Yellowstone and summer time

It has been so long since I posted. I guess I must just get on facebook and just put in little updates, but that isn't enough I think. We have been busy the past 2 weeks doing all sorts of fun things with my parents. They were here with us for 2 weeks and we packed in the fun. I think they definitely need a vacation from their vacation. We went to Yellowstone for several days and got to see all sorts of wildlife. We saw 2 black bears, a grizzly bear, elk, moose, buffalo of course, and bighorn sheep. The kids loved Old Faithful. It was so fun to watch them see it. One cute thing was that I told Rachel that God makes the water come up out of the ground. She saw the steam coming out as it started to shoot up. She turned to me and said, "God's gonna come?" I thought it was so cute. She totally misunderstood me, but such a tenderheart :)
The twins loved just playing in the nature and picking up sticks and climbing over logs. So they had a great time. We stopped over in Lander to visit Dana's hometown and get a game of golf in. Dana's parents were great hosts and helped make our trip so nice.

I am excited to be back to having summer like weather. For the month of June it rained just about every day. It did cool things off and the grass is green, but I am ready for full time summer. Two of the nicest days we did some fun outings. We went to the nations largest water park, Water World, and had a blast. And we also got to take in a Rockies baseball game, and go to the zoo. I still can't believe that we did all these things. It was a great time with lots of memories :)

Now that is just about July, we are thinking about our anniversary. We will be married for 6 years the 26th. It has gone by so quickly. And I am so thankful for Dana being such an amazing husband and dad to our girls.

I am going to be back at Hope House a little bit. I will be volunteering as a staff member for a while. It will be good to be involved again and getting out of the house a bit. I hope it all works out well.

Guess I better end here. Hopefully I will post again sooner than later.

New stuff

Well it has been a while again since I last posted. There are things daily that happen with the kids that I think I should be posting on here. But I always forget to write, or simply just run out of time in a day. Today, I am letting the kids play downstairs by themselves a little bit. I just keep checking on them every little bit. I am loving this! They are doing pretty well too. Not too much fighting. I think they realize that I am not their to break things up.

Today I took the kids to a story time at the library. They all did pretty well, but it seemed that Lizzy got a little bored. She actually started pulling her pants down, and then up again, and then down again. Thankfully she had a onesie on, so she wasn't flashing anyone that little diaper :) It was a crack up.

Lauren is so talkative lately. She has been attached to a backpack. She puts toys in and keeps stuffing them in until the bag is almost too heavy for her to lift. She also can say the word "backpack". She shouts it out loud when she wants it or sees one. It is pretty cute. Lizzy likes them too, but is drawn a little more to purses. One day, she was carrying around a tank top by the straps as if it were a purse. She had it on her arm all day. I was waiting for her to start putting things in it and have them slip out the bottom. I was cracking up watching her carry it around the park even.

Lizzy has started to say a few more words too. She says hat really well now. But mostly it is Lauren who does most of the talking. Lizzy and Rachel have begun really wrestling. They roll all over each other when they are playing in the basement. They just get laughing. It is funny cause when Lizzy is on top of Rachel, Rachel can only kick her legs and arms, cause Lizzy is too heavy for her to get out. It is so fun to watch them playing and laughing together.

Rachel is often found singing the ABC's and coloring. Every day she asks to color and for us to color with her. She is getting pretty good at coloring pages that we print off the computer. Sometimes she amazes me at how good she is getting.

We had a stretch of a couple weeks with really warm weather. We got out our summer clothes and went to the zoo with a friend one day. And have played at the park a ton and out in the back yard too. I cannot wait for the summer. I think we will be in our swimming suits all summer :)

Here are a few pictures I thought I would post:

Kitchen cabinets

Well we got our kitchen cabinets in. We still have to do the finishing touches, like hardware and some caulking, but overall they are in and we are using them. Amazingly I haven't filled them all up yet. I was figuring the moment you make some storage space you immediately fill it up, but thankfully that hasn't happened. So now my kitchen has room for everything and some room to grow. And this week I had to buy more plates and bowls since the twins are enjoying having their own dishes for meal time. So even though it bugs me when they throw their bowls on the floor, I know they are learning how to use them. (and getting a lot of time outs :)

We haven't been super busy, but we made sure to file our taxes, it is always exciting when you know you will get a return. So we are starting to pick a biggie to buy and I think we are going to try to get a used treadmill. Well I am sure it will be practically new because most people only use them like 20 times before they quit and then it sits for a year collecting dust. So we figure we can get a good one for cheaper, and then if we let it sit we won't be out too much money. I have convinced dana to get rid of the weight machine in our basement so we can put in a treadmill. He was all for it cause I think he enjoys a more cardio work out anyway. And we got rid of the toilet plant potter in the back yard. Both are things that I have to say no to the kids about all the time. So I am sure they will just find something else to get into, but for now that will help.

