First Day of 3rd Grade

Abigail had her first day of school today. She was so excited that she absolutely could not eat her breakfast. I can not believe I have a 3rd grader. I almost got a little choked up when dropping her off. I hope she as an awesome year with her new teacher Mrs. Hanson and makes some good friends.

Now that's alot of baby stuff!

We pulled all of the baby gear out of the garage loft the other day to take inventory, clean stuff off and get things ready for the arrival of baby Carson (coming in 5 weeks). It is absolutely amazing how much stuff a little baby uses, and yes this is stuff we actually used for the twins and Abigail. The funny thing is, I have actually gotten rid of about half of it because I had duplicates of many of these things. The girls were excited to help clean off the gear and our washing machine did overtime cleaning all of the covers, etc.

"EEEEEEK! I ate my tooth!"

Yesterday, I took Abigail to JCPenny for her FREE haircut. After her new cut, we decided to get some soft pretzels in the Mall. Abigail and I were enjoying the pretzels while the twins played in the kiddie area, I looked up at her and said, "Abigail where did your tooth go?" She lept out of her chair, started running in place (getting some serious air) and started squealing "I ate my tooth!" Yep, she swallowed her tooth. Abigail is really parinoid about her teeth, so I didn't even know that it was loose until the day before because it had started bleeding when she bumped it. That is five teeth now that she has lost. When she got home she wrote the tooth fairy a note that said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, I'm so sorry that I do not have a tooth for you to take because I ate it when I went to the mall. Love, Abigail." She left the note under her pillow so that the tooth fairy would maybe have compassion and leave her some money anyway.

First Day of Preschool

The twins were so excited to start preschool again this year, which made me feel good since the main motivation for doing a preschool was them. Elizabeth had to wear her ABC overalls on the first day of school and Emily had to wear a dress. I am really glad that I am able to provide an outlet for them to learn and socialize with children their age. Elizabeth can finally spell her 9-letter name (we worked on it all summer). Preschool is pretty fun for me too! My class seems really easy this year. I hope the rest of ths school year goes as well as the first week did.

Playhouse Fun

 The playhouse project is coming along. Darin works on it as he finds time, lumber, and money. It still needs a roof for sure, I believe that the roof will be the next addition. The girls LOVE it and spend hours playing on it. Between the swingset, trampoline, plahouse, jeeps, and bikes, the girls have a lot to keep them occupied outside during the summer.

Typical Emily Face

Emily loves to put her whole self into everything she does, especially eating. It seems like after every snack or meal, Emily's face is much dirtier than all of the other kids around. She is happy as can be and has no idea that she is covered in food. If you catch Emily before I have chased her down with a washrag, her face lis likely to look something like this. This picture was taken after her cousin Jacob's birthday party and she had enjoyed a chocolate cupcake.

It's great to be 8

Abigail celebrated a very special birthday on July 19th and the celebration lasted for a couple of weeks with the climax being her baptism.

 We were in Colorado on Abigail's actual birthday. She got a few gifts while in Colorado: Grand Nan and Papa gave her a bracelet making kit, Heather & Shane gave Abigail an elephant ballerina purse (this couldn't have been more perfect for Abigail), Dad, Mom, Emily, & Elizabeth gave Abigail a backpack for school, stuffed elephant, and gift certificate for stompeez.

 One of the best things about Abigail turning 8 is that she gets to go to activity days. This is picture os of Abigail on the way out the door to her first activity day activity. She had a blast learning all about the pioneers.

 While in Texas, Abigail got her ears pierced as one of her gifts. She has done amazingly well at cleaning her ears morning and night and shows more and more responsibillity every day. Grand Nan also took her to the Build-A-Bear workshop.

 The BEST thing about turning 8 is that Abigail was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on August 4th. I can't believe that Darin and I are old enough to have an eight-year-old. Really, where has time gone?

 Emily was so proud of her big sister on her baptism day. (Elizabeth was proud as well, she just opted to eat her breakfast insted of take pictures).

Daddy & Abigail on her baptism morning.

 Right before entering the waters of baptism.

 Abigail had the love and support of several cousins and her good friend Eden.

Pictured from left to right: Elizabeth Ralphs, Eden Barua, Ariana Bowes, Emily Ralphs, Abigail Ralphs, Isabella Ralphs, Madeline Ralphs, & Jacob Bowes

 Grandma & Grandpa Ralphs

 Grand Nan & Papa Stocker

 Proud Momma & Daddy with their BIG  GIRL

 Uncle Shane & Aunt Heather Booth

Abigail with Uncle Jeff & Aunt Kim Bowes and cousins Ariana & Jacob

 Bishop Kim Guymon & Primary President Joy Reece

Cousins Madi & Bella Ralphs

Summer 2012 Vacation - Part 2 (Denton, Texas)

The girls most favorite thing to do every summer is visit Grand Nan and Pa pa's house. I enjoy visiting too to see family and friends.

 Grand Nan set up some fun sleeping quarters for the girls, they each had their own space that they crashed into at the end of the day. Emily fell asleep so quickly one night that she forgot to take off her sunglasses.

 We visited the Fort Worth Children's Science Museum and the twins thought it was really neat to sit on a bed of nails.

 They also rode a simulated horse (not the same as the real thing).

 Elizabeth's favorite place was the hospital for babies. She loved caring for her baby doll. I know she will be a great big sister when baby Carson comes.

 My mom is the most social person I have ever met. She decided to throw a fiesta pool party so that I could see several friends and family members while in Texas this year. She also was pretty sneaky and told the guests to bring a baby gift for little Carson as well. I was so blessed and got so much stuff. I think I am pretty well set for his arrival, thanks to my Texas loved-ones.

 Emily found a new place to crash this night under the umbrella in the living room.

 Abigail and Papa had a special date to the Ball Park in Arlington to see the Texas Rangers play.

 The girls got to love on their cousin Thomas a few times.

 Uncle Lonny was alot of fun to play playdough with.

Cousin Andrew is the best at doing legos with.

Summer 2012 Vacation - Part 1 (Avon, Colorado)

This summer, we were able to take a fun summer vacation and our first stop was in Avon, Colorado where Grand Nan and Papa Stocker have a time share. The pictures are a bit out of order, but at least you can get the gist of what we did while in Colorado for a week.

One of the family's favorite thing to do on vacation is go hiking. The first day everyone was there, those that were interested went on a hike. Grand Nan, Papa, Heather, Shane, and Abigail hiked this hike and they had a blast soaking up nature along the way.

 Papa Carl treated us to a white water float trip (class 1 & 2 rapids). It was the girls first time in a raft and they LOVED it.

Heather & Shane

 Daddy Darin braved the COLD water and sat in an innertube with the twins for a little more action.

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The whole gang:

Carl, Elizabeth, Misty, Emily, Darin, Abigail, Heather, Shane, & Nan.

 Nan treated Carl to a hot-air-balloon ride for his 66th birthday. They had a blast.

We enjoyed getting some R&R in the condo. The girls loved to swim. The indoor pool was literally 10 steps from our room.

 Every night the girls crashed. They had some pretty funny sleeping positions on this vacation. More of those to come!

 We walked around Vail village and enjoyed the shops, food stands, and art.

 The kids enjoyed the clown the most.

 They all got balloon animals for $1.00 each.

 We went to a children's wildlife museum and the girls loved learning about the native wildlife to Colorado and taking an explorative nature walk around the area.

 The girls loved having craft time with Grand Nan on a rainy day.

 They were also just happy going to the park to play and feed the ducks.