Hysterical Cheese Ball, formerly known as Stoneface

Ella is growing up so fast and she is starting to talk!!! Last night I had the privilege of hanging out with her alone and we had so much fun!!!! We played ball, put on hats and read books together! I put the little Santa hat on her and after watching me she would say, "Ho, Ho, Ho" in her funny deep voice. Here are few shots of her happy, quirky personality!

Halloween and Pumpkin Patch

We were able to go to the pumpkin patch this year and pick out some cute little gourds with our neighbors and friends. Their last name is Hansen, but Rylie always refers to them as the Handsomes. Then for Halloween we watched the BSU game (of course) and went trick-or-treating with our life group from the Pursuit! Don't worry Vandal fans I haven't turned to the dark side; this is one way I can spend time with my hubby and show him that I love him (Go Vandals!). We had a great time watching the girls go from house to house. Ella insisted on carrying each piece of candy that she got in her hand and then she would abandon her bag on the sidewalk. We tried to teach her to say "Go Broncos", but it sounds more like, "Go Mommos!"

Baking with Aunt Jamie

While Craig was hunting, Aunt Jamie invited Rylie over to bake cookies with her to send to Uncle Matt. Matt and Jamie are brother and sister, but Rylie would like to think that they are married and expects them to be together whenever they come over. Thanks Aunt Jamie for a couple hours of relaxation!

Hunting Season

So Craig and Randy put in for a tag and drew, so they skipped bow season and hunted with a rifle in October. I was glad, because it seemed like Craig had just gotten back from Alaska. That is what happens when you marry a manly man. Anyway, he was very successful this year and he got a 5x6 the very first weekend. He said they hiked their butts off, but it was worth it for the meat and the trophy. Then he went again the following weekend and my brother-in-law also got a big one. I am so proud of my hunting hubby and thankful for the meat that God provided for us this year!

Happy 4th Birthday Rylie

I can't believe how fast it goes and how old Rylie seems! She has opinions about things and she asks questions about everything. Rylie wanted a princess tea party and a girlie, dancing, tea party is what she got! Aunt Lori styled her hair and she wore her new Cinderella dress. My prayer for her is that she will not only enjoy being a princess when she dresses up, but that she will see that she is God's princess and that He loves her so much just the way He made her!

Summer Adventures

So, we have been gone off and on, but I have not posted pictures for a long time. We were able to go to the cabin a few times this summer with family and with our friends Tyler, Mel and Katelyn. It is always very relaxing and we come back desiring a simpler life! Craig is determined to make our girlie girls adventurous and into the outdoors activities that he loves!

Late Father's Day Tribute

I just want to start by thanking my dad for being such a great father growing up. He showed up for every sporting event, encouraged me to do the right thing and to be thoughtful of others and most of all he modeled spending time in the word for me every day and he truly lived out his relationship with God. Now he continues to do that for my little girls. So when I started looking to meet a guy to marry, I wanted someone like my dad. Craig may not have the same personality or all the same interests as my dad, but he definitely has the same passion for the Lord and a love for people. He puts Rylie to bed almost every night and makes up stories for her, reads the girls books, takes Rylie fishing and rolls around on the floor with them until they are laughing so hard they are crying. Not only does he love them with all his heart and provide for them, but he teaches them about who Jesus is through his words and in the way that he treats me and the girls. I love you so much Craig and I could not have asked for a better father for my girls. Thank you also Randy for playing a big part in my girls lives! We are going to miss you this summer while you are in Alaska. Catch some fish for us!

Aunt Becca Returned Safely

My sister Rebecca was able to travel after school let out and just returned. She went to Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice and Athens. My future sister-in-law Jana and their friend Melissa went also. They brought back a lot of great pictures and Rebecca brought back some aprons for the girls. She found them in Italy and the girls loved them, especially since they put their names on them! The bottom of the apron says "I cooked today" in Italian. Maybe Rylie can start making dinner for us now, well at least macaroni and cheese...

Pizza with Chopsticks

I got a cool sushi set for my birthday (a very long time ago) and I attempted to make my first batch of sushi all by myself. All in all it was pretty good, but my family doesn't really like it the way that I do. As I was eating Rylie wanted to have some, so I gave her a few bites. She thinks it is really fun to use the chopsticks (but she gags on most of the sushi). So after she was done she decided that she wanted to eat her pizza with her chopsticks also.

Rylie in Seattle

So Rylie went with my parents and my brother to Seattle for 5 days to visit family. They stayed with my grandparents and hung out with my aunt, uncle and cousins. Some of their adventures included a trip to Eglon on the ferry (the highlight of the trip for Rylie) to see where my grandma grew up, garage sales, and relaxing. I am convinced after looking at all of the pictures that Rylie wore the same outfit the entire trip (her new thing is wearing something over and over again and it has to be a shirt with sleeves so that her armpits don't show). She had a really fun time and now she is a fan of garage sales after picking up a new $3 purse (her very own Burberry). I don't know how to keep up with my oh so stylish 3 year old.