I have joined a mops group in a local church near us and I am so excited to go every meeting (at least when the kids aren't sick) and it gives me such a break having the nursery there. And I am getting to socialize with other moms. This is why men aren't typically stay at home dads, because they would never be able to organize something like this. Seriously those women who run this do a ton of work!! I am thankful to have joined. And now that I am not working on Thursdays anymore, I am taking the kids to story time at the library. It was so fun to watch Rachel last week sit on the mat with the other kids and listen to the stories and sing the songs. Then afterward we all did a craft. It was so cool and it was free to us. We saw another mom from our neighborhood there with her kids too so Rachel enjoyed seeing them too. Afterward all the kids played on the playground they have outside. I noticed that there are water fountains that must run in the summer for the kids to run through. That should be fun this summer. I will have to have them wear their suits to story time.

The kids are growing so much. Rachel had her first nightmare last night. She woke up just screaming. I went in and she was kind of talking in her sleep to me and said that the scary fish (shark form Finding Nemo) said "hi" to her. That cracked me up.

Lauren is saying so many words it is amazing. Practically every day she tries to say a new word. Mostly she gets the first sound of each word out. Elizabeth doesn't say too many words yet, but enough and I am sure one day she will just start talking perfectly. At night time the twins new routine is to brush their teeth and then give everyone a night night kiss. Rachel loves to give each of them a kiss good night and the twins kiss each other too. I am sure it isn't sanitary or anything.

It seems that Rachel and I have been doing some baking together. We did cupcakes for Dana's birthday and then soon after that we made cookies (rolling pin and all) and cut them out for Valentine's day. I couldn't let her do the frosting though, it was messy enough for just me. Now I feel like each week I need to come up with something to bake with her. We will see.

Well I will post some pictures now and call it good.

Well I was worried I wouldn't be able to post today, since the kids were all crying in the middle of nap time. Man some days it is really scary whether or not they will take a nap. It is my goal to keep Rachel napping in the afternoon. And then let her stay up a little later to see her daddy after work. And the twins are down to just taking an afternoon nap too now, so I have to time it just right when they are tired to put them down. And then hope they don't wake up. I just feel like I need that break to get myself together for the rest of the day. Thankfully, it has been going better the past two days. A few days before that, the twins were having a hard time adjusting to the one nap, although they were ready for it. Mostly Lizzy was ready for it. Lauren would still nap during the mornings I think, but I kind of have to keep them together on this one. It should be fine.

This weekend is Dana's birthday. It is fun to have something to celebrate during the long winter months after the holidays. Dana's parents are coming for a visit and to celebrate Christmas together a little belated as well. We are going to try to all go out for dinner to celebrate, that should be fun. Dana and his dad are going to do a little house project too. They are going to install some of our kitchen cabinets. We will gets some extra storage space and some much needed counterspace. That will totally change the look of part of our kitchen. There is still much to do on our house, but this will be so great and a good weekend project for them to do together. Plus with Marsha there to help me keep the kids from underfoot, Dana won't feel like he can't get anything done.

Well I hear Lauren waking up a second time, grr. Thankfully Lizzy and Rachel are still sleeping. That should be a help at least.

