have one child again…..and much more calm since Savy is still so young. Mostly we sat around and watched movies for 5 days straight! It was great, but we missed Abby and we were very glad when she came home!

Carl and Amy Rider, Me and Nick

Seven Canyons Golf Course

More pics of our Girlies!!

Savannah is 5 months old (well....tomorrow she will be)! She rolled over at daycare last Thursday, June 9,2011, back to belly. We tried all weekend to get her to roll over, but she wouldn't do it. Of course on Monday she rolled over at daycare again! I guess that is one of the downsides of being a working parent.....you miss some of the "firsts". :( Maybe she is just waiting to show us until the perfect time!

Last weekend we went over to Uncle Eric and Aunt Amy's house for an early Fathers Day/Nick's Birthday celebration with Grandpa Dan and Jaci. we all went swimming and Aunt Amy took some updated pictures of them.

Next week Abby is going to go up to Munds Park, AZ to spend a whole week with Granny Annie! This will be Abby's longest trip away from Mommy and Daddy. She is going to go to Vacation Bible School in the mornings and then spend the afternoons at the Pine Wood Country Club, swimming with Granny! Since this is the first time being away from us for so long we are not sure how she is going to do. Hopefully she won't be too home sick and have tons of fun!!

Daddy and Savy

Savy 5 Months - I found my toes!!
whacha doing Aunt Amy?
Oh hi!!

Abby - 4 1/2 Years old

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Savannah - 4 Month Check Up

I Can't believe our baby is already 4 months old! She went to the Dr. yesterday for her checkup. She is now 27 3/4 inches long (100%) and weighs 16.7 lbs (95%). She is going to be tall like her sister....maybe even taller! She got 4 vaccines yesterday. One was liquid and the other 3 were shots. She cried, but only for a minute and then was okay. Savannah is smiling and giggling a lot now. She talks a lot even though we don't know what she is saying. She can hold and reach for all her toys and loves to sit in her bumbo and look around. Her hair is sloooooowly starting to grow, but her head still looks like a little tennis ball. She hasn't rolled over yet, but I am sure that will happen soon. We are in no hurry with this one. We kind of like the stage of her just laying around and being all cuddly. Once she starts moving the days of cuddling may be few....sniff, sniff. It is amazing how with Abby I just wanted her to grow and see what the next stage was and with Savannah I just want her to stay a baby for as long as possible.

Mother's Day in Carlsbad

This Mother’s Day weekend we went to Carlsbad, CA to enjoy the beach before the summer AZ heats sets in. Granny Annie came with us too! We drove over on Thursday night. On Friday we went shopping at the outlets and then went to the strawberry fields to pick strawberries. Abby had fun picking strawberries….and we all had fun eating them along the way! Then we went to the beach in the afternoon. It was Savannah’s first trip to the beach. Granny had bought her a new bathing suit and she was ready to go. Of course she spent most of her time at the beach napping, but got to feel the water a little. It was a little too cold for her. The weather was perfect. The beach we went to on Friday was not so perfect. Turns out there was oil on the sand. It looked washed up from the water. Not fun when we all stepped in it. Luckily we figured out that if we took a baby wipe and rubbed at it…for a loooooong time it came off. Glad we had lots of baby wipes around. On Saturday we went back to the beach. The weather again was amazing. We went to a different part of the beach in Carlsbad and there was no oil so that was good. Sunday we drove home! It was a very fun and relaxing Mother’s Day!!!

Picking Strawberries Mommy and Savy at the beach
Savy in the water for the first time....brrrrr....cold!

Savy and Abby

Oh...Hi Mommy....let me just pose for you!!

Mommy and Abby at beach

Abby with her Purple Zinc on!!

Granny Annie and Abby at dinner....eating lobster...well, Abby had grilled cheese!

Easter 2011

Easter this year was very very busy!! But so much fun! Earlier in the week we celebrated Passover with Granny Annie. Abby was very good this year and sat through most of the dinner. On the Saturday before Easter we went to our community Egg Hunt that Shiloh Church puts on every year. Nana Barbara, Grandma Bev, Aunt Lisa and Cousin Katelyn came too! Abby went charging for eggs, while Katelyn picked up 3 and then was more interested in the swing set.

After the Egg Hunt we went home and dyed Easter Eggs. We used a really cool glitter kit this year. After we were all done and cleaned up I went to put the eggs in the refrigerator and noticed another carton of eggs. I had one carton that was hard boiled and one for Easter brunch. Hmmmmmm.....I wonder which carton I grabbed when we started dying eggs??? Turns out we dyed the regular eggs and not the hard boiled ones! Back to the store I went to get more dye for the hard boiled eggs. Abby then dyed eggs again. The next morning when I started to make our egg casserole we cracked the glitter eggs. Some of the glitter went into the casserole so it was very pretty!!

Nana, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Gregg and Cousin Katelyn came over for brunch on Easter. They got lots of baskets and presents which they enjoyed! Later that afternoon we had dinner with Grandpa Dan and Jaci. Uncle Eric, Aunt Amy and Uncle Max was there too, along with some of Jaci's family. Abby had fun doing another egg hunt! Savannah had fun just hanging out all day watching all the fun!

It was a great Easter spent with lots of family and friends!!

Morning of the big Egg Hunt!

Aunt Lisa and Cousin Katelyn

Savannah just hanging out

Abby finding eggs

Grandma Bev and Abby opening her eggs

Katelyn

Savannah having fun at the hunt

Dying eggs - #1

Dying eggs - #2

Easter Sunday!

Smiles!

Savannah is almost 3 months old now! She is smiling and talking a lot more (of course we don't know what she is saying, but we love to listen!). She started daycare on Monday, April 11th and is doing great. It is hard for Mom and Dad to get into the new morning routine though. A lot more to remember and do now that there is a second child to drop off. Need to start earlier which means less sleep. Oh well.....they are both worth it!

T-Ball

Abby started playing T-Ball this month. She is doing really good. Basically the kids are being taught the fundamentals of the game. Pretty much all the kids can hit the ball and throw pretty good. Getting them to run around the bases is funny. Abby likes to walk the bases and not really run. Oh well....it is cute to watch! So far T-Ball is much more successful than Soccer was.