Utah Trip...The Lora Photo Files

Temple Square

We decided to meet Lora and Jake at Temple Square for the day and boy was it BEAUTIFUL! The sun was shining and the sky had just a few clouds to make post card pictures! Gorgeous! We toured around the grounds and visited the North Visitor's Center where the Christus statue is. Tori was enamored! I LOVE these pictures!

Uncle Jake's Girls

The girls quickly fell in love with Uncle Jake (and Auntie Lora too...but she is not pictured because she is taking the pictures....see my pictures for proof that she was here!) Of course it doesn't hurt to bring bribes...ie. delicious european chocolate hazelnut hippos! But baby K was enamored without the chocolate! My favorite part...4 adults 3 children! GREAT ratio!

Temple Flowers

The flowers on Temple Square during this time of year are AMAZING! Tori took full advantage of the fact that Auntie Lora had a camera and modeled away! She is such a poser! If you look closely enough you will see evidence of the chocolate hippo!

LOVE this little girl! Katelyn was a doll! She even fell asleep in her stroller right after these pictures were taken. She is the best baby ever!

City Creek Center Mall

Is this really a mall? It was truly awesome...if you go to Salt Lake you need to cross the street from Temple Square and check out this mall! It is all outdoors (it does have a retractable roof for snowy and rainy days)! We enjoyed all of the fountains and the creek that ran through the whole mall. There is some fun window shopping to be done too! We even enjoyed lunch at the Food Court!

Models in Heels and Hats

Need I say more...we took modeling to w whole other realm while hanging out at Debra's house...she is a natural! Over the shoulder, wind blown, leg up, product placement...you name it and this kid can do it...even in high heels and a hat!

I can't even walk in heels that high anymore! Brooke is a pro! Loved her in the fedora too! A Natural!

The mustache (left over from the bachelorette party) kills me! Uncle Jake joined in the fun too! I LOVE that picture of Jake...it will go down in the annals of history now!

 Here Comes the Bride

The real reason for this trip...that beautiful bride named Rachie! I wish that we were able to get more pictures with her! Her reception was awesome...especially since we were able to hang out with all of our friends...the beautiful Debra (oreo unite...although it was April so it looks more like cream with creamer cookies...we are in need of some sun!), Michelle and Chris Belli, and the Dunns (duh!).

 

 

 

 

 

 "The Hoop"...like hook with a "p"!

Sunday, we all gathered in Hooper...for a bonfire of course. I was the only brave one to beat the heat and roast some wienies...it was dang HOT and we let the grill do the rest of the hard work! There is the famous Jake vs. the bird picture! Classic!

A little girl turned 4!

Brooke was really hard to photograph..she wouldn't sit still (or even comply for a flower shot at Temple Square) so we settled for Cheeto face at the party! What a nut!

Here is beautiful! Katelyn is gorgeous (all the time really, but in these photos especially! I need to get these photos and hang them in my house! ASAP! Thanks Lora for taking all of these AMAZING photos! I cannot wait until you are here! 17 days and counting!

Guess what? Auntie Marie was here!

Auntie Marie came on a big airplane from California and she had a really shiny big car and she has her own living room. (That interpreted from Tori talk means that Auntie Marie came to visit from California, had a humongous SUV rental and stayed in a motel while she vacationed with us here in good ol' Boise! Marie is a great Aunt and came prepared with lots of fun things to do...As pictured above...sweet rolls...YUM! I will taste...you twisted my arm (PS I need this recipe Marie!) Can you see why the girls LOVE Auntie Marie?! She is awesome and came to visit during our Garage Sale Extravaganza and even helped the girls with a lemonade/Sprinkle Treat stand). Then she let Jason and I go on a date and watched the kids for us! It was amazing! We saw The Avengers with our friends the Blues and the Shepherds! It was the BEST date and we cannot wait to do it again!

One afternooon Brooke decided to unroll a whole roll of tulle. We had a little fun playing with it...Tori took it seriously and went supermodel on us!

Friday afternoon I mowed the lawn while Auntie Marie played with the munchkins...she had the camera and I found these...I LOVE the one of Katelyn and Marie! So cute! And Brooke...high heels, tutu and an elf hat...just to mow the lawn! LOVE it!

Baby K, just turned 9 month old! Can you believe it?! She still is our scooter...not crawling yet, but picks up every minute crumb on our floor! We miss you Auntie Marie! Come back soon!

Sunny Days!

Sunny Days = Wagon Rides

Please note that I am putting the beautiful pictures first! We went to two wagon rides last week...one ended with a pit stop at my friend Alli's house! Good thing she has a magnificent camera and a weakness for Baby K! YES! A free mini session of the little girl...I must say they are much better than the photos I took (HEY...I am no professional...just trying to keep a journal!...no judging!) THANKS Alli! You ROCK!

My pictures...well, blurry and not so exciting! But here we are getting ready for the ride! We had a LOT of fun exploring our neighborhood...who knew there were so many interesting things to see! We cannot wait to make this a morning ritual! Soon school will be out and we will go and play at the school! YES!

