Weekend Wedding Fun

Congratulations to my cousin Bridget and her new husband, Will, who got married this past weekend!  We had such a fun time at the wedding and the next day at Patti's for a little extra family time.  Now that we are all grown up we don't get together like we did when we were kids, but it sure is fun when we do.  It's also really fun to see our kids playing with our cousins kids.  Sunday morning at Patti's was very reminiscent of the old days.  I'm pretty sure Grandma Babe and Grandpa Bill were smiling all weekend long to see their family together like that.  So a big thanks to both Bridget and Will and Patti for bringing us all together for the weekend!

 All scrubbed and clean waiting to get fancy for the wedding

 anxiously awaiting the bride!

 Millie was a little shy around the other young girls there, but Gracie pulled her in and as you'll see it didn't take long for her to find her groove :)

 SUCH a happy and in love couple!

 The cake was good :)

 Luke looking dapper in his tie and top hat -- he also had a monocle! 

 It took a while to get through all of the formal wedding dance floor things, so the kids just improvised and made their own dance floor off to the side --they had a blast!

 There may have been some sack races the next morning at the hotel ... no one was injured, the pillow cases were also used as sleeping bags :)

Down and Dirty

Well, it turns out it's a-okay to let the girls get as dirty as they want to.  Good thing, 'cause there really is no stopping them once they are outside! Perhaps we should head outside now...

Non-Toxic Kids: Why Getting Dirty is Good for Kids and Outdoor Act...: ( I love this new report from the National Wildlife Federation!  It encourages we parents to lighten up, and let our kids get dirty outs...

Portraits

Merrill is really starting to come into her own when it comes to drawing and art.  They are a little hard to see since she drew on red paper, but I love that she even added rosy cheeks :). 

Cousin Time

The girls are really loving spending time with their new cousin Peyton when they can.  We are hoping that time increases now that my sister will be part time at work!  Last week we hung out with Peyton at my parent's house.  I think Peyton enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed playing with her!

Peyton got to watch the girls paint...

 eat...

 and read books (okay, she slept for most of that part, but she did wake up for the end of the book :) )

we also got to see her yesterday for our Book Club Family cookout -- she looked so cute rockin' her tie-dye dress from Colorado!

Monday Manicures (and Pedicures)

 Things overheard during our Monday afternoon manicure/pedicure session at home:

Millie:  "My bootie itches" (after having me scratch every OTHER itch on her body while her nails were wet)

Merrill: "My bootie itches" (spoken BEFORE her nails were painted when she was perfectly able to attend to said itch herself...

After both girls proclaimed how beautiful their nails looked, Merrill:  "In FACT, they are SO fancy!" (it just cracked me up that she kept saying "in fact") -- In fact, they were so fancy that Millie had to do an outfit change after her nails were dry so that the rest of her was as fancy as her rainbow nails :).

My girls can get down and dirty in the mud with the best of them, but they can certainly be girly with the best of them too!

Easter 2012

Our day started with some cleaning/organizing, followed by a short hike at Powder Valley and ended with an egg hunt and great family dinner at my parent's house.  A productive, healthy AND fun day (this is what happens when everyone is up by 6 am!).

 we had to stop at EVERY bench for photo opps :)

Time to get fancy and head to Lainey and Grandpa's for Easter!

Somehow my parents escaped all pictures this time around ... I may have to go through my sister's stash of pictures and see if she has some!