Happy Birthday Baby Quail!

So after 3+ weeks of waiting, and watching the mother quail sitting on her eggs, they finally hatched! I had been checking several times a day, the last few days, to see if they had hatched or if she was still on the nest. Monday night I could see the mother still on the nest. Tuesday morning (Kimee and Audrey's birthday) I just saw the eggs. During the party, Dave went over and checked more closely and saw that the eggs were cracked open and that there were little feathers everywhere. Baby quail! We couldn't see them anywhere until after the kids' party. . .

We saw the little chicks under this bush, which is next to where the nest was.
Later that evening, at the birthday barbeque, mama quail starting leading her chicks out of the bush, across the back wall to the raspberry bushes.
She led them back and forth and back and forth several times (maybe 6?). We counted 8 chicks. It was sooo fun to watch.

Here mama quail is on a rock instructing her chicks that are just under the bush.
It was so fun to watch this little quail family in our yard for a few days.

Unfortunately, they have left our yard. I am sad about this. One time I saw the mama quail leading her chicks along the fence heading out of our yard. I started walking towards them and scared them back into the garden. Unfortunately, the next day they must have left when we weren't outside. There is an orchard across the street from us, so we think they are in there. I just hope a cat didn't get to them first. Goodbye baby quail and hope to see you next year!

tricks on the swingset

Kimee has been practicing some new tricks on the swing set with Audrey. I love watching them play together, especially when they don't fight. Kimee really wanted me to take a picture of these tricks. She has named them . . .

This is the potato twist.

This is the pretzel twist.

Maddilyn: 3 Months

Maddilyn is so much fun!
She is smiling, cooing, making bubbles, drooling, and sleeping through the night for 8 hours! She loves being held or riding in the Baby Bjorn.
She plays in the exersaucer, swings in the baby swing, and kicks in the bouncer.
She doesn't cry very much and only does when there's a reason:
poopy diaper, burb that won't come out, hungry, and tired.
Maddi can tell the difference between her two sisters.
(She often starts crying when Audrey holds her).

Kimee loves kissing Maddi, holding her, singing and dancing for her.
Kimee loves it when Maddi smiles.

Audrey likes picking up Maddi and giving her to Mommy or Daddy.
She loves helping change her diaper, she undoes the snaps and velcro.
She loves kissing her and always updates us on Maddi's status:
she spit up, she's crying, she burped, etc.

We love Maddi so much! I think she is perfect in every way.
It's hard to imagine life without her. We are so glad she's in our family.

Raspberry jam, yum!

Our raspberries this year went crazy! I think all that rain we got in June helped us get a bumper crop. So far we have done 6 batches of freezer jam and there will probably be one or two more, based on how many berries I still see out there. And we get to eat fresh berries on ice cream and cereal, what a treat!

I love that Kimee likes to come out and help me pick. Audrey keeps us company and tries to help. Usually that includes holding and possibly spilling the bucket of picked berries. They both keep me company and I love working out in the yard in the morning before it gets hot. Picking enough berries for one batch of jam (about 6 cups) takes almost an hour, although I have never timed it.

There is nothing better with homemade raspberry jam than freshly baked homemade bread. I haven't done this in awhile. Actually, I think it may have been 3 years since I made homemade bread. SO, that may be the reason I did something really dumb. I shouldn't advertise my stupidity, but I think it's good to know that everyone does dumb things now and then. And it's good for me to laugh at myself.

So, I was making bread and my "dough hook" broke. The next day, I did it again with the other "dough hook" and it broke too. (The bread still turned out really yummy!) I asked Dave if he could stop by the Bosch store sometime to get me a new dough hook. Well, the wonderful husband that he is, went out of his way the very next day to get me a new dough hook. He calls me from the store and asks if it was the cookie paddles that I was using to make bread. DUH! Yes, it was. So I guess I needed knew cookie paddles. Then he asks if I need a dough hook too. Yes. He buys both and brings them home. As soon as I see the bag I recognize the dough hook. DUH! I have one of those, I just have no idea where it is! Wow, I can't believe I used cookies paddles to make bread dough, and had no recollection of owning a real dough hook. I guess I can blame it on losing too many brain cells from pregnancy/child birth/new baby AND/OR I have just made so many batches of cookie dough I thought that was the only attachment I had for the Bosch. I can't wait to make another batch of bread with the real dough hook.

in the exersaucer

Maddi is now old enough to enjoy the exersaucer.
It is so fun to watch her play and learn to use her hands.