Sunny Days = Messing Around

The girls found the hats and gloves again and went to town! And Tori is showing off some kind of mustache...yogurt? I cannot remember!

 Sunny Days = Smoothies

Yummy! I made a pineapple smoothie...Tori devoured it...Brooke took a lick.

 Sunny Days = No Pants!

Baby K LOVES to roll around pantless (who can resist chubby baby legs?!) and the girls LOVE their play dresses...I still make them wear little pants underneath because no one likes to see diapers or undies! Baby K sure does get around! She even rolls over the metal bars under her jump-a-roo and hides out! Brooke...well, she is the winged rainbow elf princess.

 Sunny Days = Big Girl Baths!

Baby K's first bath without her little seat. There was a lot of splashing and moving! Hence, none of the pictures were in focus...I refused to use the flash! When all 3 girls are in the tub, Baby K is definitely the darkest...there may be hope for a little brownie!

May Days and the Blue Dress

Tori...well, she is a character! She got the beautiful purple bear from the Blues for her birthday...she was quite attached. Her little friend Naomi came over and played...she had a lot of fun and we will hopefully have more play dates, summer is coming soon! And you are seeing right...that is her napping! It is a once a month occurrence and this time I got a picture! Dressing up, making silly faces, making mustaches out of any material (including yogurt...pictured above) and doing puzzles are among her favorite activities.

Brooke...the little DIVA...allowed me to take a few pictures of her this round. Amazing! Brooke did her first puzzle (24 pieces) with my help...she was quite proud of herself! I love the peach hat on her...it reminds me of a flapper girl hat...she wouldn't let me get a good picture of her, but this is what I get when she is 2! All the rest of the pictures are her in the cutest outfit ever and me trying to get her to at least look at the camera and not move...not too successful!

ODE TO THE BLUE DRESS...Once upon a time Tori got the cutest little blue dress from Auntie Joy for Christmas. I was in LOVE! I love little girls in light blue! Anyway, it was passed down to little Brooke (which said dress made her eyes look electric blue). Now Baby K is old enough to wear it too! Can you guess who is who?! I will try and get a better picture of Katelyn in it in the future, but this is what you get for now!

A Visit to Utah!

I haven't seen my sister for 7 months! That is ridiculousness! I was so EXCITED to see her and Jake in Utah! We all gathered together for our friend Rachel's wedding! It was a great excuse to get together. These are the pictures that I took of the trip...Lora, of course took the amazing pictures and as soon as they are edited I will make a slideshow and post them too. Friday we spent the morning and early afternoon re-exploring Temple Square and the new (GORGEOUS) mall! It was a beautiful day and I would say one of the most PERFECT days that I have had in a long time...it makes me teary eyed remembering the feeling we had to be with our family and being in SLC! We miss the Olesens deeply, but it was GRAND to spend time with them all by ourselves! We missed you Oscar and Livy! Tori and Brooke were excited to see Jake and Lora (Brooke says Lola) and we took in all the beauty at the Temple Visitor Center. Tori LOVED the Jesus statue (aka Christus) and we took a bunch of pictures of the beautiful flowers! The girls were both smitten with Uncle Jake...so he got a lot of cuddling. Tori was walking down the Christus ramp and said, "I want to hold your hand Auntie!" TENDER!

We stayed in Hooper with Grandma and Grandpa Dinger. It was such a beautiful weekend. The girls took a few rounds in the backyard on the mower (to the girls "tractor") in their pajamas. They LOVED it!  Especially the doughnuts around the fire pit!

Our 8 month old bunny!

I know...you are thinking where are the pictures from the wedding?! I left that up to my sister...so they will be forthcoming! Sunday we invited Lora, Jake and Debra up to "The Hoop" for a BBQ and party for a certain little 4 year old! Tori specifically asked for a pink and yellow sprinkle party...and Grandma made her a beautiful pink and yeallow sprinkle cake! We had all of Tori's favorites: hot dogs, Cheetos, strawberries and lemonade (pink and yellow)! It was a blazing hot afternoon, so we all scrunched in the shade. Why does Jake have an umbrella?! Well, we were all sitiing and having a grand ol' time talking when a bird decided to do his business on Jake's arm and shirt! Ha ha ha! We had a giggle. Jake went inside to wash up and brought back out an umbrella! (Can you tell that Tori LOVES her Uncle Jake?!) It was fabulous to be with all of my BESTIES. We all laughed and enjoyed good company the whole afternoon....it was a shame when we finally had to drag ourselves away at close to 7PM! (The ride home was a LOT of crying and sleepiness...oh well, we arrived home at midnight, and I would do it again just to see my sister!)

