6 months!

Here she goes again, getting bigger!  Violet is 6 months today and I can't believe how much we each love her.  Madelyn calls her "by-let" and when she enters a room with Violet in it her deep voice goes up about 4 notches, Ellie tells everyone that she can hold her while standing up and Savannah loves it when people say Violet looks just like her. 

She's not the best sleeper, but she is the sweetest most lovable baby.  It's hard not to kiss those cheeks all day long.

Peaches, peaches and more peaches!!

I have been too busy to blog over the past few days so, I have a few things to catch up on.  On Wed, with my friend Heidi by my side we decided it was time for us to try canning.  An awesome women from our church came over to Heidi's house to teach us how.  6 hours, 8 kids having different meltdowns, spilled water, two trips to "Boo-U," 3 pizza's and only 21 jars later we can now say we have canned peaches.  I can also say I will probably never do it again.  It was totally worth it though to be able to share yet another funny story with a friend.  That night though I froze blueberries with another friend and that was a lot less painful.

Thursday came more peaches.  This one was in the form of my almost moved dear friend Ash.  Her and her family are moving out West and as happy as I am for her, I'm so sad to see this dear friend go.  She recently had a baby and we were able to beg and plead for her to come out with us one last time. 

Heidi just happy to be done with peaches.

Me and Ash.  She really was a "peach" of a friend!  Miss you already.

As my times come to an end here, I am having a lot of fun with friends and of course my family before I go.  Friday brought my parents to help me with the kids(thank you) and that night brought my hubby home and my ability to go out.  Amy and I hit the town and we hit it hard.  In my case a little two hard because she had to wheel me out of the restaurant.  I probably should of just eaten a peach!

Amy and Me.  Too much fun and much too short. 

There were no real peaches involved in our Saturday adventure but there was a huge boat, lots of swimming, life jackets and of course many sun burns.  It was such a blast and I think my favorite part was parking the boat and all of us jumping off over and over into the water.  It was perfect weather and great company.

All three of the girls were such fish.

Savannah jumping into the unknown. 

Madelyn striking a pose.

Violet was chilling on the boat with some adult at all times.  Our friend's enjoyed holding her anytime they "had" to.

Time for the beach!  Our sand castles never really got too big.

SO FUN!

Over-all I am dreaming of peaches in my sleep, yummy food, great friends and then I am woken by my very real sun-burn.  Another week down and two more to go until we start our adventures some where else.  I guess instead of lemons we were given peaches and now I know how to can them.

"Perfect" decided to roll!

As the shirt states our little Violet is truly "perfect" for our family.  She is laid back, sweet, cuddly, beautiful and as of today rolling!  She has been tempted to roll for a while and has gotten pretty close.  Today however all but her one arm were completely rolled over.  Daddy was sad he missed it and so were her Sisters.  I guess I was the lucky one that got to experience this fun event all by myself.  Well me and my camera...

She really is Perfect.

There are no words. And yet here are some...

Everyday I think my children grow smarter, funnier and even more beautiful.  Last Saturday an amazing photographer friend of ours(Aric Hanusa Photography) took the most amazing pictures of our family.  Here lies even more proof yet again that our daughters are more beautiful everyday inside and out.

Ellie

Savannah

Madelyn

Violet

I truly get tears in my eyes as I look at these pictures.  These girls our ours and they get to be forever.

Sometimes the things that annoy us the most, become what we CHERISH the most!

When I was almost two my parents brought me home something.  It was wrapped in pink and it was pretty darn cute!  This "gift" was my one and only Sister.  Over the years we have fought, yelled, laughed, hugged and shared so much.  As I think of today 28 years ago, I think how GRATEFUL I am that my parents had #5.  With out that, my life would be forever different and a big piece of joy would be missing.  I love my Sister dearly.  Even though she is my little Sister there was always something about  her that I looked up to.  Marilyn always loved those on the "outer circle."  She always had a knack of making people(especially those with disabilities) feel special.  That was something I always wanted to be more like. That is why when we had our second daughter I knew who to name her after.  I wanted Savannah(Marilyn) to be one of those people who accepted differences and loved people for them.

So on this day of my Sister's birth.  I say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONK.  I love you more everyday, and I'm so proud to be your Sister.

Can't wait to see what you do with the next 28 years!

Great start. Rough ending.

