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!

DunnDinger Extravaganza Spring 2012

Well, the end of March brought some rain, so on rainy days it calls for some puzzles, dressing up and just being silly! Katelyn still loves to try new foods...she LOVES peas, sweet potatoes, and every fruit she has tried so far. She is really into the rice husks and little bitty rice cereal crackers.

DunnDinger Extravaganza Spring 2012!!!

The Dunns came up for a visit over Conference weekend. Needless to say, conference with 4 kids under 4 is highly impossible. I don't think that I was able to listen to one full talk without an interruption. This is the first year that it has been so crazy, but it was FUN to have the Dunns come and visit! I made some of my magnificent cinnamon rolls! Mmmmm! The girls kept each other busy, and I think that Ryah and Brooke were plotting to take over the universe, but it was great to see all of them play together. We cannot call Ryah, baby Ryah anymore...she is quite the toddler. So this is going to be an extra LONG blog because when the Dunns are here we try to pack as much stuff into a weekend so that our Dunn tank is full until the next time we see them!

The Park!

Between sessions on Saturday we took the munchkin to the park to glean as much as we could out of the sunshine. We hit the park just in time too because soon after we got home the storm clouds came rolling in! This was Katelyn's first time at the park and she had a blast! She loved the sunshine and the swings. Tori is now not afraid of anything ans had a fun time playing with all the kids on the big jungle gym. Brooke was all over too...do you see the absolute glee on her face?! It was a blast! The girls all rode on the fun whirly-gig...they were a bit dizzy when they were all through! While the boys went to the Priesthood session, Tiffany and I ventured out to Walmart with all 4 kids. It went pretty well...we actually got a lot of pictures at Walmart because Tori stole Tiff's phone and took pictures of the most random things!

Egg Dying!

Sunday we dyed eggs after Conference. Jason was extremely nervous, but all in all, it went pretty well...just a few dyed fingers! This was Ryah's first egg dying fiesta...she had a lot of fun. Tori was pretty much a pro except for the fact that she wanted to plunk the egg into the dye which created quite a mess, but she still kissed all the eggs before we put them into the fridge (just like last year!)

TENDER!

What? I am in a picture!?

Zoo Time!

Quite possibly the cutest baby in the universe!

Jason took Monday off and we took the kids to the Zoo! It was Ryah's and Katelyn's first trip to the zoo. They loved to see all of the animals and it was a beautiful morning! Although there are no pictures (the viewing area was crowded with an elementary school field trip), we got to watch the lions eat! They put this box filled with long tubes that contain meat in them right in front of the viewing window, and the lionesses played with all of the tubes and with each other right in front of us! It was awesome! Of course I LOVE the wallaby exhibit. Tori loved the giraffe. Brooke & Ryah just loved running around like banshees!

Favorite exhibits: penguins and the prairie dogs! Make these pictures big and look at their faces in the prairie dog domes! Hilarious!

Although the tigers were sleeping (just like Katelyn) the girls struck a pose on the tiger seat.

The famous Giraffe Slide!

 

 

Flatbread Pizza!

With all that walking, we needed to fill our tank with some delicious pizza from Flatbread Community Oven! Yummy!!! The girls made their own pizzas and I devoured some of their scrumptious macaroni and cheese & a mini pizza bianco magnifico that has onions, fresh mozzarella, chicken, prosciutto, and it is drizzled in balsamic vinegar (if your mouth is not watering you are insane!). If people in the Boise area have not been to this restraunt...GO!

The Egg Hunt!

When we were living in Orem, we would always have Family Home Evening with the Dunns. So when they come we have amazing FHEs with awesome activities. This year they visited close to Easter, so we did an Easter themed FHE complete with a cartoon from Living Scriptures on the Resurrection. Then we had an Easter egg hunt! This was Ryah's first hunt, and boy was she ready! Although she had more fun taking her eggs out of the basket and putting them on the swing!

Brooke found a stash!

And I guess if you can have a winner, Tori took the egg! She found more than her share of eggs, but she gratefully shared with the other little girls.

All things must come to an end...it was hard to see the Dunns go, but this time we will see them in just two more weeks! See you soon and we miss you already!