Let's not forget the party! We all ate the delicious cake, which I thought was better than the wedding cake...kudos Gwen! Tori got some amazing girlie gifts: a vintage Sleeping Beauty Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake puzzle, Barbie movie & Barbie backpack (from the padres and her sisters), Barbie bike accessories and a bike (from both sets of grandparents...where is the bike you say? Wal-mart was sold out, we are still searching for a bike!), a Mulan doll (from Auntie Lora and Uncle Jake), Hello Kitty purse, sunglasses and chapstick (from Auntie Debra), HUGE suckers (from Auntie Joy) and a whole Mermaid package with a puzzle, Barbie Mermaid Tale 2...the movie, and necklace (from Auntie Marie)! Do you sense that she is into Barbie and pink...yeah, it is my life...how did I spawn this?!

The next day we played with all of her new toys the whole day and she was spiked with sugar from the HUGE suckers! We miss and LOVE you all and cannot wait to see you all again!

I just included this for fun...Tori took all of these pictures (except for the one with her and her puzzle) with one of my cameras. I thought they would make you smile!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy ToRi!

To our cute (not so) little Tori bug! You are 4! I cannot believe it! We LOVE you!

April...I LOVE Spring!

April means SPRING! All of my flowers are blooming...I have daffodils, tulips and nameless other purple and pink flowers springing all over my front flower bed (we will see how long they will last...Tori keeps on picking them). Our trees and lilac bushes are blossoming...we can have picnics under the trees in the shade. SIGH! It is AMAZING!

Tori is a blast! She is getting bigger by the minute. She has turned into quite the mama's helper. She feeds Katelyn (I am not sure how much of the food actually gets into her mouth!) and she has even tried to cut her own hair! Luckily it wasn't too bad! She lifted up the front of her bangs and only cut off the underside!

Here are a few of the lost files of Easter. I took some of these pictures on my little camera and got frustrated because the colors were coming out way bad because of the stinking florescent lights! Brooke did the Super Why puzzle with me. She is not quite the fan of puzzles as Tori was, but she worked hard! She LOVED the picnic that we had outside (as you can tell by the HUMONGOUS smile!

And Katelyn...she is 8 months today! She is sporting her pink Adidas soccer outfit and her little pink corduroy high tops! ADORABLE...need I say more!? Katelyn got this cute little outfit in the hospital when she was born from Ursula Tingey...her adopted grandmother, I mean Auntie. The pants are supposed to fit a 0-3 month old, but they now finally fit Baby K's waist (sure they are a little high water...K is quite tall!) and the jacket is 6-9 months...and a little long, but all in all she is a DOLL! Thanks Auntie Ursula!

The Easter One!

The Easter Bunny made it to our house, although there was a sad moment for me in the whole scheme of things. Brooke accidentally found the stash of Easter candy that I had been taking care of for the Easter Bunny.  One day I was wondering where Brooke was...she was being so silent. I walked down the hall and found her in my bedroom. To my HORROR her face was covered in chocolate goo...she was eating my one and only Cadbury creme egg (I was trying to be good this year and not eat a dozen! so I only asked the Easter Bunny for one!) Well...I did get a piece that she couldn't get out of the foil...so much for savoring it! Ha ha ha! But don't worry the Easter Bunny still left me a baby Lindt bunny and Cadbury mini-eggs. Do you see Jason's ginormous Reese's egg (that Katelyn wanted to steal!)?! He almost ate it all in one sitting except for the fact that it was like almost 900 calories and that bothered him! Ha ha ha! The girls enjoyed a little pre-breakfast candy and then I took their stash and put it in the candy bowl. I know...I am mean, but someone has to control sugar intake!

 The Easter Photo Shoot

Tori...she is getting so big. This year I let her pick out her dress at Carter's. I thought that she did a great job...it was like torture for her not to wear it for 3 weeks! I LOVE her shoes (I found them at Walmart). Please note the mischievous grin in the upper left corner. and I LOVE the swing picture on the top middle...it reminds me of a model photo shoot!

Brooke...although she didn't want me to take her photo she sure hammed it up! She is such a goof ball. She wouldn't let me take a picture with her and all of the girls, so that is that. She is two, so I am lucky I got these shots! Brooke also picked this dress out for herself and calls it her princess dress (complete with silver sparkly shoes...that, against my will, I let her pick out...they left sparkles all over the pews at church!).

Katelyn...is a doll. We didn't take these pictures until after a few naps, but she is still the star of the show. She didn't get a new dress, but I thought that this one matched so well. Lets be serious...she doesn't really need a new dress (she has like 10 in her closet and only wears them on Sunday!). Although she wasn't really into the whole "Easter" thing, she LOVED playing on a blanket in the shade of our backyard!

Sisters! Tenderness!

Family...these turned out pretty well even though there were a few meltdowns from the oldest in the process. As you can see there are no pictures of me in my Easter finest, but that is ok...and Brooke wouldn't humor me either with a picture. Please find the picture of Tori's devilish smile and giggle! Hilarious!

 Dinner

Simple yet amazing! And all the better that my friend Alli brought me rolls! You rock Alli Blue! That is how we celebrated Easter! We missed all of our family, but I am grateful to Jesus Christ that we will be together forever through His sacrifice. We remember Him!