This past weekend started out with a bang.  We have decided to hit the weekends and hit them hard.  So we started it off with a trip to see my favorite brother(named Doug) and his family in Milwaukee.  The famous zoo was on the menu and it did not disappoint.  We saw lions and tigers and bears...oh my!  The girls loved it.  The only real downer was the heat!  It was so hot that we finally hid out in the wolf house where the AC was pumping and we could all cool down.  After the amazing zoo trip we headed back to a nice and cool pool.  The girls jumped, swam, splashed and laughed...a lot.  It was a great day.  Thank you to the best Brother(named Doug) a girl could ask for.  Can't wait to do it again next year.

All the girl cousins.

Daddy and Violet.

Uncle Doug with the girls.

Ellie and Me!  Aren't those hedges behind us awesome?

April, me and our two girls born in 2008.

Hey, a picture of the two of us.  Who knew?

Pony rides.

Madelyn's first ride. 

Doug and Ellie riding the sky lift.

Train time!

Hello back there!

Thanks to my awesome Bro Doug.  I'm so glad I have such great siblings.

The next part of the weekend wasn't so fun.  Our little Violet has come down yet again with another illness.  We spent over 3 hours at the ER to try to get our baby to breath.  She has Asthma issues and has come down with a bad bronchitis.  So after lots of meds, tests, nurses, hours, friends watching our 3 older kids, smiles and finally even more meds.  We came home and hoped and prayed Violet would keep feeling better.  She is doing better today but still not 100%.  I'm so grateful for all the miracles we have been blessed with like modern medicine.

Yes, that is our sweet 5 1/2 month old with a breathing treatment.

Over-all great start to the weekend.  Rough End.

A great night to remember.

So Monday night my Sister, my amazing Sister decided to spoil her older Sis.  She took me to get pedicures where we picked out each other color, got yelled at by the person taking care of my toes, got "clipped" by this same women, sat in a massage chair, talked and talked with my favorite Sis, snubbed the same lady with no tip, and finally ended up getting a great Salad dinner.  So, enjoy the below pictures of this great evening...

OH WAIT...I forgot my Camera!  Well, I guess you will just have to trust me.  It was awesome.  Love you Monk!!!

All about Madelyn!

Yesterday July 10th, 3 years ago at 10:14 in the morning our little Madelyn entered the world.  She has been our sparkle girl(sometimes more like a firecracker) ever since.  She is loving, funny, sassy and a great older Sister.  One of the greatest joys to watch is when Madelyn sees Violet.  Her whole continence changes.  She smiles and changes her normally deep voice into a very high one.  She calls her "Bi-let" she can't quite get the "v" sound.  She talks to her and you can tell she loves her so much.  I always feared there would be jealousy issues but there never was.  Not even a little.  Madelyn also never walks.  She runs everywhere.  She always seems like she's in a hurry to get where ever she wants to go.  She has a beautiful smile.  Madelyn is truly a JOY and I thank my Heavenly Father for her everyday.  Even if she does color on the walls, have an accident in her underwear or decide that she doesn't need to clean up after herself.  She was meant to come to us and I am so grateful she did!

Her Birthday weekend was fun-filled and busy.  With Violet not feeling well and not sleeping at all at night, and a trip to the urgent care, Moroni and I were a little tired.  However, the party must go on.

It is a tradition in our family that on your 3rd birthday you get to go to Build-a-Bear, pick out your own bear and then build it.  We always have such a blast on this day.  So Saturday that is where we headed.

Madelyn and her Sleeping beauty themed bear named "Trips" short for Triplet.

Picking out the perfect bear.

Got to fill the bear with love.

Bath time.

The perfect outfit was found.

Madelyn was grinning the whole time.  She loved it!  She also loves Trips and wants her to go everywhere with her.

Next came the Birthday party at Mana and Papa's house.  Uncle Dave and Auntie Mar came for some yummy pizza and ice cream pie.  YUM!

Mana and Papa with their daughter's, daughters.  Did that make sense?

Uncle Dave gave Madelyn a great Fancy Nancy book.

Auntie Mar came with a whole bag of Fancy Nancy fun.

Madelyn with Mana and Papa.

Her fav gifts of the day. A cool Barbie phone and Trips.

Birthday!  It was filled with family, fun and more presents from Sisters.   It truly was a great weekend.

"I'm this many!"

"Me and my little Sister."

Madelyn and her cake.  3!!

(Side note: JULIE this was not my best work.  It was a long week with no sleep and I did not have the energy for the perfection you taught me.  Sorry from your lacking student)

Our 4 girls on Madelyn's 3rd Birthday.

She really is a sparkle girl(with a very low voice)!!

I can't imagine my life with out you!  To know you is to love you Madelyn.  Happy Birthday baby.