Sometimes she even falls asleep!

She is just so cute, I can hardly stand it!

summer dance

Kimee and Audrey had so much fun in their summer dance class at the Madsen's. Aubry is the best teacher! This is the first time Audrey has been able to go to a "class" like her big sister. She absolutely loved every day she got to go to dance class and would talk about it all the time.
We were so glad that grandparents, Jill and Jeremy, and the Smith's were able to come enjoy the recital. The girls did such a good job and were so adorable doing their group and individual dances.






Afterwards we went out to dinner at Golden Corral. It was so fun and a great way to celebrate!

Cherries, anyone?

Had my fill of cherries today. You do the math...

12 hours (9am-9pm)
16 gallons of cherries picked (Thank you Dad!) off of one awesome neighbor's cherry tree
5 bowls of fresh cherries shared
21 quarts and 7 pints of whole cherries canned
20 pints of cherry pie filling canned
1 Costco cheesecake topped with homemade pie filling, half eaten
Too many dirty dishes to count
Lots of fun memories with my parents

I wish I could have taken pictures today, but my hands were full all day! Grandpa spent a lot of the day holding and playing with Maddilyn. Kimee helped pick, wash, and sort the cherries. She spent a lot of time helping Grandma and me in the kitchen. Audrey kept everyone entertained and on our toes, including teaching us dance steps and one major meltdown (no nap!) At this point it seems like it would be a lot easier to just go to the store and buy pie filling. But this whole process is a good lesson for my kids and somehow, despite the mess in my kitchen, gives me a rewarding feeling. I conquered the cherries!

Independence Day

We are so happy to be living in this wonderful country, the good ol' USA!
We bought a flag at Costco, and today was our first day using our flag pole.

Dave putting up the flag bright and early this morning.

Here we are in our Old Navy flag shirts at the Provo Freedom Festival Parade.
Happy 4th of July!

camping out

I think one of the reasons why I have been putting off the blogging this week is because I knew I would have to sort through the hundreds of pictures that Emma took with my old camera of our campout in the backyard. Seriously, there are over 200 from about a 2 hour time period! Here goes . . .

Dave, Kimee, and Audrey setting up the tent.

Mariah helping with the poles.

Kathy and Maddi watching the setting up of the tent :)

Emma in the tent.

Mariah in the tent.

Kimee and Audrey having fun.

After the tent was up, we grilled steak and had a good 'ol barbeque. Later, Dave made a fire and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Yum!








The next day, after putting all the camping stuff away, we got out the water slide and had fun in the sun! We had so much fun, we forgot to get out the camera! Thank goodness or I would have had 400 pictures to go through. :)

Liberty Land

We had so much fun at this new place called Liberty Land. Every time we drive by on the freeway, Kimee notices the mini Mount Rushmore. So we had to go and check it out. It was lots of fun, although we got a little overheated. There was hardly anyone there, so we got to go on all of the rides multiple times with no lines! The only wait was if we had to wait for an attendant to come and start the ride.

Bumper boats around the Statue of Liberty.

Riding the Rush Coaster


Kimee didn't want to go miniature golfing, but I insisted. Audrey got tired after a couple of holes. The course was pretty cool, with waterfalls, a few tunnels, and lots of patriotic stuff. Definitely the nicest miniature golf that I have played, but I haven't played many places. By the end, we were all pretty hot and exhausted. As we walked in to turn in our clubs, Kimee enthusiastically exclaimed, "That was so much fun!"



Poor Audrey was so hot. We stopped for ice cream.
A few more rides before we head home.

I don't know why I didn't get a picture on the carousel.
That was Audrey's favorite.