More later

Happy New Year

Well we are officially into the New Year now. Crazy how time flies so fast. January is half over already. I can't believe it. So we had a great end to 2008, Missy came to visit us and spend the New Year. We had such a great time together and it was so great to have her here to see the kids. I am so glad my girls got to spend that time with their Yima. Rachel still talks about Yima every once in a while. And when she makes "phone calls" on her pretend phone, she calls her Yima. So cute.
The twins recently had their 15 month check up and they are both doing great right on track with their language development, each saying three words and actually now Lauren is saying even more. Some of her favorites are "Hi, momma, daddy, ball, shoes and peak a boo" I am not sure how many others would understand all of those, but I certainly do. It is so great to watch them learn new things. Elizabeth is saying "Hi, momma, daddy, and gink for drink" Both girls have learned to sign please and drink. I am thankful for that. They also love to go to time out now, so crazy, but they immediately sit in their time out spot and love to get a hug afterward and say sorry. In fact, it turns into everyone giving everyone else a hug everytime. Hey at least they do their time outs I guess.
Rachel is growing so great too. She is still a light weight, weighing only 4 pounds more than Elizabeth. Rachel has full comversations with me now. She is practically my best friend some days :) She totally picks up everything I say (including tone which sometimes I am not proud of) But the cutest thing is the way she cares for her sisters. Just today Lauren was sad and crying in her stroller so Rachel came up to her and said "I know, I know...hold my hand" and the proceeded to make her hold her hand. It was so sweet. She was genuinely trying to care for her. I love those moments.
Other moments going on as the girls are getting older. One is the discontinuance of the pacifier. I thought I would need to be dependent on them for a while yet, but Dana and I decided it was too difficult just to keep track of them, so we threw them away this morning. Last night was the girls first night without paci's and all day today. For the most part they didn't really miss it too much. Hopefully, I will make it through the day tomorrow without them :)
Rachel is so ready to potty train, but sometimes I think I am not ready. What an undertaking it is...so intimidating. I sometimes think, "how is Rachel supposed to remember to go to the bathroom, when I can't remember to get her there!?" Anyway, I am sure it will come in time. She is definetly ready and we are getting started I guess. But I am not ready quite yet! I think I need to get through the paciless phase first :)
Anyway, that is as much of our life as I acan post here now. Catch ya later.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Just thought I would attempt a little update on our lives this last year in a quick Christmas letter. We weren't on top of things enough to actually send out Christmas cards or get a Christmas photo taken. We have tried some photos with the kids and trying to get them all to look and smile might pose a problem. So here we go with the digi-card :)

We are so thankful for all that God has given us this past year. The biggest this year was surviving the first year with twins. I would say after the first 6 months, things have gotten progressively easier. Not that it is easy or anything, but much much more manageable and enjoyable. Rachel turned 2 in August and then the twins had their first birthday in October. That year looks like it went super fast, but I know it was full of long days and nights. The kids are all growing so fast. The twins are walking and saying a few words each now. Both are learning some sign language about what Rachel did at their age too. Meanwhile, Rachel is imitating everything we say and do. She is loving playing with her manger scene. Everyday she says, "Good News, Baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem!" She is so excited.

Dana continues to love being involved in the police department. This past year Dana's shift allowed him to be home with me and the kids all morning. What a help that was and a joy for him to get to play with the kids and watch them grow so much over the year. Next year will be a new change for us in that Dana will be working a day shift, something he hasn't done since we were married. This will free up our evenings to get more involved with our church as small group leaders this year and enjoy dinner together as a family. Hopefully I can survive all day with the kids this year. We will be making many play dates I think.

Overall, I am so thankful for the blessings of love from our family and friends and for the good things God allows us to have and experience and His mercy for us.

Praise the Lord.

Love
Dana & Trisha
Rachel, Lauren, & Elizabeth

Thanksgiving

Lately I have been trying to transition all of us back to normal. After vacations it seems almost that I need to get back to normal more than the kids it seems. I love vacation because I get so much extra help with the kids, then when it is back to reality I seem to get overwhelmed. Lately, I have been in pretend world forever. I got out the Christmas "little people" nativity scene for Rachel and all she wants to do is play Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. I love it that she is learning about Jesus and all, but living in play world is a little trying for me. It will be nice when all the kids play together. I have liked to see how much Rachel learns when I do play with her, because she is learning so many new words and phrases. It is amazing what she says and how she uses it. Today I was telling her something and she wasn't totally understanding me so she said, "what are you talking about mom?" Just like a little adult. It seems that she is learning a lot, but also trying me in her behavior too. She has started into really whining. I had been trying to "talk" with her when she does it to get her to use words to figure out what is upsetting her. But I have seen that is futile, so I have started doing timeouts. It seems to work and she ends up behaving better. Especially at lunch. She hasn't been eating well at lunch time if at all. So in the beginning if she whines I am putting her in time out right away no warning, and she is doing much better. Even so, it is so hard to keep it up. I totally know that other moms are feeling it too, especially as winter approaches. I am also wondering what next year is going to hold for us. Dana's shift will be during the day mon-thurs. So instead of having help in the morning, Dana will be there for some of dinner and bedtime. Hopefully I can get showers in there sometime.

Someone just rang our doorbell and woke up Lauren and Rachel form their naps!! Ugggh...