Maddi's Birthday Party

We had a pancake buffet for Maddi's birthday dinner, and Daddy Dave was the pancake master. Yummy!!

It had been raining off and on throughout the day. Thank goodness the rain stopped and we had a little sunshine break through so the kids could play outside. We got a new jumping castle for Maddi's birthday.

The kids (and some adults) also played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk.

 Maddi's cousins, Mariah and Emma decorated the driveway.

We also had a pinata. 

Unfortunately, some of the kids who had come earlier had already left. 

Fortunately, for those who were still there, there was lots of candy!

And, of course, there was cake!

Audrey just couldn't resist. She was dying to eat some frosting!

Time to dig in!

This picture shows Maddi trying to share her cake. 

Dave caught on video one of the cutest things that happened with Maddi and her cake. 

Maddi stuck her finger in and reached out to Jeremy, 

who came up and licked off a big bite of cake and frosting. 

This happened twice- Maddi sharing with her cousin. So cute!

Mom gets to go wash her off!

We all had so much fun at Maddi's birthday party. It was so nice to have so many family members and good friends come to see our cute little girl on her special day. Thank you!!

Look who's one!

Maddilyn: One Year

  My friend Amy made this cute shirt with the number 1 on it for Maddi's birthday. So cute!!

And I can't believe she left this cute flower clip in her hair for a few minutes to snatch these photos. Thanks Amy and Maddi!

She likes playing with shoes and going bye-bye. 

(She still doesn't like the car seat, but she is doing better with it front facing.)

Maddilyn is a big one year old now, and we are amazed at how awesome she is.
I took her in for her well-check on her birthday (sorry for the shots) and she is still a big girl for her age. She weighs 25 lbs and is 31 inches tall (both around 95%). She's walking everywhere and loves her independence. Maddi so fun and we love her so much!

Is it summer?

Just imagine that question being asked in the cutest, sweetest Audrey voice.

A few minutes ago, Audrey was sitting on my lap after getting a long hug to comfort her from tripping in the hallway. She says to me, "Mom, I have a secret."
Then she slowly leans into my ear, moves away all hair from my ear, and says in the quietest audible voice, "Is it summer?"

After Maddi's birthday, I told the girls the next birthday was going to be theirs, in the summer. Audrey can hardly wait. Every single morning, usually when she first wakes up, she says to me, "Is it summer?"

Summer just can't come fast enough. I think I'm going to have to make a birthday countdown chart for Audrey, because we still have a long ways to go.

Maddi

Maddi has had so much fun at our vacation condo. She is learning to walk so well. Lots of new things to discover here.

Easter

Here are our three beautiful girls in their Easter dresses.

We had a lovely Easter on the Oregon Coast. The girls were happy that the Easter bunny was able to find us, even though we were on vacation.

Playing with their new toys from "Barbie: A Mermaid's Tale".

Kimee has been really wanting a Zhu Zhu pet. EVERYONE has one, you know. Luckily, the Easter bunny caught on to this new fad, and brought one for each of the girls. They have been very entertaining, even for Maddi.

Coloring Easter eggs with our friends, the Claunches.

Our first day on the Oregon coast was so full, it felt like more than one day. We watched General Conference on the internet, had an egg hunt, colored eggs, had a short Easter lesson, went to the beach, had a delicious Easter dinner, and I think there were a few naps squeezed in. 

I love Easter.  It is such a special day, for so many reasons. 

Depoe Bay

Right now, I am sitting in the living room of a condo in Depoe Bay, Oregon. In my sight are three large windows through which I can see, and hear, huge waves from a tumultuous ocean crashing against rocks just feet away from our building. It is an amazingly gorgeous view.

This picture is what  I see while sitting in the chair in the corner of the room.

I have tons of beautiful pictures on my camera to download and start posting here. However, it is a rule of mine that I cannot download new pictures until the old ones have been posted. Otherwise, I would only post about the exciting stuff, and/or easy posts, and would skip over the longer ones that are important too.

I guess this is a teaser, because I just finished posting the pictures from before our trip. So now I can download the next batch. Yeah! I am hoping to get a lot of my vacation pictures posted before we even get home (during down time, while the kids are sleeping, etc). Otherwise it may be weeks before anyone sees them :)

 These are views from our balcony.