My One and Only

Rylie went on a trip to Seattle with my parents and my brother this week, so Ella and I have been hanging out a lot! It has been fun to see her try new things and talk a little bit more. She has the sweetest, most hilarious little personality, that is finally able to come out, when her talkative, 3 year old sister is gone! Ella tried on Rylie's sunglasses and was posing, oh so lady like for me! I am thankful for this alone time with my sweet Ella girl!

One Word for You- Pictoria!

So, this is not really a blog for advertising, but I did want to share some amazing one year pictures that our good friend Val took of Ella. She has a website: http://www.pictoriaphoto.com/ and she takes amazing pictures, so you should check her out! Ella did a pretty good job, but she fell apart when we tried to put her in the grass. My sweet baby is growing up!

Little Green Book

So, we are a Bible reading family and Rylie has 3 Bibles that she reads from regularly, but her new favorite one is a little green one, that she has been carrying around everywhere. The other day, I wanted to just relax and read for a bit, so she plopped down beside me with her Bible and said, "Mom I just love reading with you." Then she turned and looked at her little Bible. I read for about 3 seconds and then she said, "Hey Mom, I have finger nails." "Hey mom, we hold our books with our thumbs." "Hey mom, you really like to read just like me." "Hey mom, what is your book about." You get the idea. So finally I was thrilled when she wanted to go outside and play. I watched her put her little Bible in the pouch of her sweatshirt and head outside. When I checked on her a few minutes later, this is what I found.




I am so thankful that I have a daughter who already loves the Lord and I pray that she continues to grow closer to Him!

Beth Moore Tour

So my mother gave me and my sister airplane tickets to Portland and tickets to go to a Beth Moore Conference for Christmas. We finally were able to enjoy our present last weekend when we went on a fabulous girl's weekend. Some of our dear friends live in Portland, so we were able to stay with them, go to the conference and play for the rest of the weekend. The weather was beautiful and Beth Moore was the very best I have heard her. She is this crazy, big haired, petite, woman from Texas, with a lot of spunk and some great things to say about God. Her message was about crucifying our ego, so that Christ can be formed in us! We decided after the conference that we are going to travel around the U.S. (a new city each year) and listen to Beth Moore and explore a new place. Sounds silly, but it is a good excuse for a girl's weekend. We stayed with Big Brenda (I was named after her and I always went by little Brenda) and we gave her a plug in Scentsy as a hostess gift. EVERYONE in the Boise area has one or two of them or has heard of Scentsy and it is very rare to explain how it works. I can't describe the look on her face a she examined it and waited for it the bar to melt. Her daughter Meridith kept sniffing the scents and threatening to get one for her stinky brother. Thank you Brenda, Amy and Alberta for a wonderful weekend! I love you Mom and Rebecca and I can't wait for next year.

Rylie was most excited about the fact that I met Hello Kitty!

Terrible Three's Formerly Known as Terrible Two's

Ok, so whoever is responsible for calling it the terrible two's was highly mistaken. Rylie thinks she knows the answer to everything and wants to be in charge of disciplining Ella and the hardest thing is probably her unkind words. If you think about it pray that we will have wisdom and that her heart will be open to what God wants to do (even in her little 3 year old heart). One thing that we have been doing is memorizing scripture and then using it in everyday situations. She is responding pretty well and will often change her attitude when we talk about it from a spiritual perspective. Our verse that we just finished memorizing was I Corinthians 13:4-8. We were practicing it and I thought that she had it down pretty well. Then she got to the end and she said "Love never hails." It made me laugh so hard. In the midst of her attitudes I know that God is working and teaching me patience and unconditional love. Sometimes he gives us little chuckles to remind us why we are parents and how much we really love them. This morning we were having breakfast and Rylie is not feeling very well, so I gave her a cup of red juice (with all the fruit and veggies). She turns to me in all seriousness and says "Mom, is this Jesus' blood (can you tell we read the story of the last supper recently)?" Then she said "This is not Jesus' blood, it is just juice, because I am not one of Jesus' ciples (disciples). His ciples are only boys not girls. My message for you is: that love may hail, but His love never fails even when kids are hard and we are frustrated (Thank you Lord)!

Rylie's Soccer Season

So, we wanted to sign Rylie up for soccer this spring just to get her feet wet. We missed a bunch of the sign-ups and so the Eagy family from our church decided to start a little soccer league. There are about 40 kids from our church playing between the ages of 2.5-6. Craig and I were both pretty excited to get Rylie out on the field and see if she was good at it and to see if she could even kick the ball. The first Saturday was filled with tears and requests to go play on the big playground across the park, but by the end she had joined in for a game. So last Saturday we thought, "Ok now that she knows how fun it is, she will jump right in and play in the game." We were very, very wrong. The pile of leaves over the hill looked a lot more intriguing to her than the kids running around in circles, trying to kick the ball into the net. With a little coaxing, she finally joined in and did the drills perfectly. It is great to see her some what interested and it will be fun to watch her in whatever activities she gets excited about! We were very thankful to the faithful fans that came and supported her (Mimi, Boppa, and Aunt Becca), especially Great Aunt Arni who cheered for her the whole time and played